Chapter 25
"And that is why you should never marry outside of
your own race." Jeila and her father were enjoying a peaceful evening in
that hut of theirs again. Over a few cups of tea, one of them had just finished
listening to the other's explanation of something dealing with some of the
justices and immoralities of life as well as its relationships and its variety
of different people.
"Yes, Papa," Jeila responded. Her father took
another sip of his drink while his daughter took a look at some of the jars,
containers, and other such things the shelves around them consisted of. She saw
that one of them was filled with some type of gunk she recognized, and decided
to raise some other issue. "Papa?" she asked.
"Yes, sweetie?" the parent replied, putting
his cup down onto the floor.
"Why is it that there's no safe way to dispose of
voodoo dolls?" she inquired. Her father evidently gave the question some
thought. He had an answer. He took a breath and let another explanation come
out.
"It's because they're designed to look like certain
people," he said. Jeila's eyes widened, quizzically. The father
elaborated. "They look like the people they look like because they're made
by people (often witches) who hold grudges against those people. Each doll is
made from at least one personal possession of the person these people wish to
harm. With a little help from a little magic..." The holy Yoshi made his
left arm wave around to imitate some spell-casting. "Voila! Instrument of
torture. They can stick needles in these, they can hold them over open fires,
but it won't be the dolls that'll take the damage; the people that look like
them will."
"That's awful," Jeila commented.
"Mm-hm," her father agreed. "So if you
find one laying around in your home, it's best not to get rid of it. Don't
throw it into the water, or rip it up, or anything. Who knows? Someone miles
away will probably inexplicably drown or spontaneously combust."
"Ew," Jeila winced. Her contorted face
returned to something more questioning. "But what if it's a bad person
that deserves it?"
"We are not in any sort of position to judge
others, Jeila, my dear. No-one on this planet is truly fit to decide who
deserves what and how, sweetheart."
Jeila looked confused. "But... What if the doll's
missed? Wouldn't it be right to return it to its owner?"
"No, that wouldn't be right, because it would only
allow the owner to do more wrong. Besides: keeping it away from them would
serve as their punishment for being such evil-doers in the first place,"
her father responded.
Jeila looked even more confused. "But... Papa...
Isn't that the same as saying we ARE in a position to judge who deserves what
and how?"
Her father just chuckled. He leaned closer to her so he
could put a hand on her shoulder. "Jeila, dear, someday you'll be the
mistress, but that won't be until later. Until then, give it time, hm?"
His hand patted her shoulder, and he removed it so he could lean back and drink
some more tea. Jeila still looked a little befuddled. She gently stared at her
father who only smiled in return.
"Okay, Papa," she said. She then took a sip of
her own tea and thought of other things. Things like what had happened, what
was going on, and what was probably going to happen. She set her tea down and
let the night carry on...
♠♣♥♦
Meanwhile, Boshi
was still busy walking along an unfamiliar path somewhere in Mario Land.
Thoughts of anger, frustration, and confusion still flowed through his fatigued
mind. It had been a long road. It wasn't getting any shorter, and it wasn't
leading him to any place to be recognized.
"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this," Boshi
grumbled to himself. "I just wanna go home, but ever since that big
explosion, things have just been... Ugh..." He shook his head in an
attempt at getting rid of some of the weariness that weighed him down. In spite
of the fact it didn't work and that he didn't even know what he was struggling
to do anymore, he kept on walking. However, pretty soon, he was able to see
something on the horizon or another that was gradually getting closer and
closer to him...
♠♣♥♦
Pish was running
around like crazy through the village back on Yo'ster Isle. Others may have
been trying to get some shut-eye, but items were still on his to-do list. Once
he got past one house and then the other, he came to find that he was not the
only person with his optical receptors still wide open. Two Yoshies, one pink,
one blue, were standing before the hut of a brown one. Deciding a little break
was far from harmful, he ran up to the little duo and slowed to a halt.
"Hey, Pish," said Pinky. "What's
up?"
"Nothing much," Pish responded through a few
pants. "What about you guys?"
"Ah, you know. Same ol', same ol'," Pinky
replied. "We're still here, making sure no-one comes and starts robbing
Xoshi's house is all. But, you know, I'm beginning to wonder if there even are
burglars worth guarding his house from."
"There aren't any burglars because WE'RE
here," Oshi informed.
"Aye," said Pinky with a quick nod.
"Well, keep up the good work," Pish said,
beginning to stretch his muscles. "I'll catch you guys later. Right now,
I've gotta keep myself in tip-top shape." Pish suddenly stopped, folded
his arms, and looked at his two friends through squinty eyes. "You know
what am I'm sayin'?"
"Er, yeah," said Pinky. "Well, good luck
with that."
"Alright. See ya!" Pish waved a little and got
himself back into the jog.
"Later!" Oshi called. Pish kept running
through the village, probably with other destinations in mind...
♠♣♥♦
With a strange
flower resembling a pink ball surrounded by gossamer wings in his hands, the
quirky Prof. E. Gadd walked down a certain lane in the middle of the night. He
vocally expressed his intrigue towards the plant.
"Hohoho. You, little friend, could quite possibly
be the next to further my studies in the fields of ghosts.
Unquestionably!" The strange professor continued walking until something
in the distance seemed to catch his attention. He lifted a small hand and
placed it over his eyes to adjust his vision somewhat. "What's that I see?
Another person out at a time like this? Intriguing..." With that in mind,
he continued his waltzing as the person coming towards him did as well. This
was what was going on in the current situation of Prof. E. Gadd...
♠♣♥♦
While continuing
to run around, Pish managed to bump into someone else. It appeared as though,
he, a red Yoshi, and maybe a few other people were still walking around at this
hour. The two of him and this new person stopped before each other to have a
little chat.
"So, how's it going?" Pish asked.
"Well and good," Rachi replied. "Azure's
keeping an eye on the stronghold. I'm still trying to figure out what the deal
is with that one thing that interrupted the race."
Pish suddenly put his fists against his hips, looking at
the red Yo'ster accusingly. "Are you saying that race was rigged?"
"No, just that I've still got some research to
do," Rachi exclaimed. Pish seemed to lighten up.
"Well then... What have you found out so far?"
asked the purple Yoshi.
"All that I can confirm is that these things just
tend to pop up out of nowhere. Other than that, I really can't say." Rachi
gave his shoulders a shrug.
"Hmm... Well, you keep at it, then." Pish
started preparing himself for the jog again. "Anyways, I got some exercise
to do." Pish made another weird face. "Keep it real!"
"Yes, sir," said Rachi. With the conversation
having been come to an end, the two Yoshies could return to their duties. While
moving his legs quickly and being carried here and there as he was doing this,
some contemplating got to be done by him.
So Rachi and Azure are guarding Xoshi's house, who is
somewhere out there on Isle Delfino, enjoying himself with Yoshi, Yazzee, and
Boshi, Rachi and Azure still have some scientific research to conduct, and here
I am, trying to walk, or rather, run in Boshi's shoes, he speculated. I
hope he'd be proud of me... The purple Yo'ster disappeared into the night,
making his legs a little stronger all the while...
♠♣♥♦
That Pish had
better not be screwing things up while I'm away,
Boshi thought to himself. 'Cause if he is... POW! Boshi just kept on
walking. For a while now, the figure he saw had only been progressively
becoming something more and more clear. Finally, he could see it was some
little person in a white lab-coat. At first, this individual didn't ring a
bell, but then it all came together. He most likely realized this upon seeing
the facial expression of this guy lighten up by the sight of him. Boshi decided
not to waste another moment, and he ran up to the man.
Boshi skidded to a stop right in front of him and let
him have it. "YOU!!" he yelled, pointing a reptilian finger at him.
"Everything was fine before you showed up!! Yoshi, Xoshi, Yazzee, and I
were still in one piece. Then the whole freakin' ship blew up, and now I'm stuck
in this crazy place!! Tell me what the hell is going on, right now!!"
Gadd just laughed. "No need to get so worked up,
friend. I'm afraid your troubles are all thanks to a completely different
being."
"Chyeah, right!" Boshi scoffed. He edged
closer to the scientist. "You've got something to do with it. Come on,
you, fess up!!"
Gadd laughed again. "I'm afraid you and your
friends were being attacked by ghosts. For the sake of science and helping you
folks out, I came by with my special invention, and took care of them all for
you!"
"Something blew up," Boshi pointed out.
"That was your fault, wasn't it? Wasn't it?!"
Gadd let loose another chuckle. "That in the dark,
hm?" He looked Boshi straight in the eye through those shades of his. The
blue Yo'ster was noticeably ticked. The professor chuckled once more.
"Come on," he said, letting one hand hold the flower so he could use
the other to pat Boshi on the arm. "This isn't the time or the place to be
discussing such things." The intellectual then walked around Boshi and
started continuing down where he was originally headed.
"Oh, right. Like YOU have any clue where to
go?!" Boshi fumed.
The little man gave another laugh. "You
didn't." Boshi looked even more angered. Prof. E. Gadd stopped, turned
around, and pointed to where Boshi was originally headed. "That way leads
away from civilization. We need to go this way." He pointed to where he
wanted to take the Yoshi. Boshi took a look at that direction and sighed.
"How do you know all this, anyway?" he asked.
For an answer, all Boshi got was a laugh.
"Come on," Gadd said. He turned back around
and gestured with his hand. Soon after that, both hands were holding the flower
again. Boshi just watched the man walk a little more. He let his anger burn him
up a little more, and then he drooped his head and sighed once more.
So I follow this guy around, and I make him talk
he thought. Well... Better than nothin', I guess... At last, Boshi got
over it and slowly began to follow this new companion. He hoped dearly that
things would start making sense again...
♠♣♥♦
The gigantic
castle was right before their eyes. It was huge, made of brick, had towers and
flags making it in different places, possessed windows wherever needed, and
owned a giant M in the middle of a circle. Such a symbol bore a strong
resemblance to something the father wore around his neck. He, his wife, and his
children had finally returned from a disastrous vacation. The Mario Land Grand
Castle was theirs to live in again.
"Well, dear," said the king, "it looks
like we've finally made it."
"I know," his wife replied. Mario and Luigi
were asleep in her arms. "They'll be very happy to see the babies. I know
it."
"They will be," said the father. He looked at
the humungous building a little while longer, and then began to adjust his grip
on the briefcases. He turned to look at his spouse. "Shall we?"
"Yes, let's," the mother agreed.
"No birds, no space aliens, no airplane incidents
will stop us now," the king declared.
"I know," said his wife. Without allowing the
wait to take any longer, the four family-members finally got started on the
small number of steps that would reunite them with their home and all their
royal servants. They were undoubtedly going to turn out to be an ecstatic
bunch, which was something not contradicted the second the four-some got
through the front-doors. A while afterwards, murmurings could be heard. These
quiet voices started off small, but then the escalating began. Pretty soon, the
Mario Land Grand Castle was a huge building in the middle of a country
somewhere out there that had uproars of pleasure and adoration coming from
within. At last, at long last, the king and queen had made their triumphant
return, and they did so with two new bringers of joy for the land to begin
loving. The Mario Bros.' new life of royalty had begun....
♠♣♥♦
BANG! SHUNK!
