Chapter #26: The Mystery Village
Mario slowly awakens from his sleep. He sits up and looks around to see himself in a hut of some sort. He gets up and looks out the window to see some Mushroomers and Koopa Troopas walking around. Hr looks in the mirror to see he looks normal. He steps outside and some Mushroomers see him and run to him.
Mushroomer 1: You’re okay. Thank goodness!
Mushroomer 2: We got scared. You’ve been asleep for a few hours now.
Mario: What happened?
Mushroomer 1: Well you were poisoned. Though this is odd... We had the local doctor heal you but your poison was unusual.
Mushroomer 3: Yes. The poisoning had strange traces of different chemicals and substances.
Mushroomer 4: There were traces of some kind of melted, acidic, metallic-like particles.
Mushroomer 1: We couldn't identify it, but we could tell it was the cause of the poison.
Mario: Wow… What is in his claw? Anyway, thank you so much.
Mushroomer 2: No problem. We help when we can.
Mario: Can you tell me where I am?
Mushroomer 3: Of course. This is Gateway Village. This is because there is a restricted warp pipe in the back of the village that acts as a gate between here and some other dimension.
Mario: Wow! Listen, maybe you can help.
Mushroomer 4: How?
Mario: I am looking for Princess Peach, my brother, a green Yoshi, and a doctor Mushroomer with green spots.
Mushroomer 1: Hmmmm. I think I saw the Yoshi zoom by with your brother followed by a Rex and a Bandit. Is something wrong?
Mario: They are after them. My brother needs help.
Mushroomer1: We'll be glad to help if you'll let us. Are you sure you’re fully okay to go?
Mario: Yes. By the way… that warp pipe... do you know where it goes? Exactly where?
Mushroomer 2: I think a more highly advanced world. I studied it in a library of geography and science and this village’s history. The residents.... they look sort of like you and your brother and the princess. Lately there has been somebody trying to enter it.
Mario: Oh really? I think I know where it goes, and frankly, if I'm right this could very well be a bad thing.
Mushroomer 4: How?
Mario: Earth.....
The four Mushroomers gasp in horror and back up a bit. Mario nods and the Mushroomers go back up to him.
Mushroomer 1: Okay. Maybe we should stay and guard the pipe then. Earth is where you came from, and if the one trying to get in is the one who poisoned you then it is best we try to stop him.
Mario: Okay.
Mario nods and the five prepare to part.
Meanwhile we see Edger flinging and twisting his tentacles about at Luigi and Yoshi, who are backing up. Warth jumps in behind them and claws at them, but they trip forward and fall, dodging the moves.
Luigi: Yoshi, let me on you.
Yoshi: Will do.
Yoshi gets up and Luigi jumps on his back. Edger shoots a tentacle at him but Yoshi flutter jumps over it and Luigi fires electricity into Edger, causing him to fly down to the ground. He begins to absorb the surroundings while Warth slashes at them to distract them. Yoshi eats a melon and grins.
Warth: Eh! What's so funny, you fossil?
Yoshi: FIRE!
Warth: Huh?
Yoshi rapidly fires the melon seeds at Warth, who starts to block as much as he can but the seeds get in his face and cause him to trip and fall into the cliffside. Luigi throws bolts of electricity above him, crumbling the mountainside and causing boulders to fall and bury him.
Yoshi: YES!
Luigi: WE DID IT!
The two turn to leave and see Edger back on his feet. The two back up as the boulders roll away and Warth emerges from a hole in the pile.
Luigi: How are you two still alive?
Edger: Heh, that doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm mad and you need to be punished for this.
Edger flings out a tentacle when suddenly a frying pan belts him across the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Luigi, Yoshi, and Warth look to see Peach and the doctor.
Luigi: WAY TO GO, PEACH!
Peach: Yay me.
Yoshi: Now for you, Warth... Eh?
The four turn to see Warth gone.
Peach: He chickened out.
Doctor: Well he was outnumbered.
The four laugh and turn and walk away.
Meanwhile with Mario, Mario is still in the village looking at the pipe.
Mario: I want to go, but I can't.
Mushroomer 2: Well you have to. You need to help your friends and family.
Mario: Okay.
Mario turns to see Redip.
Mario: Redip, what are you doing here?
Redip: Ah, Mario. I was looking everywhere for you. Peach is waiting for you at the castle. She wanted to say something to you. She went and came back like nearly a day later.
Mario: Wow! Okay. Let's go.
