Chapter Ten
Mushroom Way
Oxygen gave way to the greedy breaths of Stario and Luigi as they swiftly cut through the thick grass surrounding the Mushroom Way’s normally beaten path. Worries of being spotted and even stronger worries for the princess filled their capped heads, shielded from the noon’s beating sun. They’d been running since their escape at dawn.
Luigi was looking down at the ground rapidly disappearing under his feet like a conveyor belt. His balance disappeared when Stario’s brawny hand slammed against his chest. Luigi fell back, looking up as Stario signaled for him to be quiet. They both crouched in the grass, listening to approaching noises.
It was the clomp clomp clomp of a horse’s hooves beating against the ground and trampling the grass, and it was coming their way. Stario dove, covering Luigi and himself with his sparkling yellow cape. He whispered something, and Luigi gaped as the cape took on a rock-looking form, making them appear to passersby at an ordinary rock. “Stario, who is it?”
Stario whispered his reply, “It’s a black-cloaked figure, a servant of Vuljiin. We can’t let them see me alive.”
Luigi’s brow was sweating. “I thought you killed him!”
“Not on your life. I could sense something when we were fighting. He wasn’t using his full power. In fact, he was much stronger than me.”
Luigi shook his head disbelievingly. “Oh, yeah! Then why did he just pretend like we won and disappear like that? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Stario nodded. “You’d think that. But still, I’m dead sure he was a whole lot stronger than he made out to be. He’s still out there, and I believe…”
Luigi heard the horse approaching. It was close now. “What, Stario?”
Stario listened to the horse for another moment and continued. “I believe that that first visit was just a ploy. He was only scratching at the surface and testing us out. I also think that my turning into Stario was an unexpected occurrence. He figured he’d gotten what he’d came for, and besides, I was much stronger, so he left. Making us think he was dead was just insurance that he could make just as potent an attack when he implements the next step of this plan of his. My being able to sense hidden magic power was another unexpected side effect of my transformation that he doesn’t know about. Why is this new guy here? I don’t know. We’d better stop him. He can’t be as strong as Vuljiin.”
Luigi was dazed, and it took him a moment to take it all in. By then, the horse had arrived. With a battle cry, Stario morphed his cape and lifted it up, coming out with a couple of well-placed fireballs. Luigi followed suit.
Surprisingly, no one was there. Stario whirled around and clenched his teeth. Behind them was the cloaked figure, two red eyes slanted inward inside his dark hood. It looked like a more sinister version of the placid shamen. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Luigi was building a fireball. The figure chuckled lightly and answered. “Stop your preparing, Green One. Both of you are no match for me.”
Stario was caught off guard by that remark. “You know who I am?”
The figure grunted, floating into the air and landing softly onto the ground. He patted his horse’s mane. “Of course. You’re Stario. And if you think for one moment that just because you ‘beat’ Vuljiin that you can beat me, think again. He was hiding a great deal of his power. I’m going to show you just how amazingly powerful we truly are.”
Stario feigned surprise, not wanting to let the mysterious being on that he could sense hidden power. In fact, as the cloaked one talked, Stario was analyzing him. It was going to be a close battle, and his predictions could be misconstrued, but Stario knew there was a chance for victory if he and his brother worked together. “By the way,” the figure said, starting to take on a low fluorescence, “your friend Bowser has conquered the Mushroom Village in your absence. The Mushroom Kingdom is sure to follow unless you are there to help them. I’m afraid you’ll be conveniently absent when the final battle takes place, though. I don’t intend to let you live much longer.”
Stario scoffed. “And I don’t intend to let you keep rambling on about your awesome power. The only power you possess is that to poorly bluff.”
A bright beam of pure, white light emanated from inside the figure’s cloak and then flew out of his face, arms, and legs. He floated into the air, his robes billowing under the pressure of invisible wind. “Enough!”
Fire scorched the land below him, creating a large, rounded crater. Stario flew back, picking up Luigi. The figure pulled back his hood to reveal a hideous, slimy face scarred and mangled like some sort of zombie. Surprisingly, it retained some essence of humanity. “Prepare yourselves,” the light evened out, “for the great beyond!”
