The KDS Piranha slowly flew across the sky. Larry had been sent by Bowser to find out exactly what kind of plans the Mushroom Kingdom had for the Koopa Troop. Of course Larry loved spying, but this would definitely put his spying skills to the test…
“Approaching the Mushroom Kingdom,” Larry heard from one of his crewmembers.
“Land now!” said Larry. His crew looked at him.
“Now?” asked the commandant, a blue-shelled Koopa Troopa). “But we’re a half mile from the Mushroom Kingdom!”
“Exactly!” said Larry. “If we move any further, the ship will have a better chance of being seen! Is that what you guys want?!”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Then power down the engines and land this thing!!!” Larry snapped. The engines powered down and the ship descended.
***
Larry, after packing some spying equipment in his shell, had ordered his crew outside the ship for instructions.
“Okay my crew,” Larry spoke. “I’m gonna need all you guys to guard the ship while I’m gone. Make sure no one lays a finger on the Piranha. Any questions?” No one raised a hand. “Good,” Larry said. “Wish me luck…”
“Don’t worry,” said the commandant. “We wish you loads of it.” The rest of the crew nodded in agreement.
“It’s nice to know I have such a supportive crew,” Larry sighed. He walked away to the Mushroom Kingdom, about to tackle one of the most desperate tasks of his life.
“All right you all,” said the commandant. “You know what to do!” The crew surrounded the ship.
***
Larry cautiously walked forward. Once into the Mushroom Kingdom, he would have to plan his moves well. One wrong move could be disastrous. Not too far ahead was the gateway to the Mushroom Kingdom. He hid in some nearby bushes, and took out of his shell a Mushroomer disguise.
“I hope this works this time…” he said to himself as he put the disguise on. “Now how can I get the cap to stay over my hair…? Hmm…”
After finally getting the cap to stay on his hair, he walked towards the gate. The guards (Mushroomers) at the gate looked at what they could see as a Mushroomer that was bigger than usual, with an oddly-shaped face and fourteen strips of tape on his cap.
“Ah, good day,” greeted one of the guards. “Let us get this gate open for you.” The guards opened the gate for Larry/Mushroomer.
“Thank you, guys,” said Larry. He walked through the gate. The guards closed the gate.
“Don’t you think that guy looked a little strange?” asked one guard.
“Hey, not everybody has a perfect face,” said the other.
Meanwhile, Larry was laughing.
“Wow,” he giggled. “I can’t believe those two couldn’t recognize me… Idiots!”
***
An hour and a half later, Larry was walking along the streets of Mushroom City. Okay, he thought. Princess Peach is probably running the whole Koopa Troop problem thing… Maybe I can get some info about this whole thing at her castle… Yeah, that’s it! Okay then, step one: go to Peach’s castle.
Later, Larry was nearing the gate to the castle. He took a noose out of his shell and tossed it up on top of the gate. It stuck. Larry scaled the gate. As he jumped off the other side, he pulled the rope over just in case he needed to take a hasty leave. He walked up to the side of the castle (where the moat ended) and stripped the cap off his head. The pieces of tape stung his head.
“Ow!” he said. “That cap was getting hot over my head… Oh well, back to business.” He took some suction cups with straps out of his shell and strapped them on his hands. Then he scaled the castle wall. He reached a window and peered in, and saw Princess Peach holding a meeting in the room.
“Yes, the Chicken in the back row,” said Peach. “What is your question?”
“Did Professor E. Gadd ever give word on what kind of weapon he’s making?” Flapps asked. “Ba-KAWK!!!”
(Note: Again, if you don’t know who Flapps is, read Mario and Parakarry: Zombie Hunters.)
“Two things…” said Peach. “One, he said he was working on some kind of gun, and two, try not to kawk…”
“Sorry…”
Outside, Larry began to shiver. Exactly what sort of gun were they talking about?
“Is this gun he’s making anything like the Super Scope?” asked Yoshi.
“I’m not so sure…” said Peach. “But if it is, then don’t worry. I assure you nobody will shoot you in the back of the head.”
“Oh good…”
“Anyway,” continued Peach. “Elvin also said his gun is very powerful and close to being finished, and after a demonstration, he’ll make even more copies of it. Whatever kind of gun it is, it should be enough to get the Koopas out of our hair… Woah… I think I may’ve said too much…”
“Rhy roo rou ray rat?” Donkey Kong tried to say.
“Um… Come again?”
