Chapter 1: The Land of the Yoshis
Previously on SMR II, Mario
had discovered a flower in Toad Town. When he plucked it from the ground
the next day, a mysterious merchant told him it was a lunar flower. The
merchant told Mario that the lunar flower could contain many surprises,
including spitting poison, containing nothing, holding items, etc, and
suggested that he should put the lunar flower in Peach's castle. Mario,
at the merchant's request, placed the flower in the castle. When nighttime
came, Mario was visited by the same merchant he met earlier. The merchant
told Mario that a maiden could sprout from the lunar flower when it bloomed,
although the chance was very rare. An hour later, the container holding
the lunar flower shattered. At the same time, the flower itself disappeared.
Upon hearing a faint musical note from the top of the castle, Mario went
to the roof to find out what the source of the sound was. On the roof,
he saw a girl who was singing to the moon. After she fainted, Mario carried
her to his pad. When the girl, Lily, woke up, she asked Mario if he could
help her repel Iggy Koopa from her homeland. Mario agreed to do so. After
Mario got Luigi up from his bed, the Mario Bros. asked Lily how to get
to her homeland. She told them that they could get to her homeplace via
the eight special lunar flowers called the Moonlight Flowers. Shortly after,
Koops joined the group. When Mario asked Lily where the first Moonlight
Flower was, she responded that the first one was on Yoshi's Island. Meanwhile,
at Iggy's castle, Iggy received word that the Lunar Flower Kingdom had
sent Lily to get help. What will Iggy do to slow the group down?
The Mario Bros and Koops, along with their new ally Lily, were walking through Toad Town. "Ok," said Mario, "we can get to Yoshi's Island by a boat that departs from Toad Town everyday."
"Shouldn't we pay for the ride?" asked Koops.
"No, it's free."
"Oh."
"Let's get going."
The group continued to walk through the town until they ran across a creature. This creature was brown and very Mushroom-like in character. It had sharp teeth as well. This could mean one thing... "Oh man, it's a pesky Goomba," said Luigi.
"Lily, I think you might want to get back," suggested Mario.
"I know how to handle those creatures," said Lily. Then she cast some magic upon the Goomba, knocking it out.
"Woah," an awestruck Koops muttered, "I didn't know you could do that. What kind of moves do you have?"
"I can levitate enemies into the air and throw them back," Lily answered. "I can also send a beam down from the moon to incinerate foes, use Fire Flower abilities, slow down time, send petals to cut up foes, put enemies to sleep by singing, use Ice Flower abilities, release a powerful beam from my hands, and much more."
"Wow. That's cool, but we need to get going."
The quartet continued to the docks. After getting through the square, they reached the docks. But when they got there, they found out that the boat wasn't at the docks. "Al lright," said Mario, "we'll just have to wait until the boat gets here. It should arrive by 6:00 AM. Right now, it's,” he looked at the clock on a nearby sign, “5:30."
"Aw man," whined Luigi.
"Please be patient, Luigi. We just-a have to wait..."
"Ok. Wait, where's Lily and Koops?"
"They're sleeping."
"Oh."
Koops and Lily were sleeping next to Mario and Luigi. "I bet they are tired now," said Mario.
"Can't argue with that," agreed Luigi.
"They're sleeping peacefully."
15 minutes later...
"Man, this is taking a loooooooong time," Luigi whined again. "When will the boat arrive-a?"
Mario looked at the clock. "Er, 15 minutes, I guess."
"Aw man."
"It's not going to be that long, Luigi."
Then Koops woke up. "I'm up," he muttered.
"Oh, Koops," said Mario.
"Yeah. Wait, Lily is still asleep?"
"Yes. She is still sleeping peacefully." Little did he know, he was wrong. Just then, Lily's face began to tighten a bit.
"Er, Mario?" asked Luigi.
"What?" said Mario.
"Would this be counted as peaceful?"
Mario noticed that Lily was shaking a bit. He also heard Lily muttering, "No... Please don't do this... I won't leave you..."
Inside Lily's mind, she was at her homeplace when the Koopa Troop lay siege to the kingdom. Inside the castle, Lily was pleading with her mother. "Mom, don't do this..."
"I'm sorry, Lily. You must do this alone."
"No... No... No... Don't..."
"It's for the better of our kingdom."
"I'm not leaving you."
Shortly after, several Koopas came and took Lily's mother away. Lily was screaming as her mother was taken away. Then a Koopa grabbed the white/blond-haired flower maiden and started shaking her.
"No!!!"
The Koopa was still shaking her when he said something. However, the Koopa spoke in Mario's voice. "Lily, wake up...."
"Leave me alone!!!" Lily yelled.
"Lily, wake up..."
Then, Lily woke up. It was Mario who was shaking her. "Mario... It's you..." moaned Lily.
"Lily, what happened?" asked Mario.
"I had a nightmare that my mother was taken away by the Koopas. Before that, I was pleading with her that I can't get some help by myself. Then one Koopa grabbed me and shook me..."