Three wide beams of plasma shot out, spiraling and converging on the brothers. Stario flew up, losing one while the others still chased him. Luigi dropped to the ground, followed by the loose one. He pumped his legs, rushing towards the cloaked figure, who was preoccupied with Stario. “Hiyah!”
Luigi let fly his jump attack, soaring upwards. Instead of connecting with the alien, though, he slammed into an invisible electric shield. His body convulsed, and worms of electricity wrangled it before it slammed back to the ground. Luigi grunted. “Hey, no fair!”
Stario’s fireballs had similar results. The figure laughed. “Fools! The power of Shimrra far exceeds that of your own. Bow in the face of the glory of my might!”
Stario grinned, and his famous new sword appeared in his hand, sparkling trails of positive ion energy lacing it and feeding into the point. Shimrra’s face contorted. “What’s that? Vuljiin didn’t tell me about a magical sword!”
Stario said nothing. He flew forward at an incredible speed, bringing the sword down, hard, upon the invisible shield. It crashed down, sending a shower of sparks down to the ground. Stario clenched his teeth and pressed down more harshly on the sword. Finally, with a loud clang, the shield was penetrated, and it collapsed. Shimrra screamed in disgust and floated back. With a wave of his hand, a shimmering black sword appeared in his hand. “My sword of darkness will blot out the sickening light that pervades your soul, plumber!”
Stario’s face was reddening. He looked down at Luigi. “Brother, go and warn the others! If they are captured, rescue them. I’ll hold him off as long as possible!”
Luigi nodded nervously, running off. Grounding his teeth, Stario faced Shimrra again. “This fight is between you and me. If Vuljiin wants me, he should’ve come himself!”
Shimrra’s weapon was glowing, building up energy. “You actually think our plan is to take you out just because we’re some of those freaks who like fighting for no reason? Fool! Utter insolence fills you! We’re much more; oh, we’re so much more. Together, we will blanket Plit in a quilt of darkness that will fuel our needs!”
Stario was trembling inside, but his body remained rigid in a ready stance. “Needs?”
Shimrra waved his sword out of its charging mode. “I’ve already said too much. I suppose it doesn’t matter since you’ll soon die anyway, but trees, animals, and even rocks,” Shimrra smiled, “have a way of revealing secrets to the unworthy soul. Shall we begin?”
Stario roared, and they both rushed each other, meeting with a clang and a showers of multi-colored, fluorescent sparks.
Tadpole Pond
After landing and dropping the Chancellor off at Rose Town, Ryan-oshi quickly made his way down the well-marked path to Frogfucious’ home, Tadpole Pond. Surprisingly, upon arriving, the welcome tadpole informed him that nine visitors had already arrived. Three descriptions matched that of Princess Peach, Toad, and Crazykoopa. He did not recognize those of the others, who had been said to continue on to Rose Town for supplies.
Upon request, the youthful tadpole gladly led Ryan-oshi to Frogfucious’ meditation island located near the center of the pond. There, several animated figures were deep in a conversation. When the Yoshi arrived, they all smiled, stopping their conversing to shake his hand, and then they all continued. “Yes, I was informed of Bowser’s coup when I washed ashore Yoshi’s Island. Coincidentally, that’s where I met the Chancellor too; of course, I’ve dropped him off at Rose Town.”
Peach was ecstatic. “The Chancellor? How did he escape his kidnappers?”
“Well, let me back up. As you all know, Crazykoopa was falsely arrested by… Toad! Why did you do that?”
Toad looked nervous, but Peach explained everything about the imposter. Ryan-oshi continued. “I thought just as much. Anyway, I was trying to clear Crazykoopa’s name by getting a confession from Chef Torte, so I went to his hideout on Soshi, an island of the North Tropacine Isles.”
“Because no one was there, I hired a private helicopter pilot to fly me back to the Mushroom Kingdom; I’d found some pictures that would’ve been just enough to prove his innocence. On the way, however, I was stopped by some sort of large egg ship, my pilot was killed, and I was forced to evacuate.”
