By Mario Fan
Chapter Twelve: Reforming the Lines
They
came in the rains, they came in the snow, they came towards us always and
let fire upon the enemy. A cheer rang out for the glory of the Mushroom
Army.
South of Vista
Hill, The Mushroom Kingdom
It was near sunset when Mario and Koover reached the opposite side of the newly-formed lake. The three Mushroomer soldiers who had survived the flood stepped off the makeshift raft after them, followed by the rest of the citizens. All around were the cold aspens that ran along the Rugosa Plateau, a high table of dry earth which had once overlooked the now drowned Mushroom Forest.
This was where the other end of the underground tunnel which began in Toad Town was said to come out, but it was also the only other place these stranded survivors had left to go. Every movement and decision they made seemed as a dream, dark and terrible like the visions of a thousand corpses at the bottom of the flooded valley. Any hope of meeting more who had not been overtaken by the waters had left most of them long ago, but the persistence of Mario and Koover, along with the promise of higher grounds, drove them on.
“It’ll be safe to set up camp here for now,” said Mario. He walked over to a row of bushes and pushed one of its red berries into his mouth. “The guards can pick these for the others. Koover, we’d better do some scouting.”
The Koopa nodded and joined him, walking away from the heavy sounds of spikes as they were driven into the ground. Brusque orders were being shouted, supplies were being unpacked, and life was moving on. Still, the unbearable weight of eternity pressed in on all sides, forcing them to realize that their situation was precarious and could easily turn to disaster.
They were utterly silent for the longest time, just walking beside each other, not knowing what to say until Koover approached the practical. That, at least, was safe conversation.
“The food sources here won’t last very long,” said the Koopa. “We can’t brave Bowser’s army, so our only chance might be finding an overpass to the summit of Midas Mountain.”
“If we can find one,” Mario replied. “Luigi used to hike all over these lands, you know…”
“His death is not certain,” said Koover slowly. “We should keep up our hopes.”
“It’s so hard to do anything right now, with the princess, Toad, Luigi, and all of our friends missing, most likely perished. Why did it happen to us, Koover? The Star Spirits looked on while we were destroyed, letting the evils of Bowser go unpunished. He should have been the one wiped out, not us.”
“I try not to think about it like that. If the Star Spirits could’ve saved us, they would. They’re not all-powerful, though. Just there for guidance, you know?”
“Yeah, I suppose,” said Mario. “But if they aren’t, then who is? I can’t accept that we have complete control over our destinies. We’re too small, too weak. We know too little.”
“That is true,” Koover replied simply.
They were by now completely out of sight and sound of the others, and the thinness of the widely separated trees passed them on either side as they walked. The paths of brittle pine needles they walked over were tanned and untainted by the footsteps of thought. Only the insects and squirrels that lived up here near the top of the world were welcomed and comfortable in the secluded woods. Meanwhile, they felt as strangers drifting through the quiet country of a foreign people, mere visitors in the implacable march of existence.
“There is something familiar about this place, despite its newness,” said Mario, looking at the bright patches in the sparse canopy. “As if no matter where I was born, I might call this my homeland.”
“You know, I think I’m feeling something like that, too,” said Koover, breathing in deeply. “So clean and pastoral, even more so than the Mushroom Forest.”
Mario stopped suddenly and fell low to the ground. Startled, Koover followed suit and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
“Two figures in the grass,” said Mario, gesturing ahead. “Come on.”
As they approached, though, the silhouettes gradually became blurry and then faded away into nothingness. Neither Koover nor Mario saw any sign of them when they looked around in confusion. It was as if they had been mirages, dazed figments of the two worn heroes cheated imaginations.
“Keep on your guard,” said Mario, needlessly. “There’s something else, now… something wrong.”
The winds picked up, bending the frail trees and shooting dry leaves through the spaces of the cold air. Grating, arid, a scorching growl built up unbearably and then whittled away into an uneasy silence. As the pair stopped and waited, thick roots slid beneath the earth, and branches overhead strained outwards.
“We should head back, Mario. It was a mistake to come here.”
