Chapter 6: December Underground
"Mario, you'll never believe what happened!" exclaimed E. Gadd.
"What happened?" asked Mario.
"The sun piece you lost in Bowser's Castle landed here!" exclaimed E. Gadd.
"What good luck!" cheered Mario. "But wait, how do you know it's the one from Bowser's Castle?”
"When I analyzed it, the location shown was the North Pole, which is where you went after that, so it must have been," said E. Gadd. "Did you find the sun piece up there?"
"Yup," said Mario, showing his sun piece.
"Excellent!" exclaimed E. Gadd. "I will go analyze it."
E. Gadd began walking away, when he noticed something. "Uh, Mario," said E. Gadd, "who's that person next to you?"
"It's Rus," said Mario. "I met him on my way to the north pole, and he decided to come along with me while I look for the sun piece."
"Ah," said E. Gadd. "Pleasure to meet you, Rus. I'm Professor E. Gadd!"
"Nice to meet you'se," said Rus. "I be Rus, ex-leader of the Vikiles."
"Wait, haven't the Vikiles been gone for decades?" questioned E. Gadd.
"It's a long story," said Rus. "But basically I was shipwrecked underwater, and while the Vikiles died out, I'se still lived."
"Ah, interesting," said E. Gadd. "Let me go analyze the sun piece now."
E. Gadd left to analyze the sun piece. After a minute or so, he returned. "The next sun piece is located somewhere in Mushroom City," said E. Gadd.
"Mushroom City, eh?" said Rus. "I haven't been there since my childhood days. This should be a refreshing change…"
"Isn't there a pipe near your lab to get there?" asked Mario.
"Yes," said E. Gadd. "There is one behind my lab. You can take it and it will bring you to the center of Mushroom City."
"Thanks!" said Mario.
"Good luck!" exclaimed E. Gadd. "We only need three more!"
Mario and Rus exited the lab. "This ought to be an interesting adventure," said Rus.
"Indeed," said Mario.
Mario and Rus headed behind E. Gadd's lab. "Well, let's head out," said Mario.
"Most definitely!" shouted Rus.
The two jumped into the warp pipe to Mushroom City. They emerged at the corner of an intersection in the city. "Wow's, this place be a lot different," said Rus.
"Well it certainly is more winterized," said Mario. A gang was seen whitewashing a man in an alley. "Still same old crimes though," said Mario.
"Yeah," said Rus.
"Tons of crimes happen in Mushroom City.”
"Too bad the fuzz isn't affective," said Mario.
Rus chuckled. "Calling the police 'fuzz' makes you sound like a gangster," said Rus.
"It does," said Mario. "But it's so fun to call them that."
"Well, we best be looking for the sun piece," said Rus. "I be taking it you have no idea where in the city it is."
"Yup," said Mario. "Got no idea."
"Let's go into Trader Spike's and see what's in there," said Rus.
Rus began to head toward the entrance to Trader Spike's, but Mario yielded him. "Woah there, cowboy," said Mario. "Trader Spike's is a gang hangout."
"Really?" said Rus, who seemed very surprised. "When I used to come here Trader Spike's was a trading shop."
"Well, it still is," said Mario. "But shady people trade shady things there now."
"All right," said Rus. "Let's just j-walk though the city."
"We can't j-walk," said Mario. "It's impossible to see the sidewalks."
Rus looked at the road to see it covered by a couple feet of snow.
"Right," said Rus. "Let's just chill and walk."
"Ha, chill," said Mario. "Your city talk is amusing."
"Well we are in the city…" said Rus. "So why not use city lingo?"
"True that," said Mario.
The two laughed, and began walking down the road. The sun had set in the city, and the street lights cast a gloomy aurora on the city streets. The two were walking, when suddenly, Mario vanished. "Mario!" shouted Rus. "Where are you?!" Rus turned around to see an open sewer tile. "I bet Mario fell down there," said Rus. "I best go check."
Rus went down into the sewer. However, when he reached the bottom, he got swept away by the strong current of sewage. Rus got dropped off and saw Mario. "There you are, Mario!" exclaimed Rus.
