ACT 4: BEACH BASH
It was morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario was just waking up. He yawned. Yoshi, in his sleeping bag on the floor, was also waking up. “Well, Yoshi,” said Mario, “today’s the day we-a make up for a lost Gem.”
“Yeah,” agreed Yoshi. “I’m still a little nervous, though. That Dark Paratroopa was one tough customer…”
The white Shyster was just waking up. “Oh…” Shine Guy said. “I see you are already awake… I cannot say as much for Luigi…” He looked over at Green L, snoring away.
“I’ll-a wake him up,” said Mario. He walked over to the closet. He rummaged trouble the closet until he found a trumpet. He walked back over to Luigi. He put the trumpet to his mouth, held it near Luigi’s ear, and gently…
*FWWEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!*
Luigi jumped from the bed and onto the floor. The others laughed hard. Luigi groaned and glared at his brother. “Mario! You-a told me you’d never do that again!” Mario shrugged, while Luigi slowly got up off the floor.
“Well, Shine Guy,” said Yoshi, “where’s the next Power Gem?”
“I shall find that out.” Shine Guy closed his eyes, but immediately after he did.
*BANG*BANG*BANG*
Everyone jumped. “Must be Toad…” Luigi said. “I-a recognize that panicky knock…” Luigi went to the front door and answered it. Sure enough, there was Toad, breathing heavily.
“Another Koopa attack?” Luigi asked.
“Yes!” Toad said. “How did you know?”
“I won’t answer that…”
“… Uh… Anyway, it’s Koy Roopa… I mean Roy Koopa!”
“Don’t-a worry. I’ll-a get your ‘Koy Roopa’ for you.” Luigi waved goodbye to Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy, then headed out.
“Now that that is over,” said Shine Guy, “let me try to sense the next Gem.” Shine Guy tried again. After ten seconds, he found it. “Aha!” he said. “The Orange Gem! The location is… Oh my…”
“Where is it?” Yoshi asked anxiously.
***
At Mushroom City Park, Luigi put up his defense, as the burly pink Koopaling grinned sinisterly. “Hehehe!” Roy laughed. “You’re up pretty early, but I guarantee you it won’t be such a good mornin’ for ya!”
“Well, Roy!” Luigi retorted, “if you’re so optimistic, then try me!”
“You asked for it! I’m sendin’ you… should I say… down the drain?!”
“… What?”
“Okay… I admit that was pretty lame…”
BOSS!!!: Roy Koopa
Roy charged at Luigi, who narrowly missed. Luigi turned and tried to kick Roy in the face, successfully doing so. Roy staggered, but recovered. He flashed an angry look at Luigi, then jumped and slammed the ground, which shook, throwing Luigi off a bit. Roy then charged at Luigi, hitting him in the stomach. Luigi yelled, then jumped at Roy. The two exchanged blows, then locked fists. Roy threw Luigi aside, then tried to pounce on the plumber. Luigi dodged. He jumped back up and charged at Roy. He dove into Roy’s legs, tripping the Koopaling, who immediately got back up and faced the plumber. He tackled Luigi, who, after some stress, forced Roy off.
Roy landed on his shell, but forced himself back to his feet, only to receive another blow to the beak from Luigi. Roy staggereDback. He gave Luigi a very furious look, then charged fiercely. Luigi dodged the charging Koopaling by a few inches, then saw Roy slide to a stop, retreat into his shell, and dart swiftly at the plumber. Luigi jumped, allowing Roy to slide under him. As fast as Luigi landed, however, Roy came back and slammed Luigi from behind. Luigi was knocked forward onto his stomach. Luigi groaned and tried to force himself back to his feet.
Roy popped back out, grinning sinisterly. He stomped towards Luigi as the plumber had his back turned, trying to recover. Just as Roy was about to lay a lick on him, Luigi suddenly jumped up and kicked backwards. The surprised Roy stumbled backwards, shaking his head in pain. He put his hand to his cheek where Luigi had hit him, and felt a slight burn. Roy clenched his fists. “Oh… Dat does it!” he yelled.
Roy jumped and pounded the ground hard, creating small shocks that knocked Luigi to the ground. Luigi quickly jumped back up, but was headbutted by Roy before he could do a thing. Luigi was on the ground again, coughing.
“You’re tough!” Luigi said. “But no worries. Backup should be…” He stopped went he realized Parakarry and Flapps worked in the morning. Luigi gulped.
“You we’re sayin’?” Roy said.
