ACT 16: BRAWLS IN THE MAZE
The Koopas had already arrived back at the Keep. Bowser had ordered his guards to escort Princess Peach to the private room Bowser had prepared for her.
Peach sat alone in the room, sighing to herself. It was the exact same thing every time: Bowser kidnapped her, and the Mario Brothers defeated Bowser and rescued her. It happened nearly every month. This was becoming much too monotonous for her liking.
Oh well… She might as well make herself at home until her rescue party arrived. Of course, the rescue party would have to be Luigi, as Mario and Yoshi were very busy at the moment. She sat on the side of the bed, and immediately she thought, My… This bed actually feels comfortable… She had to admit, Bowser had okay taste, despite the room being somewhat dusty with a hard stone floor and wide open windows. She could feel the heat of the lava moat from inside the room.
***
The Koopas were discussing things in the meeting room. Bowser told his children everything he knew from Blaze. The Koopalings (excluding Larry, who knew about this prior to the attack) couldn’t believe what they were hearing, and all listened with much interest.
“So… Lemme get this straight…” said Lemmy. “These jewels actually hold power?”
“Yeah, an’ dere’s ten?!” Roy exclaimed.
“Dang!” Iggy remarked. “With all that power, Mario wouldn’t stand a chance… Speaking of Mario, where is he? I never saw him on my attack…” He turned to the others. “Did any of you?”
They all shook their heads, while Iggy scratched his head. He turned to Bowser, who answered. “Mario is out looking for those Power Gems, as Blaze said they were called. He’s already found several of them… But Blaze also said they were found by someone called… Dark Master…”
The Koopalings all looked at each other. “Dark Master?” Wendy asked. “Who’s he?”
Bowser groaned. “Uh… Wendy, I obviously don’t know…”
“Duh!” Larry snapped at Wendy, then ducked to avoid Wendy’s swinging hand.
“Now… Father,” Ludwig began, as Karma rolled her eyes at his formal address to Bowser, “vere exactly is Blaze at this moment?”
“Yeah, ‘cause we never did see him in Princess Peach’s dungeon, and also…” Morton abruptly ceased his talking as Bowser gave him the eye before his sentence could get any longer. “… Ehe… Sorry…”
Taking his eyes of Morton, Bowser continued. “I sent him and old Haggie out to find the Gems, while we stay on guard. Luigi is most likely on his way here right now to take the princess, and I’m NOT going to let that happen again!” Bowser slammed his fists on the table upon saying the word “not”. Many, many times the Marios had taken the princess away from him. The last thing he wanted now was that same humiliation to happen again…
“You’re thinking about Peach, aren’t you?” Lemmy said. Bowser snapped out of his trance upon hearing Lemmy, who continued. “Are you sure Mom’s okay with that?”
“Which?” Junior butt in. “Mama Peach, or our Mama?”
Lemmy slapped his forehead. “No! I mean Mama, that is, our Mama… What am I saying?! Mom!”
“ENOUGH!” Bowser roared, both angrily and nervously. Lemmy and Junior both silenced themselves, but kept their eyes glued to Bowser’s blushing cheeks. “That’s not important right now!”
“Sweetie?!” called a voice.
Bowser jumped and whipped around as Clawdia entered the room. “Oh! Uh… Clawdia… I… uh…”
Clawdia raised a brow. “Why so nervous?” he asked. “I was just coming to let you know dinner’s ready.”
“… Oh…” Bowser sighed in relief, but whipped around to his children with an angry face upon hearing them giggling. “All right! You heard her! Dining room! NOW!” The Koopalings all jumped and quickly dashed out of the room. Clawdia followed them out, and Bowser brought up the rear, repeatedly thinking to himself, I’m a married man! I’m a married man! Don’t forget it!
***
Mario, Yoshi, Shine Guy, Sparkle, and the Kongs had finally reached the Forest Maze. It was now sunset, which would make visibility in the forest very limited. The group stared ahead at the entrance to the forest. “Okay,” Mario said, “the next Gem is-a somewhere in there…”
“Something tells me this one could be the hardest to find…” Yoshi remarked. “It could be anywhere in there…”
As everyone else talked, Sparkle suddenly had a strange feeling. He somehow felt slightly attracted to Mario’s backpack, which held the five Power Gems they had collected so far. She slowly leaned towards it.
“… Sparkle?”
Sparkle snapped out of her trance. She looked at Mario. “What’s up?” Mario asked her.
Everyone else was also staring up her. “Oh… um… I’m all right…” she said, although she wasn’t exactly sure. She turned to Shine Guy. “Shine,” she said to him, “try one more time to sense out the Gem.”
“I will give it one more try…” Shine Guy said without confidence. Shutting his eyes, he tried hard to pinpoint the exact location of the Gem. Due to the mind-boggling maze, however, his senses began to spin in circles yet again. Shine Guy groaned, slapping his hands to his head. He caught himself, then panted. “I still could not locate it…” he sighed.
“Ouch…” Sparkle said. “Well… it seems we’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way…”
“I can tell you one thing,” Shine Guy said. “The Gem is moving…”
Everyone looked at each other. “… How is that?” Yoshi asked. “It can’t move.”
“Unless… someone else has Gem…” Donkey interrupted.
Everyone looked at each other again. “Someone else?” Mario said. “I hope it’s-a not Dark Paratroopa…”
Shine Guy thought back to the conversation he had with Paratroopa. “… I do not think it’s him…”
Upon hearing him say this, everyone turned to him with confused looks. “Are you feeling okay?” Sparkle asked.
“I just do not think Dark Paratroopa is the one currently in possession of the Gem…”
“… Well… whoever has it,” said Mario, “let’s-a just see if we can persuade them to-a give it to us…”
“Let’s go, guys!” Diddy said eagerly.
The six entered the forest. Walking down the path, they could see the sun slightly showing just above the treetops, with a bright orange sky showing. Twilight over a forest was one of the creepiest things to see. Mario kept calm, straightening his backpack on his back and holding his large hammer just in case. Yoshi was slightly nervous, but was otherwise awake and alert. Donkey kept a straight, tough face, Diddy kept his teeth clenched, Sparkle seemed deep in thought, and Shine Guy stared straight ahead, showing hardly any emotion.
The group eventually reached a four-way intersection. They stared down each path. “Ugh…” Yoshi groaned. “Well, which way?”
Everyone turned to Shine Guy, who shrugged. “Do not look at me…” he said.
Mario sighed, staring at the three paths. “I was hoping we-a wouldn’t have-a to…” he said, “but we’ll-a have to split up…” He turned to the rest of the party. “Donkey and Diddy, you go left. Shine Guy and Sparkle, you take-a the middle path. Yoshi, you’re with-a me. We’ll go right.”
“All right!” Diddy replied.
“Mm-hm!” Donkey replied.
“Gotcha!” Sparkle replied.
“Affirmative!” Shine Guy replied
“Yeah!” Yoshi replied.
