Introduction
First off, I’d like to tell you all what in the world Felarya is, since probably everybody’s left in the dark on this. Felarya is a fantasy world invented by Karbo, a member of deviantART. The world contains many unique creatures, many of them hybrids of humans and animals, the prime example being nagas, a human from the waist up, but a snake from the waist down, adult ones normally averaging a height of 100 feet.
…And I’m rambling. Sorry.
Anyway, so many people have taken an interest to this world’s many inhabitants
that it has inspired them to make pictures, their own characters, and fan
fictions,-and would you believe it, this one! Anyway, I’ll finish off by
saying that I DO NOT own MANY of the characters used in this story, they
belong to other authors/artists such as Karbo, El Portero, and ChaosEmerald2.
I will give the necessary credits at the end of each chapter. Enjoy the
story!
Chapter 1: The Vision.
It was a peaceful day in
the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario had just beaten Bowser’s latest scheme to take
over the universe with the stolen Grand Stars. The plumber walked out to
Flower Fields and leaned up against a tree to take a nap. He slowly drifted
off to sleep…
Mario found himself in some sort of jungle.
Is this a jungle on Yoshi’s Island? Mario thought to himself as he looked around. Just then, he heard a sound. It sounded like a snake.
A very large snake.
Mario braced himself, knowing snakes were difficult to outrun, so he didn’t even bother trying. A tree came crashing down next to him. Mario turned around and was shocked by what he saw. A giant woman with blonde hair and at least one hundred feet tall was coming out of the jungle. But there was something strange about her. She had the body of a snake from the waist down with teal scales and a yellow underbelly. She wore a white T-shirt that seemed to be made of silk that went down to her hips…
This is definitely NOT
Yoshi’s Island! Mario thought to himself as he started to run. He looked
over his shoulder to see the creature’s gigantic hand moving towards him.
Mario picked up his pace, but to no avail. He was snatched up and lifted
high into the air, being turned upside down. When he looked towards the
ground, he was terrified at what he saw below him. The woman was dangling
him above her wide open mouth. Mario screamed and flailed as he felt her
grip loosen. He was dropped into the cavernous abyss screaming in terror,
though he swore he heard his name being called…
Mario shot bolt upright, screaming in a cold sweat, Toad standing next to him.
“Mario! Are you okay? You were thrashing and moaning in your sleep!” Toad said, sounding quite concerned.
“Huff… huff… Yes Toad… Nothing more than a bad dream… The only weird thing was, Bowser was not even involved like he normally is in my nightmares,” Mario replied.
“Well, we don’t have time for dreams! Professor Gadd wants you over at his lab immediately! He said it was urgent,” Toad explained. Now Professor Elvin Gadd was a bit kooky at times, normally inventing trivial things, but when he said something was urgent, Mario always wanted to be there, seeing as something would normally go wrong.
“Okay Toad. Thanks for the
heads up,” Mario said, getting up. “I’ll get over there pronto.” He walked
off in the direction of the castle.
E. Gadd was waiting for Mario at the door of the castle when he got there.
“At last you’re here!” Gadd said anxiously. “I need you and Luigi for something!”
“What is it this time, Professor? Another time machine?” Mario joked, remembering the last “big experiment” that Gadd had cooked up, which sent Mario and Luigi spiraling into another adventure spanning time and space.
“No, no! It’s nothing I made, but rather an investigation of an unnatural anomaly! You see, I detected a strange form of energy this morning, and I need you and Luigi to check it out. According to the scans, it appears to be a portal of some kind,” Gadd explained.
“Right. Well, where’s Luigi?” Mario asked, looking around.
“Right here,” Luigi said, stepping out from behind the corner. “Hey Bro. How’s life?”
“Fine and dandy. Did Gadd explain to you what happened?”
“I was actually the first to know. Then he told the princess and everyone else in the castle,” Luigi explained.
“Wonderful. So I’m assuming she’ll want to come with us?”
“Exactly,” Princess Peach said, walking down the foyer stairs in her vacation dress.
“I won’t let you go alone, Princess!” Toadsworth, Peach’s stalwart ward, called after her, running down the stairs as fast as his tiny little legs could carry him.
“So we have a full party pretty much,” Mario said. “We may as well bring Yoshi. He may be a help to us if we‘re going through that portal.”
“Yoshi!” the green dinosaur called as he ran up to Mario and jumped on him.
“Okay okay, Yoshi! Get off!” Mario said as Yoshi bounced up and down on him. Yoshi stopped and walked up to Peach, who daintily pat him on the head.
“Now you’ll need some protection from any possible radioactive energies from the portal,” Gadd said. “That’s why I suggest you take a plane.”
“What do you mean ‘you’, Professor?” Luigi asked, quite puzzled.
“Oh heavens no! I’m not going along. I’m way too old for these sorts of things!”
“Fine. But we’ll leave tomorrow
morning,” Peach said. “That should be enough time to keep Bowser from getting
word of this.”
Meanwhile…
Bowser sat stewing in his throne room. He couldn’t believe that Mario had trounced him again. He was so close this time, but even with the power of the Grand Stars, it just wasn’t enough to beat that pesky plumber.
“GRAAAAAAAGH! WHY DO I ALWAYS LOSE TO MARIO?!” Bowser roared.
Okay, did I say stewing? I meant raging.
“Maybe he cheats,” Bowser Jr. said, sitting in his miniature throne.
“Please Junior, Daddy’s trying to think here,” Bowser said, turning away from his son and waving his hand at him. Just then, Kamek came bursting though the door on his broomstick.
“Your Surliness! Urgent news!” the Magikoopa said.
“What is it now, Kamek?!” Bowser yelled in reply. “I am NOT in the mood for any stupid news!”
“But sir, you’ll want to hear this! Ludwig detected some strange energy this morning!”
“So?! Probably some volcano erupting!”
“No! When we sent Larry to spy on Mushroom Castle, he overheard that it was a portal! Mario and his friends are going there tomorrow morning!”
“A portal? To where?” Bowser asked, calming down and seeming interested.
“Well… I’m not sure. Larry didn’t hear anything about where it goes.”
“Grah, it doesn’t matter. Maybe it could lead to valuable resources that the Koopa Kingdom is running short on. Prep the doomships! We’ll go after Mario into that portal and attack when he least expects it, then gather all the resources we need!”
“Uh… Dad? Won’t that defeat the purpose of getting the resources?” Bower Jr. stated.
“Bah, who asked you! Now prep your ship!”
“Yes Dad…” Bowser Jr. said, getting up and walking out the door.
“Heh heh heh… Mario won’t
know what hit him…” Bowser chuckled to himself as he walked out the door.
Chapter 2: Into the Unknown
“So why are we all coming, again?” Mario asked Luigi as everyone walked up to Peach’s private airliner. “And why are we taking a plane?”
“I’ll answer your questions in order, Mario. First, you and I are coming because we’re the most experienced adventurers here. Peach and Daisy are coming because Peach wanted to go, and she wanted to bring Daisy. Yoshi is coming because we may need him. Toadsworth is coming because Peach is coming. Toad and Toadette are always willing to go on a trip, so they wanted to come. And second, Gadd’s readings say that the portal is in the sky, and out over Water Land.”
