Mario and Parakarry wandered through the enormous, pipe-filled land. They had been through a good lot so far, including tangles with a Piranha Plant and Tweester, and of course, countless (and unusual) Dry Bones zombies.
Mario was getting a bit worried. He and Parakarry had not found any luck in getting to Sarasaland. The numerous pipes they had entered had taken them everywhere but Sarasaland. Luigi could've been dead by now… but wait, how DARE he think that? Mario tried his best to keep his hopes high.
Parakarry had other thoughts. His wing hurt worse than before. It had gone through some tough abuse since he sprained it. In fact, to him, it felt like he had broken it. He hoped he hadn't. Parakarry seemed caught between two things. His wing really was irritating. Adding to that, the Dry Bones were only after Mario, not him. He really didn't have anything to do with this whole thing. Maybe he really was only putting himself in more danger. Maybe he should've just stayed behind… but then… if he had stayed behind, that meant facing his boss… He could get fired, and sent out of the post office with a ruined life. Delivering mail was his passion… a strange passion to others, but still his passion. So what if he was a little clumsy…
Suddenly…
*CHOMP*
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!!!" screamed Parakarry. He looked back, wincing, to see something gnawing on his injured wing. It looked like some kind of plant. Indeed it was… a Nipper Plant!
Mario was knocked out of his thoughts by Parakarry's yell. He grabbed the plant and pried its jaws off his partner's wing. He threw the plant aside. The hungry Nipper just jumped in the spot it fell, trying to get to Mario and Parakarry, but to no avail.
Now Parakarry was wincing even harder then before. He now felt like his wing had been chopped off. Fortunately, it remained attached to his shell, but he had just one word stuck in his head now… PAIN!
"Are you okay?" said Mario. "That looked like it hurt…"
"I'm… okay…" said Parakarry.
Mario quirked a brow. "Parakarry," he said, "you've been saying that every single time your wing was hit by something. If you ask me, you're anything but okay…"
There was no way out for Parakarry this time. "Well…" he said hesitantly. "Maybe I'm not…"
"Come on… Let's go wrap your wing with something… Your cast is tearing."
"Wrap it? ... With what?"
Mario looked around. Past the Nipper Plant was a tree with huge leaves.
"Maybe one or two of those leaves will work… Wait here," Mario said. Parakarry nodded. Mario walked towards the tree, walking wide around the Nipper Plant.
Parakarry sat down. Great! he thought. There's one more mishap for my wing… Stupid Plant! ... I don't think I've seen those things before, but I HATE them!!! ... I'm so glad it wasn't a Chain Chomp that bit me…
Mario jumped up and grabbed a limb of the palm-like tree. He pulled himself onto it and began tugging at it, trying to break it off. It was a little harder than he thought, as the branch was pretty strong. "Ooooooooooorrrrrrrr!!!" he groaned. "Come on! Won't you just break off already?!"
Back on the ground, Parakarry watched as Mario struggled to snap off the stubborn leaf. He also kept one eye on the Nipper Plant, which was still jumping in one spot, snapping at Parakarry, who just snickered, knowing that there was no way the Nipper Plant could reach him. Hungry little creature, he thought. Why doesn't that thing just give up already? Doesn't it know that dinner is canceled?
Mario had loosened the leaf a bit, but it still wouldn't detach from the branch. He shook it. He shoved it. He pounded it. He tried everything, but this was definitely one stubborn branch. Mario began to lose patience. He shook the leaf even harder.
As Parakarry watched, he tried his best not to laugh. The Nipper Plant continued to bounce in its spot, but Parakarry took no further interest. But suddenly, something other than Mario or the Nipper Plant caught his interest. He saw some small silhouettes coming towards him from beyond the tree. They appeared to be shaped just like the Nipper Plant. As they came closer, he could now see them clearly. Indeed they were Nipper Plants!
Unlike the previous Nipper Plant, these didn't hop in the same place! They hopped slowly towards Parakarry. Parakarry jumped up and took out the Super Scope. He began blasting the plants as they approached him. Mario heard the blasts and looked down at where Parakarry was. He saw Parakarry, along with a fairly large group of Nipper Plants, at least fifteen of them. Mario jumped down to help, but by the time he did, Parakarry was down to the last plant (not counting the one that bit him). He blasted it away, leaving the plant that bit him alone for some reason.
"Um… A little late, don’tcha think?" Parakarry mused.
"Very funny…" said Mario. He jumped back up to the tree limb and continued his struggle with the large leaf. Parakarry sat back down. Suddenly, the pain was back. He winced again. His sudden movement had irritated it.