The Kongs headed down the path on the left, while the shining Shyster and sparkling Yo’ster took the middle path and the plumber and his old friend headed right.
***
“UGH!” Woshi groaned. He and K.K. had been stuck in the Forest Maze for the entire day, with seemingly no hope of finding the exit. Both were getting very tired and weary. Woshi was becoming very impatient. Under all his anger, however, he was actually a bit scared. “Where in the world is the exit to this forest?! I want to leave! Now!”
“What is this place anyway?!” K.K. asked, hugging Woshi’s waist nervously as he rode on his back. “It’s getting dark, Woshi. This is scary…”
Woshi couldn’t blame K.K. for worrying this time. “Let’s just hope the fatty and the skinny guy don’t show up. They’re the last thing we need right now…”
Suddenly, some “hoots” were heard. Woshi froze, shivering, while K.K. hugged Woshi even harder and shut his eyes. “Wuh… Woshi?” K.K. whimpered. “What was that?”
“Just an owl…” Woshi said, swallowing hard. “Let’s try thinking about something apart from the extreme creepiness…”
“Like what?”
“… Like… where that shiny rock came from… I know! We can use that rock as a light!”
K.K. quickly took the Gem out of his shell. The shine of the Gem illuminated the darkness. The Yoshi and Koopa Troopa simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief before continuing onward.
***
I’m sure Dark Master has no idea… Dark Paratroopa thought as he walked down the forest path. If Dark Master knew about this, he was dead. He could only hope Dark Master never found him out…
Hm… Nice, dark evening… he thought. He quite enjoyed the dark, casually walking through the darkness without a care in the world. He would occasionally hear the hoot of an owl and the chirping of crickets. To him, it was the music of the night. While he enjoyed this “music”, he still kept his focus on the task at hand.
Suddenly, he began to feel a bit of aching in his feet. Deciding he wasn’t covering very much ground, he teleported.
Far behind him, the Dark Troopers were on his trail. The glowing Boo illuminated the way in order to follow Paratroopa’s footprints, while the five Koopa Troopas, three Lakitus, two Hammer Brothers, and Paragoombas (one of which wore a spiked helmet) followed. “Come on!” one of the Koopas complained. “We’ve being looking for him for hours! I’m tired!”
“Would you rather we lose him and Dark Master blow us to bits?!” one of the Lakitus yelled.
“But my feet are killing me!”
The leading Boo lost patience. “Ah shut up, you two!” he snapped. He turned to the Koopa. “And you need to quit whining! We’ve got him on the run!”
The spiked Paragoomba looked on the ground in front of the Boo. He gasped at what he saw. “Not any more we don’t!” he cried, pointing his foot at the ground (he had no index finger). The other Darks looked down to see that Dark Paratroopa’s footprints ended!
“Oh great…” another Koopa groaned. “We are so dead…”
“Maybe not…” the Boo said. “He could be anywhere. We’ll split up into teams to cover more ground.”
The Darks picked their teams:
Dark Team 1: Paragoomba,
Hammer Brother, and Koopa Troopa
Dark Team 2: Spiked Paragoomba,
Lakitu, and Koopa Troopa #2
Dark Team 3: Lakitu #2,
Hammer Brother #2, and Koopa Troopa #3
Dark Team 4: Lakitu #3,
Koopa Troopas #4 and #5, and Boo
“Okay guys,” said the Boo. “Let’s go.” They all teleported.
***
“Creepy… Creepy forest is creepy…” Yoshi said, looking around cautiously.
Mario, riding on Yoshi’s back, was also keeping an eye out. Mario held the Orange Gem in his hand to illuminate the area. “Gee… Maybe I should’ve-a given the others a Power Gem for a light… I hope they’re okay…”
“Me too,” agreed Yoshi.
Suddenly, hooting was heard. Mario and Yoshi jumped slightly, taken by surprise, but continued.
“I’d hate to think of Dark Paratroopa just waiting to pounce us…” Yoshi remarked.
“Yoshi, just the thought-a bothers me…” Mario said. “But if we-a find him, or if-a he finds us, we’ll-a be ready.” Mario held up his hammer as the two continued down the forest path.
***
“Blaze?”
Blaze panted. He was beginning to lag behind Kammy. The elderly Magikoopa walked back to him. “…Are you feeling fine?” she asked him.
Blaze caught his breath. “… I don’t know…” he replied. “I suddenly felt so exhausted…”
“Blaze, I think you should stay out of this second form until you really need it. It seems to be using up all your energy…”
“… Eh… I’ll be fine…” Blaze said. He continued forward ahead of Kammy…
He didn’t get very far. After walking about ten yards away from Kammy, he passed out, quickly reverting back to his original form seconds later. Kammy ran up to him. She examined him, then slapped her beak. He’s becoming more and more like Bowser everyday… she thought. She kneeled beside the large, unconscious Koopa, using her wand as a light.
***
“Hurry up, will-a you!” Wario called back to Waluigi.
Waluigi struggled to catch up, panting hard. “Wario! I… need… rest!” Waluigi panted. “I can’t feel-a my legs anymore…!”
“Baah!” Wario growled. He was so keen on stealing the shiny stone that he didn’t give a care about Waluigi’s feet. “I’m-a not gonna stop until we find-a those brats!”
“Too… tired…
Wario began to lose his patience. “Come… on… Waluigi…” he said through gritted teeth.
While the two were arguing, Dark Team 2 suddenly materialized in front of them. The Warios jumped upon seeing them.
“Whoever you are,” Wario snapped, “move it! We don’t have time for you!”
The Spiked Paragoomba, Lakitu, and Koopa Troopa looked at each other strangely, then turned back to the Warios. “Excuse me,” the Lakitu said, “we’re looking for a shiny gem. Have you seen one by any chance?”
Wario jumped. “What?! No! No we haven’t!” he said quickly.
The three Darks narrowed their eyes. They could tell the Warios knew. “Oh… I think you have seen it!” the Koopa said sinisterly.
“No we haven’t!” Waluigi snapped.
“Where is it?!” the Paragoomba yelled. “You’d better tell us right now!”
Waluigi became so nervous he forgot what he was saying. “WE DON’T KNOW-A THAT A YOSHI AND A KOOPA HAVE IT!!!” Waluigi immediately slapped his hands over his mouth. “… Oops…” he squeaked.
“Aha!” said the Lakitu. “A Yoshi and Koopa Troopa have it! Thank you very much, kind sirs!” Dark Team 2 teleported before the Warios could do anything. Wario turned sharply to Waluigi, growling loudly and red in the face, smoke blowing from his ears. Overall, he was quite furious. Waluigi frowned nervously.
***
The Kongs cautiously followed the forest path. Donkey kept his tough, worriless face. Underneath, however, he himself was slightly nervous. Diddy, riding on Donkey’s back, felt even more nervous. The sun had just about disappeared, the sky growing darker and darker. Neither Donkey nor Diddy could see a thing except for the path itself, leading straight ahead into the darkness of the forest, with the heavily shadowed trees surrounding them along the path.
