Recap/Introduction
Welcome back, ye people that have read "Blackened"! If this does not include you, I recommend you go back and read it before you continue with this story.
It is still a few years after Superstar
Saga. An alien race of explosive phantoms called Wraiths descended upon
Plit, along with their leader, a mysterious guy named Elias. At the same
time, the Koopas launched a successful kidnap mission and then headed to
Rose Town to display their military power. On the way there, they encountered
a scouting group of Wraiths and engaged them in battle. They won, but it
started a short cycle of events that ended up with the princess dying.
Mushroom Kingdom got mad, mobs formed, the Chancellor got trampled, all
that good stuff. Meanwhile Mario, who had gone with an airship fleet attempting
to aid a besieged Sarasaland, ran straight into Elias. They fought, Mario
got his butt kicked, and then he destroyed Elias's only way back to his
planet, the airship Chaos Emperor. They fought again and this time Elias
killed Mario. At the same time, the Mushroom Kingdom, along with their
allies Moleville and Nimbus Land, launched a grand offensive at the Dark
Lands. The battle went on for a while, and then both armies joined forces
to fight off a Wraith army, which killed Bowser. A Wraith army also devastated
the defenseless Mushroom Kingdom, but was destroyed by a spirit named Geno,
who absorbed the physical bodies of Mario and Bowser and launched Elias
off a cliff. Mushroom Kingdom celebrated, Ludwig is now King Koopa, and
Elias washed up on an uncharted island. Welcome to: The Four Horsemen!
Prologue
The tall, masked figure strode past the Wraith workers, concentrating on one thing: figuring how much longer he had to wait for dinner. No matter how much he urged them, they never seemed to be able to get it ready before he got hungry. At least he wouldn't kill them like Elias did.
Besides, there were more important matters at hand. Namely, figuring out where Elias was. He had just launched some Wraiths to scout for signs of the... reaper. He was beyond confused. What could have happened to Elias in the space of two minutes when he was completely alone? He snorted. Elias probably overlooked something, or he did something stupid. It had happened before.
Out of the blue came the image of a
Wraith on the screen he had been staring at absent-mindedly. "Master, we
have found Sir Elias. Instead of the original coordinates of Latitude 18,
Longitude 0, we found Sir Elias at
Latitude -65, Longitude 7. He claims
that a heavenly guardian blasted him off of a cliff that was exactly 86
feet, 3 inches, 1.3 centimeters, and 6 millimeters high."
Ignoring the intense hatred of the Wraith, he replied, "Very well. Bring him up here. We have much to discuss."
"Yes, Master. WRA-1563 out."
He strode into the docking bay of the inter-dimensional warship Hammerhead to wait for that abomination to appear. He still couldn't figure out how the destruction of Plit could have gone so awry that he would have to come to the planet personally. He was still trying to figure it out when Elias arrived.
"I am sorry for my failure, Master."
"There is nothing to be sorry for. There was no possible way you could have defeated a star spirit. Especially one infused with the powers of two of the strongest beings to inhabit Plit: Mario and Bowser."
"Still."
"Do not worry about it, Elias. It will not matter in the long run. Plit will still be destroyed."
"Master, it's no use. The planet has banded together against me. I am nearly out of Wraiths to use. How am I supposed to destroy Plit?"
He chuckled at Elias's stupidity. "I know all of that. That's why I'm coming down to the planet to help."
His sharp eyes detected the surprise
in Elias's hidden face, which served simply as a source of amusement.
Chapter 1: Funeral Fog
Luigi woke up bright and early, amazingly tired from the huge celebration from the previous night. He dashed out the kitchen for breakfast, while calling Mario's name- then he remembered that Mario was gone. Forcing himself not to think about it yet, he settled down for some bacon and eggs. "Now, how to spend the rest of the morning?"
~~~
"Greetings, Your Majesty," the Chancellor said when Ludwig von Koopa came into view, accompanied by two Sledge Bros. The bodyguards didn't worry him at all, for he had four veterans of the previous battle with him.
"Greetings, Chancellor. I suppose you are here to sign ze treaty?" returned Ludwig, shaking his hand.
"Of course. Why else would I come to Monstro Town in this kind of stormy weather?"
"Fair point. Come zis vay, please."
The Chancellor and his bodyguards followed the new king into the crystalline cavern where the powerful super-being Culex once resided. He made his way to the table in the middle of the cavern and took a seat. Ludwig sat down opposite him and said, "Now, for zis treaty."
~~~
Geno explored the remains of the Mushroom Kingdom. He couldn't figure out why they had been rejoicing all night long instead of trying to rebuild their city. True, there was some repairing being done, but nowhere near the amount that he and the other spirits would be doing. Ah well, he figured, mortals are just weird or lazy... or both. While thinking, he hadn't been keeping track of where he was going and bumped right into a remaining item stand.
"Hey! Watch where yer goin'!" shouted the Mushroomer manning the stand.
"Sorry." Geno hurried away, heading towards the center of the kingdom. He got there and looked at the giant clock on one of the buildings. It showed that it was ten to five (4:50, if you can't figure it out).
"Alright, I guess I better get down to the... memorial, I believe Luigi called it."
