Chapter 5: Getting Back to Square 1
Mario walks into E. Gadd's lab.
"Did you get the piece?" asked E. Gadd.
"I did," said Mario. "However, Bowser kind of took it from me."
"What?" exclaimed E. Gadd. "Mario, what's the matter with you?"
"I'm just not myself this adventure," said Mario.
"Well you need to get back to the basics," said E. Gadd.
"You are right," said Mario. "How am I supposed to get to the next sun piece?"
"Well there are two options," said E. Gadd. "Option one is you go back to the castle and fight Bowser. However, I think you need to get back to basics and regain your confidence. So, if you go with option two, you will be heading to the north pole, as several reports have said that there is a sun piece buried in the snow somewhere around there."
"I think I'm going to go with option two," said Mario.
"Good choice," said E. Gadd, smiling. "Now, since the snow is especially deep there, I have made this gadget. This gadget will beep whenever you are going over snow that has a sun piece buried under it."
E. Gadd attaches the gadget to Mario's snowboard.
"How am I supposed to get there?" asked Mario.
"I'm not too sure," said E. Gadd. "There are no warp pipes that lead there, no planes or buses that go there; it seems like you're going to have to take the long journey by foot.
"That stinks," said Mario.
"However," said E. Gadd, "if you cross the frozen ocean you can probably get there much quicker."
"Is that possible?" asked Mario.
"I suppose if I give extra balance to the snowboard, it could cross the slippery ice," said E. Gadd. "Would you like me to try to do that?"
"Of course," said Mario.
"All right," replied E. Gadd. "It should only take a few minutes."
Mario took a seat in a chair, and E. Gadd went to work on the snowboard. After around 5 minutes, he came back out.
"It was a success!" exclaimed E.Gadd.
"Awesome!" cheered Mario.
E. Gadd handed the snowboard back to Mario. "Now you go get that sun piece!" exclaimed E.Gadd.
"You can count on me!" replied Mario, showing a sign of his confidence coming back.
Mario left the lab. "I can do this!" cheered Mario.
Mario headed through town and reached the harbor. "Time to do this," said Mario.
Mario got on the ice. "Woah, it sure is hard to control the snowboard on this slippery surface," said Mario. "I’ve got to be extra careful."
Mario started moving slowly across the ice. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," said Mario.
Mario continued on the ice, when he saw some penguins. "Those penguins look weird," said Mario.
Mario moved closer to them, when all of a sudden, one of them opened it mouth and a fireball came out, landing right in front of Mario and melting the ice. "Woah!" yelled Mario.
Mario could swerve to the side, and fell right through the hole in the ice. "Oh my!" cried Mario.
Mario sunk down into the cold ocean, until he reached the bottom of the ocean. "This stinks!" cried Mario.
Mario started moving around the ocean floor. "Man, my snowboard is useless down here," said Mario. "Oh wait, I got an idea!"
Mario got on his snowboard, kicked in the water, and started moving fast and swiftly through the water. "It's like an underwater surfboard!" exclaimed Mario.
Mario started surfing through the water, when he saw a giant school of Cheep Cheeps rapidly swimming toward him. "This could be trouble," said Mario.
Mario got ready to fight them, however they all swim past him, ignoring Mario. "That's weird," said Mario. "The Cheep Cheeps normally always attack me."
Mario looked behind their trail, and saw two shark-like things swimming toward him. "Yikes!" cried Mario. "I’d better run!" Mario tried to swim away, but the sharks caught him.
"What have we here?" asked the first Shark Fin.
"I don't know," said the second Shark Fin.
"Let's get him!" cried the first Shark Fin.
Mario HP: 45/45
Vs.
Shark Fin HP: 10/10
Shark Fin HP: 10/10
"I may be underwater, but I can still do some of my attacks," said Mario. Mario ran at the first Shark Fin and rammed that Shark Fin back into the other using his snowboard.
"That wasn't cool man," said the first Shark Fin. The first Shark Fin swam toward Mario and bit him.