“Diddy no see a thing…” Diddy said, trying to start a conversation, as the quietness of the creepy forest was really getting to him, especially when all he could hear was the chirping of crickets and the hooting of an owl.
“Donkey neither…” Donkey replied, squinting in order to improve his vision in the darkness.
“Diddy hope everyone else okay…” Diddy trailed off. He tried to think of more to say to drown out the silence, but couldn’t think of another thing.
Suddenly Diddy began to get a chill, something didn’t feel quite right to him. He felt as though something was about to pop out of nowhere. He quickly glanced left, then right, then looked back, then looked straight ahead. So far, he saw nothing. However, he still couldn’t shake the feeling. “… Donkey?” he said. “Diddy not like this…”
Donkey tried to make himself sound calm. “Ah… What could happen?” he asked.
Immediately after Donkey spoke, Dark Team 1- a Paragoomba, a Hammer Brother, and a Koopa Troopa- materialized directly in front of them! The Kongs jumped, with Diddy laterally jumping off Donkey’s back in surprise.
“Hey!” the Hammer Brother said. “These hairy apes are with Shine Guy!”
Donkey and Diddy suddenly sprouted up upon hearing the insult. “Hairy apes?!” Donkey roared. “HOW DARE YOU?!” Donkey slammed his fists into the ground, making the Darks jump a little
“Uh… Shut it!” the Koopa Troopa snapped, trying to sound sinister and fearless, but underneath, he was slightly nervous and afraid of getting smashed by Donkey’s huge fists.
“Just tell us where the Gem is, you hairy apes!” the Paragoomba taunted. “And we promise we won’t hurt you!”
Donkey and Diddy looked at each other. Donkey raised a brow, while Diddy shrugged. They turned back to the Darks. “How can you hurt us?” Donkey yelled.
“Yeah!” Diddy added. “You nothing but weak flying Mushroom, weak turtle with helmet, and… weaker turtle!”
“And you call us hairy apes one more time and we SMASH you!” Donkey finished their duo retort.
“Haaaaaaaaiiiiryyyyyyyy aaaaaaaaapes!” the Hammer Brother snapped back.
This, as anyone could tell, was a very bad move. Donkey bared his teeth, steam blowing from his nostrils as he became extremely angry. He stood up and let out his famous battle cry, pounding his fists on his chest as he did. Diddy too let out the cry. Though he didn’t seem as intimidating as Donkey, one could tell he was pretty darn furious.
The Darks developed anime sweatdrops. “… Uh… Maybe we went to far…?” the Hammer Brother squeaked.
“What do you mean we?!” the Paragoomba grumbled.
***
“Darkness…” Sparkle said. “It just doesn’t suit me…”
“Nor does it for me…” Shine Guy agreed. Having originated from a world of light, neither of them really favored it at all. Of course they didn’t mind it; it simply wasn’t their preference.
The two continued down the forest path, with Shine Guy illuminating the darkness with a shining orb, courtesy of his newfound powers. And with these powers, he was determined to restore peace to his land, even if it meant marching through a dark, spooky, huge maze of a forest in order to find a Gem.
Shine Guy began to develop a feeling, just the feeling he’d hoped to feel. “… I think…” he began, “I feel like we are very close.”
“Oh, perfect,” said Sparkle. “Since you say someone else in here might have the Gem, hopefully we can talk whoever has it into giving it to us…”
“… My senses are becoming stronger! Hurry, Sparkle! We must find it before I lose it again!”
“Climb on my back!” Sparkle said. Shine Guy hopped on and Sparkle took off running, gradually picking up speed as she dashed down the path with Shine Guy hanging on tightly.
***
“Blaze? Hello?”
The large Koopa finally opened his eyes, staring upward at the Magikoopa, who stood over him. Blaze grumbled and quickly sat up. “I… Look! I’m fine, okay?” Blaze said. “Don’t worry about me…”
Kammy, trying to ignore Blaze’s temper, tried to get through to him what had happened. “As I said, your other form drains your energy. It’s most likely best that you not abuse it…”
Blaze grunted. “Fine…” he said irritably. As much as he didn’t like being told what to do by a hag, he knew Kammy still knew the best solution to this problem. He stood up. Looking around, he realized they were in the exactly same spot as they were when he passed out. He slapped his face, then turned sharply to Kammy. “Why are we still in the same location?” he asked. “You could’ve carried me…”
“I obviously can’t lift something over one-hundred and fifty pounds in weight…” Kammy retorted.
“I meant with your magic!”
“… Oh… right…” Kammy scratched the back of her neck, while Blaze let out another groan.
Kammy suddenly looked up, staring at something further down the path. “… Look at that,” she said.
Blaze turned in the direction Kammy was facing. Ahead, he could see a light in the darkness, glowing orange, slowly coming towards them. Blaze scratched his head. “I’m not so sure what that is…” he said, “but I want to find out. Come on, Haggie!” Blaze took off towards the glow.
“Only Bowser can call me that!” Kammy snapped as she followed Blaze.
As the two ran towards the light, it stopped moving. Blaze raised a brow as he saw this up ahead.
***
Mario and Yoshi froze as they watched a large, burly figure and a smaller one with a large hat running towards them. As the two figures neared, Mario recognized them. “Oh great…” he said. “Blaze and Kammy! What’re they doing-a here?”
“I don’t know…” Yoshi replied, “but I bet they’re asking for a fight…”
Mario jumped off Yoshi’s back, hammer in hand, slipping the Gem back into his backpack.
“Well well well!” Blaze taunted. “We meet again! Out for a midnight stroll?”
“Don’t toy with us!” Yoshi snapped. “Just get out of our way! Don’t give us any trouble!”
“Oh, you’ll get trouble all right!” Kammy bantered. “On the double!”
Blaze slapped his face again, then turned to Kammy. “Lame, Kammy. That was lame…”
Kammy shrugged nervously. She turned back to Mario and Yoshi. “As I was saying, we know you have those powerful Gems, now hand them over!”
Mario and Yoshi jumped upon hearing this. “What?!” Yoshi cried. “Don’t tell me you told Bowser about this!”
“What’d you expect?” Blaze snorted.
“If I’m not mistaken,” said Kammy, “those Gems are in that bag.” She and Blaze eyed Mario’s backpack.
Mario quickly took it off. “No you won’t!” he yelled as he swung the backpack up over the treetops. They could hear the bag landing somewhere in the trees off the forest path, though they could not see it.
Blaze laughed. “Ha! Nice try, plumber dude, but you’ve only delayed our plans! Where’s that bag?!” He charged into the trees, with Kammy following.
“Uh oh!” Mario said. “Quick, Yoshi! We can’t-a let them get that backpack!”
“Let’s rock!” Yoshi said. The two ran into the surrounding trees after Blaze and Kammy.