~~~
Luigi sat beside the empty casket that was labeled "Mario M. Mario". The memorials to those that had been killed in battle two days ago was drawing to a close, and it was going to end with a proper funeral for Mario. He looked around as Mallow and Yoshi came in and sat down next to him. Wario and Waluigi sat opposite of them, talking quietly. Luigi scowled at the reminder that those two were going to be casket-bearers. Unfortunately, they are our only known relatives, he thought to himself as the final casket-bearer, Geno, came in.
The six sat in silence for several minutes before an attendant came in. "It's time."
Luigi, Mallow, and Yoshi hefted the right side of the heavy, ornate coffin while Wario, Waluigi, and Geno lifted the right side. They began to walk down the hallway and into the half-destroyed cathedral. Inside, thousands of brilliant candles, one for every fallen soldier, greeted and blinded them. They carried it past the rows of mourners and candles until the reached an altar, where they placed the tomb. The priest stepped up to a podium while they took their seats.
"Tonight, we mourn the great protector
of our kingdom, Mario."
Chapter 2: Theft and the Fugitive Mind
Elias looked out the view port, confused. They were passing right by Plit, heading for a cloud of gray dust that had been orbiting the planet for years. "What is so important about that cloud, Master?"
"Have you ever heard of the Smithy Gang?"
Elias thought carefully. "No, I haven't."
"They were a group of robot invaders who attempted to conquer Plit. The gang had been trying to reach Plit for years, but were not able to due to something called the Star Road, which is where I'm assuming Geno is from. To get through, they had to ride down in a giant sword called Exor, literally shattering the Star Road. During that time, their creator is said to have been killed by the shocks from the collision. The truth is, he had abandoned them as they began their attempt."
"So who was their creator?"
"... I cannot tell you yet. Right now, I need you to come with me."
Elias followed his master as he strode down the circular hallway leading towards the ammo storage. Once there, Elias watched as he picked up a small, jade artifact shaped like two swords welded together at their points. He held the handle of one of the swords. "Grab the other end, Elias."
Elias came forward and grabbed the opposite handle. "Now pull."
Both of them pulled at the same time, snapping the artifact in two. Turquoise gas spewed out of either piece, disappearing seconds later. Elias stared down at his piece, waiting for something to happen. His master began to speak again.
"The Smithy Gang came close to conquering Plit, closer than any other invaders, before or since. Yet they were destroyed by a small band of heroes led by Mario. They are the four individuals I told you to spare. Geno was also with that group, but since he is not a true Plitian mortal, he doesn't count. Yet, only one of the four live. Your Wraiths are responsible for the deaths of Bowser Koopa and Peach Toadstool."
Impatiently, Elias asked, "Why are you telling me this?"
His master glared at him. "Respect, Elias. But you are right in asking. I am going to attempt to revive the Smithy Gang, and the only way to do it is if at least one of its destroyers is still alive. They would be stronger if more were still alive, but that can't be helped."
"How are you going to attempt to revive the gang?"
"Think about what we just did with the artifact."
"... So has the revival failed?"
"Of course not. There is another of those artifacts made out of ruby, on Plit. Once it's broken, the gang will be revived."
"Who has it?"
"When Mario and his friends defeated Smithy, the leader of the gang, he found it buried under some pipes. He took it with him and gave it to his brother as a present."
Elias grinned. "So all we need to do is send someone down to get it? I'm re-"
"You're staying here. I have sent a special Wraith known as WRA-Omega down to retrieve it."
"WRA... isn't that the Emperor?"
"Yes, it is."
~~~
Popple grinned as he slinked around the side of Mario Pad. He turned around and motioned for his Rookie, a Sackit. Rookie darted forward and knocked on the door. It opened, and Rookie jumped up and took Luigi's hat.
"WHY YOU LITTLE!"
The furious plumber began chasing Rookie, giving Popple a perfect time to strike. He darted into the house and began searching. He took several coins, generally left everything else, and finally came upon what he was looking for: a brilliant ruby relic shaped like two swords pointing at each other. Snickering, he dashed out just as Luigi came back, dragging behind a conked-out Rookie. He stared for a second and then shouted, "HEY-A! GIMME THAT-A!"
Popple grinned and dashed away, jumping into a go-kart driven by Rookie-B, an Amanita. The kart zoomed off, leaving an extremely angry Luigi in its dust.
"SUCKER!"
~~~
WRA-Omega fell through the Plitian sky, the heat of the descent forming a white-hot blaze around him. He had volunteered for the mission, although it was not to his liking. In fact, the prospect of his whole race being indentured to that being was a source of chagrin... Mentally shaking himself, the Wraith continued his descent. His race was enslaved, and there was nothing he could do about it.
~~~
Popple continued grinning as they rode into the Mushroom Kingdom. Just as the Mushroomer had said, there had been a priceless treasure inside Mario Pad. That treasure was going to net him a solid 10,000 gold coins.
They reached the blackened house. Popple jumped out and strode right in, a giant grin stretching across his face. The obese fungus sitting in the chair opposite him stood up.
"Hello again! Have you found that relic yet?"
Popple's grin grew, if possible, wider. "Yes, right here. I believe you owe me... what was it... oh yeah, 10,000 coins! Pay up, yes?"
The Mushroomer began to chuckle. "Of course... NOT!"
With speed that hardly suited him, he snatched the ruby right out of the surprised Popple's hands and darted down a hallway. Popple stared in shock before twitching with anger. "ROOKIES! GET IN HERE!"
