ACT 1: DICING IN THE DESERT
Morning came in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun shined brightly through the windows of the Marios’ house. Mario and Luigi were both asleep in their beds, with Yoshi and Shine Guy both sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. All four were out like a light, in the comfort of their beds or sleeping bags, cozy and warm.
However, it didn’t last forever…
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!
Everyone jumped up, awake and alert, as if they had been simply switched on. Mario rubbed his eyes groggily and slammed his fist down on the alarm clock to silence it. “Sheesh!” he groaned. “I seriously need-a to get an alarm clock-a that isn’t so loud!” He stood up and walked away to get dressed.
“Well,” said Yoshi, “the adventure begins today.” He turned to Shine Guy. “So… uh… how exactly are we supposed to find these Gems? I mean, we have no radar, no tracking device, no nothing.”
“Fear not, green friend,” Shine Guy reassured. “I have the power to sense Power Gems over long distances. Unfortunately, so does Dark Paratroopa, which is why we must find the Gems quickly.”
“Well, can you sense one of them right now?”
“I shall try.” Shine Guy closed his eyes hard (although Yoshi could not tell). Ten seconds passed.
“Found one yet?” Yoshi asked.
“I mustn’t be distracted while doing this.”
“Sorry…”
Ten more seconds passed. Then…
“Wait,” said Shine Guy. “Yes… yes! I see it! The yellow Power Gem!”
“Where is it?”
“It is… in a place full of old ruins!”
“Ruins…?”
“Yes… Somewhere in a desert…”
“Which desert?”
“I cannot tell you that because I do not exactly where this place is… You will have to figure that out on your own…”
“Desert ruins… I wonder where…”
Mario came back up, all dressed. “Come on Yoshi, Shine Guy. It’s about time we-a began our search.”
“It’s already beginning… sort of,” said Yoshi. “Shine Guy managed to sense out the Gem.” Immediately when he said that, Yoshi thought, I still don’t know if he really has those powers he says he has… He continued. “He says it’s in some desert ruins…or whatever…”
“Desert ruins…” Mario thought hard. Where had he been before with desert ruins? Then, he remembered. “Aha!” said Mario. “He must-a mean Dry Dry Ruins in Dry Dry Desert!”
“Dry Dry Ruins… Dry Dry Desert… What ELSE is there…?
“Dry Dry Outpost…”
“… Okay… That’s odd…”
“Take care of-a the Mushroom Kingdom while we’re-a gone, Luigi,” said Mario.
“Don’t-a worry. If any Koopas try anything funny, I’ll-a cream them… I hope…”
“See ya, Luigi!” Yoshi said.
Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy left the house. As they walked down the long dirt path to the road, Shine Guy began to have thoughts. Should I have told them more? he thought. Or was it best not to…?
“Shiny Guy?”
Shine Guy was snapped out of his trance. He looked up at Yoshi. “Are you okay?” Yoshi asked. “You look nervous…”
“Oh… It’s nothing,” Shine Guy answered. “So… uh… How do we get to this… Dry Dry Desert?”
“The Dry Dry Railroad, of-a course,” Mario answered.
“Oh… And now there’s Dry Dry Railroad!” Yoshi said sarcastically. “What’s next?!”
Reaching the road, Mario spotted a nearby taxi. “TAXI!” he called. The taxi stopped. Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy walked over to it. Mario opened the back door. Yoshi climbed in, then Shine Guy, then Mario. He closed the door.
“Mushroom City Station, please!” Mario said to the driver.
The taxi drove away. As they drove off, Yoshi thought to himself, Why is everything “Dry, Dry”?!
***
Arriving at the station, Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy got out of the taxi. Mario tipped the driver. “Thank you,” he said.
“Just doing my job,” said the driver. He drove off.
The trio entered the station, which was very busy, with many people bustling about to catch their trains. They walked up to the ticket desk. “Three tickets for-a the Dry Dry Railroad, please?” Mario said to the ticket officer.
“That’ll be four coins per ticket,” said the ticket officer. Mario paid twelve coins. The officer handed him the tickets. “Thank you for choosing Dry Dry Railroad,” said the officer. “Have a nice day!”
The trio headed to the platform, where the train was just boarding.
(Note to the reader: If you’re trying to picture the train in your head, picture the train in Kalamari Desert from Mario Kart 64, not the train from Paper Mario, which is only just the locomotive.)
“Tickets please,” said the conductor. Mario showed him the tickets. “Thank you very much!” said the conductor. “Enjoy your ride!”
Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy boarded the train with the rest of the passengers.
“ALL ABOARD!!!”
The train whistled and slowly began to pull away.
Onboard, Mario began explaining to Shine Guy the many dangers Dry Dry Desert held.