“Yeah,” said the human slowly, backing up. “Maybe you’re right.”
A pale mask of fear washed over their faces, and the rumble of the unseen monster grew hideously again. They covered their ears from the horrible sound and fell to the ground, writhing. All around them the scene of the thrashing forest inverted, twisting into another landscape, and they soon found themselves on a barren island in the middle of an endless gray ocean.
“Great,” said Koover. “Not thirty minutes after we leave camp, and we’re already in trouble.”
“Sorcery,” spat Mario, his fists clenched and eyes blazing. “Probably a Magikoopa. That peaceful feeling we had was a trap designed to lead us here.”
“Where is he, then?”
Mario shouted loudly, “Show yourself! Face us!”
There was a haze of darkness in the distance, periodically disappearing and materializing again, each time coming closer and closer. It zigzagged across the infinite surface of the dead sea, snapping and cackling as it approached. A rush of wind and hissing air followed its movements, exploding as claps of lightning in the distance.
“Stand your ground,” said Mario. “It’s only a visual illusion. It’s not real!”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” mumbled Koover. “I… I knew that.”
The glassed-over ocean turned red with the thickness of blood, and the clear sky became ripe with a purple-infused black that shows on the night of a storm. Ships with torn hulls and skeleton crews appeared, moaning, grinding across the crimson waters in all directions. There was also the shadow shape still moving fleetingly among its creations, now almost in reach of the small strip of land they were standing on.
“Now is it fake?” asked Koover.
“Just a really powerful image,” said Mario, but his voice was not reassuring. “If we run towards it, he won’t be able to keep the illusion up. All at once now… go!”
They ran out yelling as bravely as they could, and as they leapt over the limit of the island, the water phased over into earth below their feet. Ships of the dead dulled into clarity, passing through them without so much as a breeze, and soon the aspen grove reappeared.
“Now, then,” said Mario, breathing quickly, “we’ll take care of that villain. He’s got to be around here.”
“I don’t think I want to find him,” said Koover. He sniffed at the air. “Wait…”
A flaming skull screeched behind them, and darkness overwhelmed their minds. Both fainted, and soon silence returned over their motionless bodies.
~*~*~*~
“I am positive,” said the Reznoth decisively. His nostrils flared, and the scales running along his arms had brightened. “Something evil was here. It is gone now.”
“That’s comforting,” said Luigi.
He gave a wry half-grin and brushed a low-hanging cluster of branches from their path. The wind had picked up gradually as they advanced towards the valley where the Mushroom Village had been. It sloped down steeply from the opposite side of the Rugosa Plateau, and they wondered how deeply it was flooded. They didn’t count on anything being left, but their next destination was Midas Mountain regardless, since that was where any survivors would’ve fled to.
“The scent is strengthening,” said Rezan. “To the east.”
They nodded at each other and went opposite ways, forming a wide circle around where the Reznoth had pinpointed the smells. As Luigi ran, he noticed the color of Rezan’s scales changed, allowing the creature to blend in with the forest. He only hoped he was half as unnoticeable.
“Luigi,” whispered a voice to him, feminine and familiar. “Luigi, I’m over here.”
“Princess?” muttered Luigi, already stopped with leaves and mud thrown up under his shoes. “Where are you?”
“This way,” the voice called, farther away this time.
Luigi could now tell where it was coming from, though, so he started towards it. It didn’t seem right that Peach would be so calm, unless she was hurt and couldn’t speak any louder. Forgetting about Rezan and with the hopes that his friends might still be alive, he wandered away in the direction of the voice.
Meanwhile, the Reznoth ran swiftly, completing the circle and vaulting into one of the shorter pines when he caught a glimpse of something in the fallen leaves. He let out his claws and grappled the rest of the way up the trunk, trying to get a clearer view. There were definitely two figures, each about the same size, lying prostrate and unmoving on the ground.
With a muffled grunt, Rezan swung from one branch to another and made his way through the canopy to where he could easily drop down over the pair of bodies. He looked down at them again, but they were mostly covered in mud and unrecognizable, so he brought out his plasma gun and held it carefully at his side. The winds were howling now, forcing him to hold on tightly to the tree with the sharp claws of his feet.