"Ouch!" cried Mario. The second Shark Fin tried to do the same, but Mario hits him on his face with the snowboard, sending him back off.
Mario HP: 40/45
Vs.
Shark Fin HP: 6/10
Shark Fin HP: 6/10
"I'll try a hammer attack this time," said Mario. He swam up to the first Shark Fin and hit him in the face with the snowboard.
"Tough little guy, aren't you?" asked the first Shark Fin. The first Shark Fin swam toward Mario, and right before he got in Mario's counterattack range, spun and whacked Mario with his tail.
"Oww!" cried Mario. The second Shark Fin did the same thing and Mario couldn’t dodge its attack either.
Mario HP: 32/45
Vs,
Shark Fin HP: 2/10
Shark Fin HP: 6/10
"I think I can get one of you down," said Mario. Mario rammed the first Shark Fin back into the second using his snowboard.
"No!" cried the first Shark Fin. "I can't… go on!"
The second Shark Fin swam toward Mario, but when he was about to smack Mario with his tail, Mario smacked the Shark Fin first.
Mario HP: 32/45
Vs.
Shark Fin HP: 0/10
Shark Fin HP: 2/10
"Time to finish this!" shouted Mario. Mario hammered the Shark Fin right in the face with the snowboard.
"Gah!" cried the Shark Fin.
Mario HP: 32/45
Vs.
Shark Fin HP: 0/10
Shark Fin HP: 0/10
The two Shark Fins swam away, injured. "That felt good to win!" cheered Mario.
Mario continued on through the water. "Wait," said Mario. "The surface is frozen with ice. So how am I going to escape?"
Mario looked up at the 6-foot thick ice blocking the water from the surface. "This is going to be a problem," said Mario.
Mario looked around, and saw a ship stuck in the sand on the ocean floor. "Maybe there is some kind of tool in there I can use to break the ice," said Mario. "I mean, it's worth a try. It's either that or be stuck here."
Mario swam toward the ship and headed down a hallway in the ship’s interior. Mario opened the door to a room and saw a chest lying there. "Let's see what's in here," said Mario.
Mario opened the chest, and out popped a large figure holding a spiked hammer. "W-who are you?" asked Mario, a bit frightened.
"I am the great and powerful Rus," said the figure as he bashed his hammer down on the ship, cracking part of the floor.
"What are you doing here?" asked Mario.
"I was the terrible and feared leader of the Vikiles," said Rus (pronounced Ruse). "We sailed all over the place, raiding ships for their loot. However, the ship hit an iceberg and crashed, and sunk to the bottom. Everyone managed to get away, except for me, as I was stuck in this chest. Now what are you doing here on my ship?"
"I was crossing the frozen ocean to get to the north, and fell though the ice, and I needed an item to break the ice and get free, so I was looking for one, and came here," explained Mario.
"I suppose I can lend you my hammer," said Rus. "However, we Vikiles have a tradition that in order to be worthy enough to use the Eternal Hammer, you must beat the keeper, which is me, in a battle. Do you accept this battle?"
"Of course," said Mario.
"Excellent," said Rus. "Let's begin, shall we?"
Mario HP: 50/50
Vs.
Rus HP: 20/20
"I'll get this going," said Mario, who whacked Rus with his snowboard.
"Not bad," commented Rus. "However the Eternal Hammer is far stronger then that snowboard." Rus swung his hammer and whacked Mario flying back into a wall of the ship.
Mario HP: 45/50
Vs.
Rus HP: 16/20
"That hammer is powerful," said Mario. "I really need to win to get it."
Mario started moving through the water on his snowboard, and when he got near Rus started whacking him repeatedly in the face."
"You are a worthy opponent," said Rus. "But I will not lose." Rus jumped up, and hammered Mario into the deck of the ship as if he was a nail. After a minute of being stuck, Mario jumped free from the floorboards.
Mario HP: 39/50
Vs.