“Uh…” Roy stomped the ground. The small shocks threw Luigi to the ground. Luigi jumped back up. He jumped at Roy, and began rapidly punching the Koopaling in the face. Roy staggered. He shook it off, then glared at the plumber.
“You’re gonna pay fo’ that!” the enraged Koopaling roared. He jumped on top of Luigi, holding him down. He began punching Luigi in the nose several times over. Luigi covered his face. Heh! Roy thought. I got this in the bag! That gem’s mine! Roy began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?!” Luigi yelled.
“Oh… I’m just surprised at how easy dis turned out of be!”
“Oh, get off!” Luigi forced the heavy Koopaling off. Roy got back up, then glared at Luigi angrily. He then gave Luigi a sinister grin. “I knew I was gonna need THIS!” Roy reached into his shell and took out a grenade! Luigi shrieked.
“Bye bye, Luigi!” Roy laughed. He threw the grenade at Luigi.
…
Luigi caught it!
“WHAT THE…” Roy cried, confused. “Why didn’t it blow up?!”
Luigi examined the grenade. “Ah!” said Luigi. “Here’s the problem. You forgot to yank the ring out!”
Roy stared blankly. “… Oops…”
Luigi yanked the ring out and chucked the grenade at Roy. It landed five feet away from him. Roy shut his eyes.
*BAAAM!*
Luigi walked up to Roy, who lay on the ground unconscious. “You’re dangerous…” Luigi remarked. “But you’re dumb…” He grabbed Roy’s arms and dragged the Koopaling away. “And you’re fat…” Luigi added as an afterthought.
The Lakitu, perched atop a tree, radioed in to Bowser. “Yes?” Bowser answered. “Roy got up pretty early for his attack. How’d he do?”
“Thumbs… down,” the Lakitu answered. Laughing and cheering was heard over the radio.
“I just knew he wouldn’t win…” said Bowser. “Roy’s tough, but he’s stupid…”
“Funny you should say that. Luigi said that same thing… and he added that he was fat…”
Bowser laughed hard. “BWAHAHAHA!!! Oh well… Lemmy, you go tomorrow!”
***
Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy had taken a long taxi trip into the Seaside Kingdom. They arrived in a section of the kingdom called Shy Guy Beach. The trio exited the taxi. Mario paid the taxi driver (who charged a high amount for long distance). The taxi drove away. They looked all around. The beach was packed with visitors.
“My…” Shine Guy remarked, “there are a lot of people here…”
“Yeah,” said Mario. “Shy Guy Beach is one of-a the most popular beaches around. Anyway, this is where the Orange Gem is, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Please tell me it’s not at the bottom of the ocean…” said Yoshi.
“It is at the bottom of the ocean.”
“I told you not to say that!”
“Well…” said Mario, “we’d better go and-a purchase some scuba gear.”
They walked off. As soon as they left, Dark Paratroopa, along with three purple Bloopers, materialized at the very place they had been standing. He gazed at the many beachgoers. “This shouldn’t be any harder than yesterday,” he said to himself.
“So… sir,” said one of the Bloopers, “what do we do here?”
“Shine Guy and his friends are near,” Dark Paratroopa said coldly, with a grudge in his voice. “We’ll wait for them, then we’ll get them!”
After buying scuba gear (and a water-resistant flashlight), Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy headed to the water. When they reached the water, they walked as far as they could until they reached the end of the land shelf. “Okay, guys,” said Mario, “we-a dive here. Remember, take-a slow, deep breaths. Don’t waste your air.” Yoshi and Shine Guy nodded. They slapped on their masks and tubes, then dove.
On the beach, Dark Paratroopa and the Bloopers saw the three diving into the water. Dark Paratroopa turned to the Bloopers. “Follow them!” he ordered. “If they have the Orange Gem, persuade them to hand it over!”
“Yes, sir!” the Bloopers answered.
They went deeper… and deeper… and deeper. The deeper they went, the more Shine Guy began to feel nervous. He felt chills running up his spine. Something didn’t seem right to him. He could feel the presence of something big lurking.
Soon, they were so deep that it became dark, so dark that only their eyes were visible; the very reason Mario had brought a flashlight. Mario switched the flashlight on. They looked all around. Then Yoshi saw it: another light. He pointed to it. Mario and Shine Guy glanced over at the glowing orange object. They advanced towards it. As they neared it, they could see that it was the Orange Gem. Yoshi picked it up. He then turned to Mario and Shine Guy and held up three fingers, then seven, as a sign to mean “three down, seven more to go”.