“I get’cha,” Mario said, walking up the stairs into the plane. “But who’s driving?” Mario said, walking up to the cockpit. He opened the door to see Wario and Waluigi. “WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!” Mario shouted in surprise.
“Well, we heard about some portal…” Wario began.
“Not like we were eavesdropping,” Waluigi quickly stated.
“Get on with it…” Mario said impatiently.
“And we figured that there may be treasure on the other side!” Wario finished. “And you know my motto, ‘Where there is treasure, there is Wario!’”
“Right… But I’d figure that you two slimeballs would stow away rather than pilot.”
“Well, Peach needed a pilot, and there was high pay involved…” Waluigi said.
“Don’t say anything more. I just hope you two can fly a plane,” Mario said, walking out the door of the cockpit.
“Can we fly a plane! HA! … How do you fly a plane?” Wario asked Waluigi.
“Uhh… Push the big autopilot button!” Waluigi said, pointing to the button.
Wario slammed it with his
forehead. “Let’s-a go!” he bellowed as the plane left the runway.
“King Dad!” Larry cried from the lookout station on Kastle Koopa. “Mario’s plane just left!”
“Good! Get to your doomshp, Larry!” Bowser called up to him. Larry slid down a pole, took a pulley and a zip line, and jumped on his ship. “ALL SHIPS LAUNCH!!!”
With that command, all 9
doomships left the hangar and headed towards Water Land.
A few minutes later, the doomship armada had caught up to the plane, but remained unnoticed.
Then Bowser’s hasty side kicked in.
“Bah! Why should I need to wait ‘til we get in that portal to attack Mario?! We could just blast him out of the sky right now!”
“But Dad-” Bowser Jr. started, but Bowser shut off the incoming intercom.
“Target that plane! ALL
CANNONS, FIRE!“ Bowser shouted over the intercom. Without hesitation,
the Koopalings typed in the coordinates and fired their cannons.
Wario was relaxing as he watched the clouds go by, when he heard the plane’s radar beep.
“Oh, what now?” Wario said,
looking at the radar. He saw nine large objects and hundreds of small dots.
“WAH!” Wario slammed his hand down on the dashboard, hitting the intercom
button by accident. “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!”
There was a frenzy in the cabin as Mario and Co. heard what Wario had said.
“Attack?” Mario asked as he looked out the window. Just as he did, one of the doomships pulled up to the window, Lemmy making a face at him from his cockpit. “Bowser…” Mario said, running up to the cockpit. He slammed the door open and saw Wario and Waluigi huddled up in a corner. He sighed as he sat down, grabbed the controls, and pushed the manual override button. Luigi came running in.
“Bro! You can’t fly a plane yourself! You need a co-pilot!” Luigi said, sitting down and taking the co-pilot controls.
“Thanks for the hand then,” Mario said, watching the radar and swerving to avoid the Bullet Bills that Bowser and the Koopalings were firing at them. The portal came into view. It was a periwinkle color with purple and blue swirls in it.
“There! That portal’s our only hope!” Luigi said, pointing to it.
“Huh. Ironic that that’s
why we came out here,” Mario chuckled as they drew closer.
“Koopalings! Pull back!” Bowser ordered when he saw the portal. “We’ll catch them later.”
But just then, bolts of
lightning shot out of the portal, hitting all ten aircrafts. “What?!”
“The controls aren’t responding!” Mario shouted, trying to turn the plane.
“We’ve lost all power!” Luigi cried.
Wario and Waluigi just sat in the corner bawling. “WE’RE GONNA DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!” Wario screamed, but then noticed something. “Why aren’t we falling?”
“The portal seems to be… sucking us in?” Mario said, noticing the same phenomenon.
As the plane and the doomships
were all sucked in, there was a bright flash and everyone lost consciousness…
Chapter 3: A Crisis Situation
Mario woke up in some sort of jungle, his clothes torn and covered in dirt. The trees and plant life were much larger than normal, but the birds and other animals seemed normal size. He looked to his right to see Peach lying on the ground unconscious about 10 feet away from him.
“Peach!” Mario called to her as he stood up and walked over to her. He rolled her over on her back and checked her pulse. Still alive. Good, he thought to himself.
Peach opened her eyes. “Mario? Wh-what happened? Where are we?” Peach asked, still a little dazed.
“I’m not sure. I think that this is what was on the other side of that portal…” Mario looked around. He then helped Peach up and the two started walking. After they had gone 10 yards or so, both of them stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a sound. It sounded like hissing.
From a very large snake.
Why does this all seem so familiar?Mario thought. Just then, a tree came crashing down, and a giant woman about 100 feet tall came out of the jungle, wearing a white silk T-shirt that went down to her hips. Now under normal circumstances, Mario could have found the woman attractive, but these were no ordinary circumstances. And on top of that, Mario didn’t even know what she was. She was human from the waist up, but from the waist down, she had the body of a snake, with teal-scaled back and sides, and a yellow-scaled underbelly. She had teal eyes matching her scales and the same yellow blonde hair as Peach, but hers was much longer.
“Oh… no…” Mario said, realizing why the situation was so familiar. “Peach! We need to get out of here NOW!” Mario said, grabbing her hand and starting to run, but Peach pulled her hand away.
“Mario! How could you? This woman… snake… thing…could very well be perfectly civilized,” Peach said, walking towards the creature.
“Peach! This is a VERY bad
idea!” Mario said. The woman then seemed to roar, stretching her arms up
in the air.
Crisis yawned after her 5 minute trek from the Giant Tree. She rubbed her eyes.
Hmm… I wonder what I can find for breakfast… she thought. Then she heard a voice.
“Hello!” the voice called. It seemed feminine. Crisis looked down to see a woman in a pink dress and blonde hair, wearing a crown and white gloves. There was also a little man standing not too far away wearing tattered blue overalls, a red long sleeve, white gloves, and a red cap with an M on it. He had brown hair and a big, black, bushy mustache.
“Oh!” Crisis said in surprise, seeing that her search was over. “Who are you two? My name is Crisis. I‘m what you humans would call a naga,” she said with her most sincere smile.
“My name is Princess Peach. Me and my friend Mario here are from the Mushroom Kingdom,” the woman said, gesturing to the man. “Could you please tell us where we are?”
“You’re in Felarya. It’s a wonderful paradise full of lush fields, forests, and jungles, but it is quite dangerous for two people your size.”
“Oh? Why would that be?” Peach asked.
“Allow me to demonstrate!” Crisis said, lunging at the tiny princess. Peach didn’t have enough time to react, much less attempt an escape.
“Wh-what?! Put me down!” Peach screamed. “MARIOOOOOO! HELP!” With that cry Mario snapped back into his senses.
“Peach!” Mario yelled as he jumped at Crisis. The naga simply slapped him out of the air. Crisis giggled.
“Hmmhmm. Let’s see if your taste holds true to your name!” Crisis said, raising Peach high into the air and licking her lips.
“What?! NO! You don’t want to eat me!” Peach began to cry.