The Amanita and Sackit (who had jumped aboard the kart at the last second) dashed in. They both exclaimed, "Yes?"
"FOLLOW ME!"
The trio dashed down the multiple hallways and staircases until they came into an underground Roman-style Coliseum. Standing at a podium above them was the Mushroomer, wearing a grin that bordered on insane.
"Come forth, my pet! You have some playmates!"
As the door they had just passed through closed, a gate on the opposite side of the stadium opened, revealing the king of dragons, Bahamut.
~~~
"Master... you never told me what is so important about the cloud."
His master turned his cold gaze towards him. "It is more than just a cloud of dust particles and gasses. It holds the key to another dimension- the one that contains the Smithy Factory. Exor was forged from the materials there, making him a potential path to the dimension."
Elias nodded as he took in this knowledge. He slowly walked over to the view port and watched the cloud grow closer. The key to another dimension... he began thinking of ways he could try using another to dimension to his advantage... probably could be put to use storing excess annoying Wraiths.
As he continued staring into space, a nearly human-shaped Wraith, brilliant yellow in color, appeared on the giant monitor behind him. "Master, I have landed on Plit and arrived at the area known as Mario (a certain memory came to Elias at that word) Pad, but the relic is gone. I await your command on what to do next."
His master groaned audibly. "Don a Mushroomer disguise and ask the people in Mushroom Kingdom if they've seen Luigi. When you find him, ask him where the relic is. If he doesn't tell you, subject him to torture."
"Very well. I'm on my way. Would this disguise work?"
The gold Wraith transformed into a short mushroom, complete with appropriate clothing.
"Well, Elias. Would that pass?"
Elias scrutinized closely. "Yes, it
would."
Chapter 3: Dragon Warrior
Popple stared in shock and awe as the ten-foot dragon approached, light smoke billowing out of its nostrils. The portly Mushroomer gave a loud laugh. "Bahamut. Beauty, ain't he? He wasn't easy to get, either. He was inside a living chest in one of Bowser's old castles."
Popple ignored the annoying low voice and instead paid attention to the reptile in front of him. Rookie tried to run away in fright, while Rookie B hid behind Popple, who began moving to the right, keeping an eye on Bahamut. He then remembered what he had in his sack. He reached in and pulled out a Bob-omb. Grinning, he chucked the explosive towards the dragon. The bomb struck and blew up, blasting it several yards back. But the king of dragons wasn't about to tolerate such impudence. It retaliated with several gigantic blasts of fire. Popple shouted out in fright and dashed out of the way, narrowly dodging the blasts.
Rookie took advantage of having the tail end turned towards him. He drew out his own bomb and chucked, once again exposing the beast to fire. It whipped around 360 degrees and blasted Rookie with a powerful breath of fire. Popple dashed across the stadium towards Rookie B. "Rookie B! Let's give it our 'Bros Attack', yes?"
Upon reaching the Amanita, he lifted him up and strapped three bombs to him. Bahamut, who had finished roasting Rookie, turned to the pair as Popple threw his partner into the air. The mushroom spun around in the air above Bahamut, who was watching curiously, releasing dizzying spores before grabbing each bomb in turn and chucking it straight down. It got blasted three times from above, driving it into the ground as it inhaled the spores. The sudden burn in its nostrils caused it to leap onto its feet and blast out fire wildly. Then the spores kicked in, making its brain go fuzzy. It stumbled dizzily straight towards the wall and smacked its head. Grinning, Popple darted forward to finish it off.
~~~
"Walkin' down the street, shootin' people that I meet, fully loaded Bill Blaster," sang James as he walked through the shop, looking for some new guitar picks and generally scaring everyone away with his insane appearance. Like the residents of the kingdom, he and his bandmates were coping with the current situation by just not thinking about it.
Three minutes later, James walked out of the store with a small bag of picks and began searching for the rest of Koopalica. As he figured, they were all at the local, roofless, nearly burnt down bar. He walked behind Lars and took his drink just before he took a sip. "'Sup, guys?"
They all said hello one way or another, Lars with a swift punch to the belly, and turned back to their drinks, Lars taking his back before James could contaminate it. They just talked about random musical stuff until a hefty, pink-shelled Koopa with shades came in and sat next to James. "Hey, you'd be da lead singer of dat one metal group, right?"
Biting down a comment regarding showing respect for other people, James replied, "Um... yeah. Yeah, I am."
The hefty Koopa grinned. "Cool. I heard somethin' about you impersonatin' a doctor an' sneakin' aboard one of da doomships. Is dat true?"
James fought down the urge to slug the guy. "... Yes... it's... true..."
"Heh, don't wanna talk about it, do ya? Okay then, have you heard about dat thief dat robbed Luigi Mario about two hours ago and went into hiding? And Luigi is saying he'll follow him to da end of the world."
Inside James' head, something came alive. It was the same thing that drove him to sneak aboard the Imperial Belle, the same thing that drove him to join the band. Grinning, he asked, "Where might this thief be?"