“He said ‘why do you say that’,” Yoshi translated.
“Oh… Well because we can’t afford to have any spies hear us… Spies like the Koopaling in the window over there.” Peach pointed at the window. Everyone looked over and saw Larry in the window!
“HEY!!! IT’S THAT LARRY KOOPA!!!” Wario yelled.
“Exactly what I was saying!” said Peach. “GET HIM!!!”
“OH GEEZ!!!” Larry cried. He moved sideways along the wall. He continued to shuffle until he was directly above the moat. Then he was “greeted” by Parakarry, Flapps, and Lakilester, who all grabbed him.
“Grrr! Hold still, you chicken!” Lakilester groaned.
“HEY!!! Ba-KAWK!!!” Flapps snapped.
“Sorry…”
“*groan* LET GO OF ME, YOU DIMWITS!!!” Larry ordered. Larry continued to struggle. He struggled so much that his suction cups disconnected from the wall. The Paratroopa, Chicken, and Lakitu all lost their grip on Larry, as they weren’t expecting the sudden weight. Larry fell from the wall and splashed into the moat. Larry frantically tried to swim though he, like his brothers, wasn’t as good a swimmer as Wendy. Larry reached the surface and gasped for air. He tried to swim away, but Wario suddenly landed on top of him! Wario and Larry sank to the bottom. Larry tried to keep his breath held and struggled to force the freakishly heavy Wario off. Fortunately, Wario needed air too, and struggled upwards to the surface, as did Larry. Both gasped for air. Wario suddenly grabbed Larry. Larry struggled to free his arms, which he finally did, and punched Wario hard in the face. Wario became dazed, which gave Larry the chance the swim away. Unfortunately, when he got to shore, he was surrounded by Toad and several Mushroom guards! Toad was holding a POW Block!
“Okay, Toad!” said a guard. “POW him!”
“Yeah!” said Toad.
“Ah… How stupid of me to enter the Mushroom Kingdom without backup!” Larry muttered. Toad slammed the POW Block on the ground in front of Larry, throwing the Koopaling unconscious!
***
Back at Koopa Kastle, everyone was trying their best not to worry about Larry, but they couldn’t help it. Larry wasn’t as much of the good defender as Blaze. Roy was giving Iggy yet another beating… well, at least he was trying to…
“What’s the *umph* matter, Roy?” Iggy said. “You’re not *umph* punching me as hard as *umph* you usually do. *umph*”
Roy finally stopped punching. “Ah…” Roy groaned. “I guess I’m just… just…”
“Say it… I won’t even try to laugh…”
“I’m kinda worried about Larry,” Roy finally said, slightly embarrassed. “You know, I’m done wit da poundin’… I’m goin’ ta my room…” Roy walked away. Iggy shrugged and limped away.
Meanwhile, Blaze was in Ludwig’s room, watching as he was trying to touch up another weapon. After finishing, he walked over to Blaze.
“Look at this, Blaze,” said Ludwig.
“Lemme guess…” said Blaze. “Another Blast Master?”
“Vell… Sort of… Anyvay, I give you, the Blaster Master 2000 plus 1. Allow ve to demonstrate.”
“Oh no…”
Ludwig pulled the trigger. *BLAMMO*
“Not again!” said Ludwig. “Don’t say anything about grenades!”
“I wasn’t!!!” Blaze snapped. Then he looked down sadly. “*sigh* I hope Larry doesn’t end up like that gun…” Ludwig also looked down.
***
Larry finally woke up. He looked around. He was in Princess Peach’s dungeon. Great! he thought. How do I get out of here?! He went to his bars and looked over and saw a couple of Mushroom guards eating a plate full of hotdogs. Larry thought hard. Then he had an idea.
“Hey guards!” he yelled. “Send one of those hotdogs over here!”
The guards looked at him. “You’re kidding us, right?” one asked.
“No!” snapped Larry. “Now gimme a hotdog already! I’m starving over here!”
“Oh… Fine!” One guard snatched a hotdog from the other guard’s hands.
“Hey!!!” said the other guard.”
The guard walked over to Larry’s cell with the hotdog. “All right!” he said. “Here’s your hotdog!” The guard slipped his hand through the bars to give Larry the hotdog.
“Thanks!” said Larry. But instead of chomping on the hotdog, he intentionally chomped the guard’s arm!
“OOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!” cried the guard. “Ouch!!! Owie!!! Owowowowowowow!!!” The guard began jumping around, clutching his bitten arm. As he jumped around, the keys flew out of his pocket, which was, of course, just what Larry wanted. Larry slipped his arm through the bars and grabbed the keys. He fiddled with every key in the lock until he finally found the right one. He unlocked the cell and kicked the bars open.
“HE’S ESCAPED!!!” cried the other guard. He slammed the alarm, moments before Larry ran him over and ran out of the dungeon.
“Come on!” said the guard. “We gotta stop him!”
Larry hastily exited the dungeon and ran into the foyer, but as tried to make a run for the front door, some guards blocked his way.
“Not so fast!” said a guard. Larry jumped and ran up the stairs. The guards pursued him.
***
Larry barged into a room and slammed the door shut.
“Phew!” he remarked. “Too close!”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!” yelled a voice. Larry slowly turned around to see Princess Peach!
“… Oops,” Larry sputtered.
The door burst open, and some guards ran in!
“Don’t worry, Princess!” said a guard. “We’ll fix him!”
Larry backed up. Then he tried a desperate move. He grabbed Peach and backed up towards the window. Peach pounded on Larry’s shell.
“PUT ME DOWN, YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD!!!” he ordered. “JUST WAIT UNTIL MY GUARDS GET THEIR HANDS ON YOU!!!”
“D-d-d-d-don’t move!” said Larry, nervously. “One m-m-m-more step and the princess takes the plunge!”
“You wouldn’t dare!” said a guard. “GET ‘IM!!!”
The guards charged at Larry, who jumped out of the way. The guards couldn’t stop themselves and slid through the window and fell into the moat. Larry put the princess down and jumped out the window into the moat. He quickly swam away to shore before any of the guards noticed.
“I’ve been doing enough swimming in the moat for one day!” Larry said to himself. He ran back to the rope he had left on the gate and quickly climbed over. He stopped to rest, panting heavily. He looked around. It was already nighttime.
“*pant* Gee…” he said. “I wonder *pant* how long I was *pant* out cold… Oh well… Iggy was right about *pant* E. Gadd… so…* pant* Step 2: Go to E. Gadd’s lab and find that gun he’s building…”
Suddenly, a light passed over him! He looked up to see Parakarry and Flapps hovering overhead holding searchlights!
“THERE HE IS!!!” Parakarry yelled. “LET’S GET ‘IM!!!”
“Oh shoot!” Larry squeaked. The gate burst open and there stood Yoshi, Donkey Kong, the Wario Bros, the Paper Mario partners (minus Parakarry, who was still hovering), and many, many guards… with, torches, POW Blocks, and Super Scopes!
“Goin’ somewhere?” said a guard menacingly.
“Uh… Yeah… Home…” said Larry, getting an anime sweatdrop.
“Wrong answer!” said Lady Bow. “GAHAHA!!!”
“Watcha gonna do now, fangface?!” Goombario taunted.
“Uh… I guess I’ll just run away while screaming like a little girl… Yeah… That’s not a bad idea… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!” Larry ran away screaming loudly. Everyone set off after him. Larry swerved to miss the various Super Scope shots. With every shot heard, Larry sprinted faster and faster down the sidewalk.
Ahead, he could see a manhole in the street. He slid to a stop and frantically threw the manhole cover off. He jumped into the sewers and slid the manhole shut. The mob saw him go in.
“He went in the sewers!” said Waluigi. “Do we HAVE to follow him? I’m afraid of smelly places!”
Everyone rolled their eyes. “Quit your whining!” a guard snapped.
“Look!” said Yoshi. “He’s obviously going to Professor E. Gadd’s lab, so let’s go and wait for him there.”
“I get it!” said Kooper. “It’s the ol’ head-‘im-off-at-the-pass trick!”
“Exactly,” said Yoshi.
“Rets ro!” DK tried to say.
“He said let’s go.”
***
Larry nervously and silently trudged through the dark, damp sewers. He wasn’t so sure if the mob was still following him, but if he wanted any more info about this gun, then there was only one way: grab one from E. Gadd. But what if E. Gadd’s lab was crawling with security guards…? Oh well… That was a risk he’d have to take…
Ahead, he could see a manhole cover in the ceiling with a ladder under it. Larry wasn’t so sure if going back topside was such a good idea… but if he didn’t he wouldn’t have a clue where he was going…
Meh… Why not?
Larry climbed the ladder and slowly removed the manhole cover. He looked all around to see if the coast was clear. It was. He climbed out and walked away.