“Oh, but I do! You look so cute and tasty!” Crisis said, opening her mouth. Peach looked down just to see the cavernous abyss.
“NO! MARIOOOO!” Peach cried, feeling Crisis’s grip loosen. Crisis dropped her. Just as Peach was about to fall into her mouth, Mario jumped into the air and pushed Peach out of the way, then kicked Crisis’s top jaw incisors, knocking the naga down.
“Oh, a fighter. I like those!” Crisis said, getting up and lunging at Mario. He rolled to dodge and hit Crisis with a Firebrand. “Ouch! That hurt!” Crisis whined, rubbing the burn on her side.
“Then reconsider eating us!” Mario said, charging another Firebrand.
“Okay…” Crisis said relaxing. She wrapped her tail around Mario. “Or not!”
“What?!” Mario said, surprised. “You slimy-” But he was interrupted by Crisis throwing him in her mouth, swishing him around for a few moments, then swallowing him. Peach watched in horror as a lump traveled down Crisis’s throat, then disappeared into her body.
“Mmm!” Crisis said, tracing the path of the helpless plumber. She then turned her attention to Peach. “Your turn!”
Peach tried to run, but
to no avail. Crisis quickly caught her and dangled her in front of her
face and giggled. “Y’know, you’re kinda cute!” she said before throwing
Peach into her mouth as she screamed, then swallowed her.
Peach was struck by a prang of terror as she slid down Crisis’s esophagus, yet she couldn’t help but be awestruck at the same time by the noises that surrounded her. She could hear the naga’s heart beating, the sound of her inhaling and exhaling. Her awestruck feeling died as soon as she felt the muscles of Crisis’s esophagus relax around her feet. She screamed and landed with a squishy thud, shaking from shock and terror.
I’ve just been EATEN! Peach thought to herself, taking in her new environment. “Mario?” she called out.
“I’m here!” Mario called back. He grabbed Peach’s hand and pulled her up against the stomach wall. “Stay away from the center! That’s where the acid’s gathering!”
“Oh Mario, what do we do?” Peach said, beginning to cry.
“I… I’m not sure. Her stomach seems to be fireproof, so I’m just about clueless.”
“Oh, Mario, we’re going to die in here!” Peach said between sobs.
“No we’re not. I’ve still
got one or two ideas up my sleeve… Or rather…” Mario took off his hat,
“under my hat!” He pulled a Red Star from the hat and turned into Flying
Mario. “Going up!” Mario said, grabbing Peach’s hand and flying to the
top of their fleshy prison as fast as possible.
Crisis was heading back to the Giant Tree full and happy.
“Eh? What’s going on?” she
said as she felt something coming up her throat. She clutched her neck
and bent over. “ACK!” She started coughing.
“Here we go!” Mario said, seeing Crisis’s uvula. They shot out her mouth and hit the ground hard, Mario then losing his power. Crisis fell over gagging, gripping her throat. Mario stood up slowly. “I told you to reconsider eating us…”
Crisis gasped for air. “How… in the… world… did… you… do that…?” she said between gasps.
“Well, I’ll tell you a little story about it as long as you don’t decide to eat us again,” Mario said. And if this works… I’ll scare her out of doing that again…
Crisis finally got her breath back. “Okay, I love stories, but they have to be good ones,” she said, laying on her belly looking at the plumber intently.
“Well, it all started out
in a city called Brooklyn…” Mario started.
1 hour later…
“…so with the help of the Lumas, the black hole was reversed and the universe was saved thanks to their valiant effort,” Mario continued. “Then yesterday we caught news of a portal, and headed there this morning. Unfortunately, so did Bowser. So he and his seven brats ambushed our plane this morning and we just barely made it through the portal, and here we are.”
“Wow. I never would have guessed that you have been on that many adventures,” Crisis said, getting up. “And that was one good story! Now after knowing all that you have been through, I can see why you wouldn’t want to be eaten again,” Crisis said. “Tell ya what: I’m not going to eat you. In fact, I’m going to introduce you to some of my other friends! Don’t worry, they won’t eat you as long as you’re with me.”
“Great. But have you seen any of my friends? Or our plane for that matter?” Mario asked her.
“No I haven’t. For all we know, they could have been eaten by someone else by now.”
“Then there’s no time to lose! Please Crisis, could you help us find them?” Peach pleaded.
“Sure! I’d be glad to help! But do you mind if we stop for a bite on the way?” Crisis asked.
“Just as long as we’re not part of it,” Mario said sarcastically, but was actually serious.
“Well then, let’s go!” Crisis said as she picked them up, put them on her shoulder, and slithered off into the jungle.
-- Crisis belongs to Karbo.
Chapter 4: Coura or Courage
Luigi was wandering through the jungle, scared half to death because he was all alone.
“Wh-wh-where am I?” Luigi asked himself. He tried recalling the events that had taken place that morning. “Let’s see… We were going to go investigate that portal… but before we got there, we were attacked by Bowser’s airships… Oh, this isn’t helping!” He looked around and saw a cave. “Well, maybe I can just lie low here until I can get a hold of myself.”
He walked over to the cave, when he heard a hissing noise. “WAH!” He jumped and started backing into the cave. Realizing how dark the cave was getting, Luigi tried to calm himself. He started humming the song that E. Gadd had always been playing on his radio in his lab, as he had done when Mario was kidnapped and he had to infiltrate a mansion of ghosts. As the noise died off, Luigi’s hum died as well. “Phew… That was close.”
He continued to back up until he tripped on a ledge. However, the fall was softer than he’d have thought. “Eh?” He got back up and felt the ledge. “Probably a thick patch of moss…” he said, trying to calm himself. He pulled out his flashlight and turned it on calmly. That feeling was immediately replaced by terror when he looked up.
Teeth.
He tried to run, but the
mouth shut, leaving him scared nearly to a heart attack, and trapped.
Coura Keln Velna walked through her dream blissfully. She looked around and knew the dream quite well, and what would happen.
“The day everything went wrong…” Coura murmured. She was in her old sorceress’ academy, in Black Magic class. She looked over and saw her friend point to the teacher, then make a gagging gesture. Coura giggled.
“Ms. Velna, do you have something to add?” the teacher asked. Coura gulped.
“N-no sir!” she replied, almost in the tone of a soldier addressing a higher officer.
“Then why don’t you come up here and show us how to properly make a portal?”
“Yes sir!” Coura said, getting
out of her desk.
Luigi was filled with panic
as the giant tongue smacked him into the back of the creature’s throat.
He tried to grasp for the uvula, but was sucked down too far by the esophageal
muscles. He screamed as his head was sucked down the throat.
Coura walked up to the teacher’s desk and started to mix some chemicals in a seemingly haphazard fashion. As soon as she was done, she poured the concoction on the floor.
“Good Ms. Velna, now make
a portal,” the teacher said. As soon as he did, she felt a queasy feeling
in her stomach.
A prang of terror shot through Luigi as the muscles of the esophagus relaxed around him. He yelped as he landed with a splash in a puddle of nullified acid.
“Wh-what just happened?”
Luigi asked, hoping that this was some sort of bad dream. Seeing that it
wasn’t, he began to kick and punch the walls around him, hoping to
get the attention of whatever it was.