He sniffed again at the air and pivoted his head slowly, wondering what was taking Luigi so long. At the rate he was going, the human should have been there around the same time he was, but it was now two minutes and still no sign of his green clothes. After waiting another minute, he checked the stability of the branch he was standing on and dropped down from one to the next, eventually landing with a crackle of leaves on the forest floor.
The dirt-covered figures were gone.
Rezan growled and trained his gun in a sweep around him. There weren’t any depressions in the mud to indicate someone had been laying there, but he knew he had seen them. Then he heard something among the low sounds of splintered twigs rolling over the ground. It was a dull growl, rising higher and deeper before it vanished completely.
Suddenly tense, the Reznoth jumped back into the trees and crouched low, waiting.
~*~*~*~
Mario woke up gagged and tied to one of six stone pillars surrounding a raised altar, with his vision flushed before him like a restless night’s sleep. He struggled again to get loose when he saw his brother lying motionlessly on the cracked platform before him, but his bonds were wrapped too tightly.
Though unconscious, Luigi was spread without ropes across the altar, but Koover was bound as Mario was against one of the other pillars. His eyes were closed, and his head was turning as he grappled out of the deep sleep that had so suddenly consumed the three of them. Leaves in the trees rustled peacefully, calmly, whispering as if nothing menacing existed over the whole length of the earth.
“What have we gotten ourselves into now?” the human muttered darkly. “Koover! Koover, can you hear me?”
“Mario?” said the drowsy Koopa, just opening his eyes. “Where are we?”
“Still in the forest, I think. Try to keep your voice down.”
“No problem,” said Koover, straining to look around. “It must have been an illusion, after all. The last apparition scared me senseless.”
“It wasn’t only the skull that caused us to faint. Something else willed it, messed with our consciousness. Whatever it is should still be close, waiting to make its next move. We’ve got to get out of the ropes before it comes back.”
“Hey, Luigi!” shouted Koover, immediately softening his voice. “I mean, I didn’t see him. We should try to wake him up.”
“No use,” said Mario. “He’s out cold, otherwise he’d be tied up like we are. Why he was put on the altar, though, I’m not sure. I just know I don’t want to stick around to find out.”
“Mario, look,” the Koopa exclaimed as a bundle of ropes fell at the human’s feet. “You’re free!”
“Odd,” said Mario, running around to look behind the pillar. He picked up the binding and studied the frayed edges. “It’s been cut by something.”
“I must ask you to be quiet,” said a raspy voice from above, and they both looked up. A reptilian humanoid was bent over the top of the pillar and suddenly jumping across them to where Koover was. “Excuse my abruptness,” he said as he let the Koopa loose. “I am a friend of Luigi’s and am here to help you.”
“Can’t argue with the results,” said the human, rubbing the stiffness out of his wrists. “Let’s get Luigi and make a break for it. We don’t want to be here when whatever it is that captured us returns.”
“I’m not certain that’s an option,” said the Reznoth. He shouldered Luigi and sniffed lightly at the air. “There is great power in this thing. It may be watching us as we speak.”
“You know what it is?” asked Koover.
“It is a demon from the Unspoken One,” said Rezan plainly. “I cannot yet tell you how I know this. It would compromise my position.”
“Are you at least going to let us know your name?” Mario asked. “That’s awfully cryptic and suspicious for a stranger, even for one who just helped us out. I expect I’m willing to believe almost anything after what’s happened during the past few days, though.”
“Rezan is my name,” said the reptile. “I am a Reznoth, long absent from my homeland. That is all I can tell you now.”
“As long as we know a little bit, I guess,” said Mario uneasily. “Do you have any idea what we should do next? I’m up for suggestions.”
“We must continue northwards, towards the Castle Koopa,” said Rezan. “I am convinced we shall find our next clue to unravel the source of the flood there. Even if not, we’re meant to go, I think.”
“First, though, I must inform the other survivors,” said Koover. “They are waiting at the valley’s edge, hopefully looking for the other end of the tunnel that leads to Toad Town. Others might have come through it unharmed.”