KSCQRDSDT! The night was getting older and the contest between Yazzee and King
Carrot only got longer. In spite of this, a crowd was still about. They found
the skills and the luck of both these gamblers to be quite impressive,
especially since they had come so close to getting triple-sevens so many times
in a row, which only resulted in creating more mountains of money, which was
also found awe-inspiring by the audiences. After their cursing was over with,
ProZD rose his gun again for the two competitors.
"One... Two... THREE!!" BANG! SHUNK! The
wheels got to their spinning once again. All the spectators went on with their
excited watching. This did not exclude Boland, Kohler, Carro, and Boscis. All
four kept their eyes on the game intently. This changed, though, once something
behind Carro started to make some obnoxious sound.
BEE-BEE-BEEP! BEE-BEE-BEEP! Some of the viewers,
including Boscis, turned and raised some eyebrows at the orange guy. KSCQRDSDT!
The audience let out another cheer and Carro made a small device hover out from
behind his back. With it floating in front of him, he used his strange ability
to look at its screen and push at its buttons. Boscis looked at him and the
device curiously. Boscis became even more concerned once he saw a look of
horror fall over his comrade's face.
"What's up?" Boscis asked.
"The base," Carro breathed. "We're under
attack."
"We are?! Lemme see that." Boscis yanked the
little machine away from Carro's invisible grasp and poked at a few buttons to
see for himself. Afterwards, he reached a conclusion. "This is... not
good," he replied.
"I knew we shouldn't have left," Carro
dwelled. "What are we gonna do?" he asked.
"We tell the boss," Boscis answered.
Carro looked unsure. "Now?"
"No... not now," Boscis added.
"One... Two... Three!" BANG! SHUNK!
KSCSCSMRDXT!
"Now," Boscis said. The two minions hovered up
to the side of King Carrot. This caught the attention of a few people.
"What do you want?!" King Carrot demanded.
"Can't you see I'm busy here?!"
"Boss, we've got a little problem," Carro
said.
King Carrot scowled. "Can it wait?!" he
growled.
"No, boss, it can't," Carro said.
King Carrot looked around himself. He noticed that a lot
of people were glaring, including Yazzee and ProZD along with his two
companions. King Carrot looked at his two underlings to talk some more.
"Alright, make it quick."
"Well, we just got a reading that our base is being
infiltrated by two... things," Carro explained. "I don't know what
they are, but... they're wreaking havoc, boss. If we don't return to the base
and stop 'em now, who knows what could happen?!"
King Carrot took a few seconds to take this new dilemma
into deep consideration. He looked at the worried guises of his minions' faces,
then at the impatient ones of Yazzee, ProZD, Boland, and Kohler. Their judge
was tapping his foot.
"Are you done?" he asked. The audience watched
and waited.
King Carrot bit his lip, letting it quiver. He looked
down at the hairy tip of his oddly-shaped body. He looked up at the
slot-machine and the huge pile of money-bags it had won him. He carefully
observed every inch of them, thinking hard. He looked back at the floor,
blinked his eyes a few times and closed them. He rolled out a long sigh.
Finally, he looked up, turned around, and faced ProZD. "I forfeit,"
he said. The crowd gasped. They started muttering about this turn of events.
"So you admit you lose?" the man in the white
tuxedo said. King Carrot hesitated. Eyeballs everywhere were glued to him.
After that pause, he answered.
"I admit it." This got the people in the room
to start talking even more.
"You do know what this means, right?" ProZD
elaborated. "All that money you earned fighting to the finish?" He
gestured to the forfeiter's hill of cash with his cane. King Carrot looked at
it. "It all belongs to your opponent now. You're the lesser gambler. Do
you accept this?"
King Carrot's unattractive face twisted into something
even more frightful. It scrunched into a 100% ticked-off facial expression.
"I am NOT the lesser gambler." King Carrot growled out this sentence
so harshly, his voice-box was about to explode in a mass of pulpy juice.
"I only lose THIS time," he said just as fiercely. The audience was
getting rather scared of this man and his attitude. King Carrot spun on his
stool to face Yazzee who had a very bewildered look on his face. "You,
Yoshi boy," said the carrot, "you've won the battle, but the war's
not over yet! We'll meet again..." King Carrot thrust himself out of his
seat and hovered away from the yellow Yo'ster. SPOWT turned its head towards
him.
"He said, 'Good game! We should play again some
time.'"
Yazzee's mood brightened. "Oh, really? That was
nice of him..."
King Carrot caught up with his two fellow orange people.
He looked at them, and then at the huge pile of money he worked so hard to win.
This was the last time he'd ever be able to see it. He looked at his boys
again. "Well," he said, "it's a pity, really, but right now
we've got something more important than money to worry about."
"Right, boss," said the two of Carro and
Boscis at the same time. The three of them hovered around the bunch of bags,
past the casino's famous giant roulette wheel, and down the aisle of velvet
ropes. Everyone had witnessed this carefully and had not missed a single beat.
Then they all looked at Yazzee who was just sitting on his stool, looking at
the crowd nervously. ProZD smirked and used his cane to walk up to the yellow
Yoshi. Yazzee looked at the man without blinking.
"Yazzee Yoshino," ProZD said, "I declare
you the winner." He extended his right hand. "Congratulations."
Yazzee looked at the hand for a moment, then grabbed it finally. The two people
shook, and the crowd went wild. They even started chanting his name.
"YAZZEE! YAZZEE! YAZZEE! YAZZEE!"
Yazzee's face looked stupefied like he was in a dream.
Wow... he thought. So this is what it feels like... An image of Boshi being
praised in a similar fashion showed up in his mind. He giggled at it, and the
two hands of him and the judge left one another. Perhaps he'd be able to make
his homeland proud after all...
ProZD walked back up to Boland and Kohler. The two men
looked at their superior expectantly. "My work here is done," ProZD said.
"Come on. Let's get out of here..."
"Alright, boss," Boland said.
"Right, boss," Kohler agreed. Pretty soon,
another trio had left the room. Yazzee was left behind, still basking in all
the glory of being the winner...
Somewhere outside Hotel Delfino, the carrots had yet
another journey to embark on, and it was just getting started. Should
anything happen to the base... thought King Carrot, it'll mean
trouble...
♠♣♥♦
The four people
that had released a town from the rule of a certain impostor had been walking
all night through the woods. At last, after a long session of crunching through
sticks and leaves and weaving through branches and shrubs, they had reached an
opening.
"Shy Guy," said the one that resembled a bug,
"how much longer 'til we reach the temple?"
"Big Guy," the oversized 8-Bit corrected.
"Fine then. Big Guy." The other man played
along. "How much longer?" The other two were probably thinking the
same thing.
The muscular leader of the group, suddenly came to a
stop. He folded his arms. The others stopped as well. "What is it?"
the grey one asked.
The one being asked this extended a huge arm and
pointed. The other three turned their heads. Something was there on top of the
hill. It was a strange building being held up with pillars and a few
staircases. The most unusual thing about this building was that it was covered
in black and white tiles. The masked man smirked with satisfaction. "There
it is, guys," he said. "The temple we've all been waiting for."
The boy of the group looked overwhelmed. With excited,
wide eyes, he said, "Are you serious?!"
"Positive," said the muscleman. His trio of
cohorts all jumped up and down in triumph. He let them bask in their glory for
a while, and then he had to calm them down. "Alright, people, time to
rest."
The bug and the boy objected. "What?! But we're so
close!!" argued the younger one.
"My normal self is just moments away... Let's keep
going!!" said the other one.
The enormous club-wielder just folded his arms and shook
his head. "Nope. That's enough for today. We rest," he insisted.
"I think he's right," said his fellow ex-Shy
Gang-member. The other two breathed sighs of disappointment.
"Alright," the insect man conceded, "but
first thing tomorrow morning, we raid that place!"
"Yes!" said his shrunken companion, pumping an
arm.
"Agreed." The bodybuilder unfolded his massive
arms, stretched, and yawned. "Well Laser Snifit, Chogun, Davey," he
addressed them. "It's lights out!" They all nodded and began
preparing themselves for another night of sleep. Surely, the next day, they'd
be able to get what they wanted...
♠♣♥♦
Back on Lava Lava
Island in a location where a rough battle previously took place, two Yo'sters
had finally caught up with each other. They consisted of a magenta one and a dark
orange one. The magenta one spoke first.
"So, Glishy, how are the lessons going? Is he
catching on?" Fyooshi asked.
"Yeah, he knows a few words and phrases,"
Glishy responded. "He's a fast-learner."
"That's good to hear," Fyooshi commented.
"Maybe someday we'll be able to learn a little more about him, like who he
is, where he came from, and how he got here."
"Yeah," said his multilingual friend. He
looked at his feet thoughtfully, and then he looked back up. "Say,
Fyooshi? How do you think he got here? Do you think it was aliens, or
something?"
This rang a bell to Fyooshi. It wasn't a very pleasant
one. "Probably," he solemnly stated.
"A U.F.O. just left the island a little while
ago," Glishy pointed out. "What do you think that was all
about?"
"I'm not sure," Fyooshi expressed.
"Raphael told me a little about them, though. He said he was abducted by
them once."
Glishy looked shocked. "He was??"
Fyooshi nodded. "Yeah, he was. He said they keep
going around, capturing people, but only if they're really strong, like
him," the cowardly Yoshi explained. "He said their leader has
hypnotic powers. He can put people into these deep sleeps where they have
nothing but bad dreams that are kind of like flash-backs, but stranger. He said
they have to fight in these dreams, otherwise, when they wake up, they become
his slaves."
Glishy was interested in this explanation, but also a
little concerned. "Now, why would he want to do that?"
Fyooshi shrugged. "I don't know."
"Hmm..." The dark orange Yoshi scratched the
back of his head. "Well, whatever it is, it's definitely trouble."
The worldly Yoshi craned his head back and got a good look at the stars.
"Something tells me... that Ren was just the beginning of our
problems..."
Fyooshi let these words sink in, and he gulped.
"But... but..." he stuttered. "Ren is gone for good...
right?!"
"Yeah," Glishy said. "I guess so."
Fyooshi nervously alternated between tapping one foot
and the other. He looked at the ground in a sweat, and then at his friend
again. "Well, um," he started, "I think we should be going to
bed now."
Glishy looked perplexed. "Ren's gone."
Fyooshi gave a quick nod. "Yeah."
"You don't need to follow a curfew anymore."
"I know," Fyooshi said. "I just think we
should be going to bed now."
Glishy's face still looked weird. "Okay," he
said.
"So, then," Fyooshi stammered.
"Goodnight?"
Glishy slowly nodded. "Yeah. Goodnight."
"Okay." Hesitantly, the two Yoshies turned
around and started walking away so they could hit the hay. Upon ambling about,
Fyooshi had to get some speculating done.
Ren's gone... but so is Noshi and Naji, he
thought. And those aliens... they're still out there. The magenta
Yoshi's walking continued. They had something to do with their
disappearance. I know it, he reasoned. And they're about to do something
worse than what Ren did... Way worse...
♠♣♥♦
Ren, himself, had
other things to worry about. Together, the three of him, Razule, and the Goomba
they had just recruited had made it to a spot in the woods where the center of
attention was what appeared to be huge, oddly-shaped boulder covered in moss
and dirt. Ren didn't recognize this, but the Goomba seemed to be thinking
really hard while staring at it, and Razule was prancing around as happy as all
get-out.