Coura couldn’t even speak. She bent over, feeling movement in her stomach like she had swallowed a rat. She ran out the door and into the hallway, much to the teacher’s displeasure.
“What’s going on?! Th-this
isn’t normally how this dream goes!” Coura said to herself as she ran down
the hall. She tripped and fell down the stairs…
Luigi felt an abrupt shift in motion, like the world had shifted 90 degrees. He fell over and got back up quickly. Realizing whatever had swallowed him was now active, he decided to let out his loudest scream he could, and since he had done plenty in the ghost-infested mansion, he was quite good at it.
“HEEEEEEEEEEELP!”
Coura shot bolt upright from her sleep and looked around, glad that she wasn’t in the academy infirmary.
“It was only a dream…” she sighed, then heard a scream that seemed to reverberate through her whole body.
“Heeeeeeeeeeelp!”
“Huh? Who’s there?” Coura
asked, looking around.
Luigi was glad that his scream didn’t go unheard, but slightly surprised that the voice that responded was feminine.
“Down here! I’m not sure if it was intentional, but you’ve swallowed me!”
“What?!” the voice responded, sounding shocked.
“Yeah! C-could you please help me get out?”
“Oh my gosh, I’m terribly sorry! I’ll get you out right away!” the voice said, then murmured, “Where’d I put the blasted epicad?”
Epicad? Oh boy… Luigi thought to himself. He knew full well what the person was trying to do.
“I’d suggest you brace yourself!” the voice called. A clear liquid began running down into the chamber and the stomach gave one heaving lurch. Before he knew it, Luigi was on the cave floor, covered in saliva and digestive juices.
“Mama…mia…” Luigi said, still trying to get his bearings. He looked up and saw a girl, about 110 feet tall, looking down at him through large navy blue eyes. She looked about the age of 16, and was wearing a sort of dark blue futuristic combat dress, a golden utility belt with several pockets for items, and a metal bracelet with weird markings on it. A pair of blue leather boots, a pair of matching gloves, and a golden staff were piled in one corner of the cave. She had hair that matched the color of her eyes, which was about shoulder length.
“Are you okay?” the girl asked, bending over him.
“Y-yeah… I’m fine… Wh-who…or what are you…?” Luigi asked, still dazed. The girl giggled.
“My name is Coura. Coura Keln Velna,” she said with a smile. “And believe it or not, I’m a human, just like you.”
“My name is Luigi, Luigi Mario. But if you’re a normal human, why… how… Your height…” Luigi tried to ask, short for words in the current situation.
“Well, it’s a long story, but I’d be glad to tell you,” Coura said, switching her position to a cross-legged sit. “You see, I come from an alternate Earth dimension that is farther in the future than yours.”
“Wait… Earth? I was born there, but I don’t live there now,” Luigi said. “Oh, sorry to interrupt.”
“No no, it’s fine, but… If you don’t live on Earth, where do you live?” Coura asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Well, I live in another world called the Mushroom Kingdom,” Luigi said. Coura giggled.
“I’m sorry, but… that’s a bit of a silly name.”
“You get used to it. Anyway, me and my brother Mario constantly have to fend off the plans of the evil King Bowser Koopa. But it’s no big deal. So you were saying?”
“Um… Oh! Right! I was in Black Magic class studying on how to make trans-dimensional portals. I had to do a demonstration, and I had apparently pronounced one word wrong when opening the portal, so it imploded on itself right after I got sucked in. I was sent here, and ballooned up to 20 times my own size,” Coura explained. She seemed to have the tale memorized.
“Wow… That’s kind of sad…” Luigi said.
“Well, I’ve gotten used to living here. I’ve been here for about 2 years now.”
“Where is here anyway?” Luigi asked.
“I’m not too sure, but it’s called Felarya. The scary thing is, most normal humans like you are considered a snack around here by the local predators.”
“S-snack?” Luigi said, his teeth starting to chatter.
“Don’t worry, I’m not one of those walking stomachs out there! I’m still perfectly civilized, despite my height.”
“S-so… what are the local predators around here anyway?” Luigi asked, starting to calm down a bit.
“Mostly nagas, dridders, dryads, mermaids, and a few fairies too.”
“What? But I thought mermaids and fairies were nice creatures! I don’t know what the other things are, but they sound pretty nasty.”
“Well, the mermaids and fairies you’ve heard about are, but these ones are normally out for a snack. The mermaids here are actually my size while the fairies can change theirs. Nagas are half human half snake, dridders are half human half spider, and-”
“Oh, I’ll show him a dridder, honey!” a voice said from outside the cave. Before either of them could react, Luigi was pulled screaming out of the cave by a web.
“COURA! HEEEEELP!”
“Luigi! Oh, don’t worry,
I’m coming!” Coura said as she jumped to her feet, grabbed her staff, and
ran out of the cave entrance.
The dridder walked along at a leisurely pace on her eight legs.
“Luigi, huh? I love Italian food!” the dridder laughed. She brushed away her long, brown hair from her face. Luigi looked up at her from where he was stuck to her arm. He scanned her being, immediately noticing that where her legs should have been, there was the abdomen of a spider. She wore a tank top-looking shirt that went down to where her hips should have been, and it was made of spider webs dyed black.
“B-believe me, lady, y-you don’t want to eat me! I taste terrible! My friend Coura can vouch for that!”
“Sorry sweetie, but I gotta eat, no matter how bad the food tastes!” the dridder said, licking her lips.
“Put him down!” a voice called out from behind them, each word sounding like its own sentence. The dridder turned to see Coura standing there, staff drawn and pointed at her.
“Careful honey, toys like that can be dangerous for little girls like you,” the dridder said in a cocky tone.
“I’m not saying it again. Put him down, and nobody gets hurt,” Coura said, an obvious tone of rage in her voice.
“Oh, him?” the dridder said, lifting the arm Luigi was stuck to. “Sorry, but he’s mine.”
“You’re just asking for it, aren’t you? Let my friend go NOW,” Coura said, her voice getting a more fiery tone.
“Okay, I’ll let him go,” the dridder said. Coura kept the staff pointed at her. Before she could react, however, the dridder shot a web from her mouth onto Luigi and gulped him down. “Into my stomach, that is!”
Coura snapped. She hated seeing her friends eaten like this. It had happened to her friend John 117 awhile back, but he was well armed with guns and plasma grenades, and killed the dridder from the inside. Didn’t know what Luigi had up his sleeve, if anything. She charged the dridder full force, but she just shot a web at Coura and stuck her to a tree.
“Sorry sweetheart, but you
won’t get your way with a temper like that!” the dridder laughed as she
began to walk away.
Luigi landed in the dridder’s stomach with a squish.
Not again… Luigi thought, getting up. I’m stuck in another stomach, except this person… or thing wants to keep me here. As much of a pacifist as I am, I’m going to have to get out using force!
He pulled a Fire Flower
from his cap and his overalls turned green and his hat and shirt turned
white. “Time to turn up the heat!” Luigi said as a green flame appeared
in his hand.
The dridder hummed calmly, feeling full and happy and… warm?