The two walk off with Redip wearing a sinister grin. We now see the four Nushrooms watching the two leave.
Mushroomer 2: Hey, he is the guy who tried to break into the pipe.
Mushroomer 3: But Mario doesn't know.
Mushroomer 4: I have a bad feeling… a real bad feeling. We need to tell Mario.
The four Mushroomers
run out of the village after them. Everything goes black.
Chapter #27: The Rush to Mario
Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, and the doctor walk down the path heading to find Mario, when Peach gasps.
Peach: I just remembered something.
Luigi: What is it, Princess?
Peach: Holts dragged me into the Underwhere and I learned from Jaydes some amazing info on these things.
Luigi: Really? What?
Peach: They were dead. Jaydes and Grambi revived them though, and they were given the mark. The mark is their life force pretty much. Remove it or destroy it in any way, and that kills them. It is the only way.
Luigi: Amazing. Holts made a mistake, I see. This is great news. We need to tell Mario and Redip.
Peach: EEEK!
Luigi: What?
Yoshi: Yeah! What?
Doctor: Oh, right....
Peach: Luigi... about Redip. He is... their leader. He is one of the seven.
Luigi: WHAT? THAT CAN'T BE TRUE! He helped us.
Doctor: A setup. He killed Funja.
Luigi: No... That can't be.
Peach: It is, and Mario could very well be looking for him. We have to find him and tell him.
Yoshi: Okay. Let's go... NOW!
The four go running.
Meanwhile we see Mario and Redip heading up the castle. Mario is ahead of Redip and the two are talking.
Redip: I heard you were attacked. Are you okay?
Mario: Yup. A doctor healed me. I never got to meet him, but I'm still grateful.
Redip: ... Oh... That's great. Well, we are here. Care to climb in the window first?
Mario: Sure!
Mario climbs into the window, then Redip, who closes and locks the window.
Mario: I'm going to find Peach, okay?
Redip: No problem. Go on.
Mario runs off and Redip laughs.
Redip: Go on, Mario. It is just the two of us. You'll never hide from me, though.
Redip walks out of the room. Mario goes running through the halls looking through the rooms trying to find Peach, until he reaches Redip's control room at the central tower top.
Mario: She isn't here. What the?
Redip comes up behind him and Mario turns around and looks at him, freaked.
Mario: She isn't here. Do you think they came and took her?
Redip: I wouldn't know. She was never here, or at least she wasn't when I left.
Mario: What? Why would you bring me here then?
Redip: Heh!
Redip whips out his sword and slashes Mario, causing him to fall in pain.
Mario: What? Aaaggg, it hurts! What are you doing? Why?
Redip: GET UP NOW AND FACE ME!
Mario gets up and Redip swings at him. Mario jumps back and grabs a metal bar.
Mario: Oh, a training session of sorts. Okay, here I come.
Redip: Stupid. Bring it.
Mario swings wildly with the bar, but Redip ducks and jumps, dodging every swing from Mario. Mario claps and throws fireballs at him, but Redip jumps them and slashes Mario across the shoulder.
Mario: WHY IS EVERYBODY HITTING ME IN THE SHOULDER?
Mario swings at high speed and hits and knocks off Redip’s patch in the process of dodging.
Mario: What? You have an eyeball but it is all white. That isn't right.
Redip: Right, but this is. Mario, look at this.
Redip rolls his eye around, revealing the marking. Mario backs up, trembling and scared. Horrified, he falls and gasps.
Mario: No, it... can't be. You’re one of them…
Redip: Yes Mario, I am the leader of it all, one you shall never escape. I will shred you as I did that ninja fool.
Mario: You killed him... I don't... I have to.
Mario jumps up and swings the bar at him, and Redip clashes his sword with the bar and they fight each other, taking swings that they block over and over.
Redip: You'll never get around my eye. I see what you do before you do it, and counter.
Mario: Well I have to try.
While Mario and Redip continue their match, we see Peach, Luigi, Yoshi, and the doctor running through the woods getting closer and closer to the castle.
Peach: They must be at the castle.
Yoshi: We need to hurry.
The four rush
and the castle comes into view.
Chapter #28: Mario vs Redip Part 1
Redip: DIE, MARIO! JUST GIVE UP AND MAKE THIS EASY ON ME!
Mario: Never. You have been tricking us the whole time, and now you will pay for all you have done.