~~~
"Hey Ludwig, the King, Your Majesty and Highness, can you go beat up, slug, and batter Iggy because he is annoying, irritating, and bugging me and you are the King, the Big Cheese, the-"
Ludwig, losing his patience, blasted Morton into a crisp. It had seemed like life was going to be easier now that he was king, but instead his siblings had grown even more annoying, in addition to the kingdom he had to keep from breaking down. After just three days, he was exhausted from everything he had to do: meetings, speeches, planning, putting up with his family, etc. As he lazily pushed Wendy out of the way, ignoring her pleading for him to buy her something, and headed down to his new bed/workroom, he decided that only one truly positive thing had come from this: the treaty he and the Chancellor signed, which terminated all war between to the two nations.
~~~
Luigi sprinted down the streets of the Mushroom Kingdom, desperately trying to find anyone who knew where Popple was. He had been searching for half an hour, asking almost every stranger that he could keep close enough to describe the thief. Naturally, pretty much the entire city was aware that Luigi had been robbed, though none of them seemed to be willing to help too much. Finally, he ran across Geno, who was busy examining some sculptures outside a store.
"Hey-a, Geno. Do you know-"
"Follow me. I heard where he had gone from a fat Koopa who seemed to be spilling out the info wherever he wanted."
Luigi wasn't surprised that Geno knew exactly what he was about to ask and began walking after him.
~~~
Popple grinned maniacally as he chucked bomb after bomb into Bahamut, keeping it from attacking. Rookie B slid forward and launched poisonous spores forward, while Rookie inched forward, bomb in hand. Finally, Bahamut had enough and launched into the air on its undersized wings. It swooped down at the small group below it, spewing out intense flames, Popple got out of the way, but Rookie B wasn't as lucky. He got the full blast of it and, being a mushroom, was nearly completely reduced to ashes.
Popple let out a curse and charged forward, pulling out a Super Mushroom. He chucked it towards Rookie and ran at Bahamut as it dived again. Popple strafed off to one side, evading the ferocious tongues of licking where he just was. He jumped onto the dragon's back and clutched it around the neck, startling it enough to prevent it from frying Rookie, who was busy swallowing the Mushroom. Popple slowly reached into his sack... and dropped the whole thing as his ride flipped upside down. The contents spilled out, revealing several bombs, hundreds of coins, and a single decorative dagger. "ROOKIE! THE KNIFE! THROW ME THE KNIFE!"
Rookie scampered forward, picked up the blade, and chucked it straight up in the air. By some miracle, it was right where Bahamut had decided to fly. By another one, Popple was able to catch it by its handle. He drew it back and stabbed hard in between scales. The monster bellowed in pain and tried to shake him off, but the crafty thief continued stabbing until the dragon crashed down to the arena below, dead. Gasping, Popple got off and charged at the Mushroomer, who was now the one staring in shock and awe. "Alright, hand over the money now."
"I-I'm sorry. I don't have enough."
Popple glared daggers, but kept his voice relatively calm. "Okay, then. You will instead give me the ruby back, yes?"
"Y-yes."
Treasure in hand, Popple stormed back towards where Rookie B's ashes lay.
"Rookie B."
"Hey, boss? There's some guy over there that wants to ask you something."
The glowering Popple silently walked over to the now-open gate, cursing both Rookie and the longhaired Koopa standing in front of him. "Yes?"
The Koopa grinned and asked, "You are the thief who stole something from Luigi, right?"
"Yes."
"Alright, can I join you for awhile?"
The question shocked Popple. "Er... can you do anything useful?"
"Um... I could provide entertainment, I can fight fairly well, I can drive-"
That was what Popple was looking for.
Grinning, he said, "Ok, welcome to the
team! What's your name?"
"James K-"
"Alright, you'll be called 'Rookie-J' from now on, yes?"
".. Whatever you say, boss. And we might want to get going, because Luigi is coming towards us right now."
Popple nodded, motioned to Rookie, and then bolted out of the opposite side of the arena, saying a quick prayer for Rookie B as he went.
~~~
Luigi and Geno sprinted down the multiple passages, looking for any trace of Popple or his gem. Finally, they came across an arena, where the sight of a dead dragon greeted them. They looked around and saw an overly fat Mushroomer seated high up in the stands, apparently miserable about something. Luigi jumped up to him and asked, "Did a green guy with a sack come through here?"
"Y-yes. He just went through that gate over there."
"Thanks." He ran off towards the gate, with Geno close behind."
~~~
WRA-Omega was normally exceedingly patient, but two hours of going around in circles was driving him nuts. It seemed as if not a single Mushroomer had actually seen the human, but instead pointed him off in some random direction. Finally, he ran across a teenage Nimbian. "Hey, do you know where Luigi went."
"Yeah, I heard from Roy Koopa that he had gone down to some house. Want to come with me?"
"... Alright"
Both of them started off towards the
specific place, the Wraith thinking about nothing except getting off this
miserable world.
Chapter 4: Flight and Fight
"Wahoo!" James shouted as they zoomed away in the go-kart, scattering pedestrians. Grinning maniacally, he veered off towards the bar, just as Koopalica came out. He shot over to them and screeched to halt.
"Hey, guys!"
They just stared at him as though he were a raving loony. Popple and Rookie then came up behind him. "Rookie...J... DON'T GO SO DARN FAST!"
James grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Boss. Won't happen again."
Kirk stepped in. "Hey, why are calling this &*^*%^ 'boss'? I thought we were your band!"