“Wh-what’s going on?! Th-this heat… in my stomach… AUGH!” The dridder shrieked as she burst into green flame. Coura remained stuck there, awestruck and wondering what had happened. Luigi broke out of the smoldering remains of the dridder.
“And THAT’S why we don’t play with fire!” Luigi said, pointing at the carcass.
“Luigi… but… how?” Coura stuttered, finally breaking out of the web.
“Fire Flower. Gives the holder the ability to shoot flames from their hands. Only found in the Mushroom Kingdom,” Luigi said with a smirk.
“That was AMAZING!” Coura said as she picked up Luigi and hugged him. Then both of them froze when they heard yelling and shouts.
Female shouts.
“That sounds like… DAISY!” Luigi said, his eyes going wide.
“Daisy? Who’s that?”
“She’s a good friend of mine who came with me here, along with my brother and a bunch of our friends. And by the sound of it, she’s in big trouble!”
“Well hold on, we’ll go help her!” Coura said, putting Luigi on her shoulder. She walked off into the jungle in the direction of Daisy’s yelling.
-- Coura belongs to ChaosEmerald2.
Chapter 5: Petal Pains
Daisy walked through a patch of lilies at a brisk pace, taking in the pleasant aroma of the flowers that surrounded her.
“For some strange world, this place is pretty nice!” Daisy said, lying down among the lilies. “The only thing that has me confused is: where is everyone else? I remember a bright flash, then waking up in this forest. If the plane had crashed, why were we spread so far? Oh, who cares? I’ll just relax a bit, then I’ll go looking for the others. I mean, what could possibly be so dangerous in a patch of lilies? A bee? I’m so scared.”
Daisy shut her eyes and
put her arms behind her head.
Phlell jumped from lily to lily in one of her favorite flower beds.
Gurgle…
“Ugh, now I’m hungry,” the fairy said as she held her groaning stomach.
Gurgle…
“Oh, shut up! I’ll find food soon.”
Phlell continued to jump the flowers when she saw a girl with brown hair wearing a yellow dress lying among the flowers. “Bingo,” Phlell whispered to herself. “She doesn’t seem to be from around here, or she wouldn’t be relaxing, meaning that this should be easy…”
Phlell flew over to the
girl. “Hello!”
Daisy opened her eyes to see a fairy hovering above her heard about 2 inches tall with shoulder length emerald green hair and eyes with antlers sprouting from her temples wearing a makeshift bikini made of leaves.
“Oh, hello!” Daisy said, sitting up. “Wow, a real fairy.” Daisy said, holding out her finger for the fairy to land on. She accepted the gesture and landed on Daisy’s finger.
“Who are you?” the fairy asked.
“My name is Daisy. Who are you?” Daisy said politely.
“My name is Phlell. What are you doing out here?” Daisy sighed at the question.
“I’m not too sure. My friends and I were going to go check out some portal back home when we were attacked by my good friend’s brother’s enemy. We rushed into the portal, and there was a flash… Then I don’t remember a thing. I just woke up a few yards from here.”
“Wow, that’s a pretty strange story. Kinda sad too,” Phlell said, rubbing her right arm.
“The worst part of it is that I don’t know where anyone else is.”
“You may want to get started looking then. Felarya’s a dangerous place.”
“Felarya? Is that where I am? I’ve never heard of it.”
“That’s because the portal you were investigating was a trans-dimensional portal. You may not believe it, but you’re in a whole ‘nother dimension!”
“Wow… Wait, you said that this place can be dangerous… how?”
“This place is packed with preds. You have nagas, dridders, dryads, mermaids… the whole sort.”
“That’s weird. I’ve heard of nagas and dryads before in mythology, but never dridders. And I thought mermaids were nice creatures.”
“The ones you know are, but the ones here aren’t,” Phlell said. “Oh, there’s one more I forgot to mention,” she said, jumping off Daisy’s finger.
“What’s that?” Daisy said standing up.
“Fairies,” Phlell said, growing to Daisy’s height.
“Wha-? Y-you can’t be serious!” Daisy said, backing away.
“I am completely serious. Though I like to play with my food first, so I’ll give you a fighting chance,” Phlell said. Daisy’s expression went from terror to serious as she threw a punch into Phlell’s jaw. “What the?! Do you work out or something?”
“I keep myself well defended,” Daisy said, wagging her finger.
“Good. I like fighters!” Phlell said, decking Daisy.
Dausy kicked Phlell off and stood up. She ripped off her dress to reveal her sports gear. “Crystal SMASH!” Daisy shouted, jumping up and pounding the ground. Phlell didn’t have time to react as crystals shot out of the ground and knocked her over, sending her flying into a tree.
“Ouch… Dang it… You’re good, but you’ve had your fun…” Phlell said, getting up. She then began to grow.
“Oh man…” Daisy whined as Phlell stopped her growth at 100 feet.
“C’mere you!” Phlell said, stooping down and snatching up Daisy.
“Let me go! This is way messed up!” Daisy shouted, squirming in an attempt to escape.
“Sorry Daisy, but I gotta eat something, don’t I?”
“Yeah, but not me!”
“But you’re right here! Why go through the trouble to try to find someone else?” Phlell began raising Daisy higher into the air.
“This is no fair! You tricked me!” Daisy screamed in protest.
“True, but that’s sometimes how I hunt.” Phlell opened her mouth, letting Daisy see into the fleshy abyss below.
“Oh come on! You wouldn’t do this!”
“I would, and I have thousands of times before. Goodbye Daisy! It was nice knowing you!” Phlell said as she loosened her grip.
“Noooo!” Daisy screamed as she was dropped. Phlell’s mouth rushed up around her and she made a grab for the tongue. She clung to the saliva-coated piece of flesh for dear life. “This is nuts! Let me out!” Daisy said as she attempted to climb the tongue, only slipping further down. Phlell readjusted and rolled her around on her tongue a little bit, Daisy screaming the whole time. Phlell finally got bored and flicked her tongue back. Daisy hit the back of her mouth with a smack, but she reached and grabbed Phlell’s uvula.
“Ack!” Phlell gripped her throat and fell to her knees, gulping down air to try to dislodge Daisy. I hate it when my prey does this… Phlell thought.
“Great, I’ve only got one
option now,” Daisy said as she looked up at her salvation. She braced herself
and yanked the uvula as hard as she could. However, she lost her
grip in the process, and was sucked down Phlell’s throat.
Coura walked into the patch of flowers with Luigi on her shoulder to see Phlell on her knees gasping. She ran over to her friend.
“Phlell?! Phlell, are you okay?” Coura said, putting her hands on Phlell’s shoulders.
“I’m… fine… I… think…” Phlell said between gasps.
“Have you seen a girl in a yellow dress with brown hair lately?” Coura asked.
“I just….hrk!” Phlell doubled over, clutching her stomach.
“Phlell!” Coura said, holding on to her friend. Phlell just looked up at Coura… and vomited.
“AUGH! Phlell!” Coura looked down chest to see a girl in the regurgitated mess. She picked her up and gingerly put her on her palm.
“Daisy?!” Luigi said, in pure shock. He ran down Coura’s arm to her.