***
Woshi held the shining blue jewel in front of him as he walked down the path, with K.K. still riding on his back. The two had very much calmed down. With the glow of the Gem lighting the way, they felt much more comfortable.
Then, there was trouble. Completely out of nowhere, Dark Team 2- Spiked Paragoomba, Koopa Troopa, and Lakitu- materialized! Woshi and K.K. gasped.
“Aha!” the Lakitu said. “We finally found them!”
“What?!” said K.K., a hint of shock in his voice. “You were looking for us?”
“Yeah!” the Koopa Troopa snapped. “Now how’s about being good little boys and handing over the Blue Gem?!”
“Why should we give this to you?” Woshi retorted.
“Because if you don’t,” replied the Paragoomba, “we’ll have no choice but to take it from you!”
“I should like to see you try!”
The Paragoomba turned to his comrades. “You hear that? He’d like to see us try!” The Koopa and Lakitu laughed. K.K. shrunk behind Woshi, who swallowed hard. They turned back to the Yoshi and Koopa. “All right then,” said the Paragoomba. “If you want to do this the hard way, then so be it!”
“Why’d you have to say that?” K.K. asked Woshi as he came out from behind his friend.
“Oh don’t worry,” Woshi replied. “These guys don’t look nearly as tough as that fat guy and that skinny one.”
“Well… Here goes nothing…” K.K. said without confidence.
***
“Keep going, Sparkle!” Shine Guy urged, patting the Yoshi on the back as they charged down the path. “The sense is becoming even stronger!”
“I’m going as fast as I can, Shine!” Sparkle called back.
Then came trouble. As they ran, Dark Team 3- Lakitu, Hammer Brother, and Koopa Troopa- suddenly appeared directly in front of them. Sparkle shrieked and slid to an abrupt halt, sending Shine Guy careening forward onto the ground at the Darks’ feet. Shine Guy quickly jumped back to his feet as Sparkle ran up beside him. “Ah great…” she groaned. “So close to the Gem, and you guys have to show up!”
“Well look who it is!” the Koopa Troopa taunted. “Sir Shinalot and his faithful steed!”
“What are we waiting for?” said the Hammer Brother. “Let’s get them!”
The Koopa and Hammer Brother charged towards the Shy Guy and Yoshi, when the Lakitu suddenly flew in front of them and stopped them. “Wait, guys!” he said. “Wouldn’t it be best to let Dark Paratroopa kill him? It’s his duty after all.”
The Koopa Troopa slapped his face. “Dark Master’s losing trust in him, remember?!” he snapped.
The Lakitu froze. “… Oh… I forgot…” The Hammer Brother and Koopa groaned after hearing the Lakitu’s last two words. “Well… Anyway, as for you…” He had just turned to face Shine Guy and Sparkle when he noticed they were no longer there. The Lakitu developed an anime sweatdrop, while the Hammer Brother smacked him in the head with a hammer. The Lakitu yelled and whipped around to his comrades, while the Hammer Brother folded his arms and the Koopa threw his hands in the air. They then teleported.
***
MINIBOSS!!!: Dark Team 1
Donkey Kong charged towards the Hammer Brother, still furious for the insult. Before he could get to him, however, the Hammer Brother teleported. Donkey stopped and looked around to see where he went, but saw nothing, until he was struck in the back of the head by a flying hammer. Donkey yelled in pain, then whipped around to see the Hammer Brother had teleported behind him! Donkey was confused, but jumped at him again. The Hammer Brother teleported behind him again and hit him with another hammer. Donkey rubbed his head, then had in idea. He lunged at the Hammer Brother, and just as the Hammer Brother teleported, he whipped around and slammed his fist down on his head just as he appeared. The Hammer Brother, though wearing a helmet, became dazed. Donkey then picked him up and slammed him against a tree.
“Help! Gack!”
Donkey whipped around to see the Koopa Troopa choking Diddy while the Paragoomba kicked him hard in the face, several times over!
“Diddy!” Donkey cried. He rushed over towards them when he suddenly saw something. Diddy, while taking the endless kicks, lay there wondering why Donkey stopped. Then he found out, as a long, steady lightning bolt came out of nowhere and struck the Koopa Troopa, who cried loudly in pain, then fell over. Another one struck the Paragoomba just he was about to lay another kick on Diddy. The Paragoomba fell on the ground, lying motionless.
Diddy scratched his forehead, confused as to where the bolts had come from.
“Are you okay?” said a voice from behind him. Diddy whipped around, and couldn’t believe who he saw.
***
BOSS!!!: Blaze Koopa and Kammy Koopa
“Come on!” Blaze growled, looking all around the trees. “Where’s that dang backpack?!”
“I’m don’t know!” said a voice. “But at least you-a don’t either!” He was greeted by a “kiss” from Mario’s shoe sole. Blaze staggered back a bit from the hit, then gave Mario a nasty look. “You little…” Too angry to finish his sentence, he charged at Mario and punched him hard in the stomach. Mario gasped for air, then jumped at Blaze with his hammer. Blaze ducked to avoid the swing, and jumped at Mario to try to pound him with his fists. Mario dodged the fists, then whacked Blaze on the head with his hammer. Blaze roared in pain, then shook it off and biffed Mario in the chest, slamming him to the ground. Before Mario could get back up, Blaze pinned him down. “Looks like I’ll we’ll have to get rid of you guys before we get to the bag, wherever it is…”
“Likewise!” Mario said. He then performed an upward knee-kick into Blaze.. Blaze’s eyes nearly popped out, and Mario, with a little bit of a struggle, shoved the heavy Koopa off. Blaze quickly got back up, then retreated into his shell and darted at Mario, who jumped over the sliding, red, triple-spiked shell. Mario turned to see the shell coming back towards him. Mario again jumped over it.
Blaze popped back out, but there was no sign of Mario. He looked around for any sign of where his was. “Come out, wherever you are, plumber dude!” he called.
“Okie dokey!” called a voice from behind him. Blaze whipped around to see Mario quickly jump from behind a tree and slam his hammer on Blaze’s head. Blaze yelled, then, aiming for Mario, inhaled and prepared to blow a fireball.
Mario, in a fright, began flailing his arms. “I wouldn’t-a do that!” he cried. “Too many trees!”
Blaze looked around. There were indeed many, many trees surrounding them off the path. He shrugged. “Who cares?!” he said, his voice muffled through his puffed cheeks. “I can take it, but you?” He released his fireball. Mario narrowly dodged it, but allowed it to fly straight into a tree, which caught on fire!
Mario gasped. “Now you’ve-a done it!” he cried.
“Ha!” Blaze taunted. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the forest! Heh heh heh!”
While Mario and Blaze battled, Yoshi squared off against Kammy. The Magikoopa was floating on her broom just under the treetops, firing down at Yoshi with her wand. Yoshi dodged the blasts one by one as they came. Kammy then swooped downward towards Yoshi, firing another beam. However, Yoshi counterattacked with a hard kick to the Magikoopa’s face. Kammy yelled, but recovered and hovered upward.
