*BLAST*
“UUUUUUUUUGH!!!” Iggy cried angrily. While battling the Shroobs, one of them had blasted at the gun he had “borrowed” from another Shroob.
“Unarmed, are you?” the Shroob spoke menacingly. “Too bad!”
“I WANT MY BROTHER!!!”
“It’s a pity, because you’ll never see him again, and if you DO see him, he’ll most likely be nothing but a lifeless carcass!”
Upon hearing this, Iggy was on the verge of going mad. He was going to get his brother back, and nothing was going to stop him. Nothing! Iggy stomped angrily towards the Shroob, who froze.
“Uh… Stay back!” the Shroob ordered. “I’m warning you!”
Iggy charged at the Shroob, tackling him hard. He repeatedly slammed his head to the ground. He pounded the Shroob’s face. He then picked him up and slammed him to the ground face-first. He jumped onto the Shroob’s back, shell first, with his spikes digging into the Shroob’s back. The Shroob cried in extreme pain. Iggy then dug his claws into the same wounds, making the Shroob yell even louder.
Suddenly, Iggy stopped. He realized what he was doing. Lemmy most likely wouldn’t have favored this. He stood up off the Shroob and ran off.
***
Tatanga was speaking with the Shroob leader in her throne room.
“He killed Swiggler, did he?” Tatanga said. “He is really trying… Ah… He is only one Koopa. He couldn’t possibly stop us all on his own!”
“Tatanga…” the Shroob leader answered. “I believe it is best that we not underestimate him anymore. He seems to have found ways to outfight our forces…”
“Yes, but can he outfight the Pagosu? The modifications are terrific!”
“That is a good point, but we still mustn’t cut corners. Our target means business.”
There was a knock on the door.
“ENTER!” the Shroob leader called.
A Shroob ran in frantically.
“Wow. Finally, one of you remembered to knock,” the Shroob leader remarked. “What is it?”
“Our target is within two miles of the fortress!” the Shroob panted.
“WHAT?! See Tatanga, I told you he means business.”
“I can take him out! Just watch me! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
“Don’t think that you’ll hog all the amusement for yourself. I, too have a little something for him.”
“What sort of something?”
“Hmm hmm! I’ll tell you…”
***
“Twenty minutes to disintegration,” the computer said.
A dejected Whammy was sitting in the disintegrator unit. Who knew what kind of plans the Shroobs had for Lemmy. What could be happening? Could Iggy survive to the point where he could put a stop to all this? And whatever happened to the commander and soldiers of the Violet base?
Worse still, the Shroobs would strike Violet soon, and he was stuck here, with only half an hour to live.
Iggy… he thought. If I die… promise me you’ll save my planet…
“Comfy in there?” someone laughed. Whammy looked over to see a Shroob standing just outside the door.
“Frankly… I’m not!” Whammy retorted.
“Well don’t worry,” said the Shroob. “In about… seventeen minutes you won’t have to worry about a thing!”
“Baah…” Whammy rolled his eyes, slightly angry inside. What was it with the Shroob leader? What exactly was her purpose for being so evil? And why did the Shroobs assist her? Whammy was confused. He decided… why not ask?
“Hey,” Whammy spoke to the Shroob.
“What?” the Shroob asked. “Make it quick! I’m a busy Shroob!”
“What exactly inspires you to be on the evil side?”
“Well… it’s just the way of the Shroob. It’s our nature.”
“Is that so…? Well, is there any particular reason why you serve your princess?”
“She’s simply the greatest. She should be ruler of the universe as far as I’m concerned.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Well…” The Shroob stopped, unsure about how to answer the question. “Uh… What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean, what makes her so great to you? Has she ever done anything for you?”
“Well… uh… well she’s… Wait, are you trying to trick me?!”
“Look. All I’m tryin’ to say is, nobody’s forcing you to be evil. You can choose your own life.”
The Shroob quirked a brow.
Suddenly…
“THE TARGET IS NEAR!!!” someone yelled over a loudspeaker.
Whammy jumped. Iggy made it! he thought.
The Shroob looked at Whammy. What exactly was he trying to say? The Shroob walked away.
“Ten minutes to disintegration,” said the computer.
Whammy sighed.
***
Iggy charged across the terrain. The Shroob fortress was in his sights. He was focused on finding Lemmy, but at the same time, he tried to calm himself down.
Suddenly, he began to feel funny. The poison in his arm was beginning to irritate him. It was spreading quickly. He ignored the irritation and turned his focus back on his brother.
***
“The Death Shroob is fully loaded,” said a Shroob to the Shroob leader.
“Hmm… And just in the nick of time. Our target is about to arrive,” said the Shroob leader.
