ACT 5:
Iggy stared down at the unconscious Lakitufo. Iggy had caught the Spiny Shroopa Egg and thrown it at the Lakitufo’s forehead. (That was the BONK at the end of the previous page.)
Tatanga must be sending the Shroob forces to scout us out, Iggy thought. I hope Whammy’s all right… I hope Lemmy’s all right… Lemmy… He gazed up at the glowing full moon. A small tear came out of his eye. I’m sorry, Lemmy… truly… I’ll fix all this.
Iggy felt a slight ache in his right hand. Iggy groaned slightly and began rubbing it. Suddenly, he looked over at the Lakitufo’s UFO.
Hmm…
Thoughts about Iggy rang through Whammy’s head as well, but not in the same way as Lemmy. The not-so-strong Koopaling was all by himself with a whole army searching for him. Look’s like it’s one Koopa against the world for Iggy, he thought. If he doesn’t pull through, then it can spell one thing… C-H-A-O-S…
***
Tatanga strolled through the hallways to the docking bay. Reaching the door, he pressed a button on the wall. The door slid open, and Tatanga walked forward. There, Doctor Shroobs were making more modifications to Tatanga’s Pagosu. As he gazed at his ship, he noticed something he didn’t ask for.
“What is THIS?!” he bellowed. “You installed a pair of useless hands… IN PLACE OF MY LASER CANNONS?!”
“Um… Something the matter?” a Doctor Shroob asked.
“YES! I prefer blasting my opponents to pieces, NOT squeezing them! IT’S TOO BIG A CHORE!!!”
“Now calm down, sir. Before you make assumptions, I really should explain to you exactly how these fists work.”
“Well start explaining before I lose my patience!”
“You see, these are actually rocket fists. In combat, you can lock them onto your target and launch them at your opponent. They will home in on him or her. Also, notice how we installed the fists over the laser cannons, not completely in place of them.”
“Yes?”
“While your opponent turns his attention to the rocket fists, you can still fire at him or her with your laser cannons. We have other modifications on the way, too.”
“Ah… MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Excellent! If that foolish Koopa arrives, which I hope he does, I’ll CRUSH him!!!”
“Sir, with all due respect, but why would you WANT him to arrive?”
“Blasting him to oblivion will feel so good! I cannot wait to see the look on that shellbrain’s face when he meets the new and improved Pagosu! Anyway, is the Death Shroob loaded up?”
“We are getting there—”
He was interrupted by the door opening. A Shroob ran in.
“Sir,” he said to Tatanga. “You know that Lakitufo you sent out earlier?”
“Yes,” Tatanga answered. “What about him?”
“He called us on his walkie-talkie, and he said that that Iggy character has seemingly… jacked his UFO…”
“Oh… That is fine… Even if he DOES make it through our forces, I’ll KILL him… with that beauty right behind me!” Tatanga pointed back at the Pagosu.
“Sir,” the Shroob continued, “Oot of curiosity, might you know what her mercilessness intends to do with the two prisoners?”
“… I suppose it can’t hurt to tell you… I am in a good mood, after all…”
***
Iggy flew across the terrain on the Lakitufo’s UFO at a tremendous rate.
It’s a good thing this UFO has a GPS, he thought. The Shroobs’ base shouldn’t be too far ahead. When I get there, I’m gonna GET that Tatanga… I hope. I still don’t see the connection between Tatanga and the Shroobs… I suppose he recently formed an alliance with them… And Lemmy Wwhat’s Tatanga got for him…? And what happened to Whammy? I wonder if the Shroobs got him…
Suddenly, Iggy began to feel the ache in his hand again. He winced in pain. What is this pain I’m feeling…? Hmm…I didn’t feel this back on Violet…I didn’t feel it before the Lakitufo attacked me… Ah! The Lakitufo… But how…? Wait…I touched the poisonous Shroopa Egg… That would do it… Ah well… That’s the least of my worries… I have to get Lemmy back, find Whammy, and find out what business Tatanga has with the Shroobs… Iggy continued onward, the poison in his hand still causing an ache.
Suddenly, a laser beam flew across his face, barely missing his snout. Iggy looked all around to see where the blast came from. He looked to his left to see a Shroob in a UFO, flying directly at him! Iggy flew upward, and the Shroob flew under him, narrowly missing him. Iggy turned around to see the Shroob flying at him again. This time Iggy flew low to avoid him. The Shroob turned to face Iggy.
Suddenly, another Shroob flew up next to the first Shroob! Iggy stared, then he looked down at the ground below. There was Swiggler, drinking vim and powering up another UFO!
