Chapter 7: The Bridge of Bad Memories
"There it is."
The siblings stood on the edge of Sky Land. Looking down from such a great height made them nervous.
"Who wants to go first?" Lemmy asked.
"Maybe all of us," Wendy suggested. "We can hold hands."
"Will that work?" Lemmy asked.
"Yeah," Wendy assured. "Either we all survive, or we all die."
"That's logical," Iggy said. "We should try it."
"Are you sure?" Lemmy was turning pale.
"Yes," Wendy and Iggy exclaimed in unison.
Iggy grasped Wendy's hand and Wendy grabbed on to Lemmy with her other hand (Lemmy carrying his ball). They leapt up into the air and soon felt themselves falling to the ground. The wind rushed in their faces and their hearts beat a mile a minute.
Then they landed in a lake. A huge splash occurred and the two younger Koopas rose up. "We made it!" Iggy smiled.
Wendy spit out some water like a fountain. "Good thing," she said. "That was close."
"Yeah," Iggy said. "Where's Lemmy?"
Wendy gasped. "He can't swim!" She dove under the water, looking for Lemmy. She saw him holding his hand out towards her, his cheeks puffed. She swam towards him and grasped his palm. She paddled towards the surface, towards Iggy's worried face. She burst through the roof of water. She gasped for breath as Iggy took Lemmy to nearby land. Wendy swam over after a few seconds.
"That was close," Lemmy said as he breathed carefully.
"Yes it was," Iggy said, "and it got me thinking. If Shiny-eyes went through the clouds, he should be in an ocean, swimming towards us."
"We have to go?" Wendy asked.
Iggy nodded with worry.
Lemmy got up. "Where's my ball?" he asked.
Wendy thought for a moment. "The water."
The younger t two sighed. They knew they would go very slowly without Lemmy's ball, so they agreed to fish it out from the lake.
Wendy gathered some long tree branches, which were quite common in Sky Land, and gave them to Iggy. There, the brains of the group tied them together with remarkably strong seaweed from the lake. After enough sticks they had built a giant net.
Wendy dove a few feet under the water and found the ball. She rose up for air and Iggy tossed her the net. She dove under again, and scooped up the ball.
* * *
They marched up to a bridge. It was built over a great rapid river. On the other side were giant trees and what looked like a giant Koopa.
"The border between Sky Land and Giant Land," Iggy informed. "Roy built it so he could beat on me in his spare time."
"I think he had a good idea," Wendy said as she and Iggy started walking the bridge.
They looked back. Lemmy had stayed behind. "What's wrong?" Iggy asked.
"We lost time because of me," he said in shame, "just because I never learned to walk. He's gonna find us and it's all my fault! We lost valuable time on me!"
"But," Iggy said, "we would have lost more time if we never got your ball. We've all lost us some time! Wasn't I hit with a Super Scope shot and knocked unconscious for a day? That cost us a lot more time than getting your ball! So come on! We're all in this as a team!"
"Okay," Lemmy said, a little cheered up. He continued with Iggy, but it was Wendy who stayed behind this time.
"What's wrong?" Iggy asked once again.
"It's my fault," Wendy responded sadly. "It's my fault he's chasing us. If he gets me he'll stop. Everything will be okay and you two can live peacefully."
"Wendy," Iggy said, "we’ve gone all this way. You're not giving up. I don't care if we travel the entire globe! We're in this together! Not just getting away from him, but finding a new home! We're family."
"So we're gonna do this together?" Wendy asked.
"Unless you have a better idea."
* * *
"Here we are," Iggy said as he walked onto Giant Land soil, "I'm happy I'm here again."
"I'm happy to see the Yoshis that live here," Lemmy said.
"I'm happy you two are with me," Wendy said. The Koopalings smiled. It would have been a great family moment.
If it hadn't been ruined.
"Unlike you three, I am sad that I had to swim a great distance after a Boom Boom threw me in the ocean."
Wendy gasped. The three Koopalings twirled around as fast as lightning. Standing there soaking wet was Shiny-Eyes the crazy Koopa.
"I guess you're a good swimmer," Lemmy joked.
Shiny-Eyes held up his Super Scope. He fired.