“Yes, but you don’t seem too worried…”
“Well I’m not at all being cocky like Tatanga. As for our troublemaker, I have a little surprise for him!” the Shroob leader said with an evil smirk. She stood up off of her throne and walked away.
***
“Five minutes to disintegration.”
For Whammy, hearing those words felt like something was pounding his heart. In only five minutes, it would be all over for him.
***
“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Tatanga laughed as he talked with a Dr. Shroob in the docking bay. “The Death Shroob is fully loaded, the Pagosu is ready for dealing serious pain… It can’t get any better than this!”
“How about the fact that our target is very close?” said the Dr. Shroob.
“That makes it even better! I can blow him to smithereens! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
***
The Shroob leader entered a small, dark room. She gazed into the darkness.
“Come, my pet,” she said. “We have a guest arriving soon. Let us give him a warm welcome.”
A pair of red eyes appeared within the shadows. Growling was heard. The figure bared his teeth, with the white of his fangs glowing.
***
“Sixty seconds to disintegration.”
A tear came out of Whammy’s eye. I suppose it’s my time… Whammy thought. Iggy… it’s your time to shine… I hope you and your brother make it out alive, because I won’t…
“Forty-five seconds to disintegration.”
It was nice knowing you, man. I’ll never forget you… even when I die… I’ll never forget when we met…
“Thirty seconds to disintegration.”
There was nothing Whammy could do. All he could do was huddle in the corner and wait for it.
“Fifteen seconds to disintegration.”
Lasers in the top four corners of the disintegrator unit opened up. They began to glow. Whammy shut his eyes.
“Ten.”
“Nine.”
“Eight.”
“Seven.”
“Six.”
“Five.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
Whammy shivered. Suddenly, he opened an eye. What happened? Why didn’t he hear one?
“Hey, purple reptile. Get up!” said a voice. Whammy looked out the window of the unit, and there was the very same Shroob he had spoken to earlier. He had deactivated the disintegrator unit.
Whammy was shocked. “You… came back?”
The Shroob opened the door. “Of course,” he said as Whammy walked out. “I realize now that I can choose my own life. What’s more, I’ve decided that I will not serve the princess anymore! She never did anything for me in my life! In fact, she had my family executed!” A tear came out of the Shroob’s eye.
“Oh… I’m sorry…”
“Ever since, I was convinced that being ruthless and merciless was the way of the Shroob. I now realize that this is not at all true, and I have you to thank.”
Whammy smiled.
“Whammy, isn’t it?” said the Shroob. “I’m helping you. I no longer have any purpose for serving the princess. You are my master now.”
“Woah. No need for that. How about we just be friends?”
“That works, too.”
“By the way, you have a name?”
“Name… uh… I can’t remember… I have never been called by my real name since my family was… well… you know…”
“How about I call you Crush, after my father?”
“… I like that!”
“THE TARGET HAS REACHED THE FORTRESS!” someone yelled over the loudspeaker.
“It seems your friend is here,” said the Shroob. “We’d better go and assist him
***
Outside, Iggy gazed up at the huge door of the Shroob fortress. This was it. He only had one shot, and he could not make any mistakes.
“Lemmy…” he said to himself. “Here I come…”
He walked up to the door. He tried to force the door open, but it was an electrical sliding door, and it was locked. Great… Iggy thought. How do I open this door?! He looked over and saw a code pad next to the door. Iggy had no clue what the code was. He punched in a random group of numbers.
“Access denied,” said the computer.
Iggy tried again.
“Access denied.”
And again.
“Access denied.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!” Iggy cried in anger. He pounded the code pad in frustration, causing the code pad and door to malfunction. The door began repeatedly opening and closing. Iggy just stared. “Oh… well… That was easy…” he said. He jumped through the door as it opened.
“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” the computer said.
“Oh great…” Iggy said to himself. Several Shroobs suddenly ran in front of him.
“Not so fast, rainbow head!” said one.
Iggy had no time for this. He began spinning, knocking away all the Shroobs. He ran off to find Lemmy and Whammy.
***
Whammy and Crush entered the front room. There were Shroobs lying everywhere, all unconscious.
“Looks like Iggy’s been here,” said Whammy. “And by the looks of it, he’s not messing around…”
“Come on,” said Crush. “I think he went this way…”
***
*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*
“You can’t stop me!!! I’M GETTING MY BROTHER BACK!!!” Iggy bellowed as he repeatedly slammed a Shroob to the floor. Iggy was feeling a burst of energy in himself. He wanted Lemmy back so badly he found himself doing things he normally couldn’t do. He slammed the Shroob one last time. It was now out cold.
Iggy panted. Suddenly, the pain was back. He squatted, holding his stomach and breathing heavily.
Suddenly…
*WHACK*
***
“AHA!” a Shroob said as he and eight other Shroobs cornered Whammy and Crush. “It seems we have a traitor in our fortress!”