"Gah, I don't know where I am," said Mario. The two looked around, to see the sewer currents surrounding them. They were on a small ledge with a door.
"Well it looks like our only hope of escaping is to go though that door," said Rus.
"Eh, I guess so," said Mario. "Let's go!"
Mario opened the door, expecting to see a ladder, but instead, he was in a workshop. A very large workshop. "What the?" said Mario.
The two looked around. They read a sign. The sign read "Santa Lakitu's Shop. We make all the 'toys' you need!"
There were a bunch of Shy Guys dressed like elves frantically manufacturing as many bombs, missiles, and other explosive devices as they could . One of them saw Mario and Rus. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" said the Shy Guy.
The Shy Guy charged toward Mario and Rus.
Mario HP: 55/55
Rus HP: 20/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 11/11
"This shall not be too hard," said Rus. "You go and attack first."
Mario went up and jumped on Elf Guy. 'You're up," said Mario to Rus.
Rus ran up and hammered Elf Guy with him hammer.
"Ouch!" shouted Elf Guy. "You guys are going to pay!" Elf Guy threw a bomb that exploded on Mario and Rus.
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 3/11
"That didn't hurt much, sonny," said Rus.
"Now it's time for you to be finished," said Mario, and he whacked Elf Guy with his snowboard.
"No!" shouted Elf Guy.
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 0/11
"You hooligans aren't going to get away with this," said Elf Guy. "Wait until Santa Lakitu hears about this."
Elf Guy ran off into the workshop.
"Who be this Santa Lakitu?" asked Rus.
"I'm not sure," answered Mario. "But it seems like he is the leader around here."
"Well let's get to him," said Rus.
"Agreed," said Mario.
Rus and Mario started to make their way through the workshop, when another Elf Guy caught them. "Hey, an intruder!" shouted Elf Guy.
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 11/11
"This should be an easy battle," said Mario. Mario jumped on Elf Guy with a snowboard.
"You'se be right, my friend," said Rus, who smashed his hammer down on Elf Guy.
"You guys think you're all that," said Elf Guy. Elf Guy chucked a bomb at Mario and Rus. However, Rus reacted quickly and used his hammer to send the bomb back at Elf Guy. "Guh!" cried Elf Guy.
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 0/11
Elf Guy was lying hurt on the ground.
"Nice reaction," said Mario.
"Bah, it was nothing," said Rus.
The two continued through the workshop. They reached an area that was blocked off by an electric door. "This be a problem," said Rus.
"Yeah," said Mario. "We can't go deeper into the workshop until we pass this door."
"I bet there be a switch or some object by the likes of that, that switches off the electric door," said Rus.
"You're probably right," said Mario. "Let's try heading down that hallway."
Mario and Rus headed down a hallway in the workshop. They occasionally lifted their heads to look through the small, high windows, and saw tons more Elf Guys making explosives and sending them down a conveyor belt. After a few minutes they reached the end of the hallway. At the end of the hallway lay a huge computer.
"Should we turn it on?" asked Mario.
"I think so," said Rus.
Mario turned on the computer. A sign flashed on the computer reading "Electric Door Turn Off".
"This is it!" cheered Mario.
The screen cleared, and a series of questions appeared. The caption reads "To deactivate the electric door, please correctly answer these questions."
"So it seems like this is all we have to do," said Mario.
"It seems fairly simple," said Rus.
"That it does," replied Mario.
The first question displayed was "What is used to power Santa Lakitu's sleigh?"
"Oh crud, I don't knows this," said Rus.
"Nor do I," said Mario.
The two sat, puzzled, until Rus noticed something. "Oh look," started Rus. "There be a clue button in the bottom left corner."
"Oh yeah," said Mario.
Mario clicked the clue button. The clue read "The object came from the sun."
"Could it be the sun piece?" asked Mario.
"I wonder," said Rus. "I don't think there's a better answer, so why not?"
Mario typed in the answer. A correct sign blinked on the screen. "So the sun piece is here after all," said Mario.