Yoshi was shocked that the kick didn’t hurt her very much. “How can an old hag like you take such a kick?!” he yelled.
“Koopas are tougher than you think!” Kammy retorted. “And only Bowser can call me a hag!” She fired another magical beam. Yoshi narrowly avoided it, then noticed the nearby fire, which was beginning to spread. He gasped. “Pretty careless of him to start a fire!” he remarked.
Kammy simply glanced at the flames, then turned back to Yoshi, swooping down towards him and firing three blasts. Yoshi jumped to avoid the first beam, ducked to miss the second, then jumped up to give Kammy another kick, missing the third beam as he did so. The kick was successful, and Kammy was knocked completely off her broom, which went sailing into a tree, ricocheting off it and into one of the flaming trees, then falling on the ground and burning. Kammy shrieked. “AAAAAAAAAH!!! NOT MY BROOM!!!” She turned furiously to Yoshi. “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!!!”
“Will you take it cheap?” Yoshi taunted. He charged towards Kammy, who teleported. Yoshi slid to a stop, inches away from the fire. He turned to see Kammy reappearing behind him. Yoshi, seeing he was now trapped between the fire and Kammy, developed an anime sweatdrop, and began to heat even more due to the heat of the fire.
“Not cheap!” Kammy said sinisterly. “When I said you’ll pay, I meant dearly!”
***
MINIBOSS!!!: Dark Team 2
The Spiked Paragoomba swooped towards Woshi, spike first. Woshi ducked to miss him, but was hit by a Spiny Egg from the Lakitu. Woshi shook his head in pain after getting hit, then fluttered up to the Lakitu to punch him in the face. The Lakitu yelled in pain. The yell was followed by another yell, from Woshi, who was kicked down by the Paragoomba. As Woshi landed on his back, the Paragoomba flew upward, then dove downward, spike first, heading for Woshi’s chest. Woshi rolled to the side, with the Paragoomba slamming hard into the ground and getting his spike stuck in the dirt.
K.K. faced the Koopa Troopa. “Heh!” the Dark Koopa Troopa taunted. “Looks like it’s Koopa versus Koopa!”
“Bring it on!” K.K. said, though somewhat uneasily. The Dark Koopa (no pun intended on the tourist) retreated into his shell and darted for K.K. The green-haired Koopa dodged him. Just as the Dark Troopa turned to dart at him again, K.K. retreated into his shell and darted. The two Koopas collided. They ricocheted off each other, and slammed each other again.
Woshi ran around, avoiding the countless Spiny Eggs that were being dropped at him from the Lakitu. The Paragoomba finally freed himself from the ground and hovered upward while Woshi paid no attention, as he was focused on the Spinies that were uncurling themselves and surrounding him. Woshi had nowhere to go, with Spinies in every direction, the Lakitu hovering above, and the Paragoomba swooping down on him, spike first! He gasped upon seeing the Paragoomba’s sharp spike heading straight for his nose!
“WOSHI!!!” K.K. cried as he was biffed by the other Koopa.
Woshi shut his eyes.
…
He suddenly heard a strange noise. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Paragoomba, lying motionless on the ground. “What the…” he said.
“Need some assistance?” said a voice. Woshi looked ahead to see a white Shy Guy and Yoshi. The Shy Guy had formed bright orbs of energy in his hands. He blasted away every Spiny, then blew the Lakitu out of the air, causing him to fall and land next to Woshi.
K.K. was down from a hit, coughing. The other Koopa stood over him. “You and your friend might as well give up!” he bantered. “You’re outnumbered!”
K.K. looked ahead, and grinned. “Contrair!” he retorted. “You’re outnumbered!”
The Koopa raised a brow, then looked back to see Woshi, Shine Guy, and Sparkle. The Koopa’s comrades were all knocked out. The Koopa developed an anime sweatdrop.
“Hey!” said a deep, Italian voice. The Koopa turned, and there were Wario and Waluigi, who had just arrived on the scene.
“… Oh dear…” the Koopa squeaked as Wario grabbed him by the neck and threw him headfirst into a tree. The Koopa tried to get up, but was knocked back down by a blast from Shine Guy.
K.K. ran up to Woshi. “Are you okay, pal?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” he replied. He then turned to the white Shy Guy and Yoshi. “Thank you!” Woshi said gratefully. “I was almost hash!”
“It is what we do,” the Shy Guy said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am called Shine Guy!”
“And my name’s Sparkle!” Sparkle said.
Woshi and K.K. looked at each other, thinking they too should introduce themselves. They turned back to them. “I’m Woshi!”
“And I’m—”
“Dead meat if-a you don’t hand over that Gem!” Wario interrupted.
“So hand it over!” Waluigi finished. The Warios walked towards them, while Woshi and K.K. backed up.
“Wait!” said Sparkle, who felt herself attracted to K.K. a bit before catching herself. “Gem…? You have one of the Power Gems?”
Woshi and K.K. looked at her. “Power Gem?” K.K. asked. “Oh… So that’s what this is…” He reached into his shell and took out the Blue Gem. Shine Guy and Sparkle jumped.
“Yes! That is it!” Shine Guy cried.
“And it’s ours!” Waluigi yelled. “Give it here! NOW!”
Woshi and K.K. whispered to each other, then turned to Shine Guy and Sparkle. “If it’s that important to you,” said Woshi, “you can have it.”
“Yeah,” said K.K. as he handed the Gem to Sparkle.
“NO!” Wario yelled. “That’s-a it! You’re all dead meat!”
Then came more trouble, as Dark Team 3 literally appeared on the scene! Woshi, K.K, Shine Guy, and Sparkle were trapped. “Aha!” said the Hammer Brother. “I knew we’d find you again!”
“Yeah!” added the Koopa Troopa. “And I see you have the Power Gem! Nice of you to find it for us!”
“Now give it to us!” the Lakitu threatened. “Or we’ll take it from you!”
Waluigi had his eyes glued to Sparkle. “… Uh… What’s-a wrong with her?” He pointed to Sparkle. Everyone looked at her. Sparkle was groaning and shaking, her hands on her head, her eyes shut. She then dropped the Gem. Everyone watched and gasped as her skin slowly began to change from white to purple!
Shine Guy knew what was going on. “Sparkle!” he cried. “Oh, not again!”
***
Donkey and Diddy stared with utter surprise and shock as Dark Paratroopa hovered downward and landed. “… You… You save Diddy…” Diddy managed to say. “Why bad guy help good guy?”
Dark Paratroopa hesitated, then said, imitating Diddy’s speech, “Because I not bad guy.”
Diddy backed up a bit, showing no hint of trust in the Paratroopa. Donkey stood his ground. “You trick us, aren’t you?!” he yelled.
