Chapter One: March on Koopwind Keep
Koopwind Road
The pair of heroes stepped out from the sewers, letting their eyes adjust to the brightness. After they could tell what was around them, there was no doubt that they had reached their destination.
They had come out of a door in the hillside, and were moving down a grassy path towards what appeared to be a town below. They also noticed a large castle taking up the background behind the town. Around everything were the valley’s great slopes, which rose like mountains into the blue skies.
“Well,” Goombriam said, taking in his peaceful surroundings. “This must be it… Koopwind Valley. Home of most Koopas in this region. The place is supposedly ruled by King Koopwind IV. The castle, naturally, is his, and the town is his kingdom. It’s not very big, but it’s peaceful… Well, if that Crystal Piece is here, we'd best not mess around. Let’s go!”
The plumber and Goomba began down Koopwind Road. The flowers here were stronger than the ones found on Sunrise Hill, to both of their likings. Walking down a grassy path with the scent of nectar gave them pretty good ideas about the adventure ahead of them.
Unfortunately, both were unaware of the pair of shaded eyes watching them.
Goombriam stopped to sniff a flower. “Wow, I should travel more often… I’ve never seen anything this lovely!”
The Goomba was cut off as a Koopa shell slammed into him, sending him flying into a tree.
BATTLE
A single Koopa, equipped with awesome sunglasses, stood before them. Mario had seen these guys several times in the past, and generally had a good idea of how to deal with them.
For Goombriam, on the other hand, it was a completely new experience. He dusted himself off and looked for some kind of stone to throw at the unwanted offender.
Mario was already busy performing a Power Bounce on the Koopa, flipping him over and continuously smacking him with his great weight. It didn’t take long before the Koopa fell in defeat, unable to take any more of the plumber’s attack.
VICTORY
“Okay, I have a large stone here! Let me at him!” Goombriam yelled, looking for his enemy. “… Where’d he go?”
Mario raised his arm.
“Oh, we killed him! We rock!” he cheered, dropping the rock to his feet and effectively crushing his toes. “YOW!!!”
After recovering from his bruises, Goombriam followed Mario further down the road. It remained peaceful as the town grew nearer and nearer until they were at the front gate.
Kooplin Town
Goombriam and Mario were greeted by a Koopa. “Welcome, travelers. This is our humble town of Kooplin… Kooplin Town… yeah. People don’t stop by often, so it’s a bit surprising that you’ve come. I mean, there’s not much of interest here. We just live humbly, ruled by our… generous king. You can stay as long as you like,” he said, walking back to his post.
Goombriam blinked. “Mario, is it just me, or do these guys seem… I dunno… in a trance? I mean, look at them!”
The Koopas all around were carrying out business monotonously, but most of them seemed to be doing things for no reason at all. The strangest thing was that EVERYONE was doing something. There were no conversation or rests.
“This isn’t right…” Goombriam said. “We need to figure out what’s going on here.”
The town wasn’t too complex. There was an item shop nearby, and a large sandy patch in the middle of it all. It was circular in shape, each building facing the sandy middle area. On the far end of town was a large gate, the huge castle towering from behind it. To the north, there appeared to be some woods. The inn was to the south, and there appeared to be more Koopas around there, wiping the building’s walls.
“Guys,” Goombriam said to them, “what are you doing?”
“We’re cleaning…” one of the Koopas said, receiving nods from his companions. “We’re just cleaning the inn so that it doesn’t get dirty…”
“Could we come in?” the Goomba asked politely.
The Koopas exchanged glances. “Uh… well, see, the inn is undergoing… renovations. You can’t stay for tonight. Nothing important to see in there anyway, right guys?” The Koopas each nodded their heads. “Now, uh, please leave us to our work…”
A loud trumpet fanfare filled the ears of all in the town. Mario and Goombriam watched as the gates opened and a series of armed Koopas stepped out. Behind them was a white-shelled Koopa, decorated with tons of jewelry. He wore on his head an emerald-encrusted crown, and a long cape flowed behind him. But the thing that caught Mario’s eye was the shard of crystal that hung around his neck.
One of the guards opened a parchment. “King Koopwind IV arrives!”