“L-Luigi? Ugh… That was disgusting!” Daisy said, getting over the fact she had nearly been eaten rather quickly.
“Hey, don’t worry. It happened to me too, though it was accidental,” Luigi said. Coura blushed at the statement.
“So… you two know each other?” Phlell asked, wiping her mouth off.
“He’s the guy I mentioned earlier,” Daisy said.
“My name’s Luigi. It would have been a bit nicer to meet you if you hadn’t just thrown up my friend just now.”
“Heh heh…A girl’s gotta eat, doesn’t she?” Phlell said, blushing.
“Yeah, but it would be nicer if you didn’t eat us or our friends,” Daisy said, standing up. “Oh, I guess I should know whose palm I’m standing on. My name is Daisy.”
“I’m Coura. It’s nice to meet you,” Coura said, a tone of shyness in her voice.
“Likewise,” Daisy said, sitting back down next to Luigi.
“My name is Phlell, if you didn’t gather that from what Coura said,” Phlell said, looking slightly embarrassed.
“All introductions aside, how do we find the rest of our friends?” Luigi asked, looking up at Coura.
“Well, I have a friend named Anna. She lives at the Giant Tree, along with a bunch of other preds. But if you guys are with me and Phlell, they won’t hurt you,” Coura said. “Anna should be able to track your friends since she knows a lot about technology and is a skilled huntress.”
“The other predators make me nervous, but… Let’s try it. If what you’re telling us is true, then we should have nothing to worry about.” Luigi said.
“Then let’s go!” Phlell said, starting off in the direction of the Giant Tree. Coura put Luigi and Daisy on her head and walked after Phlell.
-- Phlell belongs to ChaosEmerald2
Chapter 6: Flames of a Feather
Bowser sat on a log waiting for his son to return.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have sent Jr. to scout alone. For all I know, this place could honestly be dangerous. Bah! Who am I kidding? Jr. can handle himself! He’s nearly a full-grown Koopa prince! He’ll be fine!” Bowser said to himself.
He was getting bored, so he decided to get off the log he was sitting on and whittle it with his claws. A half hour passed, and Bowser had nearly completed a statue of himself when Bowser Jr. came running into the clearing.
“Dad! Dad, run!” Jr. said, bolting past his father. Bowser grabbed him by the neckerchief he always wore.
“Hold up there, Son! What’s got you all riled up?” he asked, setting his son down.
“Papa! It was scary! There was this giant snake lady! She jumped out at me and I ran!”
“Snake lady! Ha! That’s pretty cute, Jr! There’s no such thing as a-”
But he was interrupted by a naga coming into the clearing. She was young, towering 69 feet above Bowser and Jr. She looked in her 20’s in human standards, had long fiery red hair, glistening green eyes, had the body of a copperhead from the hips down, and wore an orange T-shirt.
“There you are!” she cooed. “Oh! And a bigger one too!”
“Hey lady! What’s the big idea chasing my son?!” Bowser bellowed up at the naga.
“Well, I was looking for someone to talk to, and now there’s two of you!” she said happily.
“T-talk? Gosh, you had me scared half to death there!” Bowser Jr. replied.
“I suppose it was a bit rude of me to chase you without you knowing who I am. My name is Scala,” the naga said, wiping a strand of hair away from her eye.
“I am King Bowser Koopa! Leader of the Koopa Kingdom!” Bowser laughed, seeing that the creature wasn’t hostile.
“And I’m Bowser Jr. Nice to meet’cha!” Bowser Jr. said happily, stepping out from behind Bowser’s back and holding his hand out. Scala bent down and put her index finger in his hand to shake.
“So… you’re a king?” Scala asked, cocking an eyebrow
“And a dang powerful one at that!” Bowser said heartily.
“Then that must make you a prince,” she said, looking down at Bowser Jr.
“Yeah, but my older brother Ludwig will probably get the throne.”
“Don’t worry, it won‘t be that bad!” Scala said, trying to comfort the little Koopa.
“Listen, we came here for resources, but me and Jr. here were separated from my other kids and our fleet. Do you think you can… ugh… help us?” Bowser asked hesitantly.
“Hmm… I suppose…” Scala said, but seemed uninterested. In a flash she coiled her tail around Bowser and lifted him up to her face, hanging him upside down.
“HEY! WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?!” Bowser yelled loudly.
“Or, I could have a snack right now!” Scala said, poking Bowser in the gut.
“DAD!” Bowser Jr. shouted.
“Nobody makes a meal of me!” Bowser said, breathing fire in Scala’s face. She dropped him.
“OUCH! Grr… Why you little…!” She shot fire from her fingertips right at Bowser, who quickly ducked into his shell.
“What in the world are you?!” Bowser yelled, coming back out of his shell and shooting a fireball at Scala.
“I’m a fire naga! Live with it!” Scala said, grabbing Bowser quickly and tossing him in her mouth.
“DAD! NO!!!” Bowser Jr. began to cry. Scala spit the tyrant out.
“Augh! You taste TERRIBLE!” Scala said, wiping her tongue in an attempt to get rid of the awful flavor. Jr. ran over to his dad.
“Dad! Dad, you okay?!” Jr. asked, panicking.
“Blargh. That was the most disgusting thing that’s happened to me in my life…” Bowser said, getting up and wiping saliva from his face.
“Yep, you’re fine,” Jr. said, all worry leaving his voice. Scala’s tail wrapped around him. “AH!”
“JR!” Bowser shouted, then he pointed at Scala and mumbled a few words. 4 black balls of energy bound by a circle of lightning that flashed white and purple appeared above her head, then lowered, tightening around her forehead.
“Ack! What is this thing?!” Scala shouted, trying to pull off the band. She dropped Jr.
“Shut up and listen!” Bowser shouted. Scala snapped to attention as her pupils shrank.
“Yes Master?” Scala said in a monotone voice. Bowser chuckled.
“You seem to be strong enough! Build me a castle! And a big one at that!” Bowser demanded.
“Yes Master…” Scala said deadly.
“Oh, but first, do you have any friends to help with the project?” Bowser inquired.
“Yes.”
“Good. Take me to some of them!” Bowser said.
Scala picked them up and placed them on her shoulder. “As you wish, Master…” Scala said, slithering off into the jungle.
“Oh, this is gonna be good…” Bowser snickered, rubbing his hands together.
-- Scala belongs to Blazbaros.
Chapter 7: Mechanical Meets Maniacal and Magical
Ludwig and Kamek were taking some observations on the surrounding wildlife in the forest.
“Very interestink…” Ludwig said, rubbing his chin. “Zis plantlife zeems to be larger zan normal, but all ze animals zeem to be normal zize!”
“Could it be that this place is inhabited by large organizms?” Kamek suggested.
“Zat eez a very good possibility… But it zeems razer illogical…”
“True, but think about it. We’re on the other side of some portal, with no clue what- or who- lives here. For all we know, we may be the smallest intelligent lifeforms here!”
“Let’s just hope not…” Ludwig
said, looking into the jungles and feeling that they were being watched.
Anna carefully slithered through the jungle, being careful not to make any noise, especially since she had heard talking nearby.