"Move!" Iggy pushed Wendy and Lemmy out of the way and onto the ground.
Shiny-Eyes smiled. "You've fallen right into my trap." A giant Piranha erupted from the ground and caught Wendy by the ankle.
"Oh no!" she screamed.
"Wendy!" Lemmy got back on his ball and rode over. He started tugging on her while the Plant tugged back.
"Go on without me!"
"No!" Lemmy kept fighting, "We're in this together!"
Iggy ran over and started to tug Lemmy away. "Let go!" Iggy yelled. "We need to leave!"
"But…"
"Now!" Iggy commanded.
The two Koopalings ran off, Lemmy unwillingly, and left their sister behind.
Shiny-Eyes stepped up to Wendy. He knelt down and looked her in the eyes. Wendy felt like she was watching death. The shiny eyes were torture.
Shiny-Eyes took
his knife out. "You lose."
Chapter 8: The Great Gallop
"They'll come back!"
Shiny-Eyes laughed an evil, cruel laugh. "I don't think so," he smiled, "I think they've left you for good. Then again, why wouldn't they? The brat that's bossed them around all of these years... I think they will enjoy your death."
Wendy began to shed tears. "I know what you're doing!" she exclaimed. She tried to wiggle free, but the Plant had a tight grip.
"What am I trying to do?" Shiny-Eyes asked. "Trying to trick you or trying to make you realize the truth?"
"Stop it!" someone yelled, but it wasn't Wendy. Shiny-Eyes stood up. Iggy and Lemmy were riding on Yoshis, with strong sticks in hand.
Iggy's Yoshi charged towards Shiny-Eyes. When they were close, Iggy swung the stick as swiftly as possible. Shiny-Eyes tried to catch it but instead it hit him in the jaw. He flew backwards and Wendy had trouble believing Iggy had done it. When the Koopa hit the ground a loud crack was heard.
"I think you broke his bone!" Wendy stopped crying.
"Ooh," Lemmy charged his Yoshi, "my turn!" He charged up to the Piranha Plant and swung as hard as he could. It released its grip on Wendy's ankle. Wendy quickly got up, and Iggy rode towards her. When the time was right, Wendy jumped on the back of Iggy's Yoshi.
Shiny-Eyes got up. He limped towards them. "I'll get you!" he said with a wince. He sounded extremely tired, as if he were about to faint.
“Giddy up!" Iggy yelled to the Yoshi. The dinosaur-like creatures took off, galloping.
"I'll get you!" the Koopa yelled at the Koopalings, "Bad things happen when you hurt family!"
"What do you think you've been trying to do?" Wendy yelled back. Even though she sounded confident as she made the smart remark, she was really uneasy.
"Hey," Iggy said, Lemmy riding next to him, "why didn't you sense him coming at the bridge?"
"I don't know," Wendy said sadly. "How did get those Yoshis?"
"It wasn't really me," Iggy said. "If Lemmy hadn't mentioned the Yoshi's up earlier, I would have never remembered there was a family of Yoshis nearby."
"Well either way, thank you both!" Wendy smiled. "Do you think he'll come back?"
"He's got a broken leg, at least I think he does," Iggy sad worried. "Anyways, I doubt he will make it as far as we're going."
"Where are we going?"
"Water Land!" Iggy exclaimed.
"Really?" Wendy asked excitedly.
"Yep," Iggy said. "I figured we would live where you love.
"But why?" Wendy asked. "After all I've done to you two..."
"Roy is worse," Lemmy joked.
"He is," Iggy said. "And don't let Shiny-Eyes’s words get to you!"
"He's smart," Wendy admitted sadly.
"Then he must have a good reason to be after you," Iggy said matter-of-factly. "But I think we finally won."
"How will we get to Water Land?" Lemmy asked.
"An old rowboat." Iggy smiled. "I have it at the edge Giant Land. I would ride it out of here if the giants ever turned on me. Now it's coming in handy."
* * *
Wendy slept next to Iggy as he and his twin rowed the boat. It was a peaceful night and the sea was calm.
"I think Wendy's given up her bratty ways," Lemmy said.