At that moment, all the Koopas in the town stopped what they were doing and kneeled to the king. Goombriam looked puzzled. “Mario, should we kneel with them? I’d hate to offend this guy…”
Mario nodded his head and the two kneeled down, watching Koopwind to see what was going on.
“You all have done some fine work, I must admit,” he began, glaring at all the residents. “However, our resources are beginning to run low. Our food is down 2 percent from last month, and profits have also been decreasing. Therefore, there must be an increase in your taxes, and you will work overtime. EVERY ONE OF YOU!” he shouted, pointing to everyone. “Your king has spoken…”
The guards marched double file behind the king as he returned to his home. After the gates slammed closed, a female Koopa stepped out. She had long black hair and a purple shell. “Well?” she said, eyeing everyone. “Any comments? None? No?”
The Koopas just sort of looked at the ground and scratched their heads as the female tapped her foot. “We CAN’T keep taking this abuse! If we do, we’re goners!”
An older Koopa stepped out, holding a cane in front of him for balance. “Kooprie, honey, there’s nothing we can do about it…” he said. “We’ve been under Koopwind’s rule for nearly 20 years, and he’s yet to steer us wrong. You need to trust him…”
“No, Daddy!” Kooprie shouted, her face red with anger. “Why do we keep sitting here taking this abuse?! There are so many of us and so few of them!”
Some of the Koopas sighed and shook their heads, minding their own business and figuring out how to earn enough cash to pay for their new taxes. Kooprie groaned and stomped into a green house near the southeast part of town.
“Wow…” Goombriam said. “This place is being devastated by a tyranical dictator! That Koopa girl’s got some spunk, eh? We should go talk to her… She might be able to help us.”
Mario lifted his arm.
“The Crystal Piece? You saw it?! It was around Koopwind’s neck, you say? Hmm… I didn’t notice it myself… We’ll have to figure out how to get it. ut first, let’s go talk to Kooprie.”
Mario nodded his head, walking over to the Koopa’s house. As soon as he knocked on the door, it swung open. Kooprie stood before Mario, with a fiery rage in her eyes. “You here to help or what?” she said angrily. “If so, you’d be the first.”
“That’s right, Miss,” Goombriam spoke up. “We’d like to help you guys out… We have Mario here to help!”
Kooprie jumped. “Oh! Mario, you say? This is Mario?! Yes, yes, the red hat, blue overalls… I should’ve recognized him before! Well, if there’s anyone who can help us fight Koopwind’s tyranny, it’s you. Come inside, please.”
Kooprie’s house was fairly well-furnished, despite the horrible conditions set by their ruler. A smaller Koopa was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. “Ugh, I’m so sick of these Koopas,” Kooprie began. “You see, they’re always too shy to do anything… We need to get back at Koopwind for being so horribly greedy, but I can’t do it alone. I need to get everyone to band together and revolt!”
“That sounds a little extreme...” Goombriam said.
“Well,” Kooprie began, “he’s been putting this entire town in the gutter for years... My mother disliked him in particular... He put her through so many problems... I have to fight in her name.”
“What happened?” Goombriam said curiously, trying not to cross any borders.
“There was an earthquake... while I was visiting foreign lands... Several of the Koopas were killed, her among them...”
“I’m sorry...” Goombriam uttered.
“It’s in the past...” Kooprie said.
“Well... about this rebellion... How would we be able to help?”
“Well, I figure there are several Koopas here who have heard of you, Mario,” she began. “If they had a role model to convince them to fight, they might actually do it. Then when most of the Koopas are in it, the few that aren’t will join.”
“Sounds great!” Goombriam cheered.
Kooprie nodded. “Let’s go, Mario. It’s time to train these guys!”
Kooprie has joined your party!
Goombriam folded up and disappeared into Mario as Kooprie took his place. “Okay, let’s go,” she said.
Mario left her house and back into the town of Koopas, who were still living out their forced lives. He stepped out into the middle of the town.
Kooprie spoke up. “All right, you wimps! It’s time we make a stand against Koopwind’s reign of evil! Don’t wanna listen to me? Well I have none other than Super Mario here to help us!”