Iggy quickly turned his attention back to the two Shroobs, who both pointed their laser guns at him. Iggy swooped low as the Shroobs opened fire. Iggy flew behind them and began flying in a wide counterclockwise circle around them. One Shroob blasted at Iggy, who changed his direction to clockwise. The other Shroob blasted at Iggy, who stopped short to avoid the beam and continued clockwise. The first Shroob blasted at Iggy again, and he changed direction again. This went on and on until the Shroobs’ patience could no longer be kept.
The Shroobs flew in opposite directions. They both stopped about twenty-seven meters away from Iggy. They suddenly flew towards him from both sides at high speeds, attempting to crash into Iggy!
Iggy then had an idea. He flew towards one Shroob at about the same speed. Judging his moment, Iggy stretched his arm out. Upon reaching the Shroob, Iggy veered to the right of the Shroob. As Iggy flew past, the Shroob was left wondering what happened, when he noticed his laser gun was gone. He looked back to see Iggy laughing and holding the gun in his hand. He had stripped it away!
The Shroob looked ahead to find himself heading straight for the other Shroob! They both screamed.
*BLAM*
They hit each other with tremendous force. There was an amazing explosion!
Iggy surveyed the crash. Woah… he thought. Major ouchie! At least I got this gun…
Iggy hovered directly above Swiggler. The other Shroob UFO flew upward and hovered in front of Iggy. Iggy took aim.
Suddenly, a dark purple cloud floated up and in Iggy’s face. The poisonous cloud came from Swiggler! Iggy coughed and wheezed, gasping for air. In all the smoke, Iggy failed to notice the Shroob flying straight at him. The Shroob slammed into Iggy’s UFO, knocking Iggy into the air!
Iggy plummeted to the ground, landing about ten meters away from Swiggler and the two Doctor Shroobs who were feeding it the vim. The gun he had “liberated” from the Shroob landed six feet away from him.
The Doctor Shroobs walked up to Iggy, who lay there motionless.
“… Um… It would appear that the fall has killed him…” said one.
“It certainly seems so…” said the other.
“He’s dead if you ask me!” said the Shroob as he hovered over them. “Now shut up and grab him!”
“Hmph! Very well…”
The Doctor Shroobs walked up to Iggy on both sides. They were just about to grab hold when…
“WHAT THE—”
Iggy grabbed their legs and tripped them both!
“YOU’RE STILL ALIVE?!” the Shroob cried.
“As you can plainly see, yes,” Iggy answered calmly.
“Not for long! I’LL BLOW YOU SKY HIGH!!!”
Before the Shroob could do so, Iggy lurched out of the way. He looked over at the gun lying on the ground. The Shroob also looked at the gun. Then they looked at each other, then the gun, then each other again.
Can’t mess this up. Can’t mess this up… Iggy thought.
He’s dead! the Shroob thought.
Suddenly, the two Doctor Shroobs grabbed Iggy from behind!
“HEY!!! LET GO OF ME!!!” Iggy demanded.
“I’m afraid we cannot do that!” a Doctor Shroob said.
Swiggler walked up behind them. The Shroob flew up in front holding the gun!
“Didn’t anyone ever teach you never to take things that don’t belong to you?!” he said coldly.
Iggy said nothing. He just glared angrily at the Shroob, breathing heavily and wincing. He was beginning to feel somewhat queasy from inhaling Swiggler’s cloud. Not only that, but his whole arm was now aching. The poison from the Shroopa Egg was beginning to spread.
“Hold him steady!” said the Shroob. “This won’t hurt me any, but it will sure hurt you, rainbowhead!”
The Shroob was about to pull the trigger, but before he could, Iggy suddenly began spinning rapidly with his arms stuck out, repeatedly smacking the Doctor Shroobs in the head until they fell unconscious.
“What… just… happened…?” the Shroob said to himself.
Iggy jumped up at the Shroob and tried to grab his gun again. The Shroob fought back.
“MY gun! Not YOUR gun!” the Shroob said. He punched Iggy in the stomach, sending Iggy falling backwards onto Swiggler’s snout, with his upper waist on top and his legs hanging in front of Swiggler’s mouth. Swiggler growled and suddenly began stomping around in a ballistic manner, blowing poisonous gas from his mouth. Iggy held his breath the best he could.
The Shroob looked on. “Woah…” he said to himself. “Now this is actually pretty funny!”
Swiggler continued to run around. Iggy thought hard. He couldn’t hold his breath for very long.
Suddenly, he got an idea. He threw himself backwards off of Swiggler’s snout. Before touching the ground, he retreated into his shell and darted into Swiggler’s mouth. Swiggler stopped, choking hard. The big shell was cutting off Swiggler’s breathing. It struggled to force Iggy’s shell out of its mouth, but Iggy refused to move.