Dark Paratroopa tried to stay calm. He knew facing Shine Guy’s allies like this would be a bit of a challenge. “Really, now…” he said, “you don’t have to be so distrusting…”
“Why not?!” Donkey snapped. “You always try to kill Shine Guy! You try to steal Gems! Why we believe you?!”
Dark Paratroopa put his hand to his head. “Very well…” he said. “I’ll prove it. Here…” He reached into his shell, and much to the Kongs’ surprise, he took out three Gems: the White, Cyan, and Brown Gems! He dropped then on the ground in front of Diddy. “Take them…” he said. “I’m through helping Dark Master…”
Donkey and Diddy were shocked again. Dark Paratroopa was helping them now. The Gems completely proved his case.
Donkey, after taking a good look at the Gems, walked up to Paratroopa, his large body looming over the comparatively small Paratroopa. “… You save my friend…” Donkey said. “I… thank Paratroopa.” Diddy nodded in agreement.
Dark Paratroopa felt very pleased with himself on the inside. Though he was darkly colored and had somewhat dark tastes, his heart was beginning to lighten up.
Suddenly, he noticed a column of smoke rising into the moonlit sky. Donkey and Diddy looked up to see it as well. “Oh no!” Diddy cried. “Fire!”
“We go there and see what going on!” Donkey said.
“How?!” Diddy said in a panicking, cracking voice. “Fire way over there!”
“Leave it to me!” said Dark Paratroopa. “Grab on!” Donkey and Diddy looked at each other, then each took one of Dark Paratroopa’s hands. Paratroopa then teleported them away.
Nearby, the “unconscious” Hammer Brother was lying against the tree. He had been listening to the entire conversation, but had kept his eyes closed. He opened them when he saw that they had left. “So… he’s a traitor!” he said to himself. “Wait until Dark Master hears this!” He teleported.
***
Shine Guy, Woshi, K.K., the Warios, and Dark Team 3 watched in terror as the surprised Sparkle, now dark purple in color, slowly began to grow… and grow… and grow. When she stopped growing, she was nearly one-hundred feet tall!
Everyone else was wide-eyed. Shine Guy kept his eyes glued on Sparkle’s, which were still shut. When she finally opened them, Shine Guy let out a sigh of relief, as he noticed her eyes were their normal blue color instead of yellow. “… Sparkle?” he called.
Sparkle stared down at Shine Guy and the others. She held her hands in front of her face, staring at her now-purple skin. She couldn’t believe it. Though she was still in her right mind, she had somehow grown to Ultraviolet again. A tear began to form in her eye. Shine Guy walked up to her huge toe and hugged it. “It is okay, Sparkle…” he said softly. Sparkle looked at Shine Guy, weakly smiling.
Woshi and K.K. looked at each other. “… What… just… happened?” K.K. asked slowly.
“I… have… no… idea…” Woshi replied slowly, as he caught a glimpse of Wario and Waluigi hugging each other in hear. K.K. saw this, too. They giggled.
The Darks were shocked. “… Ultraviolet the Yoshi is back!” the Lakitu cried. “Come on, guys! Dark Master needs to hear about this!”
Sparkle jumped upon hearing this. The Darks were just about to teleport, when Sparkle’s huge, long, sticky tongue came down and caught them. As fast as she launched her tongue, she pulled it back into her mouth and swallowed. Everyone else stared blankly. Shine Guy clearing his throat. “… Um… Nice… Sparkle…” he said. Woshi and K.K. simply looked at each other, while Wario and Waluigi began to whimper.
Suddenly, Sparkle began sniffing the air. She looked off into the distance, then roared in a shocked way.
“Sparkle?” Shine Guy said. “What is wrong? Let me see!” Sparkle bent down to Shine Guy, who then climbed up onto her nose. Sparkle stood back up. The height advantage gave Shine Guy a clear view of nearly the entire forest. In the distance, however, he could see the glow of a blazing fire, with a huge column of smoke rising into the sky. Shine Guy gasped. “Oh my! We had better go and see what is going on! I hope Mario, Yoshi, Donkey, and Diddy are okay…”
“What?!” Wario yelled from below. “Mario is here?! We’re coming, too!”
Shine Guy wasn’t so sure, but decided to let them come along. “Okay…” he said, with a hint of distrust in his voice. Sparkle also showed a bit of distrust, growling under her breath.
“Mario?” Woshi said. “Haven’t we met him before?”
“… Yeah… we did, didn’t we?” K.K. replied. “I wonder if he’ll still remember us…”
“Let’s find out.” He looked up at the Shyster on the towering Yo’ster’s nose. “We want to help, too!” he called.
Shine Guy turned to Sparkle’s huge, blue eyes. “Let them on, Sparkle,” he said. Sparkle grunted and bent down. Woshi, K.K, and the Warios climbed onto her nose, and Sparkle stood back up and walked off in the direction of the fire.
***
Dark Team 4- Lakitu, two Koopa Troopas, and Boo- were in another part of the maze. They were all staring up at the rising smoke. “Holy…” said one of the Koopa Troopas. “What in Dark Master’s name is going on over there?!”
“Uh… Looks like a fire…” the other Koopa said sarcastically. The first Koopa mumbled something inaudible.
“Come on, guys!” said the Lakitu. “Let’s go check it out!”
The Boo turned sharply to them. “Hey!” he hissed. “I’m giving the orders on this team!”
The Koopas and Lakitu looked at each other with a hint of sarcasm in their visages. They turned back to the Boo. “Okay…” said one Koopa. “What do we do, fearless leader?”
The other Koopa and Lakitu giggled, while the Boo groaned. “We go check it out…” he sighed. They teleported.
***
There was barely anywhere for Mario to move. Flames had spread everywhere, putting Mario at a huge disadvantage. The heat intensified. Mario, sweating heavily, hammer in hand, looked around for Blaze as he constantly coughing loudly.
“What’s the matter?” a voice said coldly. “Too hot for ya?” Mario turned to see Blaze emerging from the flames.
Mario coughed again, then retorted. “Of course you-a know, even though you-a might burn Yoshi and me to-a death, you’ll-a just end up burning yourself and Kammy, too…” He coughed again.
“Ha!” Blaze said. “Kammy can teleport. Why should I worry? And me? It can’t hurt me! I’m practically made of fire!”
That’s exactly what Lava Piranha said… Mario thought.
“Enjoy your last few minutes, Mario!” Blaze bantered. “Meanwhile, I’m going to go find that backpack, and then those Power Gems’ll be ours!”
“Over my-a dead body!” Mario snapped.
Blaze laughed evilly. “That can be arranged!” he said. He blew a long, huge, fiery wave at Mario, who narrowly dodged it, only to step into some flaming underbrush, setting his overalls on fire! Mario cried in pain, then slapped his hands on his pants to snuff the fire out. Blaze watched, laughing hysterically as Mario tried frantically to put out the fire. “I’d love to watch you burn,” said Blaze, “but I need to get that backpack!”