“Dry Dry Desert is-a full of deadly things,” he explained to the Shy Guy. “Pokeys, Bandits, Tweesters, and more. We must be on our guard.”
“One question…” said Shine Guy.
“Yes?”
“What exactly IS a Tweester?”
“Eh… You’ll see… They’re a common hazard in the desert…”
***
“Okay, everyone! Listen up!” Bowser ordered. The others could not hear him, as they were too busy bickering over the gem.
“Uh… Hhello?!” Bowser yelled. “Are you all listening to me?” They continued to argue, screaming at the top of their lungs, Wendy in particular. At last, Bowser lost patience.
“RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRR!!!”
Instant silence fell. “Thank you,” Bowser grunted. “Now that you’re all here, let the contest begin! In order for me to know if any of you defeated the Mario Brothers or not, I’m sending a Lakitu with a walkie talkie to spectate.” He turned to Iggy. “You attack first, Iggy.”
“Yes!” Iggy said. “That Gem will be MINE! You just watch! Hahahaha!” The bespectacled Koopaling left the room, with the Lakitu following.
“He won’t stand a chance!” Roy said, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah…” said Larry. “But then you won’t either!”
The two began bickering. Lemmy broke the two up. “Hey! Hey! Guys,” Lemmy said, “that’s enough. At least you two agree on one thing.”
“What’s that?” Larry and Roy asked in unison.
“Iggy won’t win the competition! Now shut up!”
***
Luigi was resting in his chair, watching TV, feeling relaxed and taking all the loads off his mind. However, the loads came back when there was a sudden bang on the front door. Luigi jumped. He ran to the front door and answered it. There was a tired-out Toad.
“Toad!” Luigi greeted. “You know, a simple knock-a would’ve been enough…”
Toad panted heavily. “I *pant* got here as *pant* fast as I could,” he panted.
The Royal Mushroom Retainer seemed very frantic. Luigi could tell something bad was up. “Is something wrong?” Luigi asked him.
“Yes! We’ve got big trouble! It’s Iggy Koopa!”
“WHAT?!”
***
People in the Mushroom City Park were in peril. Iggy was hovering overhead with a helicopter-pack, holding his magic scepter.
“Perfect!” he said to himself. “I’ll lure those Mario Brothers here, then I’ll destroy them!”
“Not if I can-a help it!!!” said a voice. Iggy looked down, and there was “Green L”.
“Ah! Luigi!” Iggy greeted. “… Hang on a second… Where’s Mario?!”
“He’s-a not here at the moment!” Luigi yelled back. “But I can-a still take you!”
“You certainly are optimistic! Prepare to fight!”
“Bring it on!”
“…Eh… That’s weird… Everyone usually just says ‘bring it’, but oh well… Taste defeat, peachfuzz!”
Luigi gave Iggy a furious look. Peachfuzz?! he thought.
BOSS!!!: Iggy Koopa
Iggy blasted downward at Luigi, who dodged.
“It seems I’ll-a need something long-range!” Luigi said. “Good thing I-a thought ahead!” He pulled out a Fire Flower from his pocket. He swallowed it, turning himself into Fire Luigi.
“Try-a THIS on for size!” Luigi called. He fired two fireballs at Iggy, who dodged one but was hit by the other. He shook himself off, slightly burned.
“So you like to fight dirty, huh?!” Iggy called.
“You’re one to-a talk!” Luigi retorted.
“RRRRRRRR! Very well! I’ll come down THERE and finish you off!”
Iggy swooped down at Luigi, who ducked. After Iggy passed over, Luigi got back up and fired three fireballs at Iggy, who spotted them out of the corner of his eye. He veered left to avoid them. He swooped at Luigi again, firing two blasts from his scepter. Luigi jumped over the beams and punched Iggy in the stomach just as he reached him. Iggy flew back upward, breathing heavily. He recovered, swooping in on Luigi again, blasting six times with his scepter. Luigi jumped back to miss the first blast and ducked to avoid the second, which barely cleared his hat. He jumped to the side to miss the third, while the fourth hit the ground between his legs, causing a small explosion. Luigi yelled and flew backwards with the force of the explosion, with the fifth flying over his head as he fell backward. He sat up, then flattened himself against the ground to avoid the sixth.
Luigi had had quite enough nonsense. He blasted four fireballs at the airborne Koopaling. Iggy flew to the left to dodge them. He then hovered above Luigi and flew in circles around him, repeatedly blasting downwards at the plumber. Luigi jumped everywhere he could to miss the blasts. One beam hit the ground at his feet, blowing him onto his back. Another beam was heading straight down at his forehead. Luigi gasped and rolled across the grass, narrowly dodging the beam. Luigi jumped back up to his feet and looked for a chance to shoot a fireball at Iggy, but the bespectacled Koopaling was blasting too fast and too wildly for Luigi to have time for an attack. Iggy finally stopped blasting.