Popple spazzed in anger at what Kirk
called him, but James said, "Alright, you guys can come too. That alright,
Boss?"
"Grr...yes... what are their names?"
"Lars-"
"Rookie-L."
"Kirk-"
"Rookie-K."
"Rob-"
"Rookie-R."
"And Cliff."
"Rookie-C. You guys alright with that, yes?"
They just looked at each other, and then Lars said, "One moment, please."
They huddled together, talked for a few seconds, and walked back up to Popple. Grinning, Kirk said, "Sure, why not?"
Popple started to grin, but a sudden thought came to him. "Hey, how are they going to come with us?"
James thought for a second and replied, "They could go ahead to a certain point while we go steal another kart."
Noting to himself that he should be taking charge a bit more, Popple replied, "... Fine, we'll do that. You guys, go to the entrance to the Kero Sewers and for us there. You know where it-"
ZOOM!
"-is, yes? Grr... no respect. Well, come on!"
~~~
Luigi and Geno walked through the streets, still looking for signs of Popple. They didn't have to search long, however. They clearly saw a kart zoom off from in front of them, with his voice emanating from it. "ARGGH! NOT SO FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST!"
Motioning to Geno, Luigi ran over to the machine shop Popple just left. He pulled out a sack of coins, chucked them over to the Koopa running the store, and hopped into the nearest kart. He zoomed off, grabbing Geno, and began following Popple's dust trail.
~~~
WRA-Omega rode in the passenger side of their go-kart, searching for any flash of green. His fluffy companion was being extremely cautious about his driving, though the Wraith had no clue why. It seemed like a perfectly sturdy vehicle. He looked left down one alley and saw two trails of dust, one of them concealing a man in green. He grinned to himself. "Quick, head down there!"
Mallow complied and zipped down the wide alley, chasing after the other karts at top speed. They continued for several minutes before the front one came to a stop in front of a heavier kart. Seconds later, the middle racer halted, and out jumped Luigi, who came forward to confront the driver of the first. The first kart and the heavier one both took off as Mallow's kart reached them. Luigi started back towards his ride, prompting Omega to take action. He hopped out and raised his arms, causing the earth below them to shake. Giant walls of rock rose from the ground, blocking any escape routes for the human. Mallow turned to him. "Why did you do that?"
He ignored the ball of fluff, turning his attention to Luigi instead. "Luigi Mario, you are in possession of a ruby artifact. I have been ordered to retrieve it from you. Hand it over now."
Luigi was surprised that he knew of the relic, but replied, "I don't-a have it. I was just-a trying to get it back-a from a thief. But even if-a I did have-a it, I wouldn't-a give it to you."
"... I do not believe you. Where is it? Answer me truthfully."
"I already-a did."
"So you refuse to tell me where it is. Very well. Maybe the death of your friends will prompt you to be truthful."
The ordinary-looking Mushroomer began to shape-shift. His arms lengthened and grew large hooks; his body became more cone-like and wider. His legs grew out and fused together, with a hole forming where his feet were. The round mushroom head sharpened into a thin point while several long, spindly horns grew out of it. A blast of yellow gasses came out of the hole, propelling him up several feet. He turned to the three, the gap in his face widening into a horrid grin. "Explodet!"
~~~
Elias stood watching as his master talked
with some Wraiths aboard the wreckage of his old airship, the Chaos Emperor,
which was now at the bottom of the Plitian sea. He turned towards the dust
cloud again. The key to another dimension... who knew what that realm contained?
Money, food, a source of unlimited power... maybe the key to life itself.
He grinned as he thought of the possibilities. He didn't think of too many
before his master decided to speak with him. "Well, it appears that much
of the inside of the Chaos
Emperor is relatively undamaged, but
is completely flooded. However, the cloning machines we have are still
operational, so there are now thousands of Wraiths stuck inside of the
wreckage. If they get too crowded by the Wraiths being created by the cloners,
they will all explode, destroying the ship and everything in it. I need
you to create a hole in the hull of the ship so they can escape. You will
be sent down there immediately."
"... Yes, Master." He was deeply disgusted by this mission, saving some of the things he hated most.
~~~
Explosions tore at the three allies, all getting blasted. Geno recovered first and sent a Geno Whirl at Omega. The attack was dead on, slicing through him and slamming him into the earthen wall. Mallow summoned a powerful bolt of lightning, which simply passed through him. The Wraith dived forward, slashing at Geno. The living doll took the blow full force, sending him to the ground. Omega started preparing the deathblow, but was stopped by Luigi bouncing on his head. The phantasm dropped to the ground while Geno got up and fired a powerful beam. He shot back, phasing himself through the wall instead of crashing into it, and then flew back into combat, launching another spell. "Cluster Bomb!"
A large ball of energy shot towards
Mallow, exploding upon contact and launching several smaller bombs. These
ones exploded against the wall showering the battlefield with small sparks,
which exploded into giant
fireballs. Although badly burned by
that last attack, Luigi jumped up towards the spirit, charging electricity
in the palm of hand. Omega tried to dodge, but instead got stunned by the
massive burst of electricity. Mallow
and Geno took advantage of Luigi's
attack, launching a bolt of lightning and a swirling disc. Omega took these
attacks full force, and dropped to the ground. Angrily he forced himself
up and flew away without a word. Geno started scrutinizing the giant wall,
looking for a way out of their rocky prison.