“I gotta find breakfast soon or I’m going to starve…” Anna mumbled. “I just hope those humans I heard aren’t too far away…” She looked through some trees to see two humanoid figures taking observations nearby. “Bingo!” she whispered, then quickly covered her mouth.
“Vat was zat?” the shorter of the two asked. He looked in her direction, but missed her completely. Anna didn’t know what to think of the little creature. He looked like a mutated turtle with a spiked shell, walked on two legs, had one tooth sticking out in the front center of his mouth, and poofy blue hair that reminded her of Beethoven, someone she had heard about when she was a human. The other one seemed to be turtle-like as well, but he wore a long blue robe, a pointed hat, and one-way spectacles that had big, black frames. His face was beak-like, and he had two teeth sticking out like fangs.
“What in the world are those…?”
Anna said. Feeling her stomach walls grind together, she decided that they
weren’t human and decided to eat.
“Kamek, I svare ve are beink vatched!” Ludwig said to the mage.
“I’ve been getting that feeling as well. She’s been there for a few minutes now,” Kamek said. He heard a small feminine gasp from the jungle. Brandishing his wand, he turned in the direction of the noise and said, “You can come out now.” Ludwig was expecting a small human girl hiding there, but was shocked at what came out instead. A woman in her early twenties with the body of a blue snake with a yellow underbelly came out of the jungle. She had shoulder length pink hair, piercing yellow eyes, and was wearing an oil-stained white T-shirt.
“Vat in ze world are you?!” Ludwig shouted, jumping back behind Kamek.
“Typical response. I’ll give you a bit of a lesson then. My name is Anna, and I’m a naga, half human half snake, but I wasn’t always this way, though I suppose I should be lucky to be alive. I used to be a normal human mechanic, but that’s besides the point. You two are…?”
“I am Kamek, head Magikoopa of King Bowser’s army. And, this is his eldest son, Ludwig von Koopa,” Kamek replied with some authority in his voice.
“Good. I want to know what I’m eating, seeing as I‘ve never seen a ‘Koopa‘ before,” Anna replied, putting her hands on her hips.
“E-eat?!” Ludwig squeaked. He began to run, but it was to no avail. Anna scooped him up and grabbed Kamek as well.
“I think I’ll start with the chubby one first,” Anna said, lifting Ludwig higher into the air.
“V-vait! Stop! I-I’ll do anything you vant!” Ludwig stammered, trying to break free.
“Can you turn me into a human again?” Anna asked. She meant is as a rhetorical question, but was surprised when she got a response from, not Ludwig, but Kamek.
“Actually, I could look into it,” he said nonchalantly.
“Is that so? How’d you do that?“ Anna asked.
“Well, I kinda need to be put down to use my magic, honey,” Kamek said in a matter of fact tone.
“Okay, but if either of you two try to run, I’ll gulp both of you down with no regrets,” Anna said, putting the Koopas down. Ludwig was glued where he was by Anna’s threat. Kamek pulled out a big red book from his robe.
“A spell to turn a reptile into a human… Hmm…” Kamek mumbled, flipping through the book. “Aha! Here it is!” Kamek, said smacking his finger down onto the page. “Okay, you’re going to need to lie down on your stomach so I can reach your forehead.”
Anna complied, full of excitement. She was finally going to be a human again! Kamek drew a symbol on her forehead with a charcoal pen he always carried and stepped back. He mumbled a few words, and Anna began to glow. There was a flash, and where Anna had once been laying, there was a human with Anna’s same characteristics, only with the average height of a woman, and she was wearing a gray T-shirt stained with oil, blue jeans, and white running shoes. She slowly got to her feet and looked at her hands.
“H-how…?” she stuttered, still confused after the flash. After realizing what had happened to her, and that she was human again, she jumped on Kamek and hugged him. Hard. “Oh thank you thank you thank you!” She then realized what she was doing. She jumped back and brushed herself off. “Erm… Well… Thanks…” she said, scratching the back of her head.
“Don’t mention it, but we need to find Ludwig’s siblings, as well as his father,” Kamek said, looking around.
“Well… I have my equipment back at the Giant… Tree…” Anna’s voice trailed off. “OH DANG IT!” she said, slapping herself in the forehead.
“Vat’s ze problem?” Ludwig asked, relieved that the threat of being eaten was over.
“The Giant Tree is home to a BUNCH of predators, my ‘friend’ Crisis chief among them. She eats humans like I used to smoke,” Anna said wagging her finger.
“Well, I’ve lived a good life,” Kamek said, walking up to Anna. “I’ll give it a go.”
“Are you MAD, man?!” Ludwig said, grabbing Kamek and shaking him. “Ve could EASLIY be killed!”
“I know that, but if we stay here, we have a higher chance of getting killed, whereas if we go to the Giant Tree that Anna mentioned, we have a chance of them recognizing her and no harm will come to us at all.” Ludwig let him go.
“… I’ll go viz ze tree zen,” Ludwig said.
“Good. Then let’s get going. It’s a five-minute slither from here as a naga, but as a human, I’d say about a ten-minute hike,” Anna said, walking into the jungle. Kamek followed, with Ludwig close behind him.
“I just hope zis plan vorks…” Ludwig whimpered.
-- Anna belongs to Karbo
Chapter 8: Mobilizing
Crisis, Mario, and Peach reached the Giant Tree, though Crisis stopped for breakfast on the way, which Mario and Peach requested they not see.
“Ah… Home sweet home!” Crisis said, slithering up to the tree.
“So this is where you live?” Mario asked looking around.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Crisis said, carefully climbing up to a branch. A fairy with long periwinkle hair swooped down and grabbed Mario and Peach.
“Crisis! How thoughtful! You brought me lunch!” the fairy said, licking her lips.
“Melany! Put them down! You can’t eat my friends!” Crisis said, snatching them back.
“Friends? Crisis, I swear, you’re going soft on me. First it was those two green and blue spiky guys, and now these two humans!”
“It doesn’t matter to you! These are my friends and I say you can’t eat them!” Crisis said, turning her back on the fairy. Melany stormed off to find another meal.
“Thanks,” Mario said, lifting his hat to wipe some sweat from his forehead.
“Don’t mind Melany. She’s just a pain at times, but if I tell her off, she’ll leave us alone.”
“I dunno… She seemed pretty upset,” Peach said.
“Ah, she’ll get over it. It’s only two snacks,” Crisis said, then heard some rustling. “Who could that be?” She slithered down to the tree’s roots. A human with pink hair and yellow eyes and wearing an oil-soaked gray T-shirt and blue jeans followed by two turtle-like humanoids, one wearing a long blue robe and pointed hat with one way spectacles, while the other had blue puffy hair and a spiked shell, came into the clearing. “I swear I know that girl from someplace…I think I ate her once…” Crisis mumbled. Mario took a closer look at the turtles.
“Ludwig and Kamek?” Mario said, scratching the back of his head.
“You know those two?”
“Ludwig, the one with the funny hair, is the oldest son of Bowser, while Kamek, the one in the robe, is his top mage.”
“So they’re not friends?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Good. Looks like lunch
is served,” Crisis said, looking at the Koopas with a hungry look.