“Stand still!” he yelled. “I can’t blast you if you move!” Iggy swiftly swooped down at Luigi and kicked him to the ground. Iggy immediately turned and fired a beam from his scepter. Luigi, however, was quick to react and jumped aside to avoid the beam. Iggy swooped down again, losing his patience. Reaching ground level, he fired a beam that skimmed across the ground towards the plumber. Luigi spread his legs out, allowing the beam to skim between his legs and into a nearby tree. Luigi charged towards Iggy while the Koopaling was on the ground and shot three fireballs at him. Iggy hovered upward to miss them, but the high-jumping Luigi jumped up and lay a swift, hard punch on the Koopaling’s stomach. Iggy coughed and gasped for air.
“*cough* Not bad…” Iggy coughed. “Not bad at all… But check THIS out!” Iggy fired a long, steady beam at Luigi, who jumped out of the way. Luigi ran around, trying to avoid the beam, while Iggy casually moved the beam around with his scepter, following Luigi wherever he went. After about a minute of this, Iggy stopped the beam.
“Hey! Sweet!” he remarked. “I made a self-portrait in the grass!” Sure enough, somehow, Luigi’s running around and Iggy’s beam had made a huge drawing of Iggy’s head out of burnt grass.
“Woah…” Luigi remarked. ”How in the world did that happen…?” Caught off-guard by the drawing, Luigi failed to notice a beam headed straight for him!
*BLAST*
Luigi cried in pain. He no longer had his firepower.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Iggy laughed. “You’re MINE!” Iggy prepared to give Luigi one final blast, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a light-blue shell with wings slammed him in the side!
“OW! MY RIBS!”
Iggy clutched his side. He looked over at the flying blue shell. The Koopa whom it belong to popped out. He wore a pilot’s helmet and goggles.
“… Parakarry?!” Iggy quirked his brow. “What the Koop are YOU doing here?!”
“Just helping a friend,” he said calmly. “Oh, by the way, you’d better watch your back!”
“… Hmm?!” Iggy looked back to see a pair of birds feet coming straight at him!
“TAKE THIS! Ba-KAWK!”
“WHAT THE—”
Iggy was clawed in the side of the head by a Chicken (the Chicken species from Super Mario Land).
“Nice shot, Flapps!” Parakarry remarked.
“Yours wasn’t bad either! Ba-KAWK!”
(Note to the reader: If you don’t know who Flapps is, read Mario and Parakarry: Zombie Hunters.)
Iggy shook himself off. “You shouldn’t have interfered! You’ll pay DEARLY for that! I’M HAVING HOT WINGS TONIGHT!!!” As he raised his scepter, the rotors on his helicopter-pack stopped. Iggy froze.
“Oh… uh… That’s… not good…” Iggy fell towards the ground, screaming loudly for someone to catch him.
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLP!!!” *WHAM!*
Luigi walked up to the downed Koopaling. “I’m hurt…” Iggy whimpered.
“How did-a you just survive a thirty-foot drop?”
“We Koopas are built for toughness… ugh… My spleen…”
Parakarry and Flapps landed next to Luigi, who turned to them. “How did-a you guys know I-a was in trouble?” Luigi asked.
“Well,” said Parakarry, “we heard about some disturbance in Mushroom City and decided to help out.”
“We were done with our paper routes anyway…” put in Flapps. “Ba-KAWK!”
“Woah! Not so-a loud!”
“Sorry. Ba-KAWK! I’m still trying to fix my speech problems…”
“Thanks for the help!” said Luigi. “I could-a use some assistance around-a here. It is, after all, that time of-a the month again…”
“I hear ya… Hey, in case you need any help, here’s my number.” Parakarry took out a notepad and a pen and wrote down his number. He tore the piece of paper off and handed it to Luigi.
“And-a what about-a HIS number?” Luigi asked, looking at Flapps.
“Don’t really need one,” said Flapps. “I moved in with Parakarry so I could be closer to my job. I used to live in Sarasaland, and that’s a long way to fly… Hey! I just said a whole sentence without kawking! Ba-KAWK! Dang! I jinxed it!”
“Shall we take this guy to Princess Peach?” Luigi asked.
“No! No!” Iggy cried. “Anything but that!”
Luigi, Parakarry, and Flapps all picked him up and carried him away (actually, since Flapps was so short, he was hanging from Iggy’s underside while Luigi and Parakarry were holding him). The Lakitu that had been sent to spectate came out of a nearby bush. He radioed in to Bowser on his walkie talkie.
“King Koopa,” he said, “do you copy?”
“This is King Koopa!” Bowser said over the other end.
“Master Iggy was defeated!”
Cheering and laughing was heard over the walkie talkie.