"IT'S HERE!!" he squealed. "It's here,
it's here, it's here, it's here, it's here, it's here, IT'S HERE!!"
"You know what this is??" the Goomba asked the
crazy Raven-like creature once his dance slowed down.
"EHP!" the black thing grunted. "Less
talk, more walk!" Razule then began to make all kinds of quickly-paced
movements all over the rock. Every time he did so, it became less mossy and
less rock-like. This gradual change made the Goomba seem to find it more and
more familiar. At last, all was revealed. The Goomba was very surprised.
"I thought I knew what that was!!" he
exclaimed.
"What is it?" Ren asked the new guy.
"It's-"
"-RENNY BOY!!" Razule yelled. The Raven's
attention was stolen. "This thing has fallen and it can't get up. It needs
your charity!!"
"I'm on it," Ren replied. The Goomba watched
as the Raven shuffled off and the Raven-like person stepped back. Two witnesses
stood side-by-side watching their third party member getting ready to flip
whatever this thing was right-side-up again.
"This is gonna be great!" Razule said.
"Pretty soon, we'll be hopping, and flopping, and bopping around!!"
The Goomba just gave his two party members weird looks.
Ren looked at his target, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He flexed
his muscles, getting ready for the blow. He opened up his eyes, and unleashed
his fury.
"Boonnn..." He lowered his head, and flung
himself at the prize. "ZZAAAIIII!!!" WHAMM!! FWUMP!! In one swift
movement, he had managed to slam his feet into the thing's surface at the right
point, causing it to flip onto its side, which was actually making it stand the
way it was meant to. The three of them got to see this new possession of theirs
in its proper manner. It was a big, green boot with a wind-up key in the back.
However, that little accessory of it wasn't rotating as it was meant to.
"With this, we can go ANYWHERE!!" Razule said.
"Lava Lava Island, Yoshi's Island, Kariboo Island, the sun...
ANYWHERE!!"
The Goomba took this new advantage into consideration.
"It should," he said. "It probably should."
"Well, then why all the lolly-gaggin'?! Let's hop
in!" Razule stated. "Just one teensy-weensy problemo," he added.
"No pilot! This thing has a foot, but no brain!" He looked at the
Goomba who was returning the eye-contact with a weirded-out facial expression.
"Princy to the rescue!! You can give this thing its wings again,
right?!"
The one he called Princy stared a little more, then
nodded. "Yes. I think I can."
"Then go, gladiator. Go and smite the troll!!"
Razule encouraged. The Goomba nodded. He waddled up to the device, looked up at
it, and scrunched his feet up. With all his might, he flipped up into the air
and into the driver's seat. Ren and Razule both watched in anticipation. Within
moments, the new instrument was up and running again. The wind-up key was
twirling around once again and it was ready for lift-off. "YA-HOO!!"
Razule crowed. "Ren! Our carriage has arrived!"
"Yes, sir," Ren replied. Pretty soon, the two
of them were sharing this gigantic garment of war with the formerly-royal one.
With a little assistance from that very guy, the thing even started to jump
around, making trees and bushes around them alike tremble at the tremors it
relatively created. The Goomba was a little glad to have at least one souvenir
from the town, while Ren was astonished by this thing's movements. Razule
wasn't much different.
"Mush! Mush!" the crazy one said.
"Ding-dong! Glory and marshmellows will not get themselves!!"
"Razule," the Goomba said, still making the
new transportation device leap through the forest, "where shall we
go?"
"To Clubba Road!" he answered. "There,
our broken violins await! We must get them before they get us!"
"Roger!" the Goomba said. He continued to let
the giant boot stampede through the collection of vegetation. Razule's
obnoxious voice could be heard ringing out.
"LOOK OUT, WORLD!" Razule announced. "THE
THREE BOOMBATEERS ARE ON THE LOOSE! THEY'RE COMING WITH THEIR VERY OWN BOOMBA'S
SHOE! AND THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU, CLUBBA ROAD!! KA-FWEE-HEE-HEE!!"
♠♣♥♦
The path to the
peak of Shooting Star Summit most certainly was a dazzling one. Xoshi couldn't
help but admire all of the purple, the glitter, and the rainbows this place
seemed to shine with. It even appeared to come with stars of its own. He also
caught a glimpse of some house along the way, but he thought little of it. He
felt like he was on a different planet.
After that part of the walk was over, it was then up to
the two of him and White Rose to scale up an unusual slope coiling its way
around their destination. More of the realm's beauty had Xoshi in awe.
Eventually, the coiling came to a stop and became more of a staircase. The duo
stood before it.
This is it, Xoshi, Beel stated. Our journey
begins...
The brown Yo'ster had butterflies twisting around in his
stomach. Don't remind me, he said back.
"Well, Sir Xoshi," White Rose said, "now
what?"
Tell him to wait there, Beel instructed.
"Wait here," Xoshi said, carrying out the
order. White Rose obeyed.
Go up the stairs, Beel said. Xoshi did that,
leaving the knight of the desert behind. He soon found himself on a wide,
purple platform rimmed with seven shapes resembling stars in circles, all of
them arranged neatly. Walk to the center, Beel stated. In a very
hesitant fashion, Xoshi did that, too. Each step he let his rubber shoes take
him got him only so much closer to his destination. At last, he was standing
right on it. White Rose watched all this in utter confusion. Now wait...
This, too, was an order that Xoshi carried out. He didn't know how this would
help, but he did it anyway. Suddenly, Beel did something very strange.
Star Spirits, the Star Warrior said, I have
arrived...
"Well done." Both Xoshi and White Rose
unexpectedly heard the voice of a kindly old woman show up out of nowhere. They
both looked around confusedly in search of the source of this voice. Then it
materialized. First the stars in the circles lit up in different colors,
including green, blue, purple, red, teal, silver, and grey. Then above each
star emerged several explosions of various other colors like an array of
fireworks. Then some figures began to flicker in where these explosions took
place like a set of five-pointed televisions. Gradually, they faded into their
true forms. The Seven Star Spirits had arrived as well. "Honorable
one," Nay-Charr said, "we welcome you to Shooting Star Summit. At
last, your quest has reached its starting point..." Neither Xoshi nor
White Rose understood a word of that. They seemed to speak an ancient tongue.
"Everyone," Nay-Charr said, "the wands." The others knew
exactly what this meant. They raised their fins up high and cast their spell.
Xoshi looked in all directions. Rotating around him,
shimmering collections of light were beginning to form. They all seemed to be
made out of swirling spikes of rainbows. The colors and the light they all gave
off slowly got brighter and brighter. Finally, they erupted in a gigantic flash
of spectral madness. Xoshi and White Rose were nearly blinded. Seven shapes of
glowing lights shined their way through the two people's eyelids. Once their
eyes were able to focus again, they could see that these strange hues were
still about, but they had caused seven scepter-like objects to appear. All
twelve colors of the rainbow had brought forth the Seven Magic Wands. Once that
had been done, Nay-Charr spoke again.
"Take them," she told Beel, "and see to
it that the oncoming evil shall be defeated."
I will, Beel responded. At this point, the wands
had come to a stop and were busy floating in midair.
"I say," Nay-Charr added, "that's quite
the interesting body you've managed to obtain." Xoshi's head was twisting
about. The body and mind did not seem to reflect each other. The other Star
Spirits noticed this, too. They started murmuring to each other.
It's, er, a long story, Beel said, sheepishly.
"You fool," the green Star Spirit scolded.
"You shouldn't have dragged this creature into this. Now it will take you
approximately six months to leave his body, and already five days have gone
by." Her six peers were each sharing various titters with one another.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me, Beel apologized.
"I suppose it can't be helped," Nay-Charr
said. The other six seemed to pipe down some. Then the high-ranking woman
addressed Beel's body using the language of Yo'ster Isle. "Courageous
Yoshi," she said to the brown one. Xoshi's head snapped forward and looked
directly into the eyes of this powerful person. He listened intently.
"Another was appointed to this job. You were not. However..."
Nay-Charr closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh. "It appears there are
no other options." She opened them up again and looked at Xoshi.
"You, young adventurer," she said. "This Star Warrior... You
shall be the eyes. You shall be the ears. The arms, the legs, the voice... All
of them." Xoshi stared without blinking, but understandingly. "You
have been elected for this," she clarified. "You shall be guided. The
one with whom you share your mind with shall do this for you. This is the
destiny that awaits you two." Xoshi nodded timidly, knowing who and what
she was referring to. "You know of your mission, correct?" Xoshi
nodded again. "Good." Nay-Charr then took a peak behind the brown
Yo'ster and took notice of a man dressed in white standing before the platform,
stunned in pure astonishment. "Is this one of them?" she asked Beel.
Yes, it is, her servant replied. Although, I'm
afraid there's a little trouble... Beel then commenced explaining to
Nay-Charr about White Rose's personal plight. She understood perfectly well.
She stopped talking to the Star Warrior and started speaking to White Rose in
his own language.
"Step forward, White Rose," she said.
Surprised even more, the swordsman complied. He walked up the steps, across the
platform, feeling the eyes of the Star Spirits watching him, and he stood next
to Xoshi's left side. "Do you know why you're here?" Nay-Charr asked.
White Rose shook his head. "No, ma'am. I do
not," he replied.
"Very well. We shall enlighten you..." She
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The other Star Spirits made similar
preparations. "We are the Seven Star Spirits," she began. "For
ages, we have been watching over this planet, granting people's wishes,
occasionally with the exceptionally potent Star Rod, but that is beside the
point. Lately, we have been having something much more important on our
minds..."
White Rose looked puzzled by this powerful woman's
words. To her left, the frosty Blizzarr took it from there. "A while ago,
a cold-hearted Magikoopa by the name of Kamek sought out the potential of two
babies representing Mario Land. This caused quite a commotion to arise, and
only eight Yoshies could put it on ice. Many rejoiced once this happened, and
they still are, which is something that shouldn't be as something even more
bone-chilling is on the warpath..."
A feeling of wonder filled White Rose's innards.
Adventurous Earhar took her turn to do the explaining. "We couldn't just
sit back with our heads in the clouds, so we got to work. We used our magic
powers to make these Seven Magic Wands here out of air! They must each be given
to one person so that they can team up and send that something flying!"
Next, it was the fiery Pyrar's turn. "You, White
Rose, are one of those seven people. I'm quite certain your journey here was a
rather difficult one, but I'm afraid that that was only a warm-up. Things will
only be heating up for you and your friends from this point on..."
The watery Seastar did the next segment of explaining.
"One person was meant to bring the seven of you together. This person was
meant to flow into the form of a doll, but a Yoshi was flowed into instead.
That Yoshi is beside you now. He was one of the eight. You are to journey
across the seas with him in order to help him unite the other six so that
eventually the seven of you can take on the oncoming evil and make it
drown!!"
White Rose looked at Xoshi quizzically in response to
this part of the explanation. Xoshi just looked nervous and shrugged. The next
part was spoken by the creepy Mummar. "The clock is ticking. As you
journey down the road, do not let the days pass too great in number. I fear
that will give the oncoming evil more time to fulfill its selfish desires.
Perhaps the apocalypse is on the verge. Who knows? Alas, not even we, the Seven
Star Spirits, know for sure. Only time will tell..."