Several of the Koopas immediately looked in their general direction. Some of their mouths were open as they approached the pair in awe.
“The REAL Super Mario?”
“I heard he can jump six feet into the air!”
“That’s nothing, I’ve heard he’s fought AND defeated a great beast several times!”
The Koopas were all gathering around and chatting about how awesome Mario was.
“Okay, okay,” Kooprie shouted, silencing the crowd. “None of you are in fighting condition… If we’re gonna revolt, you need extensive training!” Kooprie announced, pulling out a POW Block. “First lesson, get up off your lazy backs!” She threw the block on the ground, knocking all Koopas onto their shells. There was a lot of commotion and whining, but Kooprie just snickered. “Come on, you lazy bums! You can do better than that!”
The Koopas all sat helpless. After hours, none of them managed to make any progress. Kooprie put her face in her hand.
***
“All right, this here is a jump rope,” Kooprie shouted, holding a jump rope in front of the croud. “How many of you know how to use this?”
The crowd fell silent. Nobody raised their hand or showed any sign of knowing what it was.
“You’re... you’re kidding me...” she said in awe. “Well, you jump over it. Like this.” She began to jump rope. The Koopas in the crowd began to mutter about how hard it looked. “There, you got it ? Now you try.”
The Koopas eyed their jump ropes. One of them tried to swing it like Kooprie had showed them, but it hit another Koopa in the back of the head. He began to bawl like a baby. “I’m so sorry!” the Koopa who had hit him said. “It’s okay! I didn’t mean to!”
The Koopas around began to comfort their “injured” friend, taking him inside for some ice. Kooprie just sighed.
***
“Come on, you wimps!” Kooprie yelled from atop a covered wagon. “You can go faster than that!”
The Koopas pulling the wagon struggled to move it. “We’re pulling as hard as we can!”
“I doubt that! PULL HARDER!” Kooprie yelled.
***
Kooprie pulled out another POW Block, letting it fly into the ground. The entire group fell onto their shells and began to struggle once more.
One of the Koopas managed to pull himself up. “Ha! I did it!” he cheered.
The other Koopas were still struggling to get up, and every now and then, one or two would manage it. Kooprie continued to encourage them as the group slowly began to get back up. Eventually, the last Koopa had flipped up to his legs and was catching his breath.
“Not bad,” Kooprie admitted. “But we’ll need to do better next time. Now, we’re gonna run laps around the sandy patch. GO!”
The Koopas hesitated, but some began to jog around the town. The other Koopas followed after them. The two were now surrounded by Koopas running around them in a circle. They ran for an hour straight, as the Koopas seemed to be fairly disciplined. It was obvious they all had a hatred for Koopwind pushing them forward.
“All right, that’s enough!” Kooprie shouted, signaling all Koopas to stop.
Her little brother stepped up. “Sis, are you sure this is a good idea? He has armed, trained guards, and we’re next to nothing!”
“Next to nothing, maybe,” Kooprie told him. “But it’s something, and it’s all we got. It’s better to try than to live a life of torture, if you ask me.”
The Koopas were now fairly motivated, and waited for more orders. Kooprie smiled slightly at this, and turned to Mario. “Okay, can you teach them to jump like you do?”
Mario pointed to himself, making sure he’d heard her right.
“Yes, you. We need them to learn how to leap like a frog! And who better to teach them than the master of leaping himself?”
Mario nodded, and stepped forward.
“Now show them how it’s done,” Kooprie told him.
Mario jumped up, doing a flip at its peak, and landed perfectly. The Koopas cheered and applauded, all highly impressed. A few of them were already trying to jump themselves.
“All right, everyone, start jumping! And don’t stop until you jump at least half as high as Mario here!”
Mario began to jump. The Koopas were all jumping now, none quite as high as Mario. Neither the plumber nor the Koopas seemed to be getting tired, so they continued their jumping until the evening. By now, most of the Koopas were jumping as high as Mario.
Their gathering was broken up when a loud trumpet fanfare was sounded through the town. Each of the Koopas instantly rushed over to their places and began working again as the gates slowly opened up. Mario and Kooprie dashed behind some nearby crates.