At that point in his story, everyone leaned into it. “So, I penetrated the Egg Ship, and eventually got beaten out by some sort of large armored monsters. After that, I met up with Chef Torte in the ocean. His zeppelin had been felled by the Egg. I took a picture of him, recorded a confession from Genius Guy, and swam to Yoshi’s Island.”
“That’s where I learned that my journey was for naught, because Bowser had indeed conquered the Mushroom Village in the Mario Bros.' absence. After that I met up with the Chancellor, who had escaped from Chef Torte quite easily, and I flew back here.”
Everyone was satisfied after a few more questions. “So, what do we do now?” asked Crazykoopa.
“Isn’t it obvious?” came the old, experienced voice of Frogfucious. “Obviously, you must take back the kingdom. You will need control when the real trouble hits.”
“Real trouble?” asked Peach warily.
“Yes, my child. This egg ship is none other than the Death Egg, the flagship for E-PEANUT. E-PEANUT is a super secret consortium of the most powerful villains around, including a few from Plit.”
“E-PEANUT?!” said everyone at once like on Super Friends.
“Yes, it stands for Evil Plethora Excluding All Null Uber Turtles. That’s one reason Bowser’s not in it. Besides, he’s stupid and uses 1-800 businesses to fuel his military maneuvers.”
Peach hid an ad from 1-800-GET-A-BADDIE that she had torn out of a phonebook earlier. “Yeah, only a fool would use that.”
Frogfucious sighed. “Even worse, word has reached me that Chef Torte has actually built a sizable airship fleet. I do not know his plans or whereabouts, but they are sure to be devious or just plain silly one.”
Suddenly, Frogfucious’ right hand flew to his head, and he fell to his knees. Crazykoopa supported him. “What’s wrong, Master?”
“Oh, my child, it’s terrible! A great evil power more horrid than anything that I’ve ever encountered is building and fluctuating near the Mushroom Way. It reminds me of the power of that beast Vuljiin, except it shines stronger. I must rest now…”
A rain of gun and energy blasts fell on the peaceful pond, tagging several surprised tadpoles. Ryan-oshi grabbed Frogfucious and jumped in the pond. “Everyone, down!”
Ryan-oshi swam off, not looking behind him until he was far away. Upon turning around, though, he noticed the others had not made it. Ahead of him was Chef Torte, Genius Guy, Changling, and two Iron Knuckles. Chef Torte was whispering something to Genius Guy, and then the glasses-donning guy spoke. “Servants, you’ve done me well. Now, bring these peanuts back to the ship!”
“Prisoners, you fool!”
“Oh, yeah, prisoners.”
The Iron Knuckles grunted and carried them off. Chef Torte did the Macarena. “Oh, Macarena, Macarena, Macarena, yeah Macarena!”
Genius Guy tried to imitate the dance, but fell head over heels and landed in the pond. “Genius Guy! Get out of zhere and get back on zhe ship. Only I, zhe greatest villain, can do zhe Macarena properly. Changling, stop zhat! I’m zhe only one zhat does zhe Macarena. STOP!”
Chef Torte banged Changling over the head with a pan and carried his two cohorts inside a high-tech Maria. Ryan-oshi looked up to see a menacing battleship in the sky with an egg with a large peanut on it printed on the side like its emblem. “E-PEANUT!” Ryan-oshi exclaimed. “Chef Torte must be in cahoots with them!”
Frogfucious was just waking up. “No, my child, that’s impossible. Chef Torte is a null uber turtle. He’s captured one of their battleships. It seems that the Iron Knuckles obey Genius Guy, because Chef Torte had to use him. Perhaps this could be of use later. Er… Ryan-oshi, that battle in the Mushroom Way, it’s so ominous!”
Ryan-oshi handed the paining frog to a group of tadpoles who tended to him. “I’m sorry, Master, but I must leave immediately. Mallow and his army should be on their way, and I must meet them. Things are getting serious!”
“Good luck, my child!”
“Stop calling me your child. I’m not an ugly frog.”
“Sorry, my child.”
“Errgh.”