"That was me, Lily."
"Guys, the boat's here," called Koops. Indeed, the boat was approaching the docks.
"Finally..." sighed Luigi.
When the boat reached the docks, the quartet got on. Then the boat turned around and left the docks. "We will arrive at Yoshi's Island in an hour," said the driver.
"Hey, Lily..." said Mario, "just forget about-a the nightmare. It isn't real. Just let it go."
"I can't," moaned Lily. "It's real... My mother has been captured by the Koopas."
"Geez, that's bad."
"What's worse is that they have beaten down my father..."
"Man, it's like Iggy wants-a everyone dead."
"I know."
"I'll-a be outside with Luigi and Koops."
"Ok."
Meanwhile, at Iggy's castle...
"Prince Iggy," called out one of the Koopas, "the Mario Bros, Koops, and the messenger are traveling on a boat."
"Where to?" asked Iggy.
"To Yoshi's Island."
"Do I care?"
"No, look, the first Moonlight Flower is over there."
"Oh. Send some of my naval forces to attack them."
"Will do."
Back with Mario and Co, Mario and Luigi were sitting on the deck of the boat. Koops was sitting with them. Lily was on the back of the boat writing in her diary.
I am now with the Mario Brothers and Koops on a journey to liberate my homeplace, the Lunar Flower Kingdom, from the vile clutches of Iggy Koopa and his army of Koopas. They have wounded my father and captured my mother. They have already tortured my father, but I hope they don't do the same to my mother. Many of my friends and family, possibly everyone, are either dead or captured. I must help Mario and the others find the Moonlight Flowers so they can stop Iggy once and for all. I may not have the strength to face him alone, but Mario, Luigi, and Koops may help me take him down. If he succeeds in taking energy from my land, he may use it to destroy my kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom as well. But if we get to the kingdom in time, we can stop him from draining energy from my home.
Lily turns the page and continues writing.
However, the only way Mario and the others can get into my home is by collecting the Moonlight Flowers. When they do so, they will get access and they will place the power of the Moonlight Flowers on me so I can defeat Iggy. But I can only fear the worst that can happen if I fail... I must keep my hopes high. I must...
Lily
She closed her diary. Meanwhile with the others...
"Hey, Mario," asked Koops, "isn't it dawn right now?"
"What-a?" replied Mario.
"Look." Koops pointed at the eastern part of the sky. Indeed, it was becoming gray and looked brighter than the western part.
"Hm," sighed Mario. "It must be dawn already."
Then, a distant figure came to view. "Huh?" Mario went to the edge to get a better view. At first he thought it was a rock, but he noticed it was too large. As the boat got closer, he could see the object had trees and wildlife. Suddenly, Mario realized that the boat was approaching Yoshi's Island, its destination. "Luigi?"
"What is it…?" groaned Luigi, who was tired.
"We are approaching Yoshi's Island."
"Are we?" Luigi's vision was still blurry, thus making it harder for him to see.
"Yes. This is where we will get the first Moonlight Flower."
"Oh. We’d better get ready to land."
Koops and Lily joined the Mario Bros. in taking a look off the deck of the boat. All four of the quartet thought it was an interesting sight to behold. However, the peace wasn't going to last long, for Koops saw something moving in the water. "Wait, what was that?" The object looked very dark. Koops thought it was a fish, but it was too metallic to be one.
"What is it?" asked Lily.
"I don't know."
"Maybe it's a shark," said Luigi.
"No, it's too dark," Koops disagreed.
"What is it, Koops?" asked Mario.
"I don't know. It's circling around the boat, but why?" Then, more objects that looked the same as the first came out and also circled around the boat.
"Why are they circling around us?" whispered Lily.
"Are they going to hit us?" said Luigi.
"What are-a they?" muttered Mario.
"Are they going to slow us down?" Koops questioned.
A few seconds later, the figures had dropped something that was heading towards the boat. Mario looked down to get a closer look and when he did, he saw that the objects had a flashing red light. "Wait a second, these are not-a pieces of metal, they're-" But then, an explosion occurred and the boat shook heavily. All four were thrown back.
"They're Torpedo Teds... I should've known..."
"Mario, look!" Koops saw that the objects were surfacing to reveal themselves as dark-colored submarines. All the subs had Bowser's logo on them.
"What? Submarines? I thought Bowser was in prison," said Luigi.
"Iggy is commanding the subs, not Bowser," replied Mario.
"How are we supposed to defeat them?" asked Lily, who now sounded worried.
"I can't hit them with fireballs because they would be extinguished in water, and I can't dive in because the Torpedo Teds would home in on me."
"Are we done for?"
"I guess we are," whimpered Koops.
"Not likely, Lily," called Luigi, "Look!" There were several ships approaching from the distance. These ships did not have Bowser's logo on them, but had Toads onboard. One was dressed in a general's uniform.
"General Toad," Mario said. "What are you doing here?"