Once again, the same group of guards marched out in formation as the king stepped from between the two lines. “Hmph…” he scoffed, observing the town. “Not good, not good at all! YOU!” he shouted, pointing to the nearest Koopa. “What have you been doing this whole time?”
The Koopa began to shake and sweat. “Uh, well, we were just working… Hard at work, the usual.”
“Hard at work?!” Koopwind shouted. “This place is practically in ruins! Look how filthy it is! Don’t you see all this dust in the middle of town?!” He pointed out the patch of sand. “You make me sick with your lies. Guards, take this man to the dungeons!”
A couple of guards stepped out and dragged the Koopa to the castle. He screamed in fear as the gates closed behind him.
“Those beasts…” Kooprie muttered. “How could they do something like that?”
“I think it’s time you worked a little harder,” Koopwind announced. “There will be NO MORE breaks during your work periods, and you will be working hard 24/7. The king has spoken!” He stepped back through the gates as his guards followed.
Kooprie and Mario stepped back out to the center of the town, the Koopas gathering once more. “See what I mean?!” she yelled. “We CAN’T keep taking this abuse! Tomorrow morning, we strike! Who’s with me?!”
Every one of the Koopas raised their hands and let out a furious battle cry.
Keep Outskirts
Koopwind marched up the heavily-guarded hill towards his castle, but stopped when he heard a loud yelp. “…What was that?” he muttered. “Hmph… Must’ve been some accident… Not my problem.”
Kooplin Town
Kooprie continued. “Search your homes for whatever can be used as armor or weaponry and meet back here at 7AM!”
The entire town was ready to strike, as they all marched back to their homes to prepare for the battle.
The king, meanwhile, suspected nothing.
***
It was probably 1AM that a few creatures hopped in from the forest and over to Kooprie’s home. They hopped in through the window and scanned the room. There wasn’t anything they could find, so they hopped on upstairs. Koopol, Kooprie’s little brother, slept silently in his bed. Kooprie and Mario seemed fast asleep. The creatures hopped onto Koopol’s bed and carried off his body.
The young Koopa woke up just in time to notice he was being carried off. He let out a screen of fear before he was taken out of sight.
Mario opened his eyes and observed his surroundings. It was difficult to see, what with all the darkness, but he knew he’d heard something. Kooprie was still asleep, as was Goombriam. He searched around for a bit until he noticed what was wrong. Upon seeing Koopol’s empty bed, he let out a gasp.
Kooprie stirred and turned around. Mario went to wake her.
“Hrrngh…” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “Mario? What’s wrong?”
Mario raised his arm.
“… What?!” Kooprie yelled out angrily. “Koopol’s gone?! Who would do this?!”
Goombriam stood up and shook his head. “Yeesh, what time is it? What’s going on?” he said, half-awake.
“Someone’s kidnapped my brother!” Kooprie shouted. “We have to go find him!”
“Rrngh… If we have to…” Goombriam said, still trying to keep himself awake. Without another word, he folded himself up and disappeared into Mario, leaving Kooprie behind him.
The pair left the house and noticed a trail of footsteps leading north. “Let’s see…” Kooprie said, observing them. “…I can hardly tell what this is… Get Goombriam to look at this.”
In an instant, Goombriam took Kooprie’s spot. “Well… From the looks of it, these weren’t normal feet. It looks like some spots have been bounced on, and there’s a path where whatever it was had to drag along. Maybe they were carrying Koopol with them…”
Mario followed the path, which led to a small opening between two buildings. It led into the forest. Mario, with no fears, stepped right on in.
Fuzzy Woods
The forest was almost completely dark, but the darkness was pierced by several rays of moonlight poking through spaces in the treetops above. Just walking along gave the feeling that you were being watched, which was exactly how Mario and Goombriam felt.
They walked along the path, certain that something was about to jump out and attack them. For the first stretch, nothing did, and they continued deeper into the forest in safety.
They now came into an area with a stream running through it and a Fuzzy standing in front of them. “Meork! Intruders!” he yelped, hopping across the stream. “Hehe, let’s see you reach me now!”