Chapter Eleven
Mushroom Village Royal Castle
In less than 48 hours, Bowser and his rowdy crew had turned the once elegant and awe-inspiring banquet hall into a grimey, greasy, gut-wrenching mess. Slop encrusted pots and pans were strapped around Koopas and placed on Goombas' heads for after-dinner food fights. Spoons and forks were lodged in the sides of several unlucky troops. Bowser sat at the head of the long, rectangular table in a ragged chair cleaning his teeth with a meat laden bone that he had earlier claimed as a prize for finishing off a monstrous ham.
Ludwig sat a ways down to the side of his ravenous father, his face cupped in an elbow-propped hand and his other hand absent-mindedly twirling a spoon in a bowl of beef stew. “This isn’t as fun as I’d thought it would be.”
Iggy had missed his usual playmate Lemmy, but now Larry and he had formed a close sibling bond that served to dish out prank after prank, although Larry’s extreme devotion to their father sometimes dulled the results of mischievous tricks that Lemmy would’ve have pulled off masterfully. “Ludwig, what do you mean? This is great!”
Larry hesitated, in shock at Ludwig’s disappointment in their seemingly prosperous predicament. “Yeah! And don’t make King Dad look bad. He did all this for us.”
After mumbling something about 1-800-GET-A-BADDIE, Ludwig grumpily pushed himself away from the table and stormed off into a side hall, leaving his questioning siblings to shrug their scaly shoulders and continue talking amongst themselves.
Ludwig’s mind was buzzing with thousands of tiny thoughts, thoughts that were, even under his attempted mental direction, struggling and ultimately failing to come together completely into a single moving force. “What’s eating away at me?” he mumbled, walking, and staring down at the floor.
The hallway he was walking down was pitch black without a single source of light, and it grew ever more so as he departed further and further from the dining hall. He could see pictures of past Mushroomer kings bristling the walls with their respective assistants lined around them in an orderly fashion. “It doesn’t feel like home. It’s just more symbolism for our rule: incomplete. We have to take over the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom, and I know that, but King Dad is too busy enjoying himself. Jagger is out scouting, and Kamek and Kammy are watching those plumbers. I need someone to counsel with. Perhaps it's time I finally make my move and usurp my father’s rule. He got us this far, but his greed has overwhelmed him. Yes,” Ludwig was smiling now, one tooth touching his skin, “that’s just what I’ll do.”
Ludwig looked back to the dining hall once again, only being able to barely make out his father’s blurry image. He remembered the story Bowser had told him of how he had killed his own father, Morton, when his empire’s fortunes were bright and taken the throne. “It’s my turn now, King Dad,” Ludwig said almost contemptuously. “The face of the Koopa Empire will be mine.”
So, with his scattered thoughts organized into ones of dissension and mutiny, Ludwig allowed himself a larger smile. He only needed Kamek and Jagger’s support, and then he could begin his plan.
Death Egg
Ganon stood in a dark room lit only by a single television monitor hidden near the front. The dark lord stood on a long and tall cylinder that rose in a barred apex platform. His head engendered rivulets of sweat as the monitor crackled to life. The dark silhouette of a hooded figure presented itself. In one brief moment, the figure’s eyes flashed open, revealing inward slanting crimson demons that pierced Ganon’s soul. “Master,” Ganon bowed, “I serve only you.”
The figure’s voice was the simple definition of a nightmare in every way a mortal could imagine, in that it pervaded one’s soul, ripped it from reality, and spit it out on the cold ground of hopelessness. “And you serve me well, Faith. Tell me of your accomplishments on Plit. Are the relay posts ready for installation?”
Ganon hesitated for a second too long. He’d been dreading that question. “Actually, my Dread Lord, we’re still scouting the area. I’m sorry that-”
Ganon’s body remained still, but his essence flew across the room when the figure boomed. “Silence! You are failing, and you are aware. I’ve given you plenty of time to scout the area, exterminate the pathetic denizens, and install the relay posts and command center. Your skill was said to be matchless. I wonder why you have failed me.”
Ganon was silent. The figure paused effectively to let its piercing point sink in like a rusty nail into the side of the Gerudo’s head. “In any case, I’ve foreseen your inadequate skill and sent an agent of my own by the name of Shimrra. He will serve my purpose.”