“Oooh… Too bad…” Bowser said. “Oh well, report back to Koopa Kastle!”
“Yes sir!”
“You attack tomorrow!”
“Huh?!”
“I’m talking to Ludwig! Now hang up!”
“Yes sir! Over and out!” The Lakitu hung up and flew away.
***
The train pulled into the station at Mount Rugged. All the passengers disembarked. Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy were the last to get off. As they exited the station, Shine Guy gazed up at the huge mountain nearby.
“My goodness…” he remarked.
“That’s Mount Rugged,” said Mario. “Dry Dry Desert is-a just beyond that. We’ll have to follow the trail up the mountain to reach the desert.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” said Yoshi. “We’ve got a Gem to find!”
The trio started up the mountain trail.
The trail seemed endless. Up, and up, and up they went. As they walked up the trail, Mario stopped them upon seeing several Clefts charging towards them. Clefts were a common hazard on the mountain. While Shine Guy stood back, Mario whacked away the Clefts with his hammer, and Yoshi swallowed them and spat them out at others. Once their path was clear of the Clefts, they continued.
After about half an hour, they finally reached the top. Between them and the desert was a long bridge. Shine Guy was just about to cross when…
“Wait!” Mario stopped him. He looked around cautiously.
“What is the matter?” Shine Guy asked.
Mario looked to the side of the bridge at a tall stack of rock. On top of it was a bird’s nest. Fortunately, the bird who occupied the next was not present. “Don’t-a worry,” said Mario. “I was only making-a sure Buzzar is not around, and it appears he’s not…”
“Who is Buzzar?!”
“You don’t-a want to know…”
They proceeded across the bridge and into the desert. The sun instantly beamed down against them.
“Come on, guys,” said Mario. “We should rest in Dry Dry Outpost before continuing on to the Ruins.”
“How far is the town from here?” asked Yoshi.
“About two miles east,” said Mario. “Let’s-a go! Oh… And keep your eyes peeled-a for Pokeys, Bandits, or Tweesters…”
“I still want to know what a Tweester
is…”
Two miles seemed endless in the desert. The trio, beginning to feel dehydrated, climbed over the top of a large sand dune. “When are we gonna get there?!” Yoshi panted.
“Don’t-a worry,” Mario reassured. “We should be reaching Dry Dry Outpost shortly.”
“That’s what you said ten minutes ago.”
Yoshi glanced back. Shine Guy was standing still, staring off to the north. Yoshi walked back toward him and glanced off at the object Shine Guy was staring at– a large, swirling mass of sand.
“That’s a Tweester, if you’re wondering,” Yoshi said to him.
“Ah!” said Shine Guy. “I wish I could see it up close.”
“Trust me… you don’t want to do that… Come on, we’d better catch up with Mario.”
***
Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy finally reached Dry Dry Outpost. Though the town was small, it was still a busy place for buying, selling, and trading. “I’ll-a go buy us some water and a map,” said Mario. “You two wait here.” Mario walked away.
“I’ll-a go buy us some water and a map,” said Mario. “You two wait here.” Mario walked away.
Yoshi and Sine Guy sat down against the town entrance gate. Shine Guy began to have his thoughts again. Yes… it is certain… If I do not tell them now, I’m only putting them in danger… He turned to Yoshi. “Yoshi?”
“Yes?”
“There is something I should have told you and Mario before.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, it has something to do with… where I live…”
“Where do you live?”
“Uh… well… Okay, actually, it is more than that…”
“POKEYS!!!” someone yelled.
Yoshi and Shine Guy looked over to see several people running away. Then they saw them: three Pokeys entered the town. Yoshi could see that these were not normal Pokeys. They all were a dark shade of purple in color.
“What kind of Pokeys are THOSE?!” Yoshi asked, shocked and confused.
“That also has to do with what I was trying to tell you…” said Shine Guy.
A familiar Paratroopa followed in with the Pokeys. “Oh no!” cried Shine Guy. “Not HIM again!”
“Listen, Pokeys!” Dark Paratroopa ordered. “Before we get to that gem, we must destroy any resistance that may get in our way, namely Shine Guy. I sense that he’s here!”
“I am!” said a voice. Dark Paratroopa turned around. There were Shine Guy and Yoshi.
“Well well well!” the Paratroopa said coldly. “Look who we have here! It seems I WON’T have to destroy this pathetic village to find you! Pokeys! GET THEM!”
MINIBOSS!!!: Dark Paratroopa and Pokeys
The Pokeys charged at Yoshi and Shine Guy. Yoshi launched his tongue at one of them, swallowing a segment of the Pokey and making an egg. He took aim and threw the egg at the Pokey’s head. The Pokey instantly fell apart.