Chapter 5: Welcome to the Jungle
Popple held on to the back of the speeding kart with all his strength as the maniac known as James drive across the barrels of the Midas River, followed closely by Lars. Every time they hit a barrel, their momentum would launch them to the next, making travel easy until they hit dry ground outside of Tadpole Pole. Upon reaching the bay in the center of Rose Way, James opted to take a "shortcut" through the overgrown flora, stopping only to let Rookie climb back on after being wrenched from the back of the car. Finally, they hit the remains of Rose Town and headed north to the Forest Maze. Not exactly the smartest thing they ever did.
~~~
Geno kept his flashy light blasts going, slowly dissolving the rock wall. Luigi sat around, trying to think of places where Popple would be able to hide to the east. The most obvious one was the Forest Maze, although it would be incredibly stupid to hide in there. Other than that, there were only the Moleville Mines and possibly Star Hill. He was so lost in thought that Mallow had to kick him to get his attention.
"Hey, Luigi! Let's go! Part of the wall's gone!"
Luigi looked up. Sure enough, there was a gaping hole in it, easily wide enough for their kart to go through. Grinning, he jumped in as Mallow took off, following the tire marks. They zoomed along the banks of Midas River until running into a problem. The tire tracks disappeared at a small swelling of the bank. Mallow stopped for a couple seconds before deciding to continue on to see if the tracks continued on at a later point. Sure enough, they did, eventually heading straight through some brush. Cautiously, they followed the path of trampled plants, coming out in Rose Town. There, the tracks turned up towards the ominous forest. Mallow hesitated, and then entered the forest.
~~~
Deep in the forest, a small imp woke up. He sniffed the air... and detected the scent of visitors to the forest. Happily, he flew up and out of his personal tree trunk to greet his new friends.
~~~
"Why'd we come here again?" Cliff asked, tripping over a small root.
"Trying to hide from Luigi," growled James, no longer happy with the situation. He had succeeded in smashing their kart against a tree, with Lars smashing into the same one seconds later. The harsh collision had knocked out Rookie and broken Lars's leg. Kirk and Rob, with Popple following close behind, dragging along Rookie, were now supporting him through the forest. They had been wandering for what felt like hours, going down random paths and generally learning how the forest got its name. Twice, they came upon a treasure chest, but they both turned out to be empty.
They continued on their miserable way until something slammed into James, knocking him into a daze. "Ooh, pweddy staws!"
The figure on top of him began flitting its wings again and took off, flying in rapid circles around Popple's head. Popple began watching, hypnotized by the small creature's flight. Seconds later, he fell over dizzy. The sprite laughed and tried to pull the something on Cliff, who attempted to bat him out of the air, missing badly. The fairy flitted away, then turned and spoke in an annoying, high-pitched voice. "Hey, that wasn't very nice!"
Popple, still slightly dizzy, stumbled over to the little thing. "Neither was what you did to me!'
"I'm an imp! I'm supposed to do stuff like that! Hee, hee, hee!"
James stirred on the ground. "No, you're just annoying."
"Hey! C'mon I've been doing this to everyone who has come into this forest for the past three years! It's what I live for!"
"Awesome. Look, can you just tell us how to get of this stupid place?"
"Hey! That's my home you're talking about!"
"... Whatever. Just tell us how to get out of here."
The pixie snickered and started flying in a figure shaped like an arrow pointing left. "That way! Or is it the other way? Hee, hee, hee!"
Furiously, Cliff walked up to the imp, who proceeded to grab a handful of his long red hair and yank it. 'OW! YOU STUPID %^%&!"
"Language, redhead! Hee, hee, hee! Ooh is that a pretty ruby sword? I want! I want!"
The imp darted forward and grabbed the artifact. He hovered for a few seconds before flying off, yelping, "It's mine! It's mine!"
Popple, seething with white-hot anger, charged after it, the others right behind him (Rookie had awoken, and Lars's leg was miraculously fixed). "COME BACK HERE, YOU STUPID IMP!"
A cackling voice came from all directions. "Hee, hee, hee! You will never catch Narl the imp, the master of illusory magic! HEE, HEE, HEE!"
~~~
Luigi looked around for the source of
the annoying voice. It didn't take long, as a small pale green figure carrying
a brilliant red object flew out of the canopy of the trees, knocking Geno
to the ground. He caught a glimpse of the object and realized that it was
his stolen artifact. He turned and started running after the thing, assuming
that that was Narl. Narl temporarily disappeared behind some trees, and
when he reappeared, there were two more of him. They each went a different
direction. Luigi picked one and chased it, only to have it laugh at him
and disappear. He turned back, but there was only a never-ending desert
there. He walked cautiously forward. Mallow's voice yelped out in pain,
and Luigi started running
towards the sound. He had only taken
ten steps when his hit something. As he lapsed into darkness, he saw the
desert revert back to a forest.
~~~
Narl giggled silently as he watched Luigi slump after hitting his head on the thick branch. As usual, his playmates were falling for his pranks. He fluttered out from behind the bush, only to be grabbed around the throat by an angry Popple.
"Alright, where did you store my... oh there it is!"