Suddenly, Shine Guy saw it. The frightened Shyster frantically let out a huge burst of air and bubbles. Mario and Yoshi stared at him with confused faces. Shine Guy pointed in the opposite direction. Mario and Yoshi turned around. There it was: a huge, squid-like creature! Mario and Yoshi jumped. The huge creature swam towards them! As the creature grew closer and closer, Mario recognized it; it was Gooper Blooper!
BOSS!!!: Gooper Blooper
Within a twenty-seven meter range, Gooper Blooper charged forward at them. Mario motioned Yoshi and Shine Guy to follow him. They swam directly towards the giant squid. Within 9 meters of Gooper Blooper, Mario pointed left to motion Yoshi and Shine Guy to go left around the squid. The Yoster and Shyster both nodded and did so, while Mario went right. They split Gooper Blooper, who then whipped around and charged after them. Shine Guy looked back. The giant Blooper was gaining on them and fast. Shine Guy swam frantically, blowing huge puffs of air out.
Then there was more trouble. Three strangely colored Bloopers were headed straight for them! The Bloopers noticed Yoshi holding the Orange Gem. They went for Yoshi. Yoshi judged his moment, then swam under the charging Bloopers to avoid them. The Bloopers missed Mario and Shine Guy and slammed into Gooper Blooper, who just continued on after Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy, with the Dark Bloopers stuck to his head.
Meanwhile, Shine Guy suddenly began to feel as though he was losing air. He looked at his air gauge. Much to his horror, it was on E! All his heavy, frantic breathing had wasted all his air. Shine Guy signaled to Mario that he had no air. Mario grabbed Shine Guy by the hand, took his mask off, and slapped his own on Shine Guy’s face. Mario, holding his breath, continued on after Yoshi, with Shine Guy following and Gooper Blooper not too far behind.
Back on the beach, Dark Paratroopa was impatiently tapping his foot. What was happening down below? He was almost tempted to dive down and see for himself. Finally, he considered doing so. He advanced toward the sea. Then, he stopped when he noticed Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy bursting to the surface and running towards the beach, yelling to the crowd.
“EVERYONE OFF-A THE BEACH!!!” Mario yelled. “THERE’S DANGER IN THE WATER!!!”
Some of the crowd shrieked. A nearby lifeguard called to him. “Is it a shark?!” he asked.
“NO!!!” Yoshi cried. “IT’S SOMETHING MUCH WORSE!!!” Immediately after Yoshi said that, Gooper Blooper rose from the water!
“CLEAR THE BEACH!!!” cried the lifeguard. “EVERYONE WHO’S IN THE WATER, GET OUT IMMEDIATELY!!!” The crowd ran back screamed.
Dark Paratroopa was blank. He stared at the giant Blooper. “What… is that…?” he asked himself.
Shine Guy whipped around. A huge, white tentacle reached towards him and grabbed him! The Shyster screamed loudly, struggling to force the tentacle off. Mario whipped around to see the giant Blooper holding his friend upside-down. Mario rushed towards Gooper Blooper to help Shine Guy. Yoshi was about to help, but was stopped when Dark Paratroopa materialized in front of him! “I’ll be taking that Gem!” he said.
Yoshi glared angrily at the Paratroopa. Then he smirked. “It’s rematch time!” he said. He held the Gem tightly. It glowed, and so did Yoshi. He grew wings. “I’ll get you for yesterday!” he yelled.
“Make your first move!” Dark Paratroopa taunted.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!” Shine Guy wailed. Mario ran left and right as Gooper Blooper tried to swipe him away. Mario ducked to avoid a tentacle, then jumped to avoid another. After several attempts to swipe Mario, the giant Blooper spat ink at the plumber. Mario was hit. He shook himself off. Ink drooled from Gooper Blooper’s mouth. Then it hit Mario; the mouth! Mario ran towards Gooper Blooper, ducking and dodging its tentacles, and grabbed its mouth. Mario gave a great heave and pulled the Blooper’s mouth backwards. Gooper Blooper began to whimper. Mario let go, sending the end of the Blooper’s mouth flying back into his face. Gooper Blooper roared in pain.
Meanwhile above, Yoshi flew left and right, avoiding Dark Paratroopa’s lightning bolts. He then dove under the Paratroopa, who turned, only to get hit by a fireball. Dark Paratroopa yelled, but recovered. He darted towards Yoshi and the two began a midair fist fight.
Mario was almost crushed by two tentacles that came slamming into each other. Mario took a chance and grabbed Gooper’s mouth again. Stretch and Smack. Gooper roared again. This time, it raised all his tentacles (except for the one holding Shine Guy). It brought one down at Mario, who dodged. Mario dodged another tentacle, and another and another.