“Uh… Yoshi…” Shine Guy squeaked. “A little assistance would mean very much to me right now!” Yoshi turned to see Shine Guy cornered by the other two Pokeys. They arched back, preparing to slam Shine Guy right on the head.
“NO!” cried Yoshi. He launched his tongue again, swallowing a segment of one of the Pokeys and making another egg. He threw the egg, hitting the Pokey in the head and causing it to fall apart.
“YOSHI! BEHIND YOU!” cried Shine Guy. Yoshi turned back. The last Pokey was arching backward to slam on top of Yoshi!
Suddenly, a large, wooden hammer came out of nowhere and struck the Pokey in the face. The Pokey fell apart. Yoshi glanced over at the source of the hammer– Mario!
“Perfect timing, perfect shot!” Yoshi remarked.
Dark Paratroopa slapped his forehead. “If you want something done right, do it yourself,” he muttered. He swooped at Mario, who ducked. Dark Paratroopa turned around and blasted a lightning bolt at Mario. Mario jumped back to miss the blast. Just as Dark Paratroopa was about to blast again, he noticed Shine Guy. The Shyster stared back. Not again! he thought.
Dark Paratroopa grinned. He formed his orb of lightning. Shine Guy nervously backed up. “Um… Help?” he squeaked.
Paratroopa’s orb was now fully formed. He then released his orb. Shine Guy covered his eyes. He then felt a hit from the left and heard an explosion. When he opened his eyes, he was on the ground, with Mario on top of him. Next to them was a large hole in the ground. Mario had tackled Shine Guy out of the way of the lightning shot. “Are-a you okay?!” Mario asked.
“Yes… I am all right…” Shine Guy said, breathing heavily.
“You fool!” Dark Paratroopa bellowed. “I had hi—” He was “egged” in the face. Yoshi had swallowed one of the dead Pokey segments and made an egg to throw. Dark Paratroopa fell to the ground, slightly dazed.
“Shine Guy!” Yoshi called. “Quick! Hide in that alley while he’s not looking! We’ll take care of him!” Shine Guy nodded, and quickly ducked into the nearby alley.
Dark Paratroopa struggled to his feet. “… An egg?!” he laughed. “Come on!”
Yoshi crossed his arms. “Ha! I’ll have you know that my eggs can deal a lot of damage!”
Dark Paratroopa was about to retort, when he noticed Shine Guy was missing. He groaned. “Oh great!” he yelled. “Now I’ve lost him! Where is he?!”
“Want to-a get to him?” Mario said. “You’ll have-a to deal with us first!”
Dark Paratroopa growled. “So be it!” he said as he hovered upward. He swooped down on Mario and Yoshi. The two avoided him. Paratroopa whipped around and blasted bolts from both his hands, one heading for Mario, the other for Yoshi. Mario jumped backward to avoid the first bolt, while Yoshi ducked onto the ground to miss the second. Yoshi jumped back up and swallowed another one of the Pokey segments. Making an egg, he took aim.
Mario jumped up at Dark Paratroopa with his hammer held high. Dark Paratroopa stuck out his feet, with his shoe spikes in front of Mario. Mario quickly shielded his face with the hammer, blocking the spikes. Mario landed on the ground, dropping his hammer. Dark Paratroopa was just about to blast him when he glanced left as a green-spotted egg came up to meet him in the face. The Paratroopa was knocked to the ground.
Mario turned to Yoshi. “Nice throw!” he commented. Yoshi replied with a thumbs up.
“You… may have won this battle…” Dark Paratroopa panted, “but… there will be others!” He teleported away.
“I wonder how-a many times we’ll-a have to tangle with-a him…” Mario said.
“Those were some strange Pokeys,” said Yoshi. “I wonder where they came from…”
Shine Guy peeked around the corner to see that Dark Paratroopa was gone. Mario and Yoshi turned to him. “Hey, Shine Guy!” Yoshi greeted. “He’s outta here!”
“Yes… but we definitely have not seen the last of him. He is not one to give up that easily…”
“Well, guys,” Mario said, taking the map out of his pocket, “I-a found us a map. Let’s-a go! Dry Dry Ruins awaits us!”
Shine Guy decided it was time to tell them the entire story. “Mario? Yoshi?” Shine Guy said. They turned to him. “There is something I should’ve mentioned a long time ago…”
“You can tell us on-a the way to Dry Dry Ruins,” said Mario.
***
“So…” said Yoshi to Shine Guy, who was on his back, as they tracked across the hot desert, “what was this you wanted to mention?”