"Mario, we patrol this island at all times. Now, how's everything going?" asked General Toad, who spoke in a Texas accent.
"There are submarines surrounding our boat. Can you get rid of them?"
"Never fear, Mario. These frigates will make short work of these subs. Open fire!"
The frigates fired several depth charges. When the depth charges were in the water, they exploded near the submarines, greatly damaging them. After another group of depth charges, the subs were sunk.
"Good work, men," said the general.
"Nice!" cheered Luigi. "But it's far from over. Look." Luigi pointed out to several other ships in the distance.
"Huh? Battleships?" shuttered Koops.
"Sorry, Mario," called General Toad, "My frigates can't take on those battleships."
"You don't need to worry, General," Mario called back. "My fireballs can wipe them out." And with that, Mario launched a massive fireball that wiped out and sunk a battleship. However, the other two opened fire upon their boat. When the bombs hit, the boat shook violently. Mario launched two more fireballs and sunk both battleships.
While the other three sighed because they thought it was over, Mario knew that Iggy would be very angry and that he and the others weren't out of the woods yet...
Meanwhile at Iggy's castle, Iggy was furious. He was acting this way because his naval units had been sunk. "That does it... I will destroy them... I have no choice but to attack with the most powerful unit in my army... UNLEASH THE STRATO DESTROYERS!!!"
Back to Mario and Co...
"Well, it's over... We have gotten rid of them. We can now continue on to Yoshi's Island," sighed Luigi.
"Yeah..." breathed Koops.
"Wait, it's not over," said Mario.
"Why? What's up ahead?" asked Lily.
"Iggy is not going to give up here. If I know Iggy very well, I bet he's furious right now and is-a planning for a third wave."
"What makes you say that?"
"There is something up ahead."
"What? What is it!?" cried Luigi.
"Look." Mario pointed at the faint planes in the distance. They were black in color and had Bowser's logo on them. At first Mario thought they were fighters, but they were too large. At the same time, he noticed they were also too small to be bombers. "Are they... Strato Destroyers?"
"Oh no..." said Koops. "Wait, something tells me that the Koopas don't have something like this of their own."
"That's what I was noticing, Koops. If you ever played Battalion Wars, you would have seen these units. The question is, how did the Koopas get Strato Destroyers?"
Meanwhile in Xylvania... (Note: Xylvania is one of the factions in the Battalion Wars series)
"Hey, what happened to the Strato Destroyer blueprints?" said a Xylvanian grunt.
"I dunno," answered another grunt.
"Oh man..." moaned the first, "Kaiser Vlad will be furious."
Back with Mario and Co, the Strato Destroyers dropped heavy consignment bombs which that shook the boat.
"What do we do?" asked Luigi.
"I don't know," answered the red plumber. "I can't throw fireballs because they are heavily armored, and I can't fly into the air because of their air-to-air missiles."
"Allow me to take them down," Lily spoke. Then she closed her eyes. As she did this, the moon glowed brighter than before. Next, without warning, a white beam shot from the moon and blasted one of the Strato Destroyers, destroying it. As one of the planes turned around, Mario launched a beam at the rear of one of the Strato Destroyers. A second later, the fuel tank ignited and the Strato Destroyer was eliminated. The last one of the three dropped another load of bombs, throwing around the boat. At this point the boat was so badly damaged that another load of bombs would sink it. Luigi charged up for the Thunderhand. Meanwhile, the last Strato Destroyer was getting closer to the boat. Quickly, Luigi jumped into the air and used the Thunderhand on the black-colored plane. The electric discharge was so great that the plane exploded.
"It's over," said Luigi.
"Attention, all passengers," interrupted the driver, "we will land on Yoshi's Island immediately."
When the boat touched the coastline, Mario and Co. got off the boat. "That was a huge fight back there," sighed Luigi.
"All right," said Mario, "we need to find the Moonlight Flower that is on this island."
"Lily, do you know exactly where the Moonlight Flower is on this island?" asked Koops.
Lily closed her eyes. At the same time, she was glowing. Then she spoke. "I see the Moonlight Flower in a castle placed on this island... It is guarded by one of Iggy's minions."
"Who?" Koops emitted.
"I can't tell," Lily answered. "I can't get a clear look."
"Whoever-a this person is," added Mario, "we must take the guard down and get the Moonlight Flower. Let's-a go!"
Mario and Co. traveled across the fields of Yoshi's Island. First, they came across a swamp.
"Luigi, there is a swamp up ahead," Mario informed Luigi. Then he turned to the others. "Listen, there is a swamp up ahead. Be careful not to slip on the mud. There may be Piranha Plants up ahead too."
Mario jumped into the water. The others followed suit. Luigi dived underwater to see the creatures that lived in the swamp. He thought it was a peaceful sight, but was quickly interrupted when he saw something enormous moving underwater... Quickly he resurfaced. "M-M-Mario?" stammered Luigi.