The idiotic Beanbean walked straight up to where the ruby was laying. He bent down to pick it up, but it dissolved when he touched it. He turned and saw Narl flying away, carrying both the artifact and Luigi's cap. "GET BACK HERE!"
~~~
James gnashed his teeth as he and the rest of Koopalica (plus Rookie) dashed down one of the seemingly millions of paths in the accursed forest. Finally, their target came in sight... followed by an army of Bonzai Bills. The Bills turned toward the small group, who turned and ran at top speed the other way while Narl flew along above them, laughing his head off. Rob tried to go off to one side of the path, but was blocked by two Bills. Narl flew ahead to a certain point. As soon as the terrified group reached it, he tugged on a string, trapping all of them in a net. The Bills just passed right through them. James swore up at Narl, who left up the trap and started flying them to another location- namely, a big hole in the ground. Chortling wickedly, he zoomed off to torment other unlucky souls.
~~~
Angrily, Popple chucked another bomb at the rapidly rotating environment, trying to keep himself from being dizzied by the delusion. He continued forward, searching for any sign of... well, anything different. Finally it came: multiple apparitions of Narl, each one laughing. His head began hurting severely... his vision went in and out of focus... and then the ground rose up to him as he passed out.
~~~
Geno and Mallow meandered through the halfway familiar groves of trees, looking for Luigi or Narl. For some reason, nothing had come their way, not even any of the various wild creatures. It was almost as if something was trying to get them off guard.
The thought had barely crossed Mallow's mind when an overly large tree starting falling at them as spikes shot up right where they had just been walking. They ran forward, straight into Narl's trap. They smacked their heads against an invisible branching, knocking them down. Narl fluttered down and quickly tied ropes to their feet. He began pulling them up and tied the other end of the rope to a branch high above the ground. Grinning, he fluttered off, leaving them to hang.
"Hee, hee, hee! Well I think that's all of them! I believe I'll go see those two that got knocked out into some tree trunks and then release everyone for another round in a few hours. Hee, hee... AGGUH!"
BOOM!
"Okay, imp. You will lead me to wherever you put my allies, yes?"
Narl nodded his blackened head vigorously, although he had no intention of doing that whatsoever. Unfortunately, Popple then clipped his wings together, preventing flight. He tried to create an illusion of snakes climbing up to the surface of the earth, but nothing appeared. "Hey! Why don't it work?"
"That bomb I hit you with has a special chemical to prevent magic, see?"
Pouting, the poor imp led Popple over to the hole where he had unceremoniously dumped Koopalica and Rookie. Popple pulled out the knife he used to kill Bahamut and cut a hole in the net. They clambered out and thanked Popple, while James went over and gave Narl a good kick to the face.
"Okay, Narl. Now show us the way out, yes?"
Grumpily, the forest prankster obliged, leading them through a winding path until they were back at Rose Town. While unclipping the wings, Cliff muttered, "Alright, now go free anyone else you have in that forest."
Narl was almost in tears by the time
the trespassers had left.
Chapter 6: Bon Voyage!
The motley crew of Popple, Rookie, and Koopalica continued wandering west, through Moleville, Booster Pass and Hill, Marrymore, and Star Hill before arriving in Seaside Town. As the cool ocean mist swamped over them, they headed over towards the docks, desperate to leave the continent until Popple could pawn off the relic to a certain wandering contact. Cliff insisted on buying a long, thin boat painted red and black, armed with two Bill Blasters fore and aft and a Torpedo Tube below. A Noki walked up to them.
"Hello, fine sirs! Are you going to buy this one?"
Popple looked at the others before replying, "Yeah... how much?"
"Nothing unreasonable. Let's see...
2500 for the boat, 1250 for the weaponry,
750 for the ammo, about 500 for various
taxes. I'll settle for 50,000 coins!"
Popple's eyes bulged at the giant sum. "How does that add up?!"
"With a lovely thing we here in Seaside like to call the Rip-Off-Our-Customers Tax, which takes the normal price of something and multiplies it by ten! Isn't it a great system?"
"... No."
"Of course it is! It lets us get a great sum of money and leaves our costumers with almost nothing!"
"... I hate this place. Just a second, I'll go get the money."
"Thank you, good sir!"
Popple paid the Noki the money and immediately set sail for the Beanbean Kingdom, while the little dirtbag at the port chuckled to himself. "Foreigners are so stupid!"
~~~
The airship Chaos Emperor hadn't even been underwater for two weeks, yet it was already rusty and covered in algae. Elias grimaced as its once majestic form appeared before his eyes. His air bubble wavered and he returned his attention to keeping it up. At fifty feet away, he began charging up a spell. At fifteen, he launched it, blasting a hole through the side of the ship. Immediately, he wished he hadn't gone on this stupid rescue mission as millions of Wraiths swarmed out at once, lifting him up and carrying him rapidly through the sky.
~~~
"Master, I have confirmed that Luigi passed through the town of Marrymore a day later than I expected him to. I am going to head over to Seaside Town and cut him off there. WRA-Omega out."
Clicking off the com, he strode down
to the docking bay to wait for Elias. He came, but not in the shuttle he
went down to Plit in. Instead he was sandwiched somewhere in the middle
of the huge conglomerate of Wraiths. About ten minutes and fifty explosions
later, a livid, scorched Elias lay on
the floor, muttering about how much
he hated Wraiths.
"Elias, arise and come with me."