“On the other hand, we’ll need as much help as we can get before we go marching into the middle of Bowser’s throne room,” said Mario. “I say we head back, round up as many soldiers as we can, and then storm the Keep.”
“Or at least infiltrate it,” corrected Rezan, who had a more secretive venture in mind. “According to the sun’s position,” he said, studying the sky, “the valley should be this way.”
They followed him, and the altar glowed faintly as they left before diminishing again into silence.
~*~*~*~
When they returned to camp, a surprise greater than the deadly illusions in the forest awaited them. The small band of survivors had grown to almost five-thousand, and all the citizens of Toad Town were crowded along the wide plateau. Mario and his company were greeted warmly by Mayor Upton, Master Erasmus of the dojo, the Shaman Merlon, and a strange Mushroomer with his red Yoshi. After brief introductions, they gathered away from the crowd and discussed their situation.
Mario was still thinking of Luigi, though, lying in state within the Mayor’s tent. Nothing the medical officers had done succeeded in bringing him out of his deep sleep. “I’m glad you all made it to the tunnel in time. Our own people were not so fortunate.”
“We would not have been either if it weren’t for the heroics of Genji and Roshi,” said Upton, proudly gesturing to the lone Mushroomer and Yoshi hovering outside the circle of leaders. “They spotted the incoming waters soon enough for us to make a retreat, and thankfully the evacuation tunnel had not caved in from disuse.”
“Let us not question the movement of the Stars, then,” Merlon intervened. “I believe Mario has something important to address, something that all of us are a part of.”
“Rezan here,” said the human, “saved our lives. He thinks the Enemy is behind the flood and has been sending creatures of his into this world to stop us from figuring out something. I’m inclined to believe him, gentlemen, as nothing else makes sense now. We’re being attacked, plain and simple, by forces beyond our control. Building on that, Rezan says our next step in fighting back is at Castle Koopa. We must force Bowser’s hand before he strikes at us in our weakness.”
“I concur with Mario,” said Erasmus, looking strangely at Rezan. A flash of familiarity existed between the two, and the Reznoth nodded his head imperceptibly. “His new friend is right. We cannot wait idly while Bowser prepares an assault force.”
Mayor Upton stood up grimly. “If you’re decided on this, then I’m willing to relinquish command of Toad Town’s battalions over to you, Mario. We have eight-hundred good men now under the command of General Genji, recently promoted.”
“Me?” asked the odd Mushroomer suddenly. “I can’t lead an army!”
“You’re the best officer our town has,” said Upton. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“We’d be proud to go into battle with Mario,” said Roshi for his friend, giving a salute. “What are your orders?”
“Gather twenty of those men and be ready to depart in an hour,” said the human. “Since we don’t outnumber them, we’ll have to go in the back way, so to speak, and scale down the cliffs of Vista Hill once we reach the entrance. There are countless caverns into the passageways of the underground complex, and we can make our way through it that way. It’s what Luigi and I used to always do.”
“The rest will travel with us westward, then,” said Upton. “We’re going to make our way to Land’s End and rendezvous with the Grand Mushroomer Army. Genji, who will you take?”
The Mushroomer was about to speak when the dojo master interrupted him.
“I’ll take the honor of being the first to sign up,” said Erasmus, his old bones crackling as he stood up. “Don’t worry. It’d take a hundred of you young ones to match my energy, heh heh heh. Hack! Cough! Wheeze!”
“You’re welcome to come,” Mario said. “Merlon?”
“You’ll have to forgive me,” replied the Shaman, “but I must tend to Luigi. I wish to explore his mind, where I might be able to bring him back to this reality. If what Rezan says is true and he has been affected by an agent of the Dark One, then it might be his only chance.”
“I shall stay, as well,” said the Reznoth. “My lot, for now, lies with Luigi.”
Mario nodded solemnly. “Do whatever you can, Merlon. We can’t lose him after all we’ve already lost. It’s too hard.”
“Go in favor of the Stars, Mario,” said Merlon, nodding. “And may the peace that passes understanding be with you.”