“Shimrra?”Ganon queried, surprised. He recalled the report a few of his Goomba agents acting as wild ones had given him on a creature traveling through the Northern Lands, posing as an assistant to Vuljiin, the mysterious invader of whose likes had not been seen for more than a week. “He is not of Vuljiin’s ilk?”
The figure snorted. “Of course not. The goings and comings of this enigmatic Vuljiin are no concern to us as of yet. In time, though, when we learn more of his cause, perhaps we will find a worthy adversary. For now, using Vuljiin’s name as a way to conceal our purposes will be suitable. I am giving you the command to back my agent up by completing a series of tasks I will assign to you as I wish them done. Understood?” He didn’t even wait for Ganon to answer. “I will send you the first task now. Do not fail me again, Faith.”
Ganon bowed his head against his knee. “As you command it, I will see it done.”
An hour later, Ganon had assembled the rest of E-PEANUT in the briefing room. Snift 2 rattled off the roll, and then Ganon continued. “There’s been a sudden change of plans,” Ganon could only say. He couldn’t tell them of the cause he was really serving. “We shall no longer waste time dealing with Chef Torte. We must exterminate the intelligent life on this planet immediately. Snift 2, call the rest of our fleet out of intraspace.”
In a second, the room was a buzz of surprise and alarm. Wart garbled about java and began hopping about. Gruntilda shouted out. “Ganon, you fool, what about Torte? My foot really, truly wants to kick that dork!”
Andross was fuming. “You’ve gone mad. We can’t just commit several genocides for one goal. We could be killed! When a species’ survival is on the line, they’ll do anything to survive.”
Ganon waved them all away. “Pfft! Plitians don’t even have space travel capabilities. The only aircraft we’ve seen are a few passenger planes and that one zeppelin that we batted out of the sky.” Ganon noticed his right hand Snifit sulking. “Snifit 2, what’s the matter?”
“I’ve been meaning to tell you something, sir. Captain Hya was killed in a confrontation with Torte’s newly outfitted zeppelin, and the Juggernaut was taken by the chef. He’s obviously a genius.”
Smithy growled. “Burning… SEETHING! That chef a genius?” Everyone started laughing uncontrollably for hours and hours upon end.
Finally, Ganon wiped the last tear from his eye. “Oh, that was great. Yeah, he’s just lucky. In any case, as soon as Snifit 2 calls our fleet, things will move quickly. Does anybody have any more objections that will convince me?”
The entire room was deathly silent. “Good. Everyone, take your positions. Andross, Gruntilda, Wart, take your fighter squadrons and prepare for battle. Smithy and Eggman, get to work on ground vehicles and synthetic troops. We have a planet to conquer!”
As they all filed out, some less convinced than others, Ganon turned to Snifit 2, who was loyally awaiting his orders. “Snifit 2, how long will it be before the fleet reaches Plit’s orbit?”
Snifit 2’s eyes were dull and black. He was obviously shaken at having to destroy his home world. He would never disobey his master, though. “36 hours, sir, approximately.”
“You are dismissed. Oversee the others. I have my own work to do.” Ganon trudged off into the depths of the ship, parts only accessible to him.
Mushroom Way
Kamek and Kammy, in breathless pursuit of their ex-prisoners, unwittingly stumbled onto the grounds of an extreme battle. Before them, in a valley that they were currently overlooking, was a large crater dug hundreds of meters into the ground. Clouds of desolation rose from it, and from the infernal pit, two figures revealed themselves. “Stario…” Kammy thought out loud.
“But who’s the other one?” Kamek queried.
Kammy watched a dark orb wrangled by continuous strings of electricity growing above the head of a hideous, black-cloaked creature that was obviously as worn out as Stario. The ball was let loose, and it barely nipped Stario, throwing him to the ground. Stario responded with a wave of his sword that did just as much damage. Kamek answered her next question. “I suppose the logical battle stratagem would be to help the weakest.”
Kammy nodded. “Correct. But who is that?”
Kamek closed his eyes. His sister knew what he was doing. What she didn’t expect, though, was the effect. Kamek’s eyes flew open, and he crashed against the ground, groaning. “Kammy, quick! We have to stop that creature!”