Yoshi and Dark Paratroopa panted heavily after finishing their fist fight. “This isn’t working!” Dark Paratroopa said. “We should step it up a notch!”
“Like this?!” said Yoshi. He parted his lips and released a huge fireball!
Back on the ground, Mario backed up as Gooper Blooper raised all but one tentacle, preparing to smash Mario.
Suddenly…
*WHAM!*
A scorched Dark Paratroopa landed right next to Mario. Gooper Blooper stared down at them. It decided to swipe them both away. Mario saw this coming and ran out of the way, while Dark Paratroopa was swiped away. He flew out of sight. While Gooper was distracted, Mario grabbed his mouth and… well… you know. Gooper roared in pain, dropped Shine Guy, and retreated into the ocean. Mario caught Shine Guy. “Are-a you okay?” Mario asked.
“I… I am fine…” Shine Guy panted.
Yoshi landed next to them. Mario turned to him. “What did you do to make Dark Paratroopa fall like that?” Mario asked.
“Well, I took a deep breath like this.” Yoshi took a deep breath. “Then I opened my mouth and…”
*FWOOM!* Mario and Shine Guy were scorched. “Uh… Whoops…” Yoshi sputtered.
“Nice, Yoshi… Nice…”
“Well, at least I have the Orange Gem…”
“Come on. Let’s-a catch a taxi back to Mushroom City.”
They headed back to the road. “You know,” Yoshi said, “I was hoping to have a party at the beach while I was on vacation here, but not like this…”
***
It was afternoon when they reached Mushroom City. After Mario paid the driver (who charged a high amount for long distance), they walked down the dirt path to his and Luigi’s house. Mario knocked on the door. Luigi answered. “Ah!” greeted Luigi. “How’d it go?”
“Pretty good,” said Mario. “We had a whale of a time at the beach, and while we were at it, we found a Gem.”
“Uh… Mario,” said Yoshi, “are you sure ‘giant squid of a time’ isn’t more appropriate?”
“… It’s appropriate. It just doesn’t fit…”
“And how was it with this… Koy Roopa, you mentioned?” asked Shine Guy.
No one said a word.
“Eh…” said Luigi, trying to hold back his laughter. “Not bad at all…”
“Well,” said Shine Guy, “we should all get some rest. I would not be the slightest bit surprised if tomorrow is as crazy as today was…”
Shine Guy headed upstairs. Luigi looked at Mario and Yoshi. “Should I tell him?”
“Naah…” said Mario and Yoshi in unison.
***
Dark Master was sitting on his throne when there was a knock. “ENTER!” he called. An injured Dark Paratroopa and his Bloopers entered. Dark Master stared blankly. “NOW what happened?!” he asked impatiently.
“Would you believe a giant squid?” Dark Paratroopa muttered.
“YOU LET A… *sigh*” It wasn’t worth saying. “Come over here…” And to the Bloopers he said, “You three leave…”
The Bloopers did so. Dark Paratroopa slowly walked towards the monstrous-sized Magikoopa. He’s gonna pick me up and blast at me… with his tongue, he thought.
Dark Master eyed his henchman angrily. He then picked him up by the wings and held him in front of his snout. “LOOK HERE!!!” he bellowed.
“You are all I can look at,” Dark Paratroopa mumbled.
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!”
“NOTHING! NOTHING!”
“THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!!! Anyway, if you’re going to let things like this happen to you, I MIGHT AS WELL FIND A NEW RIGHT HAND!!!”
“And… uh… what would you do with the old one?”
“What else?!” Dark Master said, holding his hand up next to Dark Paratroopa, who shivered at the sight of a lightning orb forming in his huge palm. “You don’t want that to happen, do you?” Dark Master said coldly, his face heavily shadowed, making him look much more intimidating than the tiny Paratroopa.
“Uh… No…”
“Then stop letting little things get between us and those Gems!”
“Master?”
“WHAT?!”
“Can you put me down? My wings aren’t supposed to bend like this…”
“… Whatever…” Dark Master let go, with Dark Paratroopa landing on his snout. Dark Paratroopa, compared to Dark Master, was roughly as big as one of Dark Master’s eyes; needless to say that Dark Master was the size of Yoob after his was enlarged. “As I was saying, you’ll do better tomorrow, right?”
“Aren’t I a Koopa of my word?”
“Respectfully, no. Now do me a favor…”
“Yes, Master?”
“GET OFF MY NOSE!!! Your spiky shoes are hurting!”
“Oh…”