~*~*~*~
“We’re too late,” said Koover one hour later, expressing the fear that consumed all of them as they came out of the forest and looked out over the wide waters.
Across the Vista Sea sailed over a thousand black ships, slicing through the waves and heading westward along the borders of the coastline. Although they were far removed from shore, they could see the flags of the Koopa Kingdom flying high on their masts and waving gloomily in the dull wind.
“The illusion in the forest made manifest,” said Mario to himself. Only Koover looked at him silently. “Bowser knows we are weakened. He is coming to wipe out all that is left at Land’s End.”
“Do not give up hope yet,” said Erasmus. “The Grand Mushroom Army is a match for even a fleet the size of this one. Now that they have left, at least, few will be guarding the castle.”
“The Master is right,” said Mario, suddenly relieved. “Genji, take ten of the men and start down the cliff near the end of the bridge. The rest of you, we’ll climb up the side of the castle itself and find a way inside from the top. With most of the archers probably gone, we might actually have a chance of making it.”
They made it across the bridge without any resistance, and as they walked up to the solid face of the Keep, no sounds could be heard from inside or above. It was indeed as if the entire Koopa Kingdom had taken up and moved away, never to return. The only familiar sight was the circle of vultures flying overheard, constantly in search of a soldier unfortunate enough to incur the wrath of King Bowser.
“It’s like a ghost house,” said Genji. He was standing beside Roshi, letting the dinosaur rest after carrying him all the way through the forest. “Maybe no one’s in there.”
“They wouldn’t leave the castle completely unguarded,” said Koover. “We won’t have as much trouble, though. Shall we get started?”
“When we do meet in the upper levels,” added Erasmus before they split up, “we should find the library and Kamek’s quarters. I have a hunch that the Magikoopas have been investigating the flood.”
After Genji and his troops left the safety of the bridge to climb carefully down the hill face, Mario and the rest began looking for a safe place to scale the castle walls. They found a mossy patch on the eastern side that was usually protected by twenty skilled archers lined against the battlements, but none were there for the moment. Without any hindrance or danger of being knocked off, all of them, including Erasmus, reached one of the lower towers of the keep in a little under thirty minutes. It was the work of another five to force open the wooden hatchway at the base and work their way into an armory hall.
Arrows, swords, maces, and other staple weaponry of the Koopa Kingdom lined the walls on either side, so Mario ordered the men to arm themselves as lightly as they could. A small mess hall for the archers was beyond, and they ate whatever appeared to be fresh, now completely ready to explore the inner sanctums of the castle.
A twisting stairwell led into another, larger hallway that appeared to be the junction of the tower they had climbed and the central area. The library would be located there, and Kamek’s quarters would probably be behind or near the throne room. As they made their way towards it, though, shadows coiled across the far wall, and the clanking of metal could be heard growing louder.
“Company,” said Koover dryly. “Should we take them out or find another way through?”
“There’s no other way to the entry hall unless we find another tower,” said Mario. “Let’s just see how many there are and play it by ear.”
A pair of Jawfuls lumbered through the entrance with their giant forks swaying and came towards the intruders stupidly until something clicked inside them. The one on the right growled, and its partner waited a second or two before joining in, banging its weapon angrily against the stone floor.
“It’s hard to find good help, I guess,” said Mario, grinning.
“If you’ll excuse me,” said Erasmus. “They’ll not be too much trouble. Cough! Wheeze! Hack!”
The old Mushroomer stumbled up in front of the pair and politely cleared his throat. “Now see here, brutes, we’re going to have to bypass you. I’d stand aside and think nothing of it, if our roles were reversed.”
The Jawfuls guffawed and ambled forward, dead on the floor in an instant. Erasmus had jumped over them, one leg on each, and with a twist of his feet as he sailed, their necks were broken. Both heavy corpses slumped to the ground and lay there motionlessly.
“Hack! Cough! Wheeze! Well, what are we waiting for?”
“Impressive,” said Mario, choked on his own surprise. “How old are you again?”