“Well,” Shine Guy explained, “it goes like this. You see, I come from a far away land. One half of that land is light, the other darkness. The people from the light world are a peaceful people. They never favor violence, and do not use their power for harm in any way. However, on the other side of the land, the dark world, the people are quite the opposite. They resort to brute force. Their ruler, Dark Master, is bent on world domination. As we speak, he has sent his forces everywhere to search for the ten Gems. That is why it is so important that we collect them before his forces do. If he collects all ten, he will be able to awaken a far greater evil; a powerful treasure that was locked away years ago; a treasure so powerful he could easily conquer or even destroy the world with it.”
“What sort of-a treasure?” Mario asked, reading the map.
“I can’t say exactly… but we must not let him awaken it.”
“I suppose that also explains where those weird Pokeys came from…” said Yoshi.
“More than that,” continued Shine Guy. “Dark Master’s forces have strange powers of teleportation. They could pop up anywhere.”
“Just like that Dark Paratroopa seems to pop up everywhere.”
“That Dark Paratroopa,” said Shine Guy, “is Dark Master’s right-hand. He, like myself, has the ability to sense Power Gems over long distances.”
Mario stopped, as did Yoshi. “Shine Guy?” said Mario.
“Yes?”
“There’s-a ten Gems, yes?”
“That is correct.”
“Well… Gem-a number one… is-a in there… correct?”
Shine Guy gazed up at the huge, tomb-like structure. “Yes,” he said. “This is exactly the place I sensed this Gem to be.”
“In this case,” said Mario, “let’s-a go!”
They entered the tomb.
Inside, the light from the sun shined through the openings in the walls. Despite the light, the ruins were very creepy. The place was crawling with Buzzy Beetles. Mario kicked one out of his way as they continued onward.
The three walked through a hall with several mummy cases. Mario eyed them suspiciously. He knew, from past experiences, that the “mummies” in these cases were not exactly dead.
Yoshi also eyed the cases, nervously watching them all, hoping they would all stay shut. Shine Guy too eyed the cases, even more nervously than Yoshi. He constantly glanced at every case in the hall, even the cases they had already walked past. Don’t open… Don’t open… he thought.
One did open, directly in front of them! They froze as a pale-green Pokey emerged from it and slowly moved towards them for an attack. Yoshi stepped forward, and Shine Guy, who didn’t want to get any closer to the Pokey, jumped off Yoshi’s back and hid behind Mario. Yoshi launched his tongue at the bottom segment of the Pokey and pulled it back into his mouth, swallowing it. He then swallowed the middle segments of the Pokey, then the head. “Whoo! Spicy!” Yoshi said.
Shine Guy stared blankly, then looked up at Mario. “He’s a mean, green, eatin’ machine!” Mario said to him.
They continued onward. The three eventually entered a room with three slots in the wall. One was shaped like a moon, the second like a diamond, and the third like a triangle. They examined the slots. Mario thought hard. How did he get past this last time he came here?
Then, he remembered. “Ah yes!” Mario said. “The Pyramid, Diamond, and-a Lunar stones; they’re scattered around in these-a ruins.”
“In that case…” said Yosh,. “I guess we should split up to find them.”
Shine Guy jumped. Split up? In here?! He shivered. “Erm… Should not we stick together? There could be a few dangers in here, and there is strength in numbers after all…”
“… No…” Mario said. “We’ll need to-a cover more ground. We’ll-a meet back here. Be careful, guys.”
Mario and Yoshi went their separate
ways. Shine Guy hesitated, then walked off.
Mario entered a small room. On the wall
was a very realistic-looking carving of a Chain Chomp. In the corner on
a stone platform was a pedestal. On top of the pedestal was a moon-shaped
stone. Aha! Mario thought. He proceeded toward it, when the Chain
Chomp carving suddenly came alive! It landed on the floor from the wall
and lurched fiercely at Mario. Mario jumped to the side to miss it. As
the stone Chomp prepared to charge again, Mario whacked it hard with his
hammer, knocking it clean into the wall and shattering it into many pieces.
Mario then casually walked up to the pedestal and took the Lunar Stone.
“Wooaoh!” Yoshi cried as the sand in
the room began to sink through a hole in the floor, with Yoshi’s feet still
trapped in it! Yoshi held his breath as he sank into the sand, falling
through the hole and landing in another room below the first, with the
sand burying him. Yoshi dug himself out of the pile of sand. He looked
around in the room. There was a high platform. Along the wall were stone
blocks that acted as stairs. Yoshi hopped up the blocks to a platform.
On the platform was a pedestal, and on the wall next to the pedestal was
a Chain Chomp carving. A triangle-shaped stone sat on the pedestal. Ah…
There it is! Yoshi thought. He was about to grab it, when the Chain
Chomp carving detached itself from the wall! Yoshi jumped upon seeing this.
The Chomp jumped at him, but Yoshi stuck out his foot and kicked it off
the platform. The Chomp landed hard on the floor. Yoshi, after grabbing
the Pyramid Stone, landed on top of the Chomp with a ground pound, shattering
it. He then exited the room.