Rus HP: 10/20
"I may not be able to drive him into the floor, but I can drive him into the ceiling," said Mario, who smashed his snowboard on the deck in front of Rus and sent him flying up into the sky. After a minute of hanging there, he fell back down to the deck.
"Tough guy, ain't you?" commented Rus. Rus raised his hammer, and the spikes shot out and hit Mario.
"Oww!" screamed Mario.
"Heh-heh," said Rus.
Mario HP: 36/50
Vs.
Rus HP: 4/20
"Time for the kill," said Mario, who jumped on Russ with his snowboard.
"Ugh!" yelled Rus. "I have been… defeated. How did I lose? Me, the almighty, terrible leader of the Vikiles and keeper or the Eternal Hammer. No!"
Mario HP: 39/50
Vs.
Rus HP: 0/20
"You have won," said Rus. "I must keep my word, and give you the Eternal Hammer. Rus handed Mario the Eternal Hammer. "Take good care of the lad," said Rus.
"Thanks!" said Mario. Mario started swimming his way out, when he stoped and turned toward Rus. "It must be pretty lonely down here," said Mario. "Would you like to come with me?"
"Me go with you?" asked Rus. "I am a leader, not a follower. I will not be someone's 'right hand man', I refuse!"
"All right," said Mario. "If you insist."
Mario carried the Eternal Hammer and heads toward the surface. When he reaches the ice, Mario pulled the hammer back and swung it at the ice, shattering about half the ice. "Awesome!" cheered Mario. Mario took one more swing, and broke the ice. He then climbed on to the cold surface, soaking wet. "It sure is c-c-c-cold," said Mario as he shivered. Mario started turning purple. "I c-c-c-c-can't feel my f-f-f-f-fingers," said Mario.
After a few seconds, Mario passed out, lying on the ice cold and unconscious.
***
Mario opened his eyes, finding he was warm, and looked around, seeing he was in a hospital room. "How did I get here?" asked Mario. "And what is happening?"
"You were found on the ice and were suffering from severe frostbite," said the doctor. "This man here brought you here. If he didn't get you, within minutes you would have been dead."
Mario looked over to the person the doctor was pointing to, and saw Rus. "Rus?" said Mario, startled. "I thought you weren't coming."
"Look, kid," started Rus. "You'se all right. You'se got spunk. I like's people with spunk. I felt the need to… join you'se, and maybe get back to living a life similar to what I used to. So is it fine if I… come with you'se?"
"Why certainly!" said Mario cheerfully.
"Thank you," said Rus. "Now, where are we going, and what are we going to do?"
"Well you see," started Mario, "there are these sun pieces that I must recover, as without them, Plit will be stuck in this ice age."
"So we're basically looking for treasure?" asked Rus.
"Pretty much," said Mario.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Rus. "This will be similar to my days with the Vikiles."
Mario and Rus exited the hospital into a small town. "Now we have to get to the North Pole," said Mario.
"Well I don't know where the North Pole is from here, so why don't we just go into that travel office and ask them which direction from here is north?" suggested Rus.
"Sounds like a plan," said Mario, agreeing with Rus's idea.
Mario and Rus entered the travel office. "Good day, gentlemen," said a Koopa. "What will you be looking for today?"
"We would like to know which direction from here leads to the North Pole," said Mario.
"Ah, the North Pole," said the Koopa. "Exit town through the west end, and you should be on your way north. I believe if you stay straight on track it should lead you right to the North Pole."
"Thank you!" replied Mario.
Mario and Rus exited the travel office. "So where be this treasure we's searching for?" asked Rus.
"North Pole, like he told us," said Mario.
"Well duh," said Rus. "I knew that. I mean more specifically. Where's about in the North Pole?"
"I'm not sure," said Mario.
"That might be's a problem," said Rus.
"Well we'll just walk through the North Pole, and see what we can see," said Mario.
"We's need a strategy," said Rus.
"I know," started Mario. "But I don't think there is any strategy that can be used. The snow is very deep, and there's not really anything that can be done."