“Old enough not to keep count any more,” said The Master. He stretched back and placed a hand at the base of his spine for support. Slowly, he picked up his cane and walked towards the door on the far end. “Come on, youngsters. We don’t have all day.”
They all entered through the next archway and came out into the main hall, towering and replete with tapestries and statues of all varieties. If they hadn’t been so connected with the bad memories he had of Peach being kidnapped and his near-death battles with Bowser, Mario might have even admired the grand scale of the Koopa King’s vision.
“It’s eerie,” said Koover, his voice echoing across the wide expanse of the ceiling. “No one here, and yet we know how terrible a place it is, how much evil it represents. I can’t get my mind off of the size of it all.”
None of them said anything, and Mario led the way to the library.
~*~*~*~
Genji T. and the other soldiers climbed through one of the lower caverns and came out in the dungeon. It occupied the entire floor, containing hundreds of cells, and every dank corner was pervaded with the pungency of dried blood and rotted flesh. Yellowed bones made brittle with age slumped at the walls behind iron bars, left there to decompose in confinement. Despite all the traces of suffering, though, no guards were seen. The complex appeared to be empty.
“I almost wish the scum were still here,” said Genji, teeth clenched. “I’d show them a thing or two. This is… this is horrible!”
“It sure is, now get me out of here!” screamed a hoarse voice.
Roshi listened closely and led the troops to where it came from. Parakarry had his hands wrapped tightly against the bars of a far cell, and his face was bruised and blackened. Fortunately, he seemed to be recovering, but he was in no less of a hurry to get out.
“Stand back,” said Genji. “Ok, guys, get him out of there.”
“Ahem,” said the Paratroopa as the soldiers grunted, trying to shift the weight of the bars. “The keys are on that wall there. Third row, second over.”
After considerable grumbling and a few more seconds, he was free. Parakarry stretched his wings out and hovered around, trying to get the feeling back into them. “A day or two in there is agonizing. I can’t imagine a lifetime of it. You have my thanks, but what brings you here? And where did all the guards go? Everyone left during the night and this morning.”
“Almost everyone in the castle left,” said Genji. “We saw a thousand ships heading west, but Bowser has more troops than that, so I’m not certain where the rest went. Whatever the reason, I’m sure it means war.”
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire, then,” said Parakarry wryly. “What about the flood? Did everyone… oh.”
The Parakoopa saw the deaths of the Mushroomers and other inhabitants of his home town as he looked into the pained eyes of his rescuers. Ever since his capture, he’d convinced himself the moment of waves crashing over the streets of the Mushroom Village was only a terrible nightmare, illusory and precipitant of his own torturous experience in the dungeons of the castle. Now, though, the reality of the catastrophe struck him harder than the flails of the prison guards and the starving and the promise to never see light of day again.
“Why did it happen?” he asked of no one, expecting no answer.
“Most from Toad Town survived,” Roshi said. “Many from the Mushroom Village perished. Only Mario, Luigi, and a handful of others have crossed our paths, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on them yet.”
“And Bowser escaped,” continued the Paratroopa, the wrongness in his mind unmitigated. “It doesn’t seem right that he should live while all of us wander in the wreckage of his old failure, waiting while victory submits itself to his claws. Where are the Stars’ justice and mercy?”
“Come on, Parakarry,” said Genji. His eyes were blank, and all he could offer was a promise of the future, implicit and baseless. “Mario and the others are waiting for us at the top. We’ve got to find out what caused all of this, what set its will against us.”
“As long we’re doing something,” said the Paratroopa grimly. “Just don’t let me rest. Just don’t let me think.”
~*~*~*~
While the soldiers explored the abandoned castle and the other survivors marched along the hill lines, looking for an overpass to Midas Mountain, the Mushroom Forest slept uneasily.
The altar in the depths of the woods glowed strongly now, humming fiercely and rumbling the air. Coursing, seething, a dark laugh emanated from the ancient pillars, followed by shoots of flames that burned the trees around them. Smoke and blackness blotted out the serenity of the falling dusk.
It did not grow, did not dare to extend beyond the borders of the ancient relics. Better to burn in deep assurance. Better to hunger for the bones of the living.