Mario now had the tree leaf extremely loose. He nearly had it off when…
"Um… Parakarry?" he said. "Look behind you…"
Parakarry looked back and jumped.
The Dry Bones were back! Parakarry stood up and took aim with the Scope. Mario stayed right where he was in the tree, expecting that Dry Bones couldn't climb trees. About ten yards from Parakarry, they stopped. They looked at Parakarry. Then they looked at Mario, then at Parakarry again. Much to Mario and Parakarry's surprise, the group spilt, with fifteen Dry Bones walking towards Mario in the tree (trampling the Nipper Plant) and the other half of the group walking towards Parakarry! Parakarry shrieked. Now the Dry Bones zombies were after him, too! He frantically blasted at them. He was so nervous that most of his shots were inaccurate, hitting only four zombies. Meanwhile, Mario was stuck in the tree. He was right to think that Dry Bones couldn't climb trees, but he was still trapped. If he jumped down on one of them, they would have a good chance of piling on top of him. Mario wasn't so sure what to do. The Dry Bones started shooting lasers at him. Mario ducked behind the big leaves. The leaf he had struggled with was suddenly snapped of by a laser beam. Mario just kept his head down in the tree while the laser beams shot over his head.
Parakarry began to have his own problems. He continued to fire nonstop. Suddenly, the Super Scope stopped firing! Parakarry tried to get the gun to fire, but it wouldn't.
"MARIO!!! THE GUN'S NOT FIRING!!!" he yelled to Mario, ducking to avoid a flying bone.
"It must be out of power!" called Mario. "You have to wait for it to charge back up!"
"HOW LONG WILL THAT TAKE?!" yelled Parakarry, backing away from the Dry Bones.
"Four minutes!"
"I SERIOUSLY DOUBT WE HAVE FOUR MINUTES!!!"
“Quick! Go find a power-up for me!"
Parakarry nodded and ran away in a rush. The Dry Bones slowly followed.
Mario kept his head down, but his hopes high. Hurry, Parakarry! he thought. I don't know how much longer I can hold up here…
***
Parakarry ran as fast as he could with his injured wing. The wind pounded his wing, causing more pain. He winced. He couldn't believe this. He had already begun to have second thoughts about going with Mario, but now that the Dry Bones had decided to go after him as well as Mario, it now seemed like a horrible idea. He really had put himself in danger… Wait… Why was he thinking about this at the moment? He should be thinking about where to find a power-up. C'mon Parakarry! he thought. Think! Think! ... Where do you find a power-up? ... Blocks! DUH…
Parakarry looked all around him for a block. In a stroke of luck, he saw one floating in the distance. He ran to it. He had no idea what was in the block, but that wasn't the real problem. He didn't know how to reach the block. He jumped up, but to no avail. Parakarry thought for a second. How was he to reach the block?
Suddenly…
*STOMP*
WHAT IS THAT?! he thought. He looked around. If it was more trouble, he definitely didn't need this. He needed to get back to Mario. Then he saw six block-shaped figures jumping towards him in hard ground stomps… Piledriver Mircogoombas!
"SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!" yelled Parakarry. The PDMGs (for short) stomped towards him. Parakarry backed up. One PDMG jumped high. Parakarry jumped out of the way as the PDMG landed right where he once stood. The PDMGs continued to stomp around, trying to crush Parakarry. Parakarry just kept jumping around, as standing still would obviously leave him vulnerable (from his perspective). Suddenly, he got an idea. Dodging another PDMG, he positioned himself under the floating block. A PDMG jumped at him. He moved, and the PDMG landed directly under the floating block. Parakarry immediately jumped onto the PDMG. With his new height advantage, he jumped up and punched the block, and out flew exactly what he had hoped for… a Cape Feather.
"YES!!!" he cheered. He grabbed the feather and ran off quickly to avoid incident with the PDMGs. Then…
"WHAT?! NOT YOU BONEHEADS AGAIN!!!"
The fifteen Dry Bones slowly moved towards Parakarry. This time, for Parakarry, things were different. This time, he didn't have the aid of the Super Scope. He was unarmed. He had no protection… except for his shell, but if he did use his shell, his injured wing was sure to get hit… On the other hand… if he didn't use his shell, he would be dead meat. He would have to take the chance…
Just as the Dry Bones fired their lasers, Parakarry retreated into his shell and sailed into the Dry Bones. He felt bones slamming against his wing. He winced hard. He popped back out and ran away, taking no notice of the number of zombies he hit (six).