“We’re here,” Anna said, gesturing to the tree.
“Vere iz everybody?” Ludwig asked, looking around.
“Probably hiding and waiting to pounce on us,” Anna said, looking at the sides of the tree. They came to a branch that had a gap in it. “Ugh… Not here…”
“What’s the matter?” Kamek asked, looking at the gap.
“Never mind. Let’s go,”
Anna said getting a running start and jumping the gap. As she was at the
apex of her jump, she looked down to see an open mouth moving up towards
her. “Not again!”
Crisis caught the human in her mouth, her legs kicking in an attempt to break free.
“Crisis! Stop!” the human cried.
“Hoh do yoh noh mah namh?” Crisis said, the girl still in her mouth.
“It’s me! Anna!”
“Annah? Noht lichleh! She’th a nagah!”
“Crisis! I was turned back into a human!” Anna yelled, pounding on Crisis’s lip. She pulled Anna out of her mouth and looked at her closely.
“Hmm… Anna? Is that really you?” Crisis asked, poking Anna’s stomach.
“Who else would I be?!” Anna said, angry because it took her friend that long to realize it was her, while she nearly eaten again.
“But how?”
“I changed her back using some magic!” the turtle in the robes answered.
“Since when have you wanted to help people?” Mario said, jumping up to Crisis’s head and then down to the branch.
“M-Mario?!” Ludwig said, jumping back.
“Actually, I did it to save Ludwig since Anna asked about it. I knew Bowser would be furious if he was eaten, and I don’t want to have to suffer through one of his rages!”
“Makes sense…” Mario said, rubbing his chin. Melany swooped back down and landed next to Crisis.
“Hey Crisis, do you remember any humans building a castle near Jewel River in the Forest of Whispers?” the fairy asked.
“Castle? The only thing that’s been close to a castle here in Felarya is Anko’s Mysterious Ruins at the lake north of here,” Crisis said.
“Well, there’s one there,” Melany said.
“Hang on a second… Melany, what did the castle look like?” Mario asked.
“It was made of dark gray bricks, had torches for a few of the towers, and a large incomplete column in the center.”
“Any flags?”
“Yes, there was some blue flags with a weird white pattern in the middle around the construction site.” Melany’s stomach let out muffled shouts. “Oh, sorry, that was the camper I had for lunch,” Melany said, blushing.
“Ignoring that. Crisis, could you take me up to the top of the tree?”
“Okay… but why?” Crisis asked.
“I need to get a good look at those flags,” Mario said, pointing upward. Crisis picked him up and placed him on her head, then began to climb the tree. As soon as they reached the top, Mario took off his hat and pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Now where’s that castle…?” Mario said, looking around. When he found it, he looked at one of the flags. It was blue as Melany had said, but the pattern she couldn’t make out, Mario could. It was a white silhouette of Bowser’s face .
“Crisis, we can go down now. I know who’s castle it is.” Mario said, a tone of disgust in his voice. Crisis complied and slithered back down.
“What’s the matter?” Crisis said after she reached the tree’s base and put Mario in her hand.
“Bowser’s here, and if he’s building a castle, he’s intending to stay,” Mario explained. Ludwig jumped at the statement.
“Fazer?! Eere? Kamek! Ve must go to ze castle!” Ludwig said, shaking the Magikoopa.
“I agree,” Kamek said, pulling a broom from his robe. He and Ludwig got on and started to rise. “Oh, and Anna, don’t strain yourself too much. If you become too exhausted, the spell will wear off,” Kamek said before shooting off in the direction Melany had mentioned.
“Great. So now what?” Anna asked, looking in the direction Kamek and Ludwig flew off in.
Snap!
“What was that?” Peach asked, frightened and thinking it may be another predator.
“Dunno…” Mario said, looking in the direction of the sound. What he got for an answer was a surprise. A 100-foot-tall fairy stepped from the jungle, wearing a makeshift outfit made from leaves. She was followed by a girl, 10 feet taller than her, in a futuristic blue dress-like outfit… with Luigi and Daisy on her head?
“Luigi?” Mario called up to him.
“Mario! Coura, could you stop please?” Luigi said.
“Okay,” the girl, evidently named Coura, replied and stopped. Luigi jumped down to her shoulder, then to the ground.
“Mario! Oh thank goodness you’re okay!” Luigi said, embracing Mario in a bear hug that was gladly returned.
“Well, I almost wound up breakfast…” Mario said, looking over at Crisis, who blushed. “But I’m glad that I saved a few Red Stars from space,” Mario finished. Coura put Daisy down next to Luigi and walked over to Crisis.
“Hey Crisis, have you seen Anna?” Coura asked.
“Over here,” Anna called from a branch eye-level with Coura.
“Anna?! H-How are you a human?!” Coura stuttered.
“Well, a mage from the same dimension as our friends turned me back. However, just before he left, he told me if I overexhaust myself, it’ll wear off,” Anna explained.
“But I couldn’t even find a spell remotely close to what you were looking for!”
“Don’t sweat it. I’m better. That’s all that needs to be. Anyone got a cigarette? I haven’t had a smoke in years,” Anna said, a tone of sarcasm in her voice.
Phlell walked over to Melany. “Hello Melany…” Phlell said, a tone of hate in her voice.
“Hello Phlell. Come for another contest?” Melany replied, a tone of boastfulness in her voice with the last sentence.
“Where will we find the humans and nekos?”
“We have all we need right here!” Melany said, gesturing towards Mario and his friends, who were now telling each other of their adventures in the strange land.
“I… don’t think so,” Phlell said hesitantly.
“Why not? You too chicken?”
“You don’t want to know what the one in the green can do,” Phlell said nervously.
“What can a human do to harm me?”
“He burnt a dridder to a crisp.”
“What?! That’s impossible! I’ve seen dridders hit with the stuff the humans call ‘napalm’ and get barely burnt!”
“I’ll tell you how it went,” Phlell said.
Crisis slithered over to Mario and his friends. “So… these are some of the friends you mentioned?” Crisis asked, lying down next to Mario.
“That’s right, but there’s still more out there,” Mario said.
“Then I’m guessing that… you’re Mario’s brother. Luigi, right?” Crisis said, pointing to the green-clad plumber.
“Hey! Someone actually remembers me!” Luigi said happily.
“And then you’re Daisy?” Crisis said, pointing to her.
“That’s right!” Daisy said.
“Mario’s told me so much about you guys! You must have such exciting adventures he hasn’t told me about! And I’d love to meet some of your other friends!”
“Speaking of which, we need to find them. From what I’ve gathered, this world is packed with living stomachs. They could have already been found… or worse…” Mario said.
“Right, but where should we check first? We’re in another dimension, Bro!” Luigi stated.
“I know this place like the back of my hand! I could help!” Crisis said happily.
“I guess I could look through my things for some sort of vehicle…” Anna said, scratching the back of her head.
“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Luigi said, jumping to his feet.
“Okey-dokey! Let’s go!” Mario said, thrusting his fist into the air.
Everyone let out an excited “Yeah!” and headed towards Anna’s workshop.
-- Melany belongs to Karbo.
To Be Continued...
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