Finally, Eldstar took his turn. "But with each wand
in the right hands, such an oncoming evil can be thwarted! The three of you can
do this, not just for the Star Spirits, but for the entire world! Please.
Everyone is counting on you..."
Nay-Charr topped it off. "Each wand comes with an
elemental-connection. Each wand and its powers must be conquered by its hero.
Once that has been done, the hero shall become the master of his wand. The KING
of his wand..." White Rose looked even more perplexed. He didn't look any
less questioning once the wand with a ruby embedded into its head floated
towards him. "Take your wand," she ordered, "and become its
king..."
White Rose looked questioningly first at the wand, then
at Nay-Charr, then at the wand again. Slowly, he reached for the wand in midair
with his right, gloved hand. He wrapped his fingers around its smooth,
cylindrical body, and was nailed by something completely unexpected. He felt a
tremendous snake of vibrating energy spiral throughout his body. His eyes
widened in shock and the grip he held the wand with became even tighter. The
vigor had evaporated, but he could still feel a bit of its tingling. He looked
at his new magical weapon in awe and intrigue. He gradually lifted his gaze
back up to that of Nay-Charr's who gave him a subtle smile.
"You accept?" she asked him.
"I never expected anything like this," the man
said, rotating his new wand with both hands, still observing its glory. He
looked up at the starry sky. "All this time... I had no idea..." He
let his head tilt downward at a slow pace. "But... An oncoming evil... The
apocalypse... Seven people... I'm one of them..." He closed his eyes and
shook his head. "That's..." he started. "That's... quite a predicament..."
He opened his eyes, looking at the purple ground, and letting the wand rest in
his clasped hands. "But I suppose I have no choice..."
"Indeed..." Nay-Charr said. White Rose looked
up.
"I accept," he said.
"Good," said Nay-Charr. "Now go,"
she ordered. "Don't let us down..."
White Rose nodded, wand in hand. "Yes, ma'am."
"That one's mine," Pyrar stated. "Use it
well, hero. Incinerate all who get in your way."
The swordsman gave another nod. "Yes, sir."
The next thing to happen dealt with the other six wands.
They all floated to the front of Xoshi. Confused, but knowing what this meant,
he took them anyway. At last, they were in his possession. They could finally
start playing their role in his quest. Nay-Charr then commenced wrapping up the
conversation. She had to speak three different languages in order to do this.
"Now we must part," she said, speaking to White Rose. "Best of
luck, hero." White Rose nodded once again. Then she spoke to Xoshi.
"The uniting of the seven is in your hands," she said. "Best of
luck, Yo'ster." Xoshi made the same gesture that White Rose did to
represent his comprehension. Lastly, Beel was up. "Guide him well."
I will, Beel said.
"Good," Nay-Charr responded. "Best of
luck, Star Warrior."
Thank you, Nay-Charr Beel obliged. After that,
the two of Xoshi and White Rose were left standing around, watching the Star
Spirits slowly fade away with reassuring smiles. They flickered like a
collection of television sets once more, becoming more and more blurry. At
last, there was not a bit of them left. The world-saving group was left alone.
White Rose turned to his companion.
"Well then," he exclaimed, "shall we be
off?"
Xoshi nodded. "Yes," the Yoshi stated.
"Let's go."
"Alright then..." Another agreement had been
reached. Their visit to Shooting Star Summit had been a success. Their real
mission was lying ahead of them...
While walking down the hill away from where they had
come for, Beel started talking to Xoshi again.
Are you wondering what everyone just said?
Mm, sort of, Xoshi admitted. I only caught a
few words, like "Magikoopa," "Yoshi," and "White
Rose."
You're learning, said his instructor.
Yeah, I guess, Xoshi said modestly. Beel? Is
there anything you DON'T know how to say?
Beel laughed. Well, I suppose I do know a lot...
Xoshi was not the only one being modest. Would you like a translation?
Yes, please, Xoshi replied.
Alright... Xoshi then began hearing an
explanation of what had been exchanged between the Star Spirits, White Rose,
and the Star Warrior. It was basically just a repeat of what he was told that
fateful night when he began sharing his head with this otherworldly being, but
with a few more details. It all got Xoshi curious about something.
Beel? he asked, walking down that glittering,
purple path.
Yes? his head-mate replied.
I-
"So, you're famous," White Rose interjected.
"Huh?" Xoshi asked.
"The Star Spirits. They said that you were one of
the eight Yoshies that brought an end to a great disaster caused by a Magikoopa
by the name of Kamek. That makes you famous, does it not?" the knight
pointed out.
"Well..." Xoshi said, scratching the back of
his head. "Probably."
"One question," the sword-wielder added.
"What exactly did they mean when they said another person was assigned
this task, but you got elected instead?"
Xoshi consulted with Beel about this one. Should I
tell him? he asked.
If you want, was the advice.
I don't.
Then don't.
How do I tell him that I don't want to tell him?
Beel told him how to do this.
"Um," Xoshi began. "It... uh... long
story. Really long story."
White Rose stalled. "I see..." The walking
continued a little more. Still, the place remained galactic and bedazzling. The
knight spoke again. "I suppose we have more important things to worry
about, hm?"
"Yeah," Xoshi concurred. The talking ended,
but the walking carried on. At last, Xoshi could return to his question.
Beel? he tried again.
Yes, Xoshi.
You star people... You keep bringing up how this
'oncoming evil' is gonna show up and kill everybody, or something, the
Yo'ster pointed out. I gotta know: who... or what... exactly is it that
needs to die so badly? What'll happen if we don't do something about it?
Beel let a pause come after that. Finally, Xoshi got an
answer. You really want to know?
Yes. Please.
Beel hesitated once more. Once again, the Yoshi's words
were acknowledged. Alright...
♠♣♥♦
"Huh. So
that's what happened," Boshi mumbled. The two of him and Prof. E. Gadd
were sitting down in a booth at a tavern of some sort. The professor had told
him all about what happened that unfortunate night when the six of him, his
friends, and two thieves were attacked by nine ghosts and when the ship
exploded sending a good few of them flying sky-high. Boshi took a cookie off of
his plate and took a bite out of it. "It clears things up, that's for
sure," the shaded Yoshi said beneath his breath. The scientist nodded.
Boshi swallowed and said something else. "But what happened to all the
other guys? Where'd they go?"
Prof. E. Gadd held out his hands, unknowingly.
"Beats me, friend. Maybe they landed somewhere in Mario Land, too. Who
knows?"
"So this is Mario Land..." Boshi mused.
"Indeed. Did you know that my friend, Dr.
Kamenstein, used to be the royal vizier of the royal family of this
country?"
"He did, huh?" Boshi said.
"Yes. Too bad it didn't work out, though. The three
of us and-"
"-So what now?" Boshi interrupted.
"Well, now I plan on unveiling the mysteries of
this flower," said the knowledgeable man, holding up his prize.
"Surely, it will bring me to a better understanding of the ghosts I find
so interesting."
"Yeah, that's great. But what am I gonna do?"
Boshi demanded.
"Well..." E. Gadd placed a finger against his
lip. "You could try and find a way back home."
"I could do that," the blue Yo'ster responded.
"Or you could go on a search for your friends, THEN
try and find a way back home."
"That, too," Boshi said. He ate another
cookie. This time, he did so by snatching it off the plate with his tongue like
a whip. Prof. E. Gadd suddenly yawned and stretched.
"Well, it's getting late," he said.
"Yeah, I guess..." Boshi looked out the window
of the booth to his left. He could see a landscape of houses, trees, and roads,
all of them dim beneath a starry sky. He looked at the sparkly little white
things through his pale reflection and organized his thoughts.
So I just yelled at a guy for ruining everything for
me, Yoshi, Xoshi, and Yazzee, he was thinking. Turns out, it wasn't his
fault after all. Some ghosts did this to us. He looked away from the window,
saw the last cookie on his plate, and snapped it into his mouth. If only I
knew where they were and what they were doing...
♠♣♥♦
With each passing
second, the night was getting older, and the three of Carro, Boscis, and King
Carrot were getting closer to the place they were in before they decided to
head off for that casino they had just paid an interesting visit to. Its
condition and a few other things were exactly what was on the leader's mind.
Two things terrorizing the place, he thought
darkly. They could be anyone or anything. Still, no use taking any chances.
Either we take care of this little problem, or we all suffer. I've made MY
choice... The journey continued...
♠♣♥♦
Four people were
surrounding a campfire once again. For the second time on their adventure, they
had a night-sky to sit beneath and a nice warm flame to bask in the glow of. Of
course, this had been another occasion for the quartet to relax and swap a few
stories. The muscular one was taking his turn to do so at this point.
"...So, loudly and proudly, from now on whenever
people ask who it was that saved Goomba Grove from the fake Goomba King,
they'll say that it was four great people named Big Guy, Laser Snifit, Chogun,
and Davey," he said, nodding assuredly. The others visibly had mixed feelings
about this.
"Whatever, Shy Guy," said his grey cohort.
"Big Guy!" he corrected again.
"Right."
"Well, you know what they say," said the
axe-wielder, "names aren't important."
"Hmph," the boy grunted. He tilted his head
back, looking at the dark canvass with his arms folded and his face scowling.
"I get all the luck," he said. "I know that technically I'm only
about ten years old now, but that doesn't change the fact I'm a grown
man."
"You're so cute," the bodybuilder teased. He
got a glare in return.
"Hush," the boy demanded. Next, it was the
bug's turn to speak.
"Say... Big Guy..." he said.
"Yeah... Chogun?" the other person played
along.
"What exactly is it like inside this temple,
anyway?"
The brutal 8-Bit shook his head. "Can't say,"
he replied. "I've never actually been in there, myself. I've just heard
about it."
"Well then, what have you heard?" the insect
man asked.
"I heard there are monsters in there," was the
answer. "They probably won't be wanting us hanging around, so... keep your
dukes up, okay?"
The one called Chogun pumped a three-fingered arm.
"Yes, sir!" The one he said this to suddenly let out a yawn while
waving a hand in front of his face. The others looked at him expectantly.
"Alright, everyone," he said. "Lights
out. For real, this time." The others agreed to go along with this, and so
for the second time they began to get themselves ready for a little siesta. The
next day would be the big one...
Shy Guy... Er, Big Guy... sure knows a lot, one
of them thought. Maybe I've been too hard on him in the past...
Pah! Monsters. Like they'll be any different from
those Goombas that tried us before, thought another. I'll be ready. My
axe will chop them all down! And then we'll win our prize...
That muscle-brain enjoys tormenting me, a
different one moped. They all do. This has to end, and it has to end soon.
He thought about his newfound weapon. It should be a piece of cake with this
new gun of mine. I can shoot lasers now... just like Laser Snifit...
I'm such a good leader, the last one thought. Go
me...
♠♣♥♦
Raphael, the
Raven, looked up at the endlessly stretching ocean of tiny cosmic speckles.
Things may have gotten significantly simpler for him and the rest of the
island, but still his stomach remained feeling somewhat on the queasy side.
Something just plain wasn't right.