Kammy came closer and closer to Yoshi, who couldn’t back up any further. The Magikoopa pointed her wand at him. “Since you caused my beautiful broomstick to be burned,” she said, with fire in her eyes and the flames reflecting off her sunglasses, “it would be fitting to watch you suffer the same fate!”
Yoshi shrugged. “Chill out, will you?” he said, although he had used the phrase “chill out” at a very bad time. “It was just a broom…”
Kammy was immediately filled with rage upon hearing this. Just a broom? Just a broom? How dare he? “Just a broom?!” she bellowed. “That’s it! You die! NOW!” She charged her wand up, and aimed straight at Yoshi!
…
Whack! A flying hammer came out of nowhere and smacked her on the head, knocking her out. Yoshi turned to the source of the hammer- Mario!
“Perfect timing, Mario!” Yoshi called.
Mario, who had finally put
out the flame on his overalls, panted heavily, feeling dehydrated in the
heat. “Come on!” he said. “Blaze is going after the bag!” Yoshi nodded,
and the two ran off.
Blaze looked all around at the burning trees. Of course, the fiery-haired Koopa enjoyed watching things burn. He glanced around at the pleasant scenery… well… pleasant for his tastes. He gazed around the treetops for the backpack.
Then, there it was, hanging on a low-hanging branch. The backpack had caught on fire from the blazing tree. Blaze casually strolled up to it and grabbed it down. He opened the scorched bag to see four Power Gems: Orange, Yellow, Pink, and Purple. He laughed. “Ha!” he said. “Jackpot!”
“Hold it… right there…” said a tired voice. Blaze whipped around to see Mario and Yoshi.
***
Dark Paratroopa, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong had just arrived on the scene. Off the forest path to their left, trees were burning. “Oh boy!” Diddy cried. “Diddy hope Mario and Yoshi not in there…”
“We’d better go in there and see…” said Dark Paratroopa.
“Well, let’s go!” said Diddy.
“No,” said Donkey. “Diddy stay here and keep watch for trouble!”
“Okay!” said Diddy. He then watched as Dark Paratroopa and Donkey entered the wildfire. “Be careful!” Diddy called. As he watched them go…
“Aha!” said a voice. Diddy whipped around to see Dark Team 4. Diddy gasped as the Darks closed in on him. Diddy slowly backed up.
“So!” said the Boo. “Dark Paratroopa is the traitor! Dark Master was right not to trust him anymore!”
“Dark Master won’t like this!” said the Lakitu. “You’re in so much trouble!” The Koopas simply smirked evilly. Diddy developed an anime sweatdrop, with a nervous look on his face…
… which changed into a laugh. The Darks gave him strange looks. Diddy, too enveloped in his laughter, said nothing, and simply pointed upward.
STOMP! The Darks jumped, then turned to see a humongous purple Yoshi looming over them.
“… Oh… Dang…” one Koopa muttered as the Yoshi launched her huge tongue at them, pulling them back into her mouth and swallowing them whole.
Sparkle bent down to the ground to let everyone off. They all jumped off. Diddy was glad to see Shine Guy, confused upon seeing the Warios, still confused at Woshi and K.K, and very shocked to see Sparkle. He stared up at the now-huge Yoshi. “… What happened to her?” Diddy asked.
“We will get to that later…” said Shine Guy. “Where is Donkey?”
“He and Paratroopa guy in… there!” Diddy pointed to the fire in the forest. Everyone gasped.
“Oh dear…” Shine Guy said. “I hope his fur is not flammable… I will go in and try to assist! You all stay here!” Shine Guy ran into the burning area of the forest, while everyone else waited behind. Sparkle began to feel somewhat tired, though she had been shocked upon hearing about “Paratroopa guy”.
***
“You want it, don’t you?” Blaze taunted, jiggling the bag up and down. “You know you want it!”
“We’re-a not playing around!” Mario snapped. “Give… us… the bag!”
“If you want it so bad…” Blaze blew a stream of fire across the ground in front of him, creating a wall of fire between him and Mario and Yoshi, “you’ll have to come over to this side of the fire!” he finished.
Mario and Yoshi looked at each other. Mario coughed. “… Okay… then…” Mario gasped. “Have… it… your…” He finally passed out, as the heat had overcome him. Yoshi did likewise.
Blaze laughed. “Heh! Like
I said, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the forest!” He looked
at his newly acquired bag full of Power Gems. “And the big prize!” he said
to himself. “Bowser’s gonna…” He stopped when he suddenly remembered something.
“Uh… oh… I forgot about Kammy!!” Blaze rushed away to find her.
Dark Paratroopa and Donkey were still searching the fires to see if anyone was trapped. So far, they had found nothing. “I guess no one’s here…” said Dark Paratroopa. “Well… let’s get out of here before we get roasted…”
Donkey stopped. He sniffed the air, coughing, but picking up a scent. “… No…” he said. “Someone, here! This way!” He went further into the fires. Dark Paratroopa followed slowly.
Donkey continued on. He
was sure someone was here. He could feel and smell it. Suddenly,
he gasped at what he saw ahead. When Dark Paratroopa caught up, he too
gasped.
Blaze frantically searched through the fire for Kammy, with the scorched bag on his shoulder. She had to be here somewhere. He couldn’t just leave the hag here to burn.
Finally he spotted her,
unconscious on the ground, with flames everywhere. Gladly, she seemed unharmed
by the flames, much to Blaze’s relief. He ran over to the Magikoopa and
began shoving her. “Kammy?” he said. “Kammy! Come on, Haggie!” Kammy wouldn’t
wake up. Blaze could only hope she was still… He grabbed Kammy, then took
out a random Power Gem (Yellow) and transformed into his darker form. Of
course, Kammy had told him not to abuse this power, but since Kammy couldn’t
teleport due to her unconsciousness, there was no other choice. Blaze teleported.
“Mario! Yoshi!” Donkey cried as he and Dark Paratroopa stared down at the unconscious plumber and Yo’ster. Donkey rushed over and picked up Yoshi, while Dark Paratroopa took Mario. “What now?!” Donkey asked.
“Uh… We get out of here…” Dark Paratroopa answered calmly. “That’s what… Although leaving this fire burning may not be a good idea…”
“Leave it to me!” said a voice. Paratroopa and Donkey whipped around to see Shine Guy. “I will take care of the fire! You just get Mario and Yoshi out of here!”
“Got it!” Donkey said, while Dark Paratroopa simply nodded. Donkey, still holding Yoshi, grabbed Paratroopa’s hand, and Dark Paratroopa, still holding Mario, teleported them out.
Meanwhile, Shine Guy crouched down. He began to glow brightly. With these new powers, Shine Guy, when focusing hard on his task, could do it. Now, his focus was on putting out the fires. Glowing even brighter, he finally released, letting the magical energy spread in all directions. As the energy spread, it quickly put out the large fires. The energy continued to spread until the fire was completely out.