***
Mario was still in the tree. The huge leaves had holes in them from laser blasts. So far he had somehow avoided getting hit by a laser or a bone, as the huge leaves blocked the Dry Bones view, making their shots inaccurate.
I wish Parakarry would hurry up with that power-up, Mario thought. I don't think I can hold up here much longer…
Mario peered over the leaves, suddenly ducking to avoid a laser blast. Exactly what was keeping Parakarry? Did he get lost? Did he get caught?
"MARIO!!! I FOUND YOU A CAPE FEATHER!!!" yelled a voice.
That was a no.
Parakarry ran towards the tree, Feather in hand. Mario peered over the leaves again. Judging his moment, Mario jumped from the tree, barely missing a laser beam. Mario took theFfeather, turning himself into Caped Mario. He began spinning towards the Dry Bones, knocking each one of them into a pile of bones. THIS time they seemed dead for real.
"Phew!" said a relieved Mario, grabbing the fallen leaf and tying it over Parakarry's wing. "Thanks for the power-up! Those zombies were getting to be a real pain…"
"Yeah," said Parakarry. "But that’s only fifteen of them. The other fifteen are on my tail."
"I wonder why they started to go after you, too… You had nothing to do with this in the beginning…"
"I dunno…"
"I'LL tell you why!!!" said a voice.
"HUH?!" said Parakarry. "Who said that? Come on! Show yourself!"
"As you wish!"
A Boo materialized next to the dead Dry Bones! Mario and Parakarry jumped.
"Surprised?" said the Boo.
"W-w-what are you doing here?!" asked Parakarry.
"I think you mean… what are WE doing here," answered the Boo.
"W-w-w-we?"
Suddenly, more Boos materialized above the Dry Bones! Mario and Parakarry stared.
"… I get it!" said Mario. "You all possessed the Dry Bones and GAVE them their special abilities!"
That would explain the lasers…, thought Parakarry, ]and the whole knowing-where-we-are thing…
"That's right!" said the Boo. "Now prepare to be DESTROYED!!!"
"Not good!" said Parakarry.
The Boos began to merge together. They formed into a Huge Boo (that's a pun off Big Boo) with blood red eyes and several razor sharp teeth protruding from his mouth.
"BOOLOSSUS?!" cried Mario.
"No!" said the Huge Boo in a big, booming voice.
"Oh… uh… ATOMIC BOO?!"
"NO!!!" the Huge Boo bellowed. "I AM UNNAMED!!! BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER!!! NOW DIE!!!"
Parakarry blasted at the enormous Boo. Surprisingly, the shots didn't even hurt him! Mario jumped at the Huge Boo and smacked him several times with the cape, but to no avail.
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BEAT THIS GUY?!" cried Parakarry.
"YOU CAN'T!!!" laughed the Huge Boo. "I’M INVINCIBLE!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!"
"Any ideas?!" said Parakarry to Mario.
"Yeah! RUN!!!" said Mario.
They ran away, leaving the Nipper Plant behind. The Huge Boo pursued them, shooting lasers from his eyes. As they ran, a thought came to Parakarry's head.
"Mario!" he said. "If this Boo… well… if these Boos know exactly where to find us, and this Huge Boo is seemingly invincible… then… we're in BIG trouble!"
"I figured!" said Mario.
They continued running. Suddenly, they spotted the other fifteen Dry Bones coming towards them in the direction they were going! Mario began to spin around in the cape, while Parakarry retreated into his shell. They both slammed into the Dry Bones, Mario hitting eight of them and Parakarry hitting the other seven. They continued running, dodging laser beams.
More trouble was to come. Ahead were the PDMGs, stomping right towards them! Mario and Parakarry changed their direction, running to the left, with the Huge Boo and PDMGs still in chase.
Suddenly, Mario and Parakarry stopped running.
"What're we doing?" said Parakarry. "There are hundreds of pipes."
"Yeah…" said Mario. "But which one do we take?"
"DIE!!!" bellowed the Huge Boo.
"Uh… THAT ONE!!!" said Parakarry.
They ran to a pipe and jumped in. The Huge Boo floated to the pipe. He realized he couldn't fit, so he separated back into fifteen Boos.
"Quick! After them!" said a Boo.
They all went into the pipe. The PDMGs, unable to fit in the pipe, stomped away.
***
The seven Dry Bones hit by Parakarry stood next to the other eight, hit by Mario and dead. Eight Boos rose from the insides of the Dry Bones.
"C'mon, guys!" said a Boo. "They’re getting away!"
"Far away at that," said another.