"Who would’ve thought?" thought Rus.
The next question appeared on screen. It read "Now enter the password to confirm the deactivation of the electric door."
"Do you know the password?" asked Mario.
"Of course I don't," said Rus.
"Well I guess I’ve got to click the clue button again," said Mario.
Mario clicked the clue button again. The clue read "Think of Jonathan Johnny Jones".
"All right," said Mario. "When I think of Johnny a lot of things come to mind."
"Try pirate," suggested Rus.
Mario typed in pirate. The screen blinked with the message "Electric door successfully deactivated."
"Nice guess!" exclaimed Mario.
"It wasn't really that hard," answered Rus.
"So now that the door is open, we can proceed deeper into the workshop," said Mario.
"Indeed," answered Rus. "And we can find that sun piece."
Mario and Rus headed back down the hallway. When they reached the end they saw that the electric door had been opened. "Nice!" cheered Rus and Mario simultaneously. The two walk through the door, to see another wooden door with the words "Santa Lakitu" printed on it.
"This is it," said Mario.
Just then, another Elf Guy ambushed them. "So you guys are the rats who have invaded our workshop," said Elf Guy. "You got nerve being here. I must get you to leave!"
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 11/11
"This should be easy," said Mario.
"I know," said Rus. "These Elf Guys can't fight for's their lives."
Mario whacked Elf Guy with his snowboard.
"My turn," said Rus. Rus wound up, and gave Elf Guy a humongous smack, drilling him into the wall.
Mario HP: 52/55
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Elf Guy HP: 0/11
Elf Guy was stuck in the wall, unconscious.
"Well, this be's it," said Rus.
"Indeed," said Mario. "Behind that door should be Santa Lakitu."
"And a sun piece," added Rus.
"Oh yeah," said Mario. "How could I forget about that?"
The two slowly pushed open the door. The door opened to a relatively large room. At the back of it, Santa Lakitu was seen, loading up his cloud with presents containing explosives.
"Ho ho ho!" laughed Santa Lakitu. "This will be the most explosive winter yet!"
Mario and Rus walked deeper into the room. They saw the sun piece, attached to his cloud.
"Ho ho ho, who goes there?" asked Santa Lakitu, who became aware that Mario and Rus were in the room.
"We came for your sun piece," said Rus.
"We need it so Plit can go back to the way it was before," said Mario.
"Now why would you want Plit back the way it is?" asked Santa Lakitu. "This cold climate is great!"
"Maybe for you," said Rus, "but not for the rest of us."
"Well that's a shame," said Santa Lakitu. "Now if you excuse me I have to finish loading my cloud up with these gifts. I make my run tonight in a couple of hours."
Santa Lakitu turned away from them and started loading up his cloud with boxes and containers. While he had his back turned, Mario hit him with the snowboard.
"Did you dare just hit me with the snowboard?" Santa Lakitu asked angrily.
"We did because we need the sun piece," answered Mario.
"Look, I didn't want this to end painfully for you two, but you leave me no choice," said Santa Lakitu. "I must dispose of you pests."
Santa Lakitu jumped in his cloud and rose above Mario and Rus in the air.
Mario HP: 60/60
Rus HP: 20/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 65/65
"Looks like I'm going to need to jump high to get him," said Mario. Mario went to jump on Santa Lakitu, and got a ton more air then he had before, and hit Santa Lakitu.
"I guess I have to jump before I hammer," said Rus. Rus went up, however, he didn’t jimp nearly high enough, and missed Santa Lakitu..
"Ho ho ho," said Santa Lakitu. "You two have no idea of the pain that you are in for." Santa Lakitu threw a present at the ground. Mario and Rus stared at the present laying there, until after a while, a Bullet Bill broke out through the wrapping and hit Mario, driving him into Rus.
Mario HP: 56/60
Rus HP: 18/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 61/65
"I wonder if I threw my snowboard if it would work like a boomerang," thought Mario.
"It's worth a try," said Rus.