Kammy helped him up. Kamek was the stronger of the two of them, and she knew it. She couldn’t imagine how much power that thing possessed. Kamek came around slowly, speaking. “That… thing has the highest level of power I’ve ever seen. It’s not even in its true form. It's hiding something… something more than shape or size. The power in it is not only incredibly and breath-takingly immense, but it's…”
“It's what?”
“Sickening, dishonest, deceitful, everything that usually personifies bad.”
“What… do you mean?”
Kamek looked at her through his thick glasses. I hate to admit it, but… but I’m not sure. Whatever it is, we have to stop it.”
“So we help Stario?”
Kamek shook his head immediately. “No, we’ll die within minutes. We might scare him into unleashing his full potential.”
“Then what do we do?”
Kamek looked up to the sky and then over to the Barrel Volcano, barely visible to the west. “We have to call for help.”
“Call who for help?” came a familiar voice.
The two Magikoopas whirled around to see Ludwig. “Hey, guys, I’ve come to make a proposition. It… WHAT IN THE?!”
Kamek dove, knocking Ludwig down. “Quiet! We’ll explain on the way.” Kamek grabbed Ludwig by the arm like he did when the Koopaling was very young. “Swiftly, now.”
“Where are we going?” Ludwig asked, completely forgetting about his rash decision to mutiny.
Kamek was still staring off to the west. “To do some serious begging and kissing up.”
Koopa-owned boat, on route to the Barrel Volcano
Through a misty bank of steam rising up from the warm waters sailed Kamek’s personal ship. Molding of his clan covered it, but it retained a bland color so as to make it inconspicuous. After hurriedly preparing it for a quick voyage, Kamek, Kammy, and a confused Ludwig climbed aboard and headed to the only volcano in the lands.
It had taken nearly an hour’s worth of explaining to bring Ludwig up to date on all that the Magikoopas knew about the plumbers’ escape and their attacker. Ludwig knew it was time for him to explain himself. He was glad when his father had dismissed the reasoning since the family was, after all, back together, but he knew Kamek would need an explanation. Finally, the question came. “I know this isn’t the best time to ask, Ludwig, but why did you decide to come back?”
Ludwig ignored the question at first, but finally he started with a sigh. “For years I’d stayed with my brothers and sisters in the royal castle under my father. As a young Koopaling, I always had looked up to him as invincible and as a force to be reckoned with. Slowly, though,” Ludwig gulped, “his plans have been increasingly poorly thought out and just plain silly at times. When I heard that Junior had returned, I thought perhaps that Bowser could win, but no, I was right for not coming. Bowser’s plan failed.”
Kamek looked into the Koopaling’s eyes, studying his thoughts. “Yes, of course, I can see why you didn’t come back. That still doesn’t explain why you finally did, though.”
“One night, around two weeks ago, I got a mysterious letter by an anonymous caller. He told me that I should accept our family’s differences, and try to live with them. It sounds simple, but the letter was so masterfully written. I’ll have to show you it someday. I thought that, if I came back, together we could win. But even when we took over Mushroom Village, my father showed that he was incapable of setting an example. That’s when I began to think about, like I told you guys, usurping Bowser’s command. Now with all these bleak developments, I don’t know what to do. This new force kind of puts everthing into a new perspective. It’s so dismal and grave.”
“A caller, you say? Oh, well, that’s not important. At least it happened.” Kamek stirred a cup of cold soup he was eating. “Back to the matter at hand. Once we get to the Barrel Volcano, you will stay with the ship. Kammy and I will travel to the Magikoopa’s temple and plead for their help. They’ve never left the temple since they defected from King Morton’s army, so I doubt they will now, but I have to give it a try. Do you understand?”
Ludwig nodded. He’d always trusted Kamek. “Do you think the combined forces of the Magikoopas will be enough to stop this new power?” Kamek didn’t answer him, and Ludwig knew he didn’t have an answer. “What about the power of the wands?”
Kamek’s eyes suddenly widened. “I forgot all about-”
“Look,” Kammy nonchalantly said, pointing into the mist. The Koopaling and Magikoopa could make out the silhouette of Barrel Volcano. “We’re here.”