ACT 3:
Whammy gazed up at the large, red, bell-shaped figure. From playing a lot of Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Iggy recognized the figure.
“The Elder Shrooboid!” Iggy gasped.
“Leave it to me, Iggy,” said Whammy. “Just go over there out of harm’s way.” Iggy limped away about twelve feet, in pain after getting burned by the Blazing Shroob.
“Okay, hotshot!” said Whammy to the Elder Shrooboid. “Show me whatcha got!!!”
The ES (for short) growled. He suddenly spat fireballs at Whammy, who jumped out of the way. Whammy jumped back at the ES and kicked him in the face. The ES roared in pain, but recovered. It suddenly began spinning rapidly towards Whammy. Whammy dodged, but the ES suddenly changed directions and slammed into Whammy, who went flying about ten feet away. Whammy shook himself off and charged back at the ES, who had stopped spinning to spit fireballs. Whammy dodged them all and jumped at the ES. He began punching him repeatedly in the face. The ES threw Whammy off and snapped at him with his pincher-like hands. Whammy backed up a little.
“*pant*This guy’s tougher than he looks,” Whammy said to himself as he dodged the ES’s snaps. Whammy ground pounded, sending shockwaves at the ES, who was unaffected by them! Whammy stared in disbelief. He then charged at the ES, punching and kicking it in the face. The ES spat fireballs at Whammy to force him to fall back. Whammy panted.
“C’MON!!!” Whammy yelled to no one in particular. “This can’t be THAT difficult!!!”
The ES began spitting fireballs. Whammy ran all the way around the ES as it kept turning to try to roast Whammy.
“Come on, Whammy!” Iggy cheered. “Don’t let it beat you!”
Whammy charged at the ES again. This time, instead of punching right away, he intentionally ran past the ES, who turned to meet Whammy’s fist. The ES growled and began spinning again.
“Not this again…” Whammy muttered.
Whammy jumped out of the way as the ES tried to spin into him. Missing Whammy, the ES stopped spinning and repeatedly spat fireballs. Whammy narrowly dodged them all (matrix style). The ES suddenly blew a huge wave of fire at Whammy, who ducked to avoid it. Whammy charged at the ES again, but it extended its pincher hands towards him. Whammy tried to avoid the hands, but the ES grabbed him by the neck and began choking him!
Meanwhile, the suspense was killing Iggy. The ES had proven to be just as strong as he was in the game. This was it. He had to help Whammy, burned or not.
Whammy gasped for breath as the ES began to tighten its grip. Whammy grabbed the ES’s hand and struggled to force its hand from his neck.
Suddenly (and not a moment too soon), a bluish-green shell came out of nowhere and slammed hard into the ES, who roared loudly. The ES recovered. It was just turning its attention to Iggy’s shell when—
“Oh no you don’t!!!”
Whammy jump-kicked the ES in the side of the head. The ES roared even louder, and was immediately smacked by Iggy’s shell… in the face… and very hard! The ES fell over, motionless.
Iggy popped back out. He examined the ES. “Is it… dead?” he asked.
“Looks *cough* that way *pant*…” replied Whammy. He panted heavily.
“Are you okay?” Iggy asked.
“I’ll… I’ll be fine,” said Whammy. “But answer this… Why did you jump in even while you were burned?”
“I just couldn’t leave you to fight that thing alone. It was just too strong. Something bad was bound to happen.”
“Well, in that case, I’m glad you jumped in… Come on. We still have a pretty long ways to go…”
“NOT SO FAST!!!” said a voice. Iggy and Whammy turned to see that the Blazing Shroobs were no longer unconscious!
“Gimme a break…” Whammy sighed.
***
Lemmy sat in his cage, lonely and depressed. “Oh Iggy,” he said to himself. “How did we let one failed prank and a chocolate bar get in the way of our friendship…?”
He wasn’t so sure how, and he was sure Iggy wasn’t sure either, but he was ready to fix it, and he was sure Iggy also was ready to fix it.
***
“HOW CAN THIS BE?!” cried the pointy-eared one as he glared up at the screens, one of which was showing a slightly injured Iggy and Whammy fighting the Blazing Shroobs they had already fought just before the battle with the Elder Shrooboid, who was lying on the ground motionless.
“THIS IS UNBELIEVEABLE!!!” the pointy-eared one yelled. “HOW COULD THEY HAVE DEFEATED THE BIG, BELL-SHAPED SHROOB?!”
“Um… It’s Elder Shrooboid, sir,” said the Shroob standing next to him.
“OH WHATEVER!!!” the pointy-eared one snapped. “As strong as it is, it really shouldn’t have lost a battle with those two… weaklings!!!”
“They certainly don’t seem to be proving themselves to be weak… They just defeated the Blazing Shroobs—”
“SHUT UP OR I’LL HAVE YOU ZAPPED INTO NOTHING!!!”