Mario threw the snowboard at Santa Lakitu, hitting him square on the head, as it then came back to Mario, who caught it.
"That worked well," said Rus. "Now how can I hit Santa Lakitu?"
The two thought for a quick second.
"What if I throw the hammer up in the air, you jump, grab it, and slam it down on Santa Lakitu?" suggested Rus.
"That may work," said Mario. "Let's try it."
Rus threw the hammer up in the air. Mario jumped up and grabbed it, and came back down with the hammer slamming into Santa Lakitu.
"You guys are tougher then you look," said Santa Lakitu. Santa Lakitu hurled a present high in the air, directly over Mario and Rus. The present broke in midair and a bomb dropped down on Mario and Rus.
"Hit it, Rus!" shouted Mario. But it was too late, and the bomb burst on Mario and Rus.
Mario HP: 51/60
Rus HP: 13/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 53/65
"That worked well last time," said Mario. "I'll try it again." Mario went to throw the snowboard, however, Santa Lakitu ducked into his cloud and the snowboard just missed him. "Unbelievable," said Mario.
"Ho ho ho!" laughed Santa Lakitu. "You can fool me once, but you can't fool me twice."
"Should we try that Bros. move again?" asked Rus.
"I guess," said Mario. "There's no avoiding the hammer smashing down on him."
Rus threw the hammer up. Santa Lakitu realized what was going on, and backed up. However, Rus was one step ahead of Santa Lakitu, and threw the hammer closer to him than before. Mario grabbed the hammer and smashed it down on Santa Lakitu. "Great thinking!" said Mario.
"You guys are getting on my nerves," said Santa Lakitu. Santa Lakitu lifted a bag out of his cloud and grabbed bombs from it, then started rapidly hurling bombs at Mario and Rus. Mario and Rus both tried to deflect as many as they could. They deflected about half, but still took damage from the other half.
Mario HP: 46/65
Rus HP: 8/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 49/65
"I need something new," thought Mario. "I think I know just the thing!" Mario started riding on his snowboard, and then took a colossal leap and whacked Santa Lakitu rapidly with his spinning snowboard.
"Now I'se need something new," said Rus.
Mario ran up to Rus and whispers something in his ear.
"Let's try that," said Rus. Mario curled himself into a ball, and Rus whacked him with the hammer into Santa Lakitu. When Mario bounces back, Rus whacked Mario again at Santa Lakitu. "Did that hurt?" asked Rus. "I hit you as easily as possible."
"I didn't hurt me," said Mario. "But it looks like it hurt Santa here."
"That's it," said Santa Lakitu.. "I gave you guys so many chances to walk away safely. I gave you fair warning. I didn't want to do this, but you fools have left me no choice..." Santa Lakitu pulled up some weird machine, which began charging up, and after a few second it fired a great, powerful beam of energy right at Mario and Rus.
Mario HP: 39/60
Rus HP: 1/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 37/65
"Mario," started Rus, "I be growing very tired."
"Crud," said Mario. "I don't have a Mushroom."
"Ugh, it be well," said Rus. "I will go as far as I can."
Mario went up to try the same thing again, but he forgot; you can’t fool Santa Lakitu a second time. "Ho ho ho!" laughed Santa Lakitu. "You're stupider then you look."
"Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot," said Mario.
"Don't worry, lad," said Rus, "I'll get him good." Rus started spinning around, and after several quick rotations, let go of his hammer, which went flying into Santa Lakitu.
"Nice shot!" exclaimed Mario.
"No problem," said Rus.
"Annoying little pests," said Santa Lakitu. Santa Lakitu threw a present at the ground in front of Mario and Rus. However, when the wrapping fell off, no weapon was seen. Instead, a Mushroom appeared.
"Grab that!" shouted Mario.
Rus grabbed the Mushroom.
"What?" questioned Santa Lakitu in surprise and anger. "How did that present get in my attack bag?"