It's great to be back, he thought. I have the
tree back and everything. However... Another minute detail tapped him on
the shoulder. It was being guarded by an odd little creature named Razule. I
wonder: who or what was he and where did he come from? What does he want? Where
is he now and what is he doing? The huge bird stared at the constellations
a while longer, and then he shook his head. Perhaps it doesn't concern me,
he concluded. I have shoes to fill in...
♠♣♥♦
The more trees
flew past the trio, the more they could see that soon the forest could be put
behind them and the beach could be put in front of them. The Goomba they had
enlisted was doing a fine job piloting the new vehicle. Finally, the last two
masses of bark and leaves whizzed past them, and soft, crunchy sand could be
beneath their giant foot. Ren saw the foamy water lapping against the edge of
this place, and got a little nervous.
"Razule," he asked. "Shouldn't we stop or
something?? This thing can't go on water!!"
"Au contraire, my dear friend! This thing can do
ANYTHING!!" Razule retorted. "Show 'im, Princy!"
"Roger," said the Goomba. The edge of the
water was getting dangerously close to the huge, stomping foot. Ren's nerves
were only getting more and more shot. He watched in doubt and a little fear,
and he shut his eyes tightly. He waited for the inevitable downfall of this
machine. But then... SPLOOSH! SPLOOSH! SPLOOSH! Shocked by the sound of this
noise, he opened his eyes and looked around. Had he gone nuts? Was what he was
witnessing real? His eyes told him that this gigantic shoe was capable of
hopping across water as though it were more land.
He was astounded. Sitting back in pure awe and
disbelief, he said, "Well I'll be!!"
Razule chuckled. "Toldja!" Ren looked behind
himself. He could tell Kariboo Island was that mass of trees and whatnot
gradually becoming even more of a small thing in the background every
fleeting moment. He turned his head around and relaxed.
He's a weirdo, he thought, but he never ceases
to amaze me...
♠♣♥♦
The
"oncoming evil" that we speak of is a person,
Beel said. Xoshi and White Rose were still walking through a sparkly place at
the time. Beel's explanation continued. This person has made some pretty
complicated plans and is already carrying them out. This person has already
managed to get a good number of people as a faithful crew as part of these
plans. Thus, there is an organization somewhere out there on the move. Unless
we do something about it, together, they'll get a hold of a gigantic castle.
However, this would be no ordinary castle. It would be one that allows its
ruler to do a variety of different things, thereby making it an incredible
source of power. Xoshi's eyes widened at the sound of this. He listened
further. Such power should not fall into the wrong hands. Only seven people
with seven wands can stop it. That is the meaning of this journey.
Xoshi was still quite surprised by these words. He let a
few seconds drift by so he could think it over. Finally, he responded. I
see... he said. Sounds like quite an enemy we've got...
Quite... With that out of the way, the heroes
could further their journey through the starry place with fewer things on their
minds while a certain force out there was at work...
♠♣♥♦
"Oh,
really..." Dr. Kamenstein. "And whose fault was that?"
Storko stalled and stammered. He played nervously with
the feathery tips of his wings trying to look for words. "Um, uh," he
hesitated. "M-Mine?"
The doctor had his back turned towards the stork with
his hands folded behind him. The three of them and Marilyn were in the
Madscikoopa's living room talking about what had happened a certain night.
Storko was in a cold sweat, standing up, and Marilyn was smothering her face with
a handkerchief, sitting down. The lab-coat-wearing Terra Pin was also standing.
He heard his creation's answer, grimaced, and swung a fist against one of the
walls. He kept it there, keeping his inhaling and exhaling very strict. The
woman watched him in discomfort. He shook his head in a somber tone. He removed
his hand and walked over to his female guest who was still tearful. He stood
before her. "Madame," he said. The mother sniffled a little more
looking back at him. "Tommorrow, I can fly you back to Gana Village. It's
the least I can do." The woman nodded and wiped more moisture from her
eyes. Dr. Kamenstein shook his head. He folded his arms behind himself and
walked away from the woman. He went up to the wall once again, looking at the
floor.
I spent all these years guarding that strange
music-box, he thought. All these years... Now Annabyss can walk among us
once more... Who knows what will happen...
♠♣♥♦
Annabyss, along
with Tessa and the Kamenstein Bros., was back on the Kame Cruiser. Once again,
Wario and Waluigi were piloting the ship. Annabyss was in her usual spot behind
Wario, but at that point, Tessa was taking up a similar one behind Waluigi.
Beyond the windshield, they could see a dark version of Sarasa Land and its
sand-rimmed edge. They could finally put this place behind them and move on.
All four of them seemed to be enjoying the trip immensely.
"Annie?" Tessa said. The prettily-eyed woman
turned her head towards the girl. "How long do we have to wait until we
get to Uaurpe?"
"It takes a few days, more or less, dearie. You'll
just have to be patient," the royal silhouette responded.
"Okay," Tessa said.
"That is, of course," Annabyss added,
"should we not have to encounter any delays along the way."
Tessa laughed. "What could happen?" she asked.
"Anything." The two females returned their
heads to watching what the windshield had to show them. At this moment, Sarasa
Land was about to be a thing of the past within seconds. Letting patience
overcome her and deciding not to worry about anything, Tessa began to nod off.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side. Annabyss, of course,
remained staring, wide awake. The two of the creepy Kamenstein Bros. resumed
piloting the transportation device with big toothy grins on their faces as
usual. Then suddenly...
WHAM!! Something hard and heavy rocked the ship. Its
four passengers were nearly thrown out of their seats. The Kamenstein Bros.
were a little startled and Tessa snapped wide awake, but Annabyss remained
calm.
"Annie?!" Tessa said. "What was
that?!"
"Someone doesn't want our company," she said.
"Boys, time to accelerate."
"Ja, Madame." The plane then started to fly
through the sky at an even faster rate. However...
WHAM!! They were hit again. Fear swept the room once
again, but Annabyss just looked annoyed.
"Keep flying, boys," she ordered.
"Ja, Madame." They did just that. Their speedy
method of doing this didn't last long, though.
WHAM!!! Another hit rocked their world. Annabyss and
Tessa could see through the main window before Wario and Waluigi that the sky
was starting to disappear from sight. Tessa got worried. "Annie?" she
said. "Are we gonna die?"
"No, we're not." Annabyss stood up from her
seat while Tessa clung to hers. Neither was an easy task since the plane's
center of gravity was gradually beginning to shift.
"Was werden wir, Madame machen?" the boys
asked.
"Just hop into my mouth." Wario and Waluigi
hopped out of their seats and turned around. Annabyss had transformed herself
into a giant Goomba with colorful eyes. The altered woman opened up a fanged
maw and the two brothers hopped right in. Tessa looked at this in pure
confusion.
"Are you sure this is- OOMPH!!" Wario reached
out of the woman's mouth, grabbed onto the girl's arm, and pulled her in. The three
of them disappeared inside Annabyss's mouth and let her do the rest. By now,
the windshield was showing a deep set of ravines with steep walls as something
the plane was on a collision course for. Not wanting the ship to slant any
further, Annabyss commenced turning around, walking through the door, and down
the aisle of seats. She could see that the vicinity was starting to smoke, but
had to dismiss it. Once she found the door, she fried the whole thing off with
a quick zap from one of her eyebeams, steadied herself, and leapt out.
Two different things fell from the sky. One of them, a
flaming plane about to crash into the ocean, and the other, a black-and-white
Goomba falling from where the jet just happened to be a second ago. Annabyss
was plummeting at first, letting the rocky place below come closer and closer,
but then FWOOMP! A dark parachute opened up from behind her, and the massive
Goomba woman could begin floating down to safety.
The slow-placed drop to the stone-filled sanctum that
awaited her arrival was a long one. What felt like hours seemed to endlessly
drag by. In a very sluggish manner, the nothingness surrounding her began to
shift from being the air above a gorge with steep sides to being the air within
the premises of all that. Tall, flat rocks constructing the valley was all
around Annabyss. Finally after the extensive wait, the magical woman was able
to land on her feet and let the humungous parachute float down to the ground
behind her. It was still flattening itself out once she opened her mouth back
up. The three of Tessa and the Kamenstein Bros. at last could hop out and start
walking on rocky terrain. Annabyss reverted back to her Anuboo form. Tessa
looked around at the vaguely mountain-like area they were then in. She turned around
and looked at Annabyss.
"Annie? Where are we?" she asked.
Annabyss walked past her and the two men of the group.
"Ganchan Canyon," she said. "A place of falling rocks. We should
be careful."
"Ohhh," Tessa moaned. "What are we gonna
do now?"
Annabyss glided onward along the rocky path. To her left
was a merciless pit and to her right was another one of the ravine's stone
walls. "We press onward," she said.
Tessa looked a little puzzled by this. Wario and Waluigi
turned, looked at her, folded their arms, and nodded. They spun themselves
around again and started goose-stepping in unison after the woman. Tessa stayed
behind for a while longer.
Tessa looked a little puzzled by this. Wario and Waluigi
turned, looked at her, folded their arms, and nodded. They spun themselves
around again and started goose-stepping in unison after the woman. Tessa stayed
behind for a while longer.
Annie is strange, she thought. But I trust
her... Soon, she started trotting after the other three. Their journey
through Ganchan Canyon had come to a start...
♠♣♥♦
This is it. The
big ceremony... Dark thoughts went through
William's mind. He was at the end of a large, rectangular, and wooden room. The
place was rimmed with more Death Sickles, all of which dressed in robes and
sitting down. A good portion of them had grey skin, white hair, and all that.
Still, they gave the creeps to the young boy. Like the rest of them, he was
wearing one of those strange robes, only the hood was down. He and the powerful
Minister Zelm were standing on a platform of sorts. Between them was some type
of pedestal with a basin built into it. In the background, a choir was singing
some eerie music. Once it stopped, the minister cleared his throat and began to
speak.
"Brothers and sisters," Zelm spoke in his
authoritative voice, "we are gathered here today in honor of the newest
Death Sickle. A young one, albeit a rather energetic one, overflowing with
potential. Soon, he shall be one with us. He shall be the next thread in our
woven band of purity. With his assistance, we shall see to it that the Twelve
Gods of Chaos will be smitten and peace and glory will once again reign over
the lands..." The exalted old man dipped his creepy right hand into the
basin and pulled it out with some water filling up his cupped palm. Droplets of
the liquid streamed between his aged fingers as he drifted it away from him.
"Lower your head, boy," he ordered. With his eyebrows scrunched
slightly downward, William obeyed this. The elderly man took his hand and let
the water trickle down onto his black hair. "Let holiness bind you and
guide you for the rest of eternity." Little beads of the water coiled down
and dripped off of each of the boy's hairs, making tiny splashes back into the
basin. Zelm got another handful and did the same thing with it as the other
one. "May darkness never befall you nor tempt you." William's hair
became even more sopping wet. Zelm gave him another round of this with the
final handful. "May you ensure an everlasting victory in our campaign
against the Twelve Gods of Chaos..."
When is it gonna be over? William moped with his
hair drenched.
"Arise," Zelm told the boy. William lifted his
head up letting miniscule projectiles of the liquid fall from his hair and drip
onto his robe. Zelm walked around the pedestal and confronted William.
"Your hands," he said. William held them both out. Zelm grabbed them
both and placed them together, keeping them sandwiched between his own. He
looked William straight in the eye. "From this day forth, your name shall
be Hyrg. You shall be the swordsmsan of the ages. The oasis in the desert. A
tempest in a small package..."