“… Eep!”
“Those two are getting nearer and nearer to this location, but no matter. Once they get here, they’ll be finished!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“What about the one in the cage?”
“Oh… Him… We’ll just finish him along with his brother. MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
***
Iggy and Whammy stood atop a high hill. They looked all around. So far they had seen nothing. Then—
“There it is, Iggy!” said Whammy, pointing at a large building in the distance. “That’s the weaponry base. The Shroobs must’ve taken it over and hijacked the commander and soldiers of the base… But where could they’ve taken them?”
“Probably to the Shroobs’ home planet…” replied Iggy.
“You think they took your brother to their planet, too?”
“I don’t think so. He’s in there. I can feel it!”
Whammy looked at Iggy. He seemed ever so eager to get his brother back.
“So… You ready?” Iggy asked.
“I know YOU are but what am I?”
“That’s a yes…”
The two raced down the hill. Suddenly—
“LOOK OUT!!!”
A laser blast suddenly came down at them. They jumped out of the way. More laser blasts followed. “What’s going on here?!” Iggy yelled.
“I forgot to mention, the fortress itself has laser cannons on it… Looks like we’ll have run…”
“You don’t say…”
They charged, swerving to avoid the numerous laser blasts.
***
Inside the fortress…
“MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” laughed the pointy-eared one as he watched the screen and spoke through the loudspeaker. “KEEP SHOOTING!!! DESTROY THEM!!!”
“Um… Sir,” said the Shroob. “Their shots are all missing the targets!”
“HEY!!! I’M ENJOYING THIS!!! DON’T SPOIL IT!!!”
“But—”
“CONFOUND IT!!! THEY’RE MISSING THE TARGETS… AND THEY’VE MADE IT TO THE FRONT DOOR!!!”
“…”
Outside, Iggy and Whammy were at the front door (is there an echo in here?).
“C’mon!!!” Iggy yelled. “How do we open this door?!”
“There’s a secret code you have to punch in on that dial!” Whammy pointed to a small dial next to the door. “I know the code, I’m a retired officer!”
“Really? You look kinda young…”
“Look! You can be 21 years old and still be an officer, but this is no time for my life story!”
Whammy punched in the code (which is so secret I won’t even tell you). The door unlocked. Whammy shoved the door open, but as soon as he got it open—
“Oh crud…”
There were Shroobs everywhere!
“Get them!!!” one yelled.
Iggy and Whammy looked at each other with looks that said “Let’s get ‘em!”
As the Shroobs charged, Whammy punched them back as they came, eating a few to make eggs. He ducked to avoid the shots from their laser guns. He took aim and threw them at the charging Shroobs.
Iggy spun around rapidly, knocking away the Shroobs he came in contact with. He stopped spinning as he began to get dizzy. He then retreated into his shell and slammed hard into the Shroobs. Before they knew it, all the Shroobs were down and out.
“C’mon, Iggy!” said Whammy. “This place has four floors!”
They ran up a flight of stairs. When they got to the second floor, there were Blazing Shroobs!
“Well this looks familiar…” said Iggy.
Whammy threw the eggs he still had left from the first floor (he had eight eggs), knocking out eight Blazing Shroobs. Iggy curled into his shell again and darted into the Blazing Shroobs. Whammy ran out of eggs and began ground pounding to send shockwaves. Soon, the Blazing Shroobs were out.
“Going up!” Iggy said to Whammy.
They ran up another flight of stairs. On the third floor were small, Goomba-like Shroobs! They all started spinning towards Iggy and Whammy.
“Shrooblets!” said Iggy. “What am I yelling about? These are the weakest kind!”
“Then let me just clean the floor,” said Whammy. He ground pounded, and the shockwaves knocked out all the Shrooblets.
“That was cake!” said Whammy. “Onward to the command room!”
They ran up the next flight of stairs. The fourth floor was where the command room was.
***
Meanwhile…
“HOW COULD THEY’VE GOT PAST ALL MY DEFENSES?!” cried the pointy-eared one.
The Shroob next to him looked at him. “Well—” he began.
“Don’t answer that…”
The door burst open, and there were Iggy and Whammy. Iggy stared at the pointy-eared one with a very angry look.
“YOU!!!” Iggy yelled. “Something’s telling me YOU kidnapped my brother!!!” Iggy recognized the figure as the Super Mario Land final boss— Tatanga!!!
“MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Tatanga laughed. “Very good, Iggy, but your luck’s run out! Luckily I’m nice enough to let you see your brother one last time before I finish you!”
“WHERE IS HE?!”
“Follow me!”
Tatanga led Iggy and Whammy into the next room, where Lemmy’s cage was. Unfortunately, Tatanga’s next surprise was also in there.