"Silence, child!" shouted Rus. "We Vikiles always made strategies, no matter's now tough it could be. So, do you'se have any idea what the treasure is like? In other words, describe it."
"Well it's a piece that appears to be from the sun," said Mario.
"Ugh," sighed Rus. "This be a hard one. Let me think."
Mario and Rus leaned against the edge of a house, while Rus began thinking.
"I got's it!" exclaimed Rus after several minutes of thinking.
"What's your idea?" asked Mario, somewhat doubtful of what Rus had come up with.
"What if we's make a ship, you know, to drive through the snow, so if there is a piece buried, we'll feel it if the ship goes over it," suggested Rus.
"I like it," said Mario. "But how are we going to build a ship?"
Rus brandished his hammer. "I'se be an experienced ship builder," said Rus. "All's we need to do is knock down a few trees, and then I can build it."
"All right," said Mario. "I think if I whack a tree hard enough with my snowboard I should be able to knock one down."
Mario and Rus began chopping down trees. Rus quickly chopped them down with his hammer, while Mario took a bit longer then Rus to chop down the trees. After several minutes, about 5 trees had been chopped down.
"Excellent," said Rus. "I shall now start constructing the framework."
"Do you want me to help?" asked Mario.
"I be fine," said Rus. "You just sit back and relax for a little."
Mario sat back and watched Rus build the ship. Rus quickly began aligning pieces to form the base of the ship. He pulled out some nails and started hammering the pieces together. He then built the deck and hulls. Finally, Rus curved a piece of wood, and modeled it so that it represented a steering wheel. He then nailed and bolted it to the ship so that it would be strong enough to steer the ship.
"I be finished," said Rus.
"Wow," said Mario in amazement. "Nice work on the ship,"
"Bah, it was nothing," said Rus. "I've built ships twice as large. This was only a minor ship-building project."
"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Mario. "Let's start sailing."
"Seems weird, sailing through snow instead of water," joked Rus.
"Bah, it's still the same," said Mario. "The snow is as deep as the ocean, anyway."
"Good point," said Rus.
"Well, let's start sailing the ocean… or, the snow white," said Mario.
"Hah, this feels weird!" exclaimed Rus.
Rus started turning the wheel, and the ship began plowing its way though the many feet of snow. "It works!" cheered Mario.
"Of course it does," said Rus.
The ship begins traveling though the seas of snow. "So how are we going to know when we find a sun piece, again?" asked Mario.
"Simple, my comrade," said Rus. "I made the bottom of this ship flat, so you'se can feel a bump when the ship drives over a sun piece."
"Ah, I get it now," said Mario.
The ship began sailing further north, deeper into the snow. "Are you sure we'll find it this way?" asked Mario.
"Positive," said Rus.
After a few more minutes of sailing, a sudden bump was felt. "That's it!" shouted Mario. "Stop the ship!"
Rus stopped the ship. Mario and Rus looked behind the ship to see part of a sun piece sticking up through the trail of snow they’d plowed. "That's it!" exclaimed Mario.
Mario and Rus climbed off the ship to grab the sun piece. However, right as they approach it, they heard a huge roar. Mario and Rus jumped back in fear. "%#&#(&! What that be?" asked Rus.
"I..d-d-d-don't know…" said Mario, sounding scared.
"Who dares invade the zone of Nanook of the North?" shouted a voice as a white, beast-like creature emerged from the snow.
"Uh…" started Mario, but before he could finish, Nanook of the North lunged at him and started a battle.
Mario HP: 50/50
Rus HP: 20/20
Vs.
Nanook of the North HP: 50/50
"Ya ready, Rus?" asked Mario.
"You bet," said Rus. "Let's beat on this fool."
Mario rode up to Nanook and repeatedly whacked him with the board as he spun in on his feet.
"Kiss my hammer!" shouted Rus. Rus ran up to Nanook and started spinning, and finally, let go of the hammer, and it went flying into Nanook, knocking him over, before finally returning to Rus who caught it.
"Wow," said Mario in amazement.