“Great…” said Whammy. “We took a wrong turn…”
“BLAST THEM!!!”
The Shroobs drew their guns.
“Brace yourself, Whammy!” said Crush.
*BLAST*
***
Iggy woke up. “Ugh…” he said to himself. “What hit me…?”
“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” someone laughed.
Iggy jumped to his knees. He slowly stood up, rubbing his head. He looked up to see a tall, dark, red-eyed figure sitting on her throne. A shorter figure stood next to her, repeatedly slamming a pipe segment into the palm of his hand.
“If you really must know,” said the short figure as Iggy’s vision cleared up, “I hit you in the back of the head with this pipe!”
Iggy glared at Tatanga. Suddenly, the figure on the throne caught Iggy’s attention.
“Princess Shroob!” Iggy said. “I figured I’d see you sooner or later…”
“Let me guess…” said Princess Shroob. “You want me to give you your brother back? Am I right?”
“Wait,” said Iggy. “First of all, why is Tatanga here anyway? What’s his business with you?”
“My… Aren’t we nosy!” Princess Shroob laughed. “Why, he’s come to aid us in our conquest of planet Violet!”
“CONQUEST?!”
“Is there an echo in here?”
“And YOU!” Iggy glared at Tatanga. “How’d you find Lemmy?!”
“Seeing as how you Koopas attack the Mushroom Kingdom so much back on Plit,” said Tatanga, “I simply waited just outside the Mushroom Kingdom for one of your attacks. I thought it foolish to try to attack your castle since I most likely would have been beaten one million to one. Anyway, an airship flew up close to where I was. Ironically, the ship had ‘KDS ICICLE’ inscribed on it. Seeing as how the first of the two ships your brother destroyed was with a Freeze Gun, I decided that ship was the ticket, so I shot it down!”
“You WHAT?!” Iggy cried
“That’s right, and I pulled Lemmy’s unconscious body from the flaming rubble and took him up to Violet!”
“You little—”
“Hey! I could’ve just let him burn!”
“Where is he now?! TELL ME, OR I’LL—”
“Calm down, you fool!” Tatanga interrupted. “He’s fine!”
“You might say,” said Princess Shroob, “that he feels like a… new person!”
“I SAID TELL ME WHERE HE IS!!!”
“Okay… if that is what you want… Come over here, Shremmy! Our guest would like to see you!”
“… Shremmy… What… No… No… YOU DIDN’T!!!”
Growling was heard. Iggy slowly turned his head towards the corner. A figure was sitting in the shadows. The figure stood up, glaring at Iggy with his red eyes. He slowly walked out of the shadows.
“Lemmy…” Iggy squeaked, a tear streaming from his eye.
Indeed it was Lemmy, but he was different. Instead of his rainbow Mohawk, he now had a blood-red Mohawk. His skin was a dark shade of green instead of orange. His eyes were dark with bright red pupils. He had longer claws and fangs, and bigger spikes on his shell.
“Lemmy… You mean Shremmy!” said Princess Shroob. “The fool had to face a tough decision: refuse to join me while I kill you, or join me while I leave you be. Of course, I don’t make promises. Even if he DID join me, and he did, I would’ve had you killed anyway, along with that foolish purple lizard. Speaking of that lizard, he is dead!”
“WHAT?! YOU HEARTLESS LITTLE—”
“Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, your brother does not need you anymore! He is one with us!”
Tears streamed from Iggy’s eyes. A quarrel, a long search, and now this. His brother had been Shroobified.
There was a knock on the door. Princess Shroob groaned.
“*sigh* Delays, delays… ENTER!”
Three Shroobs walked in, with two of them dragging an unconscious Whammy and Crush.
“WHAMMY!” Iggy cried.
“WHAT?!” Princess Shroob cried. “HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!!!”
“Well,” said one Shroob, “he somehow escaped the disintegrator unit, and we believe it is because of this traitor.”
“A TRAITOR?!” bellowed Princess Shroob. “I hate the very word. Just take those two to the Death Shroob and throw them in the cage with the rest of those fools!”
“Yes, Your Mercilessness.”
The Shroobs dragged Whammy and Crush away.
“As for you!” Princess Shroob continued. “I have the perfect demise for you… You shall be killed by your own brother, and while you are… busy… Violet will be OURS!”
“I really wanted to kill you with the Pagosu,” said Tatanga, “but this way is more pleasing. Besides, I’ll still have the chance to blow things up on Violet! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Iggy clutched his fists in anger. Suddenly, the poison began to affect him again. He cried in pain and dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.
“Give him a whack, Jack!” said Princess Shroob.
“With pleasure!” said Tatanga. He walked towards the agonized Iggy with his pipe segment.