"Yeah," Iggy said. "And she also deserves to have this rest. She must be under so much stress."
Iggy and Lemmy talked on, and they felt safe. They felt as if it were all over.
But it wasn't. And Wendy knew.
* * *
She was having another dream, and this was the worst of them all.
She was in Water Land, all alone. It was raining like a flash flood. She started to hear galloping. Then Shiny-Eyes appeared riding a Yoshi. He dismounted and Wendy ran. Shiny-Eyes pursued her as if his leg was not broken. Soon Wendy fell and Shiny-Eyes stood over her and took out his knife.
"You lose," he said in a horrible, dark, booming voice.
He swung his knife downward.
Wendy knew what this dream meant.
Shiny-Eyes would
find them again, and this time, she wouldn't escape.
Chapter 9: The Final Fight
"It's coming true!"
The siblings were standing on the sand of Water Land. They were on a beach in the middle of a bad rainstorm.
"I think it's a flash flood!" Lemmy said.
"I would say so," Iggy added.
The rain poured on the siblings’ heads. "He's coming," Wendy said, worried.
"What?" Lemmy asked.
"You had a dream?" Iggy was worried.
Wendy nodded.
"How long do we have?" Iggy asked quickly.
"If my dream is correct," Wendy said, extremely worried, "we have as little as a half hour."
"You can tell?" Lemmy asked.
"I used logic."
"We have thirty minutes?" Iggy asked, almost getting to Wendy's point of fear.
“Less!"
The Koopas turned around. Shiny-Eyes was on the sand, riding a Yoshi.
"Yoshis are very fast swimmers," he said. "Much faster than a rowboat."
"Who are you?" Iggy shouted to them.
"Well," Shiny-Eyes took a step forward and the Koopas took two steps back, "since you're about to die I guess I can elaborate a little bit. My name is Cornelius Samuel Koopa. I have been committing crimes since before any of you were born. I used my great knowledge to plan out each crime very specifically. And I don't plan out one crime at a time, I plan out around a dozen at a time. I then carry them out with such great stealth, no one ever knows it has happened until they realize they are missing something."
"You're a criminal?" Iggy asked.
"Then why are you after me?" Wendy asked.
"Your power."
"My dreams?" Wendy asked.
"Yes," Cornelius said. "Do you like fireworks?"
The Koopas were confused by this question, then Cornelius pointed up. There in the sky, was a doomship.
"Our family?" Lemmy looked on in awe.
"They survived!" Iggy smiled.
"Not for long." Cornelius picked up a seashell by his foot and threw it at the engine. The doomship blew up in the sky and landed near the ocean.
The three Koopas’ hearts leapt. They took a few more steps back.
"Bye." Cornelius raised his Super Scope.
"Run!" The Koopalings took off, all in different directions. Cornelius hit Lemmy first. It hit his leg and he fell off his ball, but he was still sitting up. The other two ran and Cornelius fired toward Wendy.
"Wendy!" Iggy yelled.
"What?"
Iggy scooped up a seashell while he was running. "Catch and throw!"
"The seashell flew through the air and landed in Wendy's palm. Wendy threw it as hard as she could towards the Super Scope. It went in right where the shots came out.
"Oh no!" Cornelius said as he started to hear buzzing. The Super Scope blew up in his arms, and he flew backwards. He got up again and took out his knife. He ran toward Wendy and she began to run again. Cornelius was running as if his leg was not broken, but every time his left leg landed on the ground he would grunt. "Come back here!" he yelled.
Wendy looked back through the rain. "No!" she yelled. When she turned back around she slipped and fell face-first into the sand.
Cornelius approached. "You lose."
Wendy stared back at him. "Do you accept last requests?"
"It depends," he replied. "What is it?"
"Are you truly a family member?"
"Yes." Cornelius raised his knife into the air. Wendy closed her eyes. Her heart beat a mile a minute. Cornelius swung down.
"I won't let you hurt my sister!"
"Let go!"
Wendy opened her eyes. Iggy had caught Cornelius's arm.
"Off!" He swung Iggy off his arm and he fell into the sand, ten feet away.
"You have an ambitious family." Cornelius smiled. "It's a shame you'll never see them again."