"What?" answered Mario.
"T-t-there's something underwater..."
"Luigi, you are-a seeing things."
"N-n-n-no, I'm not..."
"You must be- Wait, what's that?" Mario saw something moving underneath the water. It was the same thing that Luigi saw moving underwater. "I guess you're right."
"What's going on?" Lily asked.
"I saw one of those when I was a baby... It's an..." Mario cut himself off, as if he Couldn’t find the word he was looking for.
"What is it?" said Koops, who was beginning to feel nervous.
"It's a Nep-Enut." Then
the Nep-Enut surfaced from the water. The Nep-Enut charged at Mario and
Co. Mario grabbed an Ice Flower and fired ice at the Nep-Enut, freezing
it. Then Mario joined the others in trying to get on dry land. Just as
they were about to reach the edge, the Nep-Enut broke free from the ice
and created a huge wave that pushed Mario and Co. to the bottom of the
swamp. Luigi and Koops rapidly resurfaced. Lily, however, was tangled in
a huge pile of weeds that were constricting her. Mario and Yoshi were still
on the surface. They saw that Luigi and Koops were okay, but they couldn't
find Lily. The two swiftly realized that Lily was underwater. Mario and
Yoshi dove underwater faster than the fastest Cheep Cheep to rescue Lily.
Meanwhile, Lily was close to drowning. When they reached the bottom, Mario
and Yoshi pulled Lily from the weeds just as the Nep-Enut was closing in.
Mario and Yoshi, dragging Lily, reached dry land. The
Nep-Enut then went away.
Lily was coughing and gasping for air, as she had nearly drowned. Her hair
was completely soaked.
"I'm *gasp* okay..." Lily gasped.
"Ok," said Luigi. "Let's keep moving."
The group continued on until they reached a field filled with multicolored Yoshis. "Wow," an awestruck Luigi whispered, "I have never seen a group of Yoshis like this. But, where's the green Yoshi? Our Yoshi?"
"Look!" Mario yelled. He pointed to a green Yoshi that was eating a lemon.
"Hey Yoshi," greeted Luigi.
"Yoshi!" Yoshi said after eating his lemon. He jumped on Mario after that. When Yoshi started licking him, Mario tried to get him off.
"Geez, don't-a get too eager. We're on an adventure."
"What adventure?" asked Yoshi.
"An adventure to get the Moonlight Flowers and defeat Iggy."
"Woah, Iggy bad. Can Yoshi go? And who's that?" Yoshi pointed at Lily.
"Yes, you can go. Oh, and her? That's Lily. She is a flower maiden. She's the one who came from the lunar flower. She is helping us find the Moonlight Flowers. We need to get going."
The Mario Bros, Koops, Lily, and the newly added Yoshi continued on to Yoshi's Island.
"I wonder where the castle is..." Mario thought.
"Hey, Bro," said Luigi, "is it me, or is the air getting... rank? It smells like rotten eggs."
"Now that you mention it," added Lily, "the sky is getting darker. Yet, it’s daylight in the other areas."
"Hey, I see something up ahead." Koops pointed at a rusty warp pipe.
"Hm," said Mario. "This warp pipe hasn't been used for ages. We'll have to go in."
The quintet went into the pipe. When they came out, they were in a castle. Up ahead, they could see a pit of lava that stretched too far even for Yoshi to hover across.
"How are we-a supposed to get across?" Mario thought to himself.
"I can help," Lily spoke. She created a bridge of pure energy that stretched over the lava pit.
"Come on," said Yoshi. The five crossed the bridge while avoiding fireballs. After they got to the other side, they saw a pathway that branched into five different directions.
"All right," said Mario, "we'll have to split up. Lily, you take the path on the far right. Yoshi, middle path. Koops, intermediate right path. Luigi, intermediate left path. I will take the far left path."
The group split up. First, Mario...
"I wonder what's on this path," Mario spoke to himself. After 30 seconds of darkness, Mario ran into a switch. He ground pounded it and the door opened to reveal a room filled with donut bridges. The miniature donut bridges were above a gigantic pit of lava.
"I have to-a be careful," Mario said to himself. "If I stay on a donut for too long, it could fall down. I need to keep-a jumping while I am on those bridges."
Mario jumped on the first donut bridge. As he did, he kept jumping to prevent the donuts from falling off. He proceeded onto the next bridge. Mario jumped too late on the bridge and one of the donuts fell into the boiling hot lava below. He continued to jump on. As he reached the third bridge, he came to find that it was too high for a normal jump. So he charged for his Spring Jump. Just as he was about to charge up, the donut below him started falling into the lava below. Just before the donut hit the lava, Mario released his jump, which carried him all the way to the third bridge. Tension was very high as Mario continued across the bridges.
"I don't know who the guard is, but I just know Yoshi fought him before. I just know it," Mario whispered. "I bet the guard is working for Iggy as well. But, that would mean that Iggy has already gotten the Moonlight Flowers... Either way, I must stop him before it's too late. I must..."