Goombriam observed the stream. It was too wide to hop over, and going through it seemed like a fairly bad idea. In this world, water was a thing to be avoided. What he did notice, however, was a blue switch on the other side of the stream. “Mario, look at that,” he said, pointing it out. “Any ideas on how to get that?”
Mario nodded, switching Kooprie back out.
“A switch? Oh sure, I can hit that thing no problem. Just watch,” she said, following Mario to the spot next to the switch. She withdrew into her shell, began to spin quickly, and shot straight across the stream and into the switch. Her shell was sent right back behind Mario.
From the middle of the stream rose a large wooden bridge. The Fuzzy yelped. “Meork! Danger! Danger!” He hopped off further into the woods.
“Ha,” Kooprie laughed. “Show’s that little punk. Come on, let’s follow him. He probably knows where Koopol is!”
The pair crossed over the bridge and took the direction the Fuzzy had taken.
The next area was a long path, just as dark and gloomy as the previous ones. The Fuzzy was standing next to a pair of trees which were just barely separated from each other, creating a crack in the middle of them. “Meork! Let’s see you follow me now!” he taunted, hopping on top of them and over to the other side.
Mario and Kooprie walked over to the trees. “Not good,” Kooprie said, looking at the trees. “There’s no way we can fit through there… I suggest we look around a bit more.”
Mario and Kooprie continued through the path, still a bit unsure of themselves. They fell back, startled, when a pair of Fuzzies jumped out and attacked them.
BATTLE
The pair of Fuzzies hopped up and down. “Meork! Looks like we have a pair of unwanted visitors!” the first said, hopping about.
“I agree, meork!” the second responded, hopping at an equally rapid rate. “Let’s show them what happens to people who invade our woods!”
Kooprie laughed. “Oy, it’s just a couple of Fuzzies. Shouldn’t be a big deal.”
“MEOORK! We’ll show you!” one of the Fuzzies said, sending himself flying towards the Koopa.
Kooprie withdrew into her shell, letting the Fuzzy fall to the ground behind her. After winding up, she rammed into it full force, driving it into a tree and causing it to fall in defeat.
“MEORK!” the remaining Fuzzy yelped. “You’re going to pay for that!” He began doing a little dance jig, causing a second Fuzzy to split from him.
“Woah, what just happened?” Kooprie asked, puzzled. “Did he just split into two?”
The pair of Fuzzies continued to bounce towards Mario and Kooprie. The former had his hammer ready, sending it flying full force into one of the Fuzzies and knocking him out. Kooprie was already flying towards the other, but it hopped right out of the way. It stopped to laugh, only to be smacked by Kooprie’s ricochet shell.
VICTORY
The pair of Fuzzies hopped away quickly before taking any more damage from the pair.
“Ha! Take that, you little fuzzballs!” Kooprie taunted. “They weren’t so tough. Let’s move on, Mario.”
Mario and Kooprie continued to walk through the forest, until the path came to an end in front of a large tree. Both looked around, completely puzzled. “Well shoot…” Kooprie said, kicking the tree.
“Huh? Is someone down there?” came a voice from above. “Can you keep doing that please?”
Mario took his hammer and smashed it into the great tree trunk, letting a magic lamp fall onto the ground beside him.
“Is that a lamp?” Kooprie asked in awe. “Rub it, Mario! Maybe we’ll get three wishes!”
Mario grabbed the lamp and rubbed it, letting an obese genie out. In a flashy performance of smoke and lights, he clouded up the entire area. Kooprie couldn’t be seen. It was just Mario and the genie.
“Are you the man who has freed me from my prison?” he asked Mario, who was trying to figure out what was going on. The plumber nodded his head in affirmation, and the genie let out a hearty laugh.
“Very well. You will receive one wish,” he told Mario. “And the best part is, you don’t have to tell me what it is! I know you’ve always dreamed of getting into some of those tight areas where you just couldn’t squeeze through.”
Mario shook his head.
“And all those little cracks that your large stature has prevented you from entering… You wish to solve this problem, yes?”
Mario shook his head.