The Shroob still looked on, puzzled. “What’s going on here…?” he asked himself.
Finally, Swiggler, unable to breathe, fell over. Iggy squeezed himself out of Swiggler’s mouth.
“NO!” cried the Shroob. “YOU KILLED SWIGGLER!!!”
Iggy panted heavily, staring down at Swiggler. He then turned his attention back to the Shroob, who began to cower.
“*gulp* W-w-w-what? What do you want?!” the Shroob stuttered.
Iggy stayed silent. He slowly walked towards the Shroob, who shivered.
“Look! I’ll… I’ll give you anything you want, okay? Just don’t kill me! Uh… Here! Take my gun!” He threw the gun on the ground in front of Iggy. “Just take it, okay? And don’t take my life!”
Iggy picked up the gun. Then he gave the Shroob a look that said “get out of my sight!” The Shroob did just that.
Iggy looked up and noticed that the UFO he had been using was still hovering. There was no way he could reach it. Looks like I’ll just have to make the rest of the journey on foot, Iggy thought. He took one last look at Swiggler before proceeding in the direction the Shroob had gone.
***
The Shroob leader was sitting calmly on her throne. Suddenly, the door opened. A Shroob ran in.
“Your—”
“WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET YOU ALL TO KNOCK?!” the Shroob leader bellowed.
“Uh… Let’s try that again…” the Shroob squeaked. He walked back out the door and closed it. A knock was heard.
“ENTER!”
The Shroob walked in. “Your Mercilessness. I have bad news…”
“Yes?”
“One of the soldiers you sent out called us on his walkie-talkie…”
“What did he say?”
“Our target has killed Swiggler…”
The Shroob leader’s jaws dropped to the floor. “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
“Yes. It suffocated due to our target lodging himself in Swiggler’s mouth.”
“Great… And Swiggler was one of our main sources of fuel… No matter. Tatanga has informed me of the modifications done to his ship. He’s ever so… optimistic that he can finish our target off if he does make it here…”
“Ah… So Wwhat do we do now?”
“We’ll worry about that troublemaker later. For now, I have special plans for Tatanga’s prisoner.”
“Like what, Your Mercilessness?”
“Come here and I’ll tell you.” The Shroob walked up to the Shroob leader, who whispered something in the Shroob’s ear (if he has ears).
“Oooh!” remarked the Shroob. “I like that! Now what about the purple lizard? What do you want done with him?”
“I really have no use for him.”
“You really ARE merciless!”
“I know! MWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh… And, make sure the rainbow-headed one gets this message…” She whispered something else to the Shroob.
“Yes, Your Mercilessness.”
***
Lemmy and Whammy were sitting silently in the dungeon cell, unaware of the danger heading for them. Suddenly, two Shroobs walked up.
“This can’t be good…” said Whammy.
“No it isn’t!” said a Shroob. “Not for YOU at least!”
The other Shroob punched in the code to deactivate the laser bars. The Shroobs then pointed immobilizer guns at them to make sure they didn’t try anything.
“You come with us, or we’ll MAKE you come with us!” ordered a Shroob.
“So MAKE me!” Whammy retorted.
“As you wish!” The Shroob blasted Whammy, immobilizing him.
“WHAMMY!” Lemmy cried.
“Now listen!” said the other Shroob. “Her Mercilessness told me to tell you this. She has plans for you, and if you do not cooperate, she will make sure your brother meets his demise!”
Lemmy gasped. There was only one choice he could make. “Okay…” Lemmy muttered tearfully.
“Good!” the Shroob said, happy with what he heard.
“Now what are you gonna do with him?” he asked.
“That is unimportant, now come on, you!”
Lemmy sighed. I’m sorry, Iggy, he thought, but I have to do it… for you…
The Shroob led Lemmy in one direction, while the other Shroob took Whammy in the other direction.
“So… uh… What exactly does ’Her Mercilessness’ want to do with me?” Lemmy asked.
“You will find out soon enough, my little friend!”
Meanwhile, the other Shroob tossed Whammy into a large machine with a window. Whammy quickly got up and tried to jump back through the door in the machine, but the Shroob closed the door.
“What’s THIS thing?!” Whammy asked. “Whatever it is, let me out of it!”
“If you must know,” said the Shroob, “this is the disintegrator unit!”
“WHAT?!”
“Do worry!” said the Shroob coldly. “At least Her Mercilessness was nice enough to let you live for one more hour!” The Shroob set the disintegrator unit to one hour. “One hour to disintegration,” the computer said.
“Enjoy your final hour onstage!” the Shroob said. He left the room.
All Whammy could do was sit in the unit and hope for a miracle.
“Come on, Iggy, “Whammy said to himself. “You don’t have much time…”