***
“Mario… Mario?”
“Wake up!”
“Yoshi? Are you okay?”
“Don’t die, guys!”
Mario finally opened his eyes to see everyone standing over him. He sat up, rubbing his head. “… Woah…” he remarked. “How did I-a get out of-a the fire…? Where is-a the fire?” He looked at everyone else, but suddenly jumped up to his feet upon seeing Dark Paratroopa. “Why is-a he here?!” he yelled. Dark Paratroopa didn’t say anything, but simply looked away.
“Do not worry…” Shine Guy said. “He is on our side now.”
“… Are-a you feeling okay?” Mario asked him, as meanwhile Yoshi regained consciousness.
“I knew it would be hard for you to believe…” Shine Guy sighed.
“NO!!!” Yoshi cried, staring up at the giant purple Yoshi. “ULTRAVIOLET IS BACK!!!”
Everyone besides Mario and Yoshi looked at each other. “No,” said Shine Guy. “She is still Sparkle.” He looked up as Sparkle reverted herself back to her normal, sparkling white appearance. Mario and Yoshi sighed in relief.
“Well… that’s-a good…” said Yoshi. “But Dark Paratroopa’s on our side? Are you sure?”
“I assure-a you,” said Shine Guy, “he is…”
“Yeah! Look at these!” Diddy held up the White, Cyan, and Brown Gems, the very three Gems Dark Master had. Mario and Yoshi gasped. They looked at each other. It seemed Dark Paratroopa had indeed switched sides, but why?
“… I suppose that’s all-a the proof-a we need…” said Mario. He then turned to the Warios. “Though I’m not sure where-a you two came from…” he said. Then he turned to Woshi and K.K. “And… haven’t I seen you two before?”
Woshi and K.K. looked at each other. “Well…” whispered Woshi, “he doesn’t remember us completely, but it’s a start…” K.K. nodded in agreement.
“Oh, us?” Wario said nervously. “We were just…”
“Trying to steal our Gems, right?” said Yoshi.
“What?!” said Waluigi. “O-o-of-a course not!”
“They tried to beat us up to get this!” K.K. accused, holding up the Blue Gem. Woshi simply showed them a few scars from their fight the day before. Everyone else turned sharply to the Warios, who developed anime sweatdrops.
“… Well,” said Shine Guy, taking his eyes off the Warios, “that makes nine Power Gems.”
“No…” said Mario. “We’re-a still at four…”
“… Still at four?” said Sparkle. “Oh… Don’t tell me you lost the backpack!”
Mario nodded. “Blaze stole it…” he muttered.
“Again?!” said Donkey. “Turtle gonna pay!”
“Just curious…” said Woshi, “but why are those… Power Gems… so important to you?”
Everyone looked at him. “… Well…” said Shine Guy, “to put it simply, if we do not collect all ten of them, the world could be in jeopardy…” Woshi and K.K. gasped, while Wario and Waluigi looked at each other.
Woshi and K.K. began whispering to each other. When they finished their conversation, they turned to them. “We want to help you guys!” Woshi said.
Mario, Yoshi, Shine Guy, Sparkle, and the Kongs all looked at each other. “… Well… Okay then,” said Shine Guy. “But you should know that what you are getting into is very dangerous work…”
“Danger schmanger!” said Woshi. “We’re all about danger, right K.K?”
“Uh… Yeah… we are!” said K.K, trying to sound enthused, though he was still just as worried as ever.
Everyone turned to the Warios. “How about you guys?” said Yoshi.
Wario growled. “Why should-a we help you?!” he snapped.
“We could use your strength, both of-a you!” said Mario.
“We’re not helping you and that’s-a that!” said Wario. “Besides, I’m the strong one!” Waluigi growled upon hearing this.
Everyone sighed. It seemed there was no way to convince the Warios to help them…
…until Mario had a idea. He turned to Wario and Waluigi. “You know…” he said, “if the world gets-a dominated, you may-a never be able to steal things again!”
Wario and Waluigi jumped upon hearing this. They looked at each other, then turned back to the others. “Fine!” said Wario. “We’ll-a join your stupid team, but-a only because of-a what you just said!”
“Fine by us…” said Yoshi.
“I have to go…” said Dark Paratroopa. Everyone looked at him. “It seems Dark Master is on to me. I need to make sure he doesn’t find me out.” He teleported.
“Well, guys…” said Woshi, “I guess we camp out here…”
“Donkey get firewood!” said Donkey, who started away towards the burned woods.
“That shouldn’t be hard…”
Yoshi mused, “but I’ll help anyway…” he followed Donkey into the burned
area.
Later, the party, with their newly joined members, were all sleeping around the warm campfire. (Mario saw to it that it was prepared precisely to prevent another forest fire.)
However, Sparkle couldn’t sleep, as she was too confused. How exactly did she change to Ultraviolet after touching the Power Gems? She simply couldn’t figure it out.
She turned to the Shy Guy asleep next to her. “… Shine Guy?” she said. “Shine Guy?”
Shine Guy slowly woke up. “Yes, Sparkle?” he said with a yawn.
“What do you think happened to me earlier? How did I turn into Ultraviolet again?”
Shine Guy thought hard. “I am really not so sure. I would guess that even though we freed you of Dark Master’s haze, the chakra of this power was still in you. Being very close to the Power Gems for such a long time must’ve slowly begun to activate those powers… That is what I think happened, but for now, let us sleep on it.”
“I guess…” Shine Guy went back to sleep, and Sparkle lay back again.
***
Dark Master was sitting on his throne, still thinking about whether or not Dark Paratroopa was still with him. He very much hoped the minions he had sent after him could find out what was going on with him.
There was a knock. Dark Master was snapped out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat. “ENTER!” he called.
A badly bruised Hammer Brother entered the throne room. Dark Master raised a brow. The Hammer Brother, while rubbing a scar, wearily spoke to Dark Master. Your Extreme Darkness!” he said. “The three Gems you have…”
“What about them?” Dark Master asked.
“… They’re… gone…”
Dark Master’s jaw dropped to the floor. A moment later another knock was heard. “ENTER!” Dark Master called again. The door opened, and there was Dark Paratroopa. Dark Master jumped and tried not to look suspicious.
Dark Paratroopa also tried not to look suspicious. “… I… couldn’t get the Gem…” he said.
The Hammer Brother remained silent, watching to see what would happen. Dark Master took a deep breath. He spoke severely to Paratroopa. “One… more… chance!” he said through gritteeth. “If you fail… I don’t need you anymore… Clear?”
“Y-yes…” Dark Paratroopa said, immediately thinking yet again, Miserable toad…
“Good!” said Dark Master, “Now leave, both of you!” Dark Paratroopa and the Hammer Brother both left.
Dark Master sat back in his throne. Dark Paratroopa had turned on him. He was now back down to zero Gems. There was only one way he could get those Gems back…