He raised the knife. Wendy closed her eyes again, trying to think of something other than what was going on, but it was impossible. She tried to get up but the sand was like mud.
"I'm sorry," Cornelius said, "but it is inevitable." Cornelius swung downward, but Wendy didn't feel anything. She opened her eyes and a large figure had caught Cornelius's arm and trapped him in a neck hold.
"Cornelius," a
familiar voice said, "good to see you again."
Chapter 10: A Final Word
"Bravo, bravo!"
Bowser held Cornelius as tight as he could. The entire Koopa family stood in a line.
"Good work, Pops," Roy said.
"I can't believe it's over," Lemmy said. His leg couldn't move, but he was still conscious.
"Me neither," Iggy said, "but I think some explaining is required."
"How are you guys alive?" Wendy started the Q and A.
"Morton," Bowser said. "As the castle was burning down he helped each one of us out of the castle. He had only a few scratches on him from always being in the desert. We used some hoses to put the fire out afterwards."
"Is it still intact?" Lemmy asked.
"Yes," Ludwig answered. "We'll be able to sleep in it, but it will require some repairs."
"Now for you." Iggy looked at Cornelius.
"Submit your questions," he said. "I'll answer them without fight."
"What's with Wendy's dreams?" Lemmy asked.
"Why didn't her power work near the bridge?" Iggy added.
Wendy was silent for a moment. "How are you related to us?"
"Okay," Cornelius said, "I can fit that all into one story. It all started on my day of becoming a legal adult. I was having fun with my friends, and when I came home, my house had been burned to the ground. My parents were dead and I was left on my own: too old to be an orphan, yet too young to start a life. There was only one place I could go. And that was Bowser's army.
"I joined just in time for an invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom. I listened closely to the general's plans. When he was done I suggested a different approach. He stared down at me and proceeded with his plan. It was a failure. If they had used my suggestion then we would have got the Princess. I then submitted my plan to Bowser. He accepted and made it the next strategy. The plan worked, but Mario soon rescued her. Bowser was so proud and amazed he felt symphony for my family problems. He took me under his wing and adopted me. Soon after he made me a general.
"I first aimed towards less powerful territories. The plans and wars soon became my life. I went mad with power, and Bowser could tell. He called me to his throne. It was there that he fired and un-adopted me. I tried to kill him and was pretty close, but then I left, without a word.
"I started a life of crime, as I said before, I planned each crime out very carefully. Only one person knew I committed them. He was a very powerful wizard, and he requested to meet me at the bridge between Giant and Sky Land. There we locked in combat, determined to get rid of each other. He soon took his magic staff and blasted me in the face. That both knocked me off the bridge and gave me these eyes. That fall made the wizard think I was dead. In my honor, he marked the bridge with a magical aura. That is why Wendy's power did not work. Now let's get into Wendy's power.
"The wizard granted Wendy a power, she the girl that no one would ever expect, to sense me through her dreams, and as I pursued her more, the power grew.
"Back onto topic, I found the wizard’s journal a few months ago and read about the power and planned to eliminate you ever since. And you were there for the rest."
"So is that it?" Iggy asked.
"Yes," Bowser said. "And I'm taking him to the highest security prison in the world."
"It's all over!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Hooray!" Iggy and Lemmy shouted. The three had a group hug, more relieved than ever.
"She’s changed," Iggy whispered.
"Larry," Morton interrupted their moment, "I think this would be an appropriate time for you to use the magical Warp Whistle to take us back to the castle."
Larry pulled out a Whistle and tooted a magical sound.
* * *
Iggy and Lemmy lay down in their beds. "We're done," Lemmy said.
"Yeah," Iggy said, "but I'm actually going to miss Wendy."
A few minutes later the door opened.
"Wendy?" Iggy asked. "What's wrong? Are you having dreams again?"
"No." Wendy lay down on the floor next to Iggy's bed, "I just want to be near my favorite brothers."
The End
| If you would like to send some feedback
to the author of this submission, please complete this form.
What's your name?
What's your Email address?
How do you rate this submission?
Does this submission belong in Little
Lemmy's Land?
Would you like to see more from this author? Comments and suggestions:
|