Shine Guy slowly stepped into the room.
He looked around cautiously. The room seemed empty. However, ahead of him
was a wall that did not reach all the way to the ceiling. In fact, it was
just high enough for him to jump over it. Shine Guy, curious as to what
could be on the other side, jumped up and grabbed onto the top of the wall.
He pulled himself over it and landed on the other side. He looked around.
In front of him a platform, and on that platform was a pedestal. On the
pedestal was a diamond-shaped stone, and to the right of it was a Chain
Chomp carving. Hmm… That must be it… Shine Guy thought. He slowly
crept forward to the pedestal. Before his could get his hands on the stone,
the Chomp jumped off the wall! Shine Guy shrieked. He narrowly avoided
the Chomp’s charge. He then grabbed the Diamond Stone and jumped over the
wall, with the Chomp slamming hard into it and shattering itself. Shine
Guy leaned against the other side, panting heavily, before exiting the
room.
Mario had already arrived back at the location of the stone slots. He tapped his foot as he waited for Yoshi and Shine Guy to show up. Yoshi finally entered the room, though covered in sand. Mario raised a brow upon seeing this. “What happened to-a you?” he asked.
“… Uh… Quicksand?” Yoshi shrugged. “Anyway, while we wait for Shine Guy, I guess we can go ahead and put our stones in the slots…”
Mario inserted the Lunar Stone into the moon-shaped slot, while Yoshi put the Pyramid Stone in the triangular slot. Just as he did, Shine Guy came running into the room with the Diamond Stone.
“Hey, Shine Guy,” Yoshi greeted. “Any trouble?”
Shine Guy pretended to be calm. “Oh… No trouble at all…” he said. He placed the Diamond Stone in the last slot. Seconds later, the floor began to shake. They watched as a flight of stairs leading downward appeared. They stared down. The bottom of the stairs was in pitch black darkness. They couldn’t see it.
“Well…” said Mario, “here we-a go…” They headed down the stairs.
Deeper and deeper they went. The tomb became darker and darker. Soon it became so dark that only their eyes were visible.
“Are you sure it’s safe to go on?” Yoshi asked nervously. “I can’t even see my nose in front of my face, and for all we know, there could be a bottomless pit right in front of us.”
“Yoshi,” said Mario, “I’ve-a been in here before, and there are-a no bottomless pits… Then again, I-a suppose it’s safer to hold hands just in-a case we lose someone… Shine Guy, are-a you still there?”
“I am on Yoshi’s back.”
“Just-a checking. By the way, Yoshi, what you’re grabbing is my cheek, not my hand.”
“Oh… Sorry…”
***
*WHACK* Mario ran into a wall in the darkness.
“Mario? Are you—”
*WHACK* Yoshi ran into Mario.
“Is this a dead end?” Shine Guy asked.
“No it isn’t. It’s-a only a right turn.” Mario walked right. *WHACK* “Never mind. It’s a left turn.”
Continuing threw the dark corridor, they eventally came across four red flames on the wall.
“Finally!” Yoshi remarked. “Light!”
“BLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!!!”
“Um… What was that?” asked Shine Guy, shivering.
“I think I may know who that is…” Mario said.
Then it happened. An Egyptian-style headdress with eyes suddenly materialized directly in front of them! Now both Shine Guy and Yoshi began to shiver.
“W-w-w-w-w-w-what’s th-th-th-th-th-that?” Yoshi stuttered.
“An old adversary,” said Mario.
“He c-c-certainly knows how to m-m-m-make an entrance…” Shine Guy stuttered.
The room they were in slowly lit up. The headdress slowly floated upward, landing on a ledge protruding from the wall. The owner of the headdress then materialized on the ledge. Mario recognized him at first glance.
The figure stared down at Mario. “Well well well!” he said coldly. “If it isn’t my old friend Mario!”
“If it isn’t Tutankoopa!” Mario said to the Koopa Pharaoh.
“Might I ask!” said Tutankoopa. “Is there any particular reason why you and your friends thought it would be a good idea to trespass into my domain?!”
“Listen!” Mario snapped. “We don’t-a want any trouble! We’re trying to find a Gem!”
“… Gem… Ah! Do you mean… this?” Tutankoopa reached into his robe and pulled out a bright yellow gem! Shine Guy was instantly wide-eyed.
“THAT’S A POWER GEM!!!” he cried.
“Tutankoopa!” Yoshi ordered. “You’d better hand over that Gem, or else!”
“Or else what?”
“Or else… eh… well… Just give us the Gem now and we’ll come back on Thursday and tell you… hehe…”
Tutankoopa rolled him eyes. “Pathetic!” he said. “CHAIN CHOMPS! SNACK TIME!”