Mario swings at Redip, but he blocks it, jumps back, swings his sword, and hits Mario in the hand. Mario backs up in agony and claps and throws a burst of flames at Redip that he jumps aside from.
Mario: How do I win? What do I do?
Redip: There is nothing. That is why you give up.
Mario: NEVER! I won't.
Mario lights his bar on fire and swings at Redip, who backs away from it. Mario lunges forward and swings at him, but he backs up out of the room and trips and falls down the stairs. Mario throws the fire down at him but he rolls aside. Mario runs down the stairs and looks down the hall to see him gone.
Mario: Where are you? Where did you go?
Mario slowly goes down the hall stabbing the metal bar through the doors. Mario walks up to another door and Redip drops from the ceiling behind him and swings at Mario, who dodges by falling forward under the swing. Mario spins and shoots fire that Redip dodges. Mario gets up and runs.
Mario: I have to get out of here. I need everybody to help. Redip... How do I stop him?
Mario runs down the main hall and out into the doctor’s room and jumps through the window. Mario lands in the moat and washes to land and goes up the ramp to see Redip standing by an open window.
Redip: Hello! Going somewhere?
Redip swings at him, but Mario blocks it and Redip swings forward, causing Mario to fall back into the moat.
Peach, Yoshi, Luigi, and the doctor approach the castle and go in through a window, not seeing Mario and Redip around the side. As they enter, Holts emerges from the floor and Stul comes in from another room.
Stul: Welcome.
Holts: Wow, we DO have quite the crowd. No matter, though. We'll win.
Peach: Oh really? WHERE IS MARIO?
Luigi: Yeah.
Stul: The boss is dealing with him.
Yoshi: No!
Luigi: Move aside or else.
Holts: Should we be scared?
Doctor: Yes.
Holts: Of all of you to say that…
Stul: HAH! Okay, come on.
Stul starts to swing her hair and everybody turns but Peach. Peach, not knowing what she is doing, becomes hypnotized.
Peach: My Stul, you are beautiful. I will do anything for you.
Stul: Eww! Okay. Kill those three.
Peach: Okay.
Peach turns to them and pulls her frying pan out.
Meanwhile outside, Mario runs and climbs through a window as Redip slashes his foot. Mario falls and starts to crawl through the room as Redip smashes the window and climbs in and start to follow him.
Redip: Come back, Mario. You can't run.
Mario: I know. TRY THIS!
Mario claps, rolls over, and throws fire into the ceiling, setting it on fire. The fire begins to spread around the room and the castle begins to slowly go up in flames.
Redip: Hmmm. So what? I'll kill you, then leave. You'll never hold me off for that long.
Redip swings at him and Mario holds the bar out and tries to hold him off.
Mario: I won't let you win.
Redip: You don't have to let me. Me winning is just the way it was meant to be. I am superior to you.
Mario: I will not give up, ggggrrrrr!
Mario pushes the bar against his sword and slowly starts to overpower Redip, but he twirls his sword, causing Mario's bar to go flying. Mario throws fireballs at Redip, who jumps and ducks, and backflips away from them all. Mario starts trying to get up but falls against the door and falls into the next room. Mario begins to cough as smoke fills the room, and Redip kicks down the door and starts walking toward him.
Redip: You'll have to give up soon. What do you want to die from? My sword, the smoke, or the fire you set?
Mario: I'm not going to die.
Mario slowly gets up and starts limping quickly down the hall. Redip sighs and starts to run after him.
Mario: Go away.
Mario claps and sets the floor ablaze, stopping Redip. Redip grunts and Mario makes his way up the stairs nearby. Redip goes into a nearby room. Mario starts going down the hall when Redip bursts through the floor into the nearby room. Mario turns and starts going back and sets the floor behind him ablaze, then he hears smashing and doors start blowing off their hinges and smashing into the walls as the walls start to crumble and slowly fall apart.
Mario: Oh, what in the WORLD are you doing?
Mario starts going back down the stairs as windows are heard being smashed and the walls break apart. Mario gets to the bottom of the stairs to see Redip, and turns and starts going back up again, setting the stairwell ablaze as he goes. Mario goes to the second floor again. Redips sword begins to stab through the ceiling and Mario runs into the next room and smashes the window and starts climbing out, but Redip jumps up through a hole in the floor and tackles Mario, and both of them fall out the window and plummet into the central courtyard. Redip jumps to his feet and holds his sword to Mario.
Redip: You PEST! This is where you end.
Mario panics as he backs up.