Mario HP: 39/60
Rus HP: 20/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu:
31/65
Mario whispered something into Rus's ear. "Sounds good," said Rus. Mario stood on the edge of his board facing Santa Lakitu and Rus hammered the other end, launching Mario like a bullet at Santa Lakitu. "I bet he's forgotten," said Rus. Mario threw Rus's hammer, and just like Rus thought, Santa Lakitu had forgot, and as a result, Rus was able to crash down on Santa Lakitu with the hammer.
"Bombs away!" cried Santa Lakitu. Santa Lakitu flew over Mario and Rus, opened up a bag of bombs, and poured them down on Mario and Rus. Mario and Rus started hammering them to protect them. Some of the bombs even went straight up and hit Santa Lakitu. At the end, most of the bombs were deflected, and about half hit Santa Lakitu.
Mario HP: 36/60
Rus HP: 17/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 17/65
"I’ve got another idea," said Mario. Mario whispered something into Rus's ear.
"Lot of good ideas," said Rus. Mario stood on top of Rus and leapt into the air. Rus ran up under Santa Lakitu and placed the spiky end of his hammer up. Mario came down on Santa Lakitu with the snowboard, and brought Santa Lakitu down right on the spikes of Rus's hammer, sandwiching him between the snowboard and the spikes of the hammer.
"You guys are starting to wear me down," said Santa Lakitu. Santa Lakitu hurled a present in the air, and it was revealed to be a bomb. Mario and Rus both stuck there hammers up to deflect it, when Santa Lakitu launched a Bullet Bill from below, hitting them while they were focused on the bomb, which then fell on the two and exploded.
Mario HP: 28/60
Rus HP: 9/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 7/65
Santa Lakitu was huffing and breathing deeply. "He looks weak and tired," commented Rus.
"Indeed," said Mario. "Let's try to finish him off here."
Mario ran up and jumped on Santa Lakitu with his snowboard. While Santa Lakitu was in pain, Rus threw his hammer at him.
"No!" shouted Santa Lakitu.
Mario HP: 28/60
Rus HP: 9/20
Vs.
Santa Lakitu
HP: 0/65
Santa Lakitu collapsed to the ground and the sun piece from his cloud popped out. Mario picked it up.
"Tim… for… one… final… blow…" said Santa Lakitu with great fatigue. Santa Lakitu lit one final bomb. This bomb was different. It was much more powerful. After a second of being lit, it exploded. Santa Lakitu's workshop blew up into piecse. The part of Mushroom City above his workshop also got blown to pieces. Mario and Rus went soaring in the sky in the direction of E. Gadd's lab, with the sun piece firmly grasped in Mario's hands.
***
After being blasted off, Bowser and everyone had found their way back to their castle. The castle was damaged, but still in fair condition.
"Those no good scumbags," said Bowser. "Oh brother, Mario probably has most of those sun piecees by now."
"Fear not, King Dad," said Ludwig. "I have a new invention that will literally 'freeze' Mario in his path."
"How so?" asked Bowser.
"You see, this invention will cause the temperature on Plit to heat up to 140 degrees for a few seconds," said Ludwig. "In those few seconds all the snow will melt into water. After being on for a few seconds, the invention stops, and temperatures go back to being in the negatives. The water will freeze on the spot, and anyone who was on snow at the time will be frozen. Mario is obviously outside in the snow searching, so this invention should stop him."
Bowser paused for a minute.
"Ludwig," started Bowser.
Ludwig got a nervous look on his face.
"That is the best invention I've heard you come up with!" shouted Bowser. "I love it! Fire it up this instant!"
Delighted by Bowser's approval, Ludwig fired up the machine. Little did he know that Mario was still soaring through the skies at the time.
***
In Toad Town, Toads were seen walking in the snow. All of a sudden that snow turned to water. The Toads looked around, surprised. Before they could do anything else, the water froze up, and they were frozen up to the neck in ice. Millions of screams for help sounded.
***
"Ludwig, you are a genius," said Bowser. "I can hear Mario's screams for help. Too bad no one can help him!"
"Now no one will get the sun pieces!" exclaimed Ludwig.
"I think we may have finally won this time," said Bowser.