I'm not William anymore??
"You shall be known as Hyrg, you shall be called
Hyrg, and you will answer only to Hyrg," Zelm elaborated. "Is that understood,
Hyrg?"
The renamed boy hesitated. "Yes," he said.
"Good." Zelm let go of the boy's hands and
stood back. "The ceremony is complete. You are now one of us. Your
training as a Death Sickle begins tomorrow..."
The new Death Sickle stood on that platform beside the
pedestal in deep thought. The creepy chorus was starting to sing again. So
I'm Hyrg now, he thought. I swear, this whole Death Sickle thing just
keeps getting weirder and weirder... The moment he had been waiting for had
come and gone. Now other things were lying in wait for him. It had been an
interesting night for quite a few people, and it wasn't over yet...
♠♣♥♦
He and Bowser
were standing across from each other in the middle of one of the mansion's
hallways. Kamek posed, gripping his wand and letting its jewel tremble and
begin to glow brighter and brighter. Bowser only stood in a fighting stance,
glaring at the crafty Magikoopa. Then FWOOSH!! Kamek fired a swirl of a
triangle, a square, and a circle at the tyrannical Koopaling. Bowser merely
hopped out of its way and let it blast a steaming hole into the wooden floor.
"Ha ha, Kamek! You missed!" Kamek muttered
something obscene beneath his breath. Bowser got back into his stance.
"Now it's my turn!!" Bowser puffed his little chest out with his
snout raised up into the air and his cheeks bloated.
"Oh, dear," Kamek said. He turned tail and
fled, or at least tried to. FFOOOOOMM!! Bowser unleashed a powerful blast of
flaming breath, and Kamek was caught in its line of fire, literally. The
sorceror suddenly stopped his movements as a magical Terra Pin clad in
ash-black clothes and even skin. He remained in his mid-running position,
wheezed, then collapsed onto the floor with a few dark clouds billowing from
beneath his defeated body.
"YES!!" Bowser hissed. He jumped up into the
air with one arm pumped and then started doing a victory dance.
"I hereby declare Prince Bowser Koopa the winner!
Well done, son!" Gorroh had been there the whole time and was quite
pleased with the outcome.
"I coulda beat 'im with one claw tied behind my
back!" Bowser boasted while jabbing at invisible enemies with a smug look
on his face.
"Shoot! I let my guard down," Kamek mumbled.
That was when Helga walked into the room. "Honey,
have you seen- BOWSER!! What are you doing out of bed?! You're not healed
yet!!" she spazzed once her eyes had been laid on her prancing son.
Gorroh looked at the woman, holding his arms out.
"Not to worry, my dear. Bowser is back in action and with more spunk than
ever before! He even beat up Kamek!" Helga's attention then turned to the
collapsed, soot-covered Kamek lying on the ground. She walked a little closer
to him.
"KAMEK!! What have I told you about beating up my
son?! You oughtta be ashamed of yourself!!" Kamek didn't answer. He
remained motionless on the floor.
"No, no, no," Gorroh chided. He walked past
his triumphant son and beside his hysterical wife. "You shouldn't yell at
him, dear! After all, he's taught our son so much! When things don't go your
way, make them go your way! When you get pushed, push back! And the best
defense is a formidable offense! Such is the way of a Koopa."
Helga turned her head and glared at him. "Such is
the way that'll get our son killed!" She then jerked herself around, strut
away from her spouse and up to her enthused son. She knelt down and suddenly
ensnared him in a massive hug.
"Hey, hey, hey! What gives?!" Bowser demanded.
"Oh, Bowsie, did that mean ol' Magikoopa hurt you,
darling?" she asked, still having her arms wrapped around her offspring.
"Aw, no, mama. He couldn't even touch me! He was a
wimp."
"Oh, thank goodness!!" Helga blurted. She gave
him another tightening hug and leg go. She placed her clawed hands on her
knees, kneeling before the tyke. "How do you feel?"
"I feel gweat!" Bowser started flexing his
muscles, still feeling invigorated by his newfound victory. "See, mama? No
more ouchies!"
Helga tilted her head at the Koopa child. Not anywhere
on him could she spot a single cut, bruise, or bandage. He was good as new.
"Really?" she breathed.
"Yup! I'm weady to get dhose stupid Yoshies
now!" he declared.
"Indeed you are, son! However, I'm afraid that's
not 'til later..." Gorroh walked away from the downed Kamek with his arms
folded behind him up to his two family members. Like Helga, he, too, knelt down
before the younger one. Bowser looked at him confusedly. "True, those
Yoshies did something really bad to us... and you, too! But I'm afraid they are
our number two priority."
"Wha?! Dhen what's number one?!" Bowser said.
Gorroh smacked a fist into his palm. "It's those
Marios! THEY are our real target! If we don't get them first, then they'll come
and get us!" Gorroh placed a hand on one of Bowser's tiny shoulders.
"Tommorrow morning, son, you'll go with Kamek to Mario Land so you can
kidnap a few babies and maybe a few other things while you're at it! That wimpy
Magikoopa needs someone tough like you around in order to do it anyway! Isn't
that right, son?"
Bowser nodded. "Yeah! Dhat doofus needs all dhe
help he can get!"
"That's the spirit! Plus, if you pull this off,
you'll have even more wimps to beat up! How does that sound?" Gorroh
encouraged.
Bowser nodded again. "Sounds gweat!" He
started punching at the air before him. "Lemme at 'em. Lemme at 'em!"
Gorroh chuckled. "You'll get 'em soon enough, son.
However, I'm afraid right now, it's past your bedtime." Gorroh removed his
hand from the little tyrant's shoulder and proceeded to hoist him off of the
floor.
"Aw, geez," Bowser moped while being lifted
through the air. Soon, he was resting on Gorroh's right shoulder who was
carrying him up the stairs. Helga was following.
"Dear, is this entirely right?" she asked.
"I mean... kidnapping babies??"
"Of course it's right, dear. I kidnapped YOU,
didn't I?"
"True..."
The voices of the parents trailed off. Kamek was still
on the ground and in pain. "Hello?" he croaked. "Did everyone
forget about me? It's past MY bedtime, too..." Unfortunately for the mage,
no-one heard his pleas. He breathed a sigh and continued lying down. A while
after that, Doppel floated into the room with an icepack held against his head.
He stopped hovering through his gigantic home once he looked down.
"Oh, Kamek! What a pleasant surprise," he
said. "So, what happened to you? Did you get hit on the head, too, or
something? Do tell."
"Uugghhhh..." Kamek groaned.
"I see," Doppel said. "Well, I'd love to
stay and chat, but right now, I have some very important work to do." He
then started floating through the halls once more. "Busy, busy,
busy!" His voice trailed off, too. The ghost-like man left the vicinity,
and the ill-fated Magikoopa was left all alone once again.
"I hate my life..." he grumbled...
♠♣♥♦
Har-Harlequin sat
in the middle of the painted Clattagin Woods somewhere. The nine of her and the
rest of her party members were in an opening and were all quite motionless,
especially Jester, Night Guy, Ba-doyng, Katunk, Taffy Kong, Groove Guy,
Groovum, and Rudy. However, the whole lot of them were all encased beneath damp
statues of ice, all of which had their fair share of runny droplets of water
sliding right off of them and disappearing into the colorful grass of the
woods. Har-Harlequin looked at her frozen comrades, then at Ba-doyng's missing
leg, then at the Clown Copter, then all around her at the strange leaves of
this forest's trees. The ugly woman heaved a sigh.
"Well I'm here," she said, "but the
others aren't..." She continued sitting in that opening, waiting patiently
for the other clowns to thaw. Then she heard something. The sound of flopping
against the ground was headed towards her. She looked up and saw it. It was a
Cheep-Cheep with a beret on his head, a paintbrush in one hand, a paint palette
in the other, squinty eyes, and skin that was mostly white with variously
colored splotches all over him. Somehow, this fish out of water was able to hop
its way through the trees, into the field and on up to the unattractive
sorceress. The Cheep-Cheep was smiling. The witch only blinked in confusion.
"Hola!" said the Cheep-Cheep. "Mi nombre
es Pablo Picarpso. Would you like your skin to be a painted a new color? I have
everything. Rojo, naranja, amarillo... You name it!"
Har-Harlequin scowled. "I don't want my skin to be
painted a new color. Now beat it!!"
"Muy bien entonces," said the fish. "I
shall take my business elsewhere. Until next time, Seniorita, beunos
noches!" The eccentric Cheep-Cheep turned around and hopped back into the
same stretch of trees it came from. After that, he disappeared, and the female
magic-user was alone again.
"Peculiar forest," she said under her breath.
"Mmm..." Her eyelids flew up. She had just
heard a rather familiar voice come from somewhere nearby. It was high-pitched,
and it was scratchy. She turned her head to the right and she could see that
the enormous Rudy was still coated in a layer of sopping, melting ice, but also
that he was beginning to twitch. His eyes were blinking and his mouth was
squirming. "Har-Harlequin?" he asked. "Is that you? Where are
we? Who was just talking?"
"Nobody," she replied. "We're in the
Clattagin Woods right now. I flew everyone here after that crazy Madscikoopa
froze you all! It was a disaster."
"Really?" Rudy asked. "Hmm... I'd take my
hat off for you, Har-Harlequin, but I'm afraid I can't lift my arms."
"You're still thawing," she said. "Give
it time."
"Yes," the tremendous clown exclaimed.
"And then... we'll be able to find out where our music-box is!"
"Yes," Har-Harlequin agreed. She resumed her
sitting and waiting. The others continued thawing, and Rudy began struggling to
get his other limbs moving again.
Tondariya, he thought. We're coming for you!
All of this was being observed by a certain female
Magikoopa. Secretly, she floated above them in the night-sky on her broomstick,
making careful observations.
"So, clowns are now on the premises of the
Clattagin Woods. Look out, Koopa Klan! You've got competition! Bleh heh heh heh
heh heh hehh..."
"Har-Harlequin, did you hear something?" Rudy
inquired.
"I did not."
"Okay..."
♠♣♥♦
Kammelina and
Kammeo were still in their bubbles floating somewhere down deep beneath the
waves. They had been searching and searching, but with no luck. It was getting
dark, and Kammeo was getting exhausted.
"Sister," she huffed. "can we rest?!
We've been at it for days!!"
"Just a few more minutes, Kammeo," her sibling
replied. Kammeo groaned and the looking continued. Kammelina's eyes were
getting heavy with more and more bags, but she didn't quit keeping them peeled
for anything suspicious. To her left, there was nothing but water, rocks, and
marine life. To her right, there was pretty much the same thing. Doubt was
beginning to set itself on her shoulders. Then she saw something on the ground
that brightened her mood. "Look, sister! A clue!" Kammeo stopped
hovering and looked at the other Magikoopa. She noticed she was picking up a
wet broken bottle off the ground. She held it up to her face and took a good
look at it through her spectacles. "Do you know what this means,
Kammeo?" she asked.
"People pollute?" the younger sibling replied,
sarcastically.
"No! It means we're getting closer!"
"How does a broken bottle mean we're getting
close?"