A small cage opened in the wall beneath his perch. Six Chain Chomps bounced out of the cage. They eyed Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy hungrily!
“We can handle them,” Yoshi said to Shine Guy. “You just… stay on my back.”
“I can think of several reasons why letting go of you is a bad idea.”
“How many?”
“About… six.”
“That makes sense…”
“Let’s get this-a over with!” Mario said.
“Yes! Let’s!” said Tutankoopa. “Chain Chomps! ATTACK!!!”
BOSS!!!: Tutankoopa and Chain Chomps
The Chain Chomps charged at them, with half of them aiming for Mario and the over half for Yoshi and Shine Guy.
Mario took out his hammer. One Chomp jumped at him with wide open jaws. Mario easily whacked it back. Another Chomp bounced high and tried to land on Mario. Mario dodged, causing the Chomp to fall face-first on the floor. The other two Chomps slowly circled around Mario. Mario stood still, watching them closely to try to predict what they were going to do. When he was sure he knew what they were going to do, he ducked, with the Chomps jumping at him but slamming into each other. The other Chomp chomped on Mario’s hammer. Mario shook the hammer viciously to shake the Chomp off. He began spinning rapidly. The Chomp, too dizzy to hang on anymore, was slung off the hammer and into the wall.
Yoshi ducked as a Chomp jumped at him. The Chomp went flying into the wall. Another Chomp charged at Yoshi. Yoshi jumped over the Chomp and grabbed it by the chain. He swung the Chomp around several times until the Chomp’s chain came apart. The Chomp went sailing hard into the wall. The last Chomp jumped at Yoshi with an open mouth. Yoshi launched his tongue at the Chomp and retracted the Chomp into his mouth. He turned and spat the Chomp out at another Chomp that was about to lurch at Mario while his back was turned.
All six Chain Chomps were knocked out.
“GAH!” cried Tutankoopa.
“As-a we were saying,” said Mario, “give us the Gem!”
“If you want it so bad, why don’t you come up here and get it?! Ooh! By the way, when I found this gem, I suddenly learned a new move, and I think I should show you! GET A LOAD OF THIS!” He blasted a beam of energy at them! Mario and Yoshi dodged.
“It’s the power of the Gem that is giving him that power,” said Shine Guy.
“Don’t-a worry!” said Mario. “I have an idea.” He whispered something to Yoshi. “We’ll-a do it when he least expects it!” Yoshi nodded.
“There’s MORE coming!” Tutankoopa yelled. He blasted a long, steady beam at them. He followed Mario with one hand, and followed Yoshi and Shine Guy with the other. This lasted for several minutes.
“Come on!” Tutankoopa yelled. “Stop moving so I can blast you!” He finally stopped blasting. “That’s it! This ends right now!” He blasted a fast beam towards Yoshi. It hit the ground right next to him, throwing Shine Guy off Yoshi’s back. Shine Guy landed in the corner, dazed. Tutankoopa began to aim at him!
“Now, Yoshi!” Mario whispered. He jumped on Yoshi’s back. Yoshi ran underneath the ledge Tutankoopa stood on. Yoshi jumped up, and Mario jumped off and slammed into the underside of the ledge. Tutankoopa was thrown off. He fell to the floor, the Gem popping out of his robe when he hit the floor. Mario picked it up.
Yoshi went over to Shine Guy. “Are you okay?”
“Yes… I’m fine,” Shine Guy answered.
“Guys,” said Mario. “We have-a the Yellow Gem!” He held the Gem up.
“Come on, guys,” said Yoshi. “Let’s get out of this dank place and find a place to rest in Dry Dry Outpost.”
Yoshi and Shine Guy started back down the corridor, while Mario looked back at the unconscious Tutankoopa. Poor guy, he thought. Mario started down the corridor to catch up with Yoshi and Shine Guy.
***
Dark Master stared down upon the Paratroopa, who had a knot on his head from Yoshi’s egg. He clutched his fists together and furiously slammed them on his chair arms, making the Paratroopa jump. “YOU FOOL!!!” Dark Master bellowed to Dark Paratroopa. “HOW COULD YOU LET THOSE FOOLS DEFEAT YOU?!”
Dark Paratroopa developed an anime sweatdrop. “Um…” Dark Paratroopa squeaked. “The fact that I was ‘egged’ in the face?”
“I don’t care if you were ‘rocked’ in the face!” Dark Master snapped. He sighed. “Look! Tomorrow, you’d better make up for that mistake!”
“Don’t worry, Master! I’ll make up for it… with a Power Gem just for you!”
“Blehehehe! Sounds good to me, but you’d better keep your word… if you want to keep your shell!”
“Yes Master!” With that, Dark Paratroopa exited the room and headed for his private room, while Dark Master leaned back in his throne. An egg? he thought. How pathetic…