On the fifth and final bridge, the donuts started falling down even when Mario was not standing on them. Mario ran as fast as he could , but the donuts were falling faster than he could run. On the last donut, Mario jumped towards the end, but only managed to grab the edge. Mario struggled to get to the top. Finally he pulled himself up to the edge. Up ahead, he saw a key on a pedestal.
"I wonder what this key is for?" asked Mario to himself. He went to the pedestal and picked up the key. "I got the key. Now, I must get out of here."
Just as Mario started to think about how to get out, he saw a ? Block. "I wonder what this block is for?" thought Mario to himself. He hit the block and a warp pipe appeared. "That's the way out." And with this, Mario jumped into the warp pipe. When he came out, he was in a room with a door in the front part. On the door were not one, but five locks.
"Hm, I must have got one of the keys for this door. But what about the other four?" said Mario.
Now we move on to Luigi. Luigi was in a room that was large, but not as large as the room Mario went through. Luigi's room was filled with unstable pillars and Boos. "O-o-oh man," shuttered Luigi, for Boos were his largest fear, "this i-i-is going to be very scary."
Luigi walked slowly through the room. As he did, there was a huge shadow coming up behind him. And there he saw it.
A pillar was about to come down on him...
Luigi shrieked so loudly that the Boos became disturbed. He ran away from the falling pillar just when it was about to crush him.
"Man," sighed Luigi, "that was a close one." But, he was wrong to think it was over, for a Boo was coming up behind him. Then...
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" The Boo let out a loud shriek that frightened Luigi good. Luigi pulled out a flashlight in desperation and pointed it at the Boo, resulting in the Boo vanishish. "Whew, that's the last I will see out of that Boo," Luigi uttered.
Luigi went up ahead, avoiding the falling pillars and dozens of Boos along the way. When he reached the end, he saw a key inside a crystal. "What's this key for?" said Luigi to himself. "And how do I get the key out of the crystal...? I need something strong."
Luigi turned to saw a few pillars that were unstable. In a snap of a second, Luigi got an idea. "If I can get one of the pillars to fall down on the crystal, it would break the crystal and I could get the key."
Luigi looked at the pillar in the center. "Hm, too-a far." Next, he turned to the one on the right. "Nah, this one wouldn't fall in the right direction." Then he turned to the one on the left. "That's what I am looking for." Luigi stepped on the floor hard and took cover once the pillars began to fall. When the pillars fell, Luigi came out of his hiding spot and grabbed the key that was now beside a pillar. "I got the key," thought Luigi. "Now, I must get out of here."
Luigi headed towards the exit. Then he jumped into a warp pipe that was up ahead. When he came out, he was in a room with a door in the front part. It was the same door that Mario encountered earlier. He saw Mario right next to the door.
"Hey Bro," Luigi called. "What does that door lead to?"
"I don't-a know," Mario answered. "I've never been past it. But I wonder how-a Koops is doing."
In the third room was Koops. Koops's room was larger than Luigi's but smaller than Mario's. The room was filled with mirrors and a gem at the end of the room. There was a beam of light coming from a gap in the ceiling. "What's with the gem in the room?" Koops thought. "What about the mirrors? What are they here for?"
Koops attempted to push one of the mirrors to the beam of light. He did this with ease, as the mirror easily slid. Then he tried to push another mirror. This one, however, was locked in place. "I can't move this mirror," Koops mumbled. "How do I get the ray of light into the gem when I can't move some of the mirrors?" Koops saw a key hanging on one of the crystals above, but the crystal was too high for his shell to reach. "I can't reach to the crystal. “Looks like I am going to have to do this then."
Koops charged up power by
spinning in his shell. When he fully charged up, he shot his shell at the
crystal. The crystal shattered into pieces when the shell made impact.
Koops grabbed the key. "I got the key, but what's it for?" Koops wondered.
He turned to see a nearby slot. Koops placed the key into the slot and
turned it clockwise. The result was the mirrors unlocking. He proceeded
to push the mirrors to get the light to strike the gem. The gem glowed
when the light struck it.
This was followed by a
very low rumble that shook the entire castle.
Meanwhile with the Mario Bros...
"Woah," said Luigi. "What's going on here?"
"I'm not sure," Mario replied.
Back with Koops, the wall in the front opened up to reveal a pathway that led to darkness. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to go back there," Koops spoke. "I'll have to take my chances if it is dangerous."
Koops advanced to the dark hallway. He was nervous that there might be something in the hall that could harm or even kill him. But his hopes for finding a way out rose when saw a light up ahead. Below the light was a key on a pedestal. "What is a key doing here in a hallway like this?" thought Koops. He grabbed the key. "I got the key," Koops continued. "How do I get out of here?" Koops looked for a way out just as he found a warp pipe.
"Looks like this is it." Koops jumped into the pipe. After he popped out, he came across a room with a door on the front side. He saw a door that had five locks on it. Koops noticed Mario and Luigi examining the door.