Seven Boos flew out of the insides of the Dry Bones (this caused the Dry Bones to lose their abilities, except bone-throwing).
"You guys carry the Dry Bones… We'll merge," said a Boo.
While seven Boos picked up the seven Dry Bones, the other eight merged to form another large Boo, with a similar look to the previous one, only a little smaller.
"LET'S GO!!!" said the Big Boo.
They set off to find Mario and Parakarry.
Uh oh…
***
Mario and Parakarry emerged from the pipe. They looked around. The terrain was… well… There was almost no terrain at all! Everywhere was mostly water, with a few small islands visible. What seemed to be the mainland was also visible in the distance.
"NOW where are we?" said Parakarry.
"Seaside… I guess…" said Mario. "Well let's go before that Boo comes back…"
"Man he was scary!" added Parakarry.
Mario picked up Parakarry by the shell, and, with his cape, slowly lifted himself and his partner into the air. They flew off.
Suddenly, Parakarry's wing began to hurt again. He again tried not to winced, but couldn't hold it back.
Mario concentrated on his flying, taking no notice of Parakarry's wincing. He thought to himself.
So these Boos are working with Dry Bones, huh? ... Hmm… I wonder if the kidnapper is King Boo… No… It can't be... King Boo’s Boo minions don't have laser vision… nor does King Boo himself…Who are these Dry Bones and Boos working for? Hmm…
Suddenly, he spotted two Chickens flying nearby. But wait… Chickens… are only found in Sarasaland… Sarasaland?!
"Parakarry!!!"
"WHAT?!"
"We're in Sarasaland! This must be the edge of the Muda Kingdom!"
Indeed they were in Sarasaland. Mario began to descend for a landing. Upon landing on the beach, Mario looked around.
"Hmm… And if I remember right," said Mario, "this is the Chai Kingdom…"
"Wow…" said Parakarry. He had never seen Sarasaland before. It seemed beautiful, especially in the moonlight.
"Come on," said Mario. "The leader of all those Dry Bones and Boos must be around here somewhere.
Just as they were about to walk off, a Chicken flew over to them. The Chicken had a rolled up piece of paper in his foot.
"Telegram for Mario!" the Chicken said. "Ba-KAWK!!!"
Mario took the paper. Parakarry looked down. The Chicken delivering the letter made him think of his job… and his boss.
"Who is this from?" asked Mario.
"Sorry. I can't tell you that. The writer doesn't want to be revealed. And he'll KNOW if I tell you. Ba-KAWK!!!"
"How?"
"'Cause I'LL inform him!" said a voice.
A Boo appeared next to the Chicken! Mario and Parakarry jumped.
"Well?" said the Boo. "Aren't you gonna read it?"
Mario opened the note and read it.
Dear Toilet Head, I just wanted you to know that your brother is NOT in Sarasaland! He's somewhere else. What sort of somewhere you ask? Well… how about TWILIGHT LAND!? Hurry up! I'm WAITING for you! MHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *Clump**Clump**Clump*
Mario dropped the paper. "So… he's in Twilight Land, huh? Well, I have a few words for him… whoever he is…"
"Come on, you chicken!" said the Boo. "You know too much!"
"As far as my species goes," said the Chicken, "that's very insulting!"
The Boo flew away, clutching the Chicken by the wing. Then he stopped and turned back to Mario and Parakarry.
"By the way," he said, "you've got company!" He flew away with the Chicken, leaving Mario and Parakarry to turn around and see the Huge Boo coming towards them from the ocean, with the other large Boo and the seven Boos carrying Dry Bones not too far behind!
"Uh oh!" said Parakarry. "And we are outta-" Before he could finish, a huge group of Dry Bones came towards them from the coastline - about twenty-seven of them!
"Here?!" squeaked Parakarry. He was suddenly grabbed by Mario, and they took off. The Boos and Dry Bones fired lasers at them. One Boo was about to give chase when he was grabbed by the Huge Boo.
"Let them go!" said the Huge Boo. "I know a shortcut to beat them to Twilight Land."
The Boos and Dry Bones walked off.
***
"Well this is great!" said Parakarry as they flew over Chai. "Now we’ve got almost a whole army out to get us!"
"Don't worry," said Mario. "We'll just fly the rest of the way to Twilight Land. This time I'm sure we'll be way ahead of them when we get there."
"We'd BETTER be…"
"We're coming, Luigi! We're coming…"
They flew off into the moonlight. They still didn't know who kidnapped Luigi, but they could only hope that Luigi was still okay and that they would be too far ahead of the Dry Bones and Boos to be found in time… I don't think I can count on THAT… Do you?