Elias heatedly complied, following him back to the view port, where his master began speaking. "Elias, you remember what I said about reviving the Smithy Gang?"
"Clearly."
"When the second artifact is broken, a rift will open up in that cloud. I plan to enter it. Not only will we be able to recruit the gang right there instead of searching for each individual member, but there are also some weapons of incredible power I wish to obtain."
"Two questions. One: how will we be able to recruit the gang there?"
"When anything on Plit dies, its spirit heads to the other dimension, where it's granted a new physical body identical to the one it had on Plit. There are a few exceptions to this, namely the Boos. The gang may not have technically been from Plit, but their creator arranged it so that they would be sent to the cloud. When they are revived, they will be jettisoned down to the planet. If we get there before they leave, we'll be able to bring them down via airship."
"O...kay. And two: how do you know all this?!"
"Let's just say that I've met the creator, who has actually been into the other dimension."
~~~
Luigi was ticked. Because of the stinking imp, he had lost track of Popple again, and was now back to resorting to asking townspeople if they had seen him. Almost everyone had, but like back in the Mushroom Kingdom, no one was any real help. Finally, Geno came up to Luigi and said, "I found a Noki at a shipyard who says he might know where Popple went."
They went down to the port and met with the Noki. "You say-a that you saw-a the person I am-a looking for?"
"Yes, good sir! He bought a boat from me at a ridiculously high price and headed east."
Luigi thought for a moment. Where overseas would Popple feel at home... that was a rhetorical question. Turning back to the Noki, he asked, "You have ships that can take me to the Beanbean Kingdom, right?"
"Yes, good sir! The cheapest is 45000 coins!"
Luigi's jaw dropped at the outrageous sum. "No thanks, then. We'll just hitch a ride with someone."
"Suit yourself. Have a nice day!"
Luigi started wandering around the dock, searching for anyone that looked trustworthy. A voice rang out, "Geno! Mallow! Come here, me maties! I haven't seen you two in... well, in a long time!"
Luigi watched as his allies moved forward to greet a long blue shark standing on its fin, wearing a long red cape and wielding a sharp-looking trident. Luigi went up to meet the shark, which spoke first. "You must be Mario's brother! I am Captain Jonathan 'Johnny' Jones, captain of the Poseidon!"
Luigi shook his fin and replied, "Can you take us to Beanbean Kingdom?"
"Yar, that shan't be a problem. We can set sail within a hour."
~~~
"ROOKIE! FIRE AT IT! IT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" Popple shouted towards one of the Bill Blasters at the front of the small boat.
"Yes, Boss!" A Bullet Bill launched forward, striking the horrific sea serpent above the eye. Fifty tons of aquamarine snake dove towards the craft, narrowly missing as Popple and James veered it sharply starboard. Giant waves crashed against it, threatening to flip it over. Rob and Kirk fired back at it, striking its midsection. As it swam below the boat, Lars rapidly launched Torpedo Teds at it, forcing it away. The leviathan surfaced again, razor-sharp fins nearly slicing the boat in two.
Now it was Cliff and Rookie's turn to
shoot, firing directly into its gaping maw. It dove at them again, narrowly
missing and getting pumped full of Bills. It retreated underwater, and
was greeted by a volley of torpedoes.
Finally, it gave up and swam away.
The crew watched as the terror from the deep retreated. Popple then grinned
at his friends. "Good job, men. I believe we should reward ourselves for
this feat, yes?"
~~~
Luigi lay on the deck, listening to the sounds of the sea mixed with the noises from the drunken sailors. After the forest misadventure, all he had been wanting was some time to just sit back and relax, which is just what this voyage provided. Of course, as soon as they reached land, it would be back to hunting Popple. But until then, he could just relax and let the music from the ocean lull him into sleep... or could it? High above, he saw a golden figure coming straight down to the boat. His eyes widened as he recognized the figure. "Geno! Mallow! We have company!"
The doll and Nimbian ran up to him just as WRA-Omega landed, smirking with his pitch-black mouth. He walked up to them and said, "Luigi. I see you are well. Are you ready to tell me where the relic is?"
Before he could reply, Johnny stepped over to them. "Yar, who be you?"
"It is not of importance to you. Now Luigi, the relic."
"I-a already told-a you, it was-a stolen."
"Must we really have to fight again? One last chance to be truthful."
"I stand-a by what I've been saying-a."
"Very well." Omega darted forward and attempted to slash Luigi with his claws, but Johnny stepped forward and blocked. A second later, the Poseidon was illuminated by a blinding white explosion, blasting a hole through the iron deck and dropping Luigi and his friends to the room below. An undamaged Omega followed. Johnny stood up and pointed his fin at the descending Wraith. A violently pink energy cone shot forward and swirled around several times, pummeling the phantom with draining energy. A myriad of thunderbolts ripped at him, knocking to the ground. In retaliation, he released his explosive chemicals again, resulting in another brilliant flare. Confident that that had finished them off, he stayed on the ground to catch his breath.
"Geno Blast!"
Several bright beams of light pummeled Omega from above, driving him towards death. He flew out of the way, only to be struck by a powerful Luigi punch. His surroundings began to dim... with his remaining energy, he flew back through the hole, getting as far as he could before dropping into the big blue wet thing known as the West Mushroom Sea.