***
Back at the ship, Larry’s crew was still standing around. The commandant was pacing back and forth.
“What’s taking him so long?” he said to himself. “It’s been hours…”
Meanwhile, a figure was lurking in the bushes nearby. The figure, unfortunately, was Flubba! So THESE are those airships the Koopas use, eh? he thought. Hehehe! This gives me an idea! Flubba suddenly charged out of the bushes. The crewmembers spotted him and tried the stop him, but Flubba simply knocked them all out one by one, including the commandant! He climbed up onto the ship and went to one of the Bullet Bill cannons.
“Hmm…” he said. “Princess Peach’s castle should be… that way.” He peered inside the cannon.
“Hey! Bullet Bills!” Flubba called. “If you can hear me, when I fire you, aim for Princess Peach’s castle!”
Flubba ran around to the back of the cannon and fired three times. The three Bullet Bills flew off.
Uh oh…
***
Larry was still walking along the eerily quiet streets. He looked ahead and saw a building with a neon text that read “Gadd’s Inventions”. Wow, he thought. How lucky can you get…? He walked off in the direction of the building. Oh boy… he thought. Things are about to get ugly… I just know it…
Upon reaching the building, he tugged on the door. Locked?! Ugh! Oh well… Larry began to pick the lock with his claw. The door unlocked, and Larry slowly opened the door. He looked around cautiously: no security guards. He walked forward. When he closed the door, it became so dark that only his eyes were visible. He reached into his shell and felt around for something. He felt something that felt like glasses. He pulled them out and put them on his face. He could now see better; they were night vision glasses. He looked around. Everywhere was nothing but high-tech gadgets and inventions. Exactly how busy is E. Gadd every day? he thought. Suddenly, he heard some strange noises. It sounded like glass shattering. He froze still momentary. What was that?/ he thought. The noises were coming from a door in the corner. Larry walked over to the door and opened it. There were stairs leading downward. As he walked down them, he could hear a voice.
“Greaaaaaaat!” the voice said. “How in the world did I knock this thing over?! What a klutz I am! Where is that mop?!”
Larry took his night glasses off and peeked around a corner. He could see a large puddle of chemicals on the floor. There was also a gun on the table. It looked like a Super Scope, only this one was black, and the label read “Ultra Scope”. That must be it! Larry thought. Someone was in the closet. The figure emerged from the closet. It was Professor E. Gadd. He was holding a mop. He walked over to the puddle and began mopping the floor. Elvin’s back was turned. This was just the chance Larry needed. He pulled an extracting pair of pinchers from his shell. He stretched them out towards the table and gripped the gun. Then he shortened the pinchers. He now had the gun! Larry, satisfied, slowly snuck back up the stairs and closed the door gently. Man! he thought. That was too easy!
Meanwhile, E. Gadd had just finished mopping the floor.
“Well I glad that is over with,” he said. “Now I can get back to making copies of this—” He paused when he noticed the Ultra Scope was gone! “What?! Where did it go?!” he said, shocked. “Ahh! Just my luck!”
***
Larry happily exited the building. He had snatched the Ultra Scope without any trouble. Unfortunately, he was about to get a lot more trouble than he had already been in at the castle. A searchlight passed over him! It was Parakarry and Flapps again!
“HEY!!! WE FOUND ‘IM!!!” called Flapps. “Ba-KAWK!!!”
Larry was instantly surrounded by the mob that was chasing him!
“Well… This stinks,” Larry muttered.
“All right, Larry!” said Watt. “This has gone far enough!”
“Yeah, man!” put in Lakilester. “So give it up already!”
“Uh… Not on your life!” Larry retorted nervously. Larry desperately aimed the Ultra Scope at them.
“Hey! That must be the gun E. Gadd’s working on!” said one of the guards.
“Uh… Yeah… Yeah it is!” said Larry. “So get a load of THIS!” Larry didn’t want to shoot any of them, so he fired at the ground in front of them. Much to his surprise, the shot blew a large hole in the street! The mob was thrown backwards by the force of the blast.
“… Wowsers!!!” Larry remarked. “This Ultra Scope really packs a wallop!!!”
Yoshi, DK, and Wario forced themselves back up.
“Holy mother of melons!!!” said Yoshi. “What kind of gun is that?! I sure wouldn’t want to get shot in the back of the head by THAT thing!”