"Mario, Luigi," Koops said, "what with this door? Does it lead anywhere?"
"We're not sure," answered Luigi. "But I wonder what Yoshi is doing."
Yoshi was in the fourth room. Yoshi's room was filled with platforms that ran across different pathways. Some were green, some were yellow, and some were red. They were all above a bottomless pit.
"Yoshi try green platform," said Yoshi. Yoshi stepped on the green platform, which moved slowly. Yoshi jumped to the next platform, which was yellow. The yellow platform moved at a moderate speed. "Woah, Yoshi think platform is going a little too fast," Yoshi squealed. When he jumped the red one, the platform rushed across the pathway and ended up in a circular path. At that point, Yoshi nearly shrieked. "Woah!" Yoshi barely jumped off the platform and landed on a bridge. "That was fast. Yoshi go across bridge to see what's up ahead."
Yoshi advanced to the other side of the bridge. As he approached the other side, he saw three different platforms with three different paths. There was a sign at the edge. "What does this sign say?" muttered Yoshi. He came to the sign and read it. It read:
Left: Shortcut
Middle: Normal path
Right: Path for experts
only
"Yoshi pick left path,"
Yoshi decided. He stepped on the green platform. As all green platforms
do, this one moved very slowly. The path the platform was on involved little
altitude change, smooth turns, and small jumps. At the end, the green platform
dropped on to a red one. The moment Yoshi touched the red platform, it
instantly sped off. Unlike the first path, this path had sharp turns, constant
increase and decrease of altitude, and long jumps. As the final jump neared,
Yoshi lost his balance and would've fallen into the bottomless pit if he
hadn't grabbed on to the edge of the platform. Yoshi struggled to get back
on the platform due to the seriously high momentum. He knew
that if he was holding
on to the edge during the jump, he would lose his grip completely. At the
last second, Yoshi got back on the platform. Then the final jump came.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" Yoshi screamed. The air was now rushing towards his face and he closed his eyes, hoping that a safe landing would come. The platform landed on another platform and screeched to a halt. Yoshi opened his eyes. "Yoshi glad platform landed safely. But, where Yoshi at now?" Yoshi looked to see a stairway leading to an unknown place above. "Yoshi must climb stairs." Yoshi ran up the very long stairs, wondering what was up at the end. When he reached the end, Yoshi, tired and gasping, saw a key on a pedestal. "What this key for?" Yoshi thought. He grabbed the key and went into a warp pipe by the pedestal. After he came out, Yoshi was in a room with a door in the front part. He saw the Mario Bros. and Koops examining the door.
"Mario, what this lead to?" questioned Yoshi.
"I don't know," answered Mario in a low voice. "Wait until Lily gets the last key."
In the fifth and last room was Lily. She was in a crystal-filled place with several flowers that looked like lunar flowers but didn't glow. There was a small pond in the room.
"This reminds me of home..." Lily whispered softly, for her homeland was filled with lunar flowers. She looked for anything of importance for a minute until she came across a red crystal. Lily touched the crystal and a pathway opened up. Down the pathway was a river.
"I have to go this way," Lily sighed. She jumped into the water and the river carried her across the room. The water had crystals at the bottom, giving the water a blue glow. The river emptied into a pond below. Lily got out of the pond. On the other side was a door that was sealed. Next to it, there were four slots.
"I need to look for the keys," Lily thought. "But, what are those keys? What do they look like?"
Lily searched the room. As she did, she was trying to look for the keys. Then she came across a red crystal. "This must be the key," confirmed Lily. She picked up the crystal and placed it into one of the slots. The crystal changed to a bright white. "That's one," Lily said. "Three more."
Lily continued to search around the room for the keys. She went to one corner of the room and saw an orange crystal buried beneath a larger crystal. "That's the second one," Lily thought. She melted the crystal with her Fire Flower abilities and picked up the orange crystal. Lily took the crystal to the door and placed it in the second slot, below the first. "Two more remain," Lily muttered.
She continued her search for the remaining two crystals. Lily looked on the ground to see if there were any differently-colored crystals. When she checked in the pond, there was a green crystal on the bottom. "That's the third one," whispered Lily. She pulled the green crystal from the pond and placed it in the third slot. Like the others, the crystal became white. "Just one more," emitted Lily.
Lily turned to see a blue crystal. But the blue crystal was on the ceiling... "I need to get it down," thought Lily. She then levitated into the air and grabbed the blue crystal from the ceiling. Lily placed the crystal into the last slot. The doors slowly opened up to reveal a pedestal with a key on top. "What is this key for?" asked Lily to herself. She grabbed the key and went into a warp pipe. As she came out, she ended up in the same room as the other four ended up in before. She saw the other four at the door.
"Lily," called out Mario, "you're-a here just in time. We need those-a keys to unlock the door."
"Ok..." whispered Lily slowly. The group went to the door and placed the keys into each of the slots. The locks came off and the door slowly opened to show a pathway.