"That's how we's Vikiles do it!" shouted Rus.
"Rawr!" yelled Nanook. Nanook ran up to Mario and Rus, jumped up, and squished them under his giant feet.
Mario HP: 44/50
Rus HP: 14/20
Vs.
Nanook of the North HP: 42/50
Mario went up and jumped on Nanook. Rus followed up by hammering Nanook straight in the chest, again knocking him to the ground. "You are good," said Mario, in amazement again.
"As you are, too," said Rus.
"You guys are good… but you guys aren't better then me," said Nanook.
Nanook then charged, raised his first, and went to go slam it down on Mario and Rus. However, Rus stuck the sharp part of his hammer up, and Nanook's hand met the spikes on Rus' hammer. "Ouch!" cried Nanook.
Mario HP: 44/50
Rus HP: 14/20
Vs.
Nanook of the North HP: 35/50
"I haven't done this well in a fight in a long time," said Mario.
"Let us keep up our success, then," said Rus.
Mario slammed his snowboard on the ground, sending Nanook flying. Rus then ran up to Nanook, and while Nanook was in the air, smacked him with the hammer, sending him flying back.
"Woah, that's one great combo attack," said Mario.
"Indeed," said Rus. "That was a good combo move."
"I ain't playing games anymore," said Nanook.
Nanook ferociously dug his claws into the snow and quickly yanked them back up, sending a blinding blanket of snow at Mario and Rus, who get covered by it.
Mario HP: 38/50
Rus HP: 8/20
Vs,
Nanook of the North HP: 23/50
"That combo move took a lot out of me," said Mario.
"Same here," said Rus. "Let's attack solo this time."
"Agreed," said Mario, as he jumped on Nanook with his snowboard. Rus then ran up to Nanook and gave him a good whack with his hammer.
"Fools," said Nanook. Nanook then ripped up another blanket of snow that got sent at Mario and Rus.
Mario HP: 32/50
Rus HP: 2/20
Vs.
Nanook of the North HP: 12/50
"You ready to try a combo attack again?" asked Mario.
"I be low on energy," said Rus. "Would you mind tossing me a Shroom?"
"Sure," said Mario. Mario tossed a Shroom, which Rus ate.
"All right," said Rus. "Let's do this."
Mario whacked his snowboard on the ground, sending Nanook into the air, and then Rus whacked him in the air with his hammer. Nanook went flying into the deep snow. "No!" shouted Nanook.
Mario HP: 32/50
Rus HP: 12/20
Vs.
Nanook of the North HP: 0/50
Nanook was lying in the snow.
"Nice fight!" shouted Rus.
"Thanks," said Mario. "But it was truly you who were the show of that fight."
"Bah, it's nothing," said Rus. "Now let us get this sun piece and get out of here."
Mario grabbed the piece, and then the two hopped back on the ship, sailing back to the town as they beamishly waved the sun piece they had found in the air.
***
"Let’s go in there," said a voice.
"All right," agreed another voice.
The two figures walked into Bowser's Castle.
"Machine almost ready?" asked Bowser.
"Yup," said Ludwig. "I just need to finish hooking up the cables, and then we can begin destroying the sun piece."
"Sun piece?" asked a voice.
"Who goes there?" demanded Bowser.
"We cannot tell you," said the second voice.
"We came for the sun piece," said the first voice.
"Oh no," said Bowser. "You guys want to try to be heroes and stop me, huh? Well you're not!" Bowser shoved one of the figures. "Scram!" shouted Bowser.
"Bad move," said the two figures simultaneously. The two figures began charging up energy beams.
"What are you guys doing?” asked Bowser. "I'll say it one more time, get l-"
Before Bowser could finish, the two figures unleashed their energy beams. The castle exploded, and debris went everyone. Bowser and everyone in the castle got sent far off in every direction possible. Along with them, went the sun piece.
"Where did the sun piece go?" asked the first figure.
Both figures looked down to see the damage from their energy beams. "Crud," they both said simultaneously.