"Rrrgg... Nevermind!!" Kammelina threw the
bottle to the ground. It passed through her bubble quickly, but soon became
engulfed by the liquid of the ocean. It bounced slowly off the ground of this
place, then floated to a stop. "Come on. Let's just keep looking..."
"Whatever you say..." grumbled the younger
one. With hardly any more luck they had a second before that, the two witches
continued their search. It was only a matter of time until that Marinotroplan
swine's blood could be theirs...
♠♣♥♦
"...So then
I pushed the button, and we were off! It was amazing, boss," Crookie
explained.
"Yeah, that sounds nice," Sackle commented.
The two of them were sitting on the floor against one of the lab's walls and
next to one of its counters swapping more stories. This time, Crookie was doing
the majority of the talking.
"Yeah, but the best part was when-"
"-SACKLE!! CROOKIE!!" Mad Scienstein
interrupted them. He was standing in the middle of one of the doorways looking
very excited. "I FOUND IT! THE WAY BACK! I FOUND IT!"
"Whoa!" Crookie exclaimed.
"That's good to hear!" Sackle said. The two
thieves got up off the floor and ran up to the scientific man. "Where is
it?" Sackle asked.
"In here," Mad Scienstein replied. He turned
around and motioned forward with his hand. Sackle and Crookie followed. The
three of them found themselves inside another one of the rooms of the cave-like
place. In the middle of it was something transparent and blue, floating and
rotating in midair with two eyes, a round body, eight spikes surrounding it,
and sparkles drifting down from it. Its top three spikes had balls sticking out
of them. Mad Scienstein watched it in satisfaction and the two burglars watched
it in awe.
"What is it?" Sackle asked.
"A magical item," the scientist answered.
"Touch it, and you'll find yourself right back where you started."
"Oh, goodie!" Crookie said. "Boss, come
on!" Crookie quit standing around and ran towards it. Sackle grabbed him
by the collar causing him to fall down. "GWU-OOMPH!!"
"Not so fast, Crookie," said the boss. He let
go of Crookie and let the apprentice stand on his own, straightening himself
out. Sackle looked Mad Scienstein straight in the eye.
"Yes?" said the taller man.
"Mr. Mad Scienstein, sir, me and Crookie were
wondering if it'd be possible for you to lend us one of your Giga Moles. Just
for a little while." Sackle bent down to his knees with his hands folded
in front of him and a sorrowful look in his eyes. "Pleeeaaase?"
"Hmmm..." Mad Scienstein lifted up a hand and
rubbed his beard with it. "Welll... I only have one so far... It's a
fully-operational prototype, too, and, ummm..." The weird inventor rubbed
his scalp and looked at the ceiling with his eyes squinting. He suddenly puffed
a quick sigh out of his mouth and dropped his arm. He looked back at Sackle who
was still looking desperate. "Okay," he said. "Just promise
you'll return it."
Sackle suddenly jolted upright off of the floor and
grabbed the man's left hand and started shaking it vigorously with both of his.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! You have no idea what
this means to me, er, us. Really! Mad, my boy, you're a true friend. A true
one, I tell ya. Oh, and don't worry, you'll have your precious little prototype
back in no time. No time!"
Mad Scienstein returned a strange look to the eager
Sackit. "Yes, quite," he said.
Sackle turned to his younger cohort. "Come on,
Crookie. We got a Giga Mole to hop into!"
"Right-oh, boss!" Together, the two of them
ran out of the room and up to that very robot. Mad Scienstein stared for a
second or two, then ran after them...
♠♣♥♦
Somewhere out
there, nine people were gathered in the middle of a swamp. They were arranged
in a circle on some grass that was surrounded by various bodies of murky water
with all kinds of strange plants growing out of them complete with all the
trees, moss, bushes, lily pads, shrubs, and whatnot a swamp could ask for. It
was overflowing with different organisms, but it was not a cheerful place. All
these things came in brown, tan, beige, and grey rather than the healthy green
and jade. Beneath the night-sky, one of these people was saying something.
Every time he spoke, another person would respond.
"Jax?"
"Here."
"Holy Troopa?"
"I'm here."
"Spatula?"
"Ahoy."
"Cherry Blossom?"
"Present."
"Yoshiki?"
"Yes."
"Dorreen?"
"Here."
"Big Boo?"
"Heheheh... Here."
"And King Boo."
"Here."
"Then we're all here." The creepy Yoshi that
managed to lure a few Yoshies into an elaborate trap earlier stuffed away a
piece of paper and let the meeting get started.
"Ladies, gentlemen," King Boo said in his
freaky voice. All eyes were on him and vice-versa. "We have a rather
important matter to discuss..."
The whole crew nodded in agreement, including Jax and
his fellow werewolf. One of the members of it was kind of a nerdy-looking Para
Troopa. His shell was sky blue, his glasses were thick, and the arrow-case
strapped across his chest and around his back was evident, but his angel wings
kept him afloat in midair almost with a majestic air. Another member was the
pirate woman, Spatula. Her ghostly tail seemed to be merged with her silky
green outfit which covered up only her breasts. She had a very pretty face and
long black hair that was tied up in a low-cut ponytail. Two locks of it framed
her face, and the top of her head adorned a red bandanna. However, she was more
dangerous than she looked. Another one was Cherry Blossom. She had a ghostly
tail, too, and it merged with her skin-tight orange and red colored spandex
which showed off every other curve of her body. Her eyes were green and she had
a matching pair of earrings. Her hair was long, fluffy, and blood-red. Atop her
head was a little green crown. She never looked too happy. Then there was
Yoshiki. She basically looked like any other pink Yoshi girl, but had no legs.
Her Yoshi tail doubled as a specter-like one. As for Dorreen, she looked a
little more like Spatula and Cherry than Yoshiki. She donned a green
night-dress and she wore her long black hair down with no ponytail. One of the
few differences between Big Boo and King Boo was King Boo's glowing blue tongue
and his ruby red crown. He continued with the meeting.
"Through Operation Sunshine, we have only managed
to obtain so many souls," King Boo said. "That was thanks to our two
werewolves and our ship, the S. S. Dolpic. However, we don't have a ship
anymore. It's in shambles! And it's all thanks to that no-good freak in a
lab-coat and his stupid household appliance." The ghost curled his fins
into fists and let them tremble. "Apparently, we must take our measures
even further. Think, people! We're King Boo and the Eight Spookalings, we're in
the middle of the swamp, and we need souls. Any ideas?" No-one answered.
King Boo spazzed. "WELL?!?"
"Look up there," Jax said, pointing to the
stars. Everyone, including King Boo, did so. Something long, green, and
snake-like was swimming around at a high altitude. Their necks and heads turned
as this thing swam through the air and off to its next destination. Everyone
visually expressed their wondering about this phenomenon. King Boo topped it
off.
"No idea what that was..." he mused. He got
their attention again. "Anyway, come on, people. Start thinking! If we
don't get those souls, who knows what this world will come to?!" All the
morbid members of this gang began to scratch their heads and their chins, and
fold their arms, squint, stare, and tap their feet in their effort to come up
with a solution for this matter. It was probably not going to be easy.
Whatever, the creepy wereyoshi thought. One
way or another, we'll think of something... eventually...
♠♣♥♦
"...And
remember not to let it run too low on power."
"Right."
"Be careful not to confuse the missile button with
the eject button."
"Uh-huh."
"And whatever you do, don't mash the force-field
button, even if it's-"
"-Okay, okay, Mad, we get the picture." Sackle
and Crookie were sitting in two seats that were hidden somewhere inside the
Giga Mole's neck. It's mechanical head was on hinges of some sort, so the two
guys could see Mad Scienstein down below and hear him briefing them on how to
run the device. Since that was over with, it was time to initiate the next phase
in their plan.
"Alright," Mad said. "Just... be
careful!"
"Don't worry," Sackle reassured. Crookie
pressed a certain button and the head began to put itself back onto its neck
with a few whirring noises. Within moments, KA-CHUNK! It was back on. Inside
the head, a red light or two was the only thing illuminating things for the two
people, allowing them to see a control panel surrounding them and the lab
through the window of the eyes that the head included. They saw Mad Scienstein
take a few steps back. Sackle turned his head to his left. "You sure you
know what you're doing, Crookie?"
"Course I do, boss! Remember what I was telling you
about earlier?"
"Oh, right. That..." Crookie grabbed a hold of
two levers and started pulling them back and forth, back and forth. In a few
seconds, the Giga Mole was officially alive. It was taking long, slow,
mechanical strides through the lab, around the scientist that worked in it, and
up to the door that had the magical item behind it. Crookie stopped the
machine. He started looking around at the control panel, wondering what to do
next.
"You sure?" Sackle asked again.
"Yeah, boss!" Crookie responded. Finally, he
found it. He pushed the button and the robot's left arm lifted itself up.
Crookie kept his eyes on their sparkling blue gem and pressed another button.
This caused the extended arm to have its wrist and its hand to suddenly become
conjoined by an ever-growing metal tube that kept stretching and stretching
through the doorway until the mysterious object was inches away. Crookie looked
around some more, then found the right button. He punched that one as well, and
the Giga Mole's claws flew open. He pushed another, and the claws closed up on
the whirling blue thing. Both Sackle and Mad Scienstein watched the whole thing
anticipatingly.
Alright, thinga-majig, Crookie thought. Do
your stuff...
A light started coming from what the Giga Mole had
gotten a hold of. Gradually, the light expanded. At last, the whole vicinity
was engulfed in light and all anyone could see was white.
Whoo-wee! Here we go!
♠♣♥♦
Naji and his
father were still going at it with each other. Only this time, they were doing
so in the middle of the dirty path surrounding the rock-filled mountain
sticking out of the jungle somewhere. Above their heads was a blood-red sky.
Its wispy clouds and its setting sun made the whole place seem as though it
were on fire. Both fighters were panting heavily. Strands of juicy sweat
streaked down their faces. They didn't stop staring at each other directly into
the eyes. Finally, Naji got his wits together, took a deep breath, and one step
back. He put both hands to one side of himself and sandwiched some air between
them. As he began concentrating, the space between his hands started flashing
different colors. His old man was smirking with his arms folded.
"Think you can still beat me, Naji?" he said.
Naji scowled. His father shook his head. Once the spell was complete, Naji
thrust a step forward and threw his arms out. A tidal wave of freezing needles
exploded from Naji's hands and went flying against the parent. Naji's father
was completely covered up by frigid little projectiles. Naji watched and
waited. When the storm was over, Naji could see what he had done: nothing. His
jaw dropped. His father chuckled. "Pitiful," he said. He got into
another pose, made a few gestures with his hands, focused as hard as he could
and made his retaliation. Naji's eyes widened. BA-ZZAAAAPPP!! Naji's body got
electrocuted from top to bottom by a thousand worms of stinging electrons. His world
was rocked. He stood and trembled with the electricity eating away at him. Then
the flow of power stopped. He stood steaming, then collapsed onto the ground.
His father waltzed up to him with his arms folded. He shook his head. "I
give you life," he said. "I give you infinite patience. I gave you a
lot of things, Naji." Naji's fingers squirmed while he was lying on the
ground. His father held his hands out. "What was it all for?" He
gestured towards his son. "So I could be the proud parent of a wad of
steaming filth lying on the ground?" Naji's fingers made claw marks in the
dirt as he quickly scrunched them back into his palms. The father shook his
head again. "Admit it, Naji. Your father raised a failure." Naji
slowly lifted his head and gave his old man a look that could kill. The older
man paid it no mind. He turned around on his heels, kicking dust into the
younger one's face. He was walking away. "Whatever, Naji," he said.