“Very well! ALAKAZAM, WITH MY MAGICAL TRICK, MAKE THIS PLUMBER, THIN AS A STICK!” he chanted, filling Mario with a magic power. “Problem solved, my chubby friend! All of those spaces are highways to you with this new ability! On your command, you can turn to the side, allowing yourself to go through cracks and crevices. ALAKAZAM!” he yelled, bringing out some bars. “Try it right now.”
Mario concentrated, and managed to flip to his side. Being paper thin, he was now able to fit easily through large cracks. He stepped through the bars the genie had made and reverted to his normal state.
“Bravo! I hope you enjoy this wish, it’s the only one you’re getting! Now then, I must be off! SHAZAM!” The clouds disappeared, along with the genie and the lamp.
Kooprie blinked. “What happened? You and the genie just disappeared in a puff of smoke…”
Mario lifted his arm.
“What? You think you can follow that Fuzzy now? Okay, let’s go!” Kooprie said, following Mario back to the two trees.
Mario once again focused his energy and flipped to the side. Something about this caused Kooprie to do it too.
“Woah, what is this?!” she yelled. “Wow! This is great! Let’s chase that Fuzzy!”
Mario and Kooprie slipped through the space between the trees and entered another area.
There was a fairly large tree with an opening in it. The Fuzzy from before jumped up and down furiously. “Meork! Intruders still here!” He hopped into the tree, Mario and Kooprie following close behind.
Inside was a Fuzzy nest, with Fuzzies hopping in and out. They spotted their intruders and immediately retreated into their base.
Kooprie walked up to it. “Uh… what’s this?”
A larger Fuzzy poked his head out of a hole. “Attack!”
MINI-BOSS BATTLE
Fuzzy Nest
At that instant, several Fuzzies hopped out of holes all around the nest. They all looked angry and ready for battle. Kooprie stepped back. “This looks bad… Mario, any ideas?”
Mario ran over to the nest and began to furiously bash it with his hammer. The Fuzzies shouted out in anger and hopped on the plumber. Kooprie shrieked and sent herself flying into the Fuzzies, knocking them off of the plumber. They each retreated back into the slightly-damaged nest.
“Mario, try to be a little more careful!” Kooprie yelled. “You could get hurt fairly easily with these guys!” She wound up her shell and shot straight into one of the nest’s many holes and popped out the other, sending unconscious Fuzzies out as well.
“MEEEOORK! Don’t let the nest fall apart, Brothers!” the large Fuzzy shouted from inside.
Another wave of Fuzzies formed out of the nest, greatly outnumbering Mario and Kooprie.
“What should we do?” Kooprie asked.
“Let us help you,” came a voice from behind. The two turned around to see a small group of Koopas wearing their armor. “We saw you walk out here, and decided to follow.”
Kooprie smiled. “You’ve done well, soldiers.”
The Koopas and Fuzzies stood on opposite sides, preparing for confrontation. “CHARGE!” Kooprie shouted out, sending the Koopas onto the Fuzzies.
Though they fought back, the Fuzzies were pretty much obliterated. The Koopas had to do minimal fighting, and could spin in their shell to get off any Fuzzies that might’ve leeched onto them. The Koopas began beating away the Fuzzies next, forcing several to retreat into the woods.
It didn’t take long for the thing to fall apart, causing a load of Fuzzies to retreat in defeat. The Koopas cheered at the victory. As the smoke cleared, Koopol stood up and coughed a bit. “Sis, you came! Those Fuzzies took me here in my sleep… They were studying me and taking notes about me, and it was really weird!”
Kooprie laughed. “Well, you’re safe now. Come on, let’s get back home… We have a big day tomorrow.”
Kooplin Town
The Koopas all got up and met around the sandy patch at 7 AM, right on schedule. Kooprie eyed them. “Okay, men. We don’t have much, but I believe we can win this battle. It’s time to show Koopwind why you shouldn’t mess with us!”
One of the Koopas stepped up. “How should we pass by the gate? It’s constantly locked from the other side!”
Kooprie grinned. “Just listen.”
A trumpet fanfare filled the air.
“GO!” Kooprie shouted, ordering the Koopas to march towards the gate.
Keep Outskirts
The gate slowly began to open, but was instantly slammed open as the army of Koopas rushed through and defeated the guards. Koopwind screamed and fled back to his Keep as fast as he could. At that instant, a wave of guards ran down the hill from the Keep to confront the army.