Iggy looked up at the cage hanging from the ceiling. Someone was sitting in it with his back… err, shell turned. His eyes widened as he saw who was in the cage.”
“LEMMY!!!”
Lemmy jumped and turned around.
“IGGY!!!”
“There!” said Tatanga. “You’ve SEEN your brother! Now it’s the end!!!” He pulled out two grenades, one of which was bigger than the other!
“HEY!!! You’d better be careful with those!!!” yelled Whammy.
“Don’t worry!” Tatanga said with a snarl. “I happen to know how to use these!” He yanked the ring out of the smaller one and threw it up at the ceiling. It exploded upon impact with the ceiling, blowing a huge hole in the ceiling and causing Lemmy’s cage to fall onto the floor!
“OW!!!” Lemmy cried.
“BE CAREFUL WITH MY BRO!!!” Iggy bellowed. He was about to charge when Tatanga held the other grenade up.
“I wouldn’t come near me if I were you!” said Tatanga coldly. “If this grenade goes off, this entire building will be stamped flat!!! So while you enjoy the final few minutes of your pathetic lives, I’ll be taking your pathetic brother for a little ride, so don’t do anything unwise!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Tatanga took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the cage. He grabbed Lemmy and headed for his ship, which had been sitting in the room. He first banged Lemmy’s head against the ship to knock him out so that he couldn’t do anything to stop him while flying his ship!
“HEY!!! CUT THAT OUT!!!” Iggy bellowed. He charged toward the ship. Tatanga yanked the ring off the grenade and threw it away from the ship! Then he closed the cockpit.
“Farewell, fools!!!” laughed Tatanga. “MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Tatanga activated the engines and engaged. The ship (which is called the Pagosu if you didn’t know) took off while Iggy and Whammy stared at the grenade.
“WHAT NOW?!” Iggy cried.
“LOOK! ON THE WALL!” Whammy yelled. He pointed to a line of jetpacks on the wall.
“We can use those!”
Whammy ran over the wall and grabbed one. He hastily strapped it on his back and powered it on.
“C’mon, Iggy! I’ll hold you!”
“Okay, but don’t you dare let go!”
Whammy picked up Iggy by the shell and quickly took off through the giant hole in the ceiling- and not a moment too soon!
*BLAMMO!!!*
***
Tatanga had already left Violet’s atmosphere. He laughed maniacally to himself.
“MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” he laughed. “The grenade should’ve made quick work of those fools by now!!! Why, if they survived, I’d eat my hat… if I had one…”
Unknown to him, a figure… well, TWO figures were catching up to him. He then heard a knock on the side of the “windshield”. He looked over, and when he saw Iggy and Whammy with a jetpack, he suddenly had a blank face.
“Hi!” called Whammy through the windshield. “Did ya miss us?”
“… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!” Tatanga yelled. “HOW?! Where’s a hat so I can eat it?! Oh well, I told you not to do anything unwise!!! Now I’ll make you pay!!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Tatanga slammed his ship against Iggy and Whammy. Whammy nearly dropped Iggy, but kept his grip. Tatanga flew ahead. Whammy tried hard to stay with him. He caught up with Tatanga again and tried to fly alongside him, but Tatanga swerved directly in front of Whammy and Iggy, causing a near miss with the rocket boosters.
“Come on, Whammy!” Iggy urged. “Stay with him!”
“I’m trying!!!” Whammy said back.
Suddenly, Tatanga began firing lasers from the BACK of his ship!
“Oh cripes…” said Whammy.
Whammy began swerving wildly to miss the beams.
“How do you like my new rear-end laser guns?!” Tatanga called. “I had them installed the day before I captured your brother! Anyway, it’s really not a good idea to be following me anymore! Why don’t you just go back home and cry?!”
“NOT UNTIL YOU RELINQUISH MY BROTHER!!!” Iggy bellowed. “Um… Except for the crying part…”
“In that case, ariba derchee!”
Tatanga fired at them again, this time hitting the jetpack! The jetpack began to shake!
“IT’S GONNA EXPLODE!!!” Iggy cried. “TAKE IT OFF!!!”
While holding Iggy with one hand, Whammy hastily tried to unstrap the jetpack. He finally did, again not a moment too soon. Immediately after Whammy threw the jetpack off, it exploded behind them! The force of the explosion blew Iggy and Whammy forward. They were now floating in space, and Tatanga was long gone.
“Great!” Iggy said sarcastically. “Now we’re space junk!”
“Oh no we’re not!” said Whammy. “Look what’s coming up ahead!”
Iggy turned and gasped at an upcoming planet. The planet was purple (haven’t we had enough purple?) and shaped like a Poison Mushroom!
“The Shroob Planet!” Iggy gasped.