"If you wanna be a loser, that's fine with me. After all, we can't all be
successes..." Naji pounded his fists against the ground, scowling. His
father just laughed. "Go on, Naji. Have fun working for space aliens. It's
probably rewarding. I wouldn't know; I never got captured..."
Naji pushed himself off the ground and staggered to be
back on his feet. His gaze never left his reproaching father. He started
gathering energy into his palms again. "No," he growled. The light in
his hands got brighter. They made the symbol of an orange hexagon. He threw
them out firing a humungous boulder at the man. "BUT YOU WERE KILLED
ONCE!!!"
His father didn't turn around quick enough. He saw
something brown and WHAM!! He flew back from the blow and went sprawling onto
the ground. He quickly tried scrambling to get up. SHWACK! SHWACK! He suddenly felt
two whips crash against either side of him. He only saw two blurs of green at
this, but could feel dozens of incinerating barbs digging deep into his skin.
He looked down and could see his arms were covered with monstrous rose thorns,
each of them lodged firmly into his scales. He winced at the burning sensation
they were seeping into him. He looked up and could see his son was right in
front of him. The younger Yoshi made the symbol of a grey explosion, slammed
his palm into his father's face and let it loose. His father's head became
engulfed in a sea of surging energy. Naji's fingers trembled and his face
scowled as he poured all of his strength into this attack. Once it was over,
Naji could lower his steaming hand and see the blackened face of his father.
All kinds of damage had been done to this man. Without blinking, he stared at
his son in pure agony, struggling to respirate through a phlegm-infested
throat. He coughed and slowly twisted his mouth into a smile. Naji glared back.
"You once told me," Naji growled, "to
never turn your back on the opponent." Two droplets of a thin liquid
seeped out from behind the purple Yo'ster's shades and trickled down his face.
"You forgot your own teachings, dad," he choked out.
Naji's father stared for a little longer and then he
closed his eyes, chuckling weakly. He started coughing and he opened his eyes
up again. "Well done, Naji," he said quietly. He was becoming weaker
with each passing second. He began to lower himself onto his knees, kneeling down
with his head hanging. "You've won the fight, my boy," he said,
clutching at his heart. Naji knelt down before him as well, still feeling
moisture dripping off his face. He looked into his father's eyes intently.
"But it's not over yet." Naji's eyes widened in shock. "Once
that white-haired sword freak's gone," he added, "it'll all be
over." Naji took his eyes off of his father and looked at the red sky. He
squinted them in pure anger.
"Don't worry," Naji said. "I'll take care
of him. I promise."
Naji's father smiled. He closed his eyes back up.
"That's the spirit." He began to lower his head even further.
"Don't let me down, son." Slowly, the father turned to his side and
curled himself against the stone ground. He lied there with his son still
staring at him in disbelief. He watched carefully as the inhaling and exhaling
movements of his father's back got slower and slower. His body dragged out one
particularly long one, and remained still. A dagger jabbed Naji in his chest.
He winced and slowly drifted one hand up to his eyes. He felt behind his shades
and pinched his eyes shut. His lip quivered. He breathed in deeply and let
loose a long sigh. The fight between him and his father was over.
"Poor Naji." Naji recognized that voice. He
suddenly became filled with a burning sensation that made his whole body begin
to quake. He angrily turned around and saw that his arch-nemesis, Cutlass, was
right there behind him. The metallic fiend smirked at the Yo'ster with his arms
folded. "He kills his friends, he kills his family..." Cutlass
chuckled. Naji was standing up with his fists clenched tightly. "I'm all
you have left, Naji. No-one else wants you." The infamous swordsman took a
few steps closer to the magical Yoshi. "Come with us, Naji. Come with us
and you shall be free of pain and sorrow. The world will become a better place,
and it will all be thanks to you."
Naji thrust his feet and his hands into another stance.
"LIKE I'D GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU, YOU WRETCH!!!" the purple one yelled.
Cutlass noticed the wind beginning to pick up around
Naji and frowned. "I see," he said. He ran a hand through his flowing
hair with his eyes closed. He opened them up and saw Naji beginning to glow.
"If that's the way you want it, I won't argue." He tossed his head
back, spread his arms, and let the transformation begin. Various lightning
bolts began to twist and coil around his body, each of them making it bigger
and more muscular. As the alteration got closer and closer to its completion,
more bells rang in Naji's ears. Finally, Cutlass was ready. He was the same
gigantic monstrous beast he was when the two of them fought for Noshi and
Fyooshi. This behemoth-version of the man got into a fighting stance of his own
and beckoned with one hand. "Now come on," he growled. "LET'S
FINISH THIS!!" At that moment, both fighters were preparing fiercely to
lay their first blows against one another. The next big battle with the
heartless swordsman had begun...
♠♣♥♦
The bright light
started fading away, and through their special window, Sackle and Crookie could
see that they were back on the grassy path surrounding the volcano that they
were on when this all began. Sackle looked at it all in its blue-ish glow
beneath the night-sky in satisfaction. He turned to Crookie, reached out, and
gave him a nice pat on the back. "Good job, Crookie. Looks like you know
your way around after all."
"Yup!" Crookie replied. He then started
looking at all the fancy buttons. "Let's see here, uh..." He
scratched his chin a bit. "A-ha!" He found the right button and gave
it a push. The Giga Mole mechanically bent forward and started clawing at the
ground with its vicious hands. Each swipe caused a large mass of soil and grass
to rip out of the ground and be flung behind the giant robot against the
volcano. At the same time, the machine was descending into this hole it was
tunneling.
"This thing's amazing!" Sackle commented.
"We'll find that doll in no time!"
"Yup!" Crookie said again. Seconds, minutes,
perhaps even hours passed. This was how long it took for the Giga Mole to get
off of Isle Delfino and into its unexplored bowels. Watching with a searchlight
or two, the duo of thieves were excited by the sight of all the solid stuff
they were clawing through. They felt invincible.
Sackle looked at a rotating computer-generated image of
their doll on one of the robot's monitors. "Belome, baby, here we
come!!" he announced. Sackle and Crookie's quest for cash was back on
track...
♠♣♥♦
The head space
alien sat triumphantly in his chair in the middle of that circular room. Wart
was beside him ever faithfully and his crew was working tirelessly away to keep
things moving. Their leader smirked and looked at his right-hand man. "We
can't fail, Wart," he said. "We're the most dangerous people on the
planet. No-one can stop us!"
"YES, SIR," the gigantic amphibian
agreed. A few feet away, one of their silvery minions was busy thinking about
other things. He turned to his right and started talking to the same man he was
with during that one party.
"Katana," he asked, "what do you think
that Yoshi's dreaming about right now?"
The fellow silver shrugged. "What they always dream
about: bad memories."
Cutlass nodded. "Yup," he agreed. This whole
crew and their tremendous spaceship was busy flying over another stretch of
sea. All was going well for the power-hungry people until one of the purple
minions had to point something out.
"Captain!" he called. "Something
approaches! It has a very... unusual field! I've got the sensors going and
everything, but I can't get a clear reading on it!"
His superior squinted his eyes and contemplated.
"Go up to Level B-11," he ordered.
"Yes, sir!" the crew-member replied. He
twisted a few knobs, took a good look at his screen and was horrified.
"Sir!! It's a wormhole of some sort! We've been caught in its vortex! It's
dragging us in!!"
"WHAT?!" the captain blurted. "Well,
don't just sit there! Get your rear in gear and pull us out of it!!" The
person he commanded nodded and started to do just that. The other minions
looked at their leader expectantly. "Well?! He's not gonna do this alone,
you know! Get to work!!" He got a mixture of different vocalized answers
after that. They all agreed to go along with this and see what they could do.
The captain sat in his seat keeping his eye on things while everyone was
working frantically to turn this situation around.
At the moment the spaceship was indeed being drawn
towards something odd. It was a funnel-shaped thing sticking out of nowhere. It
appeared to be made of solid gold, it was bigger than the ship, and inside its
mouth was where that very thing was headed. It was useless.
"Captain!! We're going nowhere fast!!" another
purple crew-member cried.
"This isn't over yet! Keep moving!!" the
captain barked. Beads of sweat started rolling down the faces of the room as
they struggled to push buttons, twist knobs, and flip switches. At this point,
the ship was dangerously close to the hole they were being drawn to. Nothing
seemed to be working.
"CAPTAIN!!" he heard again.
"RRG!!" The leader himself was beginning to
get rather frustrated. He let his eyes dart right and left. Wart was just as
lost as he was. He took a miniscule breath and prepared to give the next order.
He was too late. Everyone in the area began to feel some heavy vibrations all
around them.
"Oh my gosh," one of the aliens muttered.
The captain saw what was coming. "HOLD ON!!!"
he bellowed. Those who didn't obey this order were thrown out of their seats,
flung through the air, and slammed into the wall behind them. The ship was then
plunging at a faster rate it had ever gone. People clenched their eyes shut and
held on for dear life, beginning to feel themselves liquifying it seemed.
Someone out there hates me, the captain thought
darkly. With a sea of screams dying out, the funnel had completely sucked up
the ship and begin to close in on itself. It spun around and around, getting
smaller all the while. Eventually, it was too small to be seen. Both it and the
aliens had vanished without a trace...
Someone out there REALLY hates me...
♠♣♥♦
Xoshi and White
Rose continued to walk down the starry path. This had been going on for quite
some time, so curiosity began to eat away at the white-garbed knight. He had to
voice something and soon. "Sir Xoshi," he asked. "Where exactly
are we headed now?"
Xoshi had to ask Beel about this one, too. It took him a
while to get it out, but he said it. "We going to... Clover Kingdom,"
he said.
"The Clover Kingdom?" White Rose repeated.
Xoshi nodded. "And... how will we get there?"
Xoshi asked about this, too. "Merlinda," he
replied. "She can take us... anywhere."
"Where shall we find this Merlinda?" the
knight inquired.
Xoshi pointed to his left. He and White Rose could see a
house at the bottom of a pit that the place seemed to coil into. White Rose
nodded and the duo commenced going down some steps in order to arrive at this
place. A few more paces through glittery wonder later, and they were there.
They walked up some more steps and were right in front of the house's door.
There, they saw a note taped on. Xoshi looked at it curiously, but White Rose
took it right off and read it aloud.
"'Merlinda is out,'" he read. "'If you
have any business with her, she's gone to Merlon's house.'" He lowered the
message and the two of him and his partner thought this over. "Well
then," White Rose said, "I guess we find a place to settle down for
the night, and then we'll seek out Merlon."
Xoshi nodded. Together, the two of them left the
front-porch and resumed journeying through the colorful place. Little did they
know that they were being watched. A head poked out from behind someplace
inconspicuous.
"Uwee hee hee!" the figure giggled. "So
many things to water, so little time. And those two... THOSE TWO... they won't
get in my way..." The figure disappeared and the night carried on. It had
been an interesting one for a good number of people, and their worries were far
from over. This was where things were going for Xoshi and the others...
END OF PART 1