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU CRAZY IDIOT!??!” Wario scolded. “YOU ALMOST BLEW US TO BITS!!!”
“I… I didn’t mean to…” Larry said.
“Reah right!” said DK.
“He said ‘yeah right’!”
There was worse to come. Parakarry and Flapps were still hovering when…
“Um… Parakarry?” said Flapps.
“What?” answered Parakarry.
“LOOK OUT!!! Ba-KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWK!!!”
Parakarry looked back to see three Bullet Bills coming right at him!
“YIIIIIIIIIIIKES!!!” they both yelled. They hugged each other in fear and fell, barely avoiding the Bullet Bills. Parakarry and Flapps flew back up and watched the Bullet Bills fly away.
Larry and the mob also saw the Bullet Bills go by.
“Ugh! Dumbheads!” Larry groaned. “Doesn’t my crew know not to open fire without my permission?!” Larry covered his mouth, realizing he had said too much.
“Your crew?!” cried Bombette. “What’re you talking about?!”
“You heard nothing!” said Larry. “I didn’t say any—”
“Ba-KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!!!” cried Flapps from above. “THE BULLET BILLS JUST HIT PRINCESS PEACH’S CASTLE!!!”
“WHAT?!” the mob yelled.
“You… YOU MONSTER!!!” Yoshi yelled at Larry. “YOUR WHOLE FAMILY ARE MONSTERS!!! YOU PLOT TO KILL PRINCESS PEACH!!!”
“N-n-n-n-n-n-now wait a minute!” Larry stuttered. “I’m not a monster!”
“Then what ARE you?!”
“I’m… outta here!” Larry suddenly started sprinting away.
“AFTER HIM!!!” Waluigi yelled.
They all took off after Larry.
“I’m glad I don’t have to do THIS every day!” Larry said to himself. “Well… Step 3: RUN!!!”
***
Later, at the airship, Larry’s crew had all awakened. They had already checked out the ship to make sure everything was still intact, which it was. A crewmember (a Goomba) was on top of the ship with a pair of binoculars. He looked all around to see if he could see Larry. So far, he saw nothing, until…
“Hey!” he called. “I see ‘im! But he’s in big trouble!!!” Everyone looked towards a distant hill. There was Larry, frantically running. Not too far behind him was a huge angry mob!
“OH SHOOT!!!” cried the commandant. “Everyone on the ship! Fire up the engines! I’m pretty darn sure that’s what he would want!” Larry’s crew quickly boarded the ship. Larry drew nearer and nearer. By the time he reached the ship, it was already starting to take off. One of Larry’s crewmembers (a Rocky Wrench) tossed a rope ladder down to Larry, who just barely grabbed it. Larry climbed upward, holding the Ultra Scope in his mouth. Nearing the deck, he handed the gun to the Rocky Wrench, but seconds later, a Super Scope shot came out of nowhere and hit the rope ladder, snapping part of it! The bit of rope that held the rest of the ladder together began to come apart due to Larry’s weight being too much for the weak rope.
“I’ll pull you up!” said the Rocky Wrench. “Grab my paw!” Larry tried to reach, but to no avail.
“I can’t reach you!” said Larry. “Just take this!” He handed the Rocky Wrench the Ultra Scope as the rope ripped a little more.
“Show it to King Dad!” Larry said. “He’ll be amazed at what it does… And one more thing!”
“What?!”
“Tell King Dad that I—” The rope snapped!
“LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!” Larry started falling!
***
The Rocky Wrench entered the cabin, hanging his head. The Commandant walked up to him.
“Where’s Master Larry?” he asked.
The Rocky Wrench didn’t answer.
“Where is he?!”
The Rocky Wrench was still silent and looked away sadly. The Commandant got the message, and hung his head as well.
***
“Come on! COME ON!!!” said a worried Bowser as he paced back and forth in his throne room. “Larry should’ve been back by now!”
Kamek walked in.
“Larry’s airship has arrived, Sire,” he said.
“About time!” said Bowser. He ran off to the airship dock.
When he got there, he saw all of Larry’s crewmembers and his commandant exiting the dock, but no Larry.
“King Koopa,” said the commandant, “we’ve brought you the weapon.” He handed the Ultra Scope to Bowser.
“Um… Good,” Bowser said. “Now… where’s my son?”
The entire crew looked down in sad silence.
“Prince Larry…” said the Commandant hesitantly, “…didn’t… make it…”
Tears began to form in Bowser’s eyes.