"All right," said Mario, "let's-a go!" The five went in the door. The door behind them slowly closed.
At Peach's castle...
Peach, who recently got out of the hospital, was sitting in her room. She was wondering where Mario was. "I wonder where Mario is at right now..." she thought. "He disappeared yesterday and is nowhere to be seen."
Toadsworth, Peach's steward, came into her room. "Pardon me, Princess," he said. "He didn't disappear, he just went off on another adventure."
"Where is he?" Peach asked.
"Ah yes, he's off to collect those items called the Moonlight Flowers. I got word of it from another Toad. Luigi, Koops, and this... girl are with him."
"What? Who's the girl?"
"I'm not sure. Whoever she is, she is helping the Mario Bros. and Koops get the Moonlight Flowers."
"Oh, Mario," Peach thought, "be careful out there."
At Iggy's castle...
"Great," growled Iggy. "My naval and aerial assault has failed and now the group is after the Moonlight Flower. I will deal with all of them, starting with the messenger first."
"Pardon me, Prince," a Koopa interrupted, "I think we should steal one of the Moonlight Flowers. Not all, but one. That way, when Mario comes here, we can finish him."
"Of all those things that I would...." Iggy paused. "Hey, that sounds like a good idea. Get my troops to steal a Moonlight Flower."
"Will do." The Koopa left.
"This sounds good," Iggy chuckled. "Once I have a Moonlight Flower, I will lure Mario here and finish him off, even if I have to take all of the Moonlight Flowers."
Back to Mario and Co, they had reached a room with a platform above a pit of spikes. They crossed over the pit by the platform. After that, they reached a red door. "Well," called out Mario, "this is it."
Mario opened the doors and the quintet went inside. They were now in a room that had no obstacles. "Huh, looks like no one's here. What's next?" Mario asked.
Just then a huge thud came from behind. Mario turned to see a rather large Boo who was right next to him. "Uh oh, it's Bigger Boo." Mario sighed.
"ACK!" yelled Luigi.
"Bleeheehee!" chuckled Bigger Boo. "So, it's you, Mario. You guys are looking for something. Is it this?" Bigger Boo pulled out a flower. Then, it struck Mario and Lily. The flower was actually one of the Moonlight Flowers.
"You..." Mario was about to scream. "You're-a the guard of the Moonlight Flower. I bet you're working for Iggy too."
"Huh?" Bigger Boo was confused. "Who's Iggy? I don't know him!"
"I guess I was wrong about-a you working for Iggy. I will still take you down anyway."
"Fine by me."
"Fireball!" Mario threw a fireball at Bigger Boo, burning him. Lily followed this up by using her Ice Flower abilities to freeze him. Bigger Boo shot a deadly ray at Luigi. He also sent a Boo to distract Koops. "Yoshi," ordered Mario, "go after the Boo and help Koops."
"Ok." Yoshi went off to help Koops.
"Lily, Luigi," Mario turned to the remaining two, "we must attack Bigger Boo."
"Okie dokie," said Luigi.
"All right," Lily answered.
Lily shot a beam of magic that pushed Bigger Boo back. Bigger Boo retaliated by shooting a beam that threw Lily against the wall. Mario jumped on Bigger Boo's head. Bigger Boo jumped into the air and horribly crushed Koops and Yoshi. Koops recovered quickly and shot his shell at Bigger Boo. Bigger Boo spun in circles and threw several Boos at the quintet. All of them were hit.
"Let's see how you can fare against this." Bigger Boo turned to Lily and threw a large ice needle at her. Lily was cut by the needle and a small amount of blood came from the cut. Shockingly, Mario noticed that Lily's blood was not red, but green in color...
"Time to pay the piper, Bigger Boo." Mario grabbed his hammer and sent Bigger Boo into the air by whacking him hard. Yoshi came back and threw several eggs at Bigger Boo. Bigger Boo shot a large amount of fire at Luigi. Luigi screamed as he caught fire. Mario jumped on Bigger Boo multiple times before Bigger Boo moved out of the way. Yoshi ground pounded Bigger Boo twice.
"Mega Bomb!" Bigger Boo launched a huge blast that struck every one of Mario and Co. Lily put Bigger Boo to sleep by singing. Luigi, who recovered from the fire, shot electricity at Bigger Boo. Koops shot his shell, setting Bigger Boo on fire. This caused Bigger Boo to wake up. Bigger Boo spun violently and struck Luigi down.
"So that is how it's-a going to be. You are out of your league here, Bigger Boo." Mario jumped and dove at Bigger Boo. As he did, he spun around. At the same time, he was creating flames as he got closer to Bigger Boo. He put his fist out at the last second, and rammed into Bigger Boo. Bigger Boo screamed loudly.
"Mario, I need help here," Luigi called out. Luigi was trying to deal with Bigger Boo, who was now resorting to invisibility. Bigger Boo became visible again when Luigi turned his back on him. Mario shot a fireball at Bigger Boo.