“CHARGE!” Kooprie yelled, sending both forces into each other. The Koopas sliced, punched, kicked, and shot shells, and began to push the guards back towards the Keep.
Three guards marched right towards Mario and Kooprie.
BATTLE
Mario jumped onto the first Koopa instantly and began to Power Bounce on him. Before he could get up, Kooprie shot him with a Power Shell move and sent him flying into one of his allies, knocking them both on their backs. The third guard shot himself into Mario, but the plumber managed to kick him back in the other direction, knocking down several guards in their forces.
VICTORY
The Koopas slowly began to defeat this wave of guards. After their numbers decreased, the guards were immediately forced to retreat. The Koopas marched up the hill, taking out any guards that may have been left behind.
It was in front of the Keep that they met another wave of guards. They instantly assaulted the army of Koopas, who fought back angrily.
BATTLE
A guard began to tussle with Kooprie, as the two pushed into each other, attempting to knock the other down. Mario ended the brawl by sending his hammer down on the guard’s head, knocking him unconscious. Another group of Koopas marched toward them. Kooprie responded by taking out another POW Block and throwing it into them, knocking them all on their backs. Left on their side, Mario and Kooprie made short work of the Koopa guards.
VICTORY
The two forces continued to brawl until Koopwind marched up from atop his Keep with two catapults behind him. “You dare defy me?” he shouted “You are my slaves, fools! You do NOT treat your master this way!” He pulled back one of the catapults and sent a large boulder right into the center of the Koopa army. Most of the Koopas had time to scatter away from the boulder, so few were harmed. But in doing so, Koopwind’s army was able to push them further down the hill.
Again, a boulder was sent flying, but this time it managed to hit more guards than Koopas. They stopped for a second and continued to fight back against the army. With fewer enemies, they pushed back up to the Keep, and eventually defeated the guards.
The drawbridge dividing the Koopas from the Keep was raised, but Kooprie had planned ahead. “Formation C!” she yelled, as the Koopas each drew a piece of rope with a grapple tied to the end. They tossed their grapples onto the raised bridge and began to pull it down.
Some of the guards panicked and began to furiously turn the winch, but the bridge was still being pulled downward. More guards began to add onto the winch, and eventually began to pull back their bridge. Kooprie noticed this. “Don’t let up!” she shouted.
Mario noticed some Bullet Bill cannons poking through the windows, and let out a yelp. The Koopas noticed this and let loose their grip on the bridge. It instantly slammed back into place as the Bullet Bills fired onto them.
Mario grabbed his hammer and sent one flying back into the cannon it was shot from, causing both to explode. Some of the Koopas put up their makeshift shields, which partially deflected the attack. Mario continued to smack Bullet Bills back to their cannons, effectively destroying them all.
The Koopas once again grabbed hold of the drawbridge and began to pull it back. The two armies tussled with it once more. Kooprie stopped to think. Neither of the sides were making any progress, as neither was going to let up. “Mario, we need to get inside and fight Koopwind ourselves,” she explained. “You, you’re in charge!” she said to her brother.
“Yes, Ma’am!” he confirmed, ready to give out necessary orders to the army.
“We need to find an alternate entrance,” Kooprie began. “Let’s see if we can find one…”
Mario scanned the area, noticing some parts of the Keep sticking out from the side, just big enough to jump on. At the last one was a barred window. He pointed it out to Kooprie.
“Huh? Ah, yes! That should work perfectly! Let’s go!” she said.
Mario began to hop to the side of the keep, all the way up to the window. It was just big enough for him to fit through, but there were a set of bars covering it. Looking inside, it appeared to be past the main entrance of the Keep. All the guards were crowded up at the front, trying to keep the drawbridge from going down.
“Mario!” Kooprie said. “Didn’t you get that power from the genie?”
Mario remembered now, and concentrated his energy again. He managed to flip to his side and slip right through the bars.
With all the guards piled up at the front and Koopwind in his tower trying to figure out what to do, Mario and Kooprie had managed to slip inside the Keep unnoticed.