"Moonlight Beam!" Lily shot a beam from her hands at Bigger Boo. Bigger Boo dropped Bomb Boos on the quintet. Luigi was running frantically to avoid them, but he ran into one and got hurt. Bigger Boo crushed Mario by rolling around the floor. He was about to do the same to Koops, but Koops moved out of the way. However, Bigger Boo was making another pass. Yoshi swallowed Bigger Boo and spat him out.
"C’mon, Bro!" yelled Mario. "Time to do the Chopper Bros!" Mario hammered Luigi into the ground. While this was happening, Bigger Boo threw Lily up into the air. As Mario jumped, Luigi kept pace with him by moving underground. When they were close, Luigi popped up from the ground. Mario was thrust into the air and whacked Bigger Boo with his hammer. Bigger Boo's Bomb Boos were closing in on the group. Mario grabbed their tongues and spun them around until they hit Bigger Boo.
"Another Mega Bomb should do the trick." Bigger Boo released another blast that injured the group.
"Ugh..." groaned Mario. "We won't stop until we-a get the Moonlight Flower from you."
"So be it," retaliated Bigger Boo. Bigger Boo turned to Lily, but Lily pushed him back with an energy-filled uppercut.
"Lily, use this." Mario tossed a Fire Flower to Lily.
"What? I already have Fire Flower abilities."
"This will strengthen your powers further."
"Ok." Lily used the Fire Flower. After the flash, Lily's hair was now red, and so was her dress. Lily tossed aqua-green fireballs at Bigger Boo, burning him. Bigger Boo sent a Boo to scare Luigi. But Luigi quickly pulled a flashlight that sent the Boo away.
"Ugh..." moaned Bigger Boo. "Can't take much more of this. If I hold back any longer, I will be bested by them. Time for my ultimate ttack." Bigger Boo charged up with high amounts of energy.
"Thunderhand!" Luigi tried to hit Bigger Boo, but Bigger Boo didn't flinch. Lily released a fire beam against Bigger Boo, but there was no effect. Bigger Boo sprayed water on Lily, reverting her back into her normal form. Yoshi's ground pounds and Koops's shell shots didn't have much effect either.
"Firebrand!" Mario launched a fire wave against Bigger Boo, but the giant ghost didn't react.
"Oh no," shuttered Luigi. "Nothing is working against him. My Thunderhand won't work, Mario's Firebrand didn't work, nothing is."
"What do we do?" asked Koops.
"I don't know."
"ULTIMATE BOMB!" Bigger Boo released a rather large blast that injured everyone except Mario and Koops.
"Oh no," uttered Mario. "Now Luigi and the others can't get up."
"How did ya like that?" sneered Bigger Boo.
"Oh, you've gone too far," Mario said, almost enraged.
"Bleeheehee... You have no chance of defeating me."
"Try this then." Mario jumped up and divebombed Bigger Boo severely. Bigger Boo, who was now critically injured, had trouble staying afloat. Koops finished him off with Shell Slam. Bigger Boo cursed at Mario and Koops before going down. Then, he vanished. In his place, was a lunar flower in a golden color.
"That's the first Moonlight Flower," examined Koops. Mario picked up the gold Moonlight Flower.
"Everyone okay?" asked Mario.
"Ugh... I'm okay," moaned Luigi.
"Yoshi okay," mumbled Yoshi.
"I'm fine," groaned Lily.
"Let's-a get out of here." Mario and Co. jumped into a blue warp pipe.
Little did they know, a Koopa was hiding behind a pillar. He grabbed a radio and said, "Prince Iggy, they have taken the gold Moonlight Flower."
"Fall back," replied Iggy. "We must think of a different plan."
"Yes, sir." The Koopa went through the red doors.
Back to Mario and Co, they went to Peach's castle and told Peach the story about the Moonlight Flowers, how Lily came to the Mushroom Kingdom, and Iggy's plot to decimate the Lunar Flower Kingdom.
"I see," breathed Peach. "We know that Bowser is finally captured, but one of the Koopalings is continuing his work?"
"Yes," answered Luigi.
"You five must stop him so he can't destroy the Lunar Flower Kingdom or this kingdom either."
"We-a will," Mario promised.
The five left the castle and went to Mario's Pad. "We did well," said Mario. "But this only the beginning."
At Iggy's castle...
"Did you find a Moonlight Flower?" Iggy asked one of his Koopas.
"No, sir," the Koopa replied. "We are still searching for the Flowers."
"Keep searching."
"Yes, sir." The Koopa exited the throne room.
"I must get those Moonlight Flowers," thought Iggy. "There are only seven left and Mario has the first Moonlight Flower... I must think of another strategy."
End of Chapter 1. What will Iggy's strategy be? Will he succeed in getting one of the Moonlight Flowers? What will become of the Lunar Flower Kingdom? Find out of Chapter 2.