Super Mario Revelations II: The Lunar Flower

Super Mario Revelations II: The Lunar Flower

Chapter 2: Behind the City Scenes

Previously on SMR II, Mario and Co. traveled to the docks to get to a boat to Yoshi's Island. While they were waiting, Lily suffered a nightmare about the Koopa Troop invading her homeland. But Mario woke her up from the nightmare, and the boat arrived shortly after. The trip to Yoshi's Island wasn't very peaceful, for Iggy summoned some of his naval and later aerial troops to attack the group. The quartet, however, routed Iggy's attack.

When they reached Yoshi's Island, the group had to escape from a Nep-enut while swimming across a lake. They also met up with Yoshi, who joined the group. When they reached a castle on the island, the group split up by taking different paths. Each of the paths had different obstacles, but each member of the group ran into a key at the end of each path. When they met up again, they used the keys to unlock the door at the room they met in. On the other side of the door, the quintet fought Bigger Boo, the guardian of the gold Moonlight Flower. Although most of the party (except Mario and Koops) were injured, Bigger Boo was brought down by Mario and Koops. Then the group gained the gold Moonlight Flower, the first of the eight. When they exited the castle, they told Peach of the crisis that was going on.

Where are Lily's parents being held now? What will Iggy do to the parents if Mario and Co. ever reach them? And why is he searching for the Lunar Flower Kingdom's source of power?

At Mario's Pad...

"Well," sighed Mario, "we have a single Moonlight Flower. Just seven more to-a go."

"Yeah," Luigi agreed, "but this is only the beginning."

"Hey, Lily," asked Koops, "where do we go next?"

Lily stood up and closed her eyes, then started to glow. Then she answered, "The next Moonlight Flower is at a very tall building in the largest city in the Mushroom Kingdom... But first, we have to get to the doorway that leads to my home."

"Hm..." pondered Mario. "Tallest building... Largest city... ! It's the Mushroom Tower, at Mushroom City. But, you told us-a we need to head to a doorway first. Why?"

"We have to insert the gold Moonlight Flower into the doorway."

"Oh."

"Follow me." Lily created a portal with her magic and she and the others jumped inside.

When they popped out of the other side, they were in a sanctum similar to the Star Sanctum, but with lunar flowers and a white glow. In the front of the room, there was a doorway. The door had eight slots in the shape of flowers. Each of them was in a different color. Lily grabbed the gold Moonlight Flower from Mario's pocket and inserted it into the golden slot. The Moonlight Flower then transformed into a white color.

"One down, seven up," mumbled Koops. "Which is the next Moonlight Flower?"

"The colors of the Moonlight Flowers are gold, garnet, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and white," answered Lily. "So, the next one is the garnet Moonlight Flower."

"Oh."

Lily created another portal from her hands and the quintet went in. When they popped out of the other side, they were back at Mario's Pad.

"We have to head to-a Mushroom City immediately." Mario turned to the others. "But, we have to be careful because Iggy could be watching us at any moment. The city is about 57 miles away from here."

"How are we supposed to get there by foot on time?" asked Koops.

"We can take the train that leads there."

"Oh yeah, the train."

Mario and Co. traveled to the train station. "Mario?" asked Luigi.

"Yes?" replied Mario.

"I was just wondering, what if the power of the Moonlight Flowers combined with Lily's body isn't enough to destroy Iggy? What if he demolishes the Moonlight Flowers?"

"He wants to destroy Lily. After that, he would move on to you, me, Yoshi, and Koops. I hope the power of the Flowers is enough to decimate Iggy. If it’s not, I don't know what to say..."

"Okay."

"We need to get the remaining seven Moonlight Flowers," Koops added.

At the Lunar Flower Kingdom, the Koopas had captured one of the castles. Inside the castle, several Koopas were posted as guards. In the main room, a man was tied up on a chair. He was wearing brown boots and a white uniform, along with a golden robe. His hair was just as snow-colored as Lily's. Iggy suddenly appeared in front of him. Iggy now had a black robe and a wand in his possession.

"All right," Iggy sneered, "tell me where your power source is."

"I will never tell you where the source is," the man resisted.

"You’d better tell where that $%^& power source is," Iggy grew redder and redder in the face by the minute, "or I will have to find other measures of making you talk."

"No matter how much you torture me," the man argued, "I will never tell you where the power source is."

"All right then…" Iggy pulled out his wand and executed a slashing motion. During the slashing motion, the man's mouth was slashed by an invisible force. A small amount of green blood came trickling from his mouth. The man swore very loudly.

"WHERE IS THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWER?!?" Iggy roared.

"I will never tell you. My daughter will eliminate you..." the man, Lily's father, whispered.

"Hm, Lily? I see," smirked Iggy. Then, e rotated away from Lily's father and pondered, "That fool refuses to even speak to me about their source of power... If I don't receive answers... If he even dares to resist me..." He turned to his Koopas. "Take this man back to his cell," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," the Koopas replied. And with that, the Koopas carried Lily's father away.

Back with Mario and Co, they were approaching the train station, but when they got there, a nasty surprise awaited them...

"What the-" Mario gasped. "The train station is in-a ruins... Now we will have to find another way to get to the city."

"I don't know how we are supposed to get there in time," sighed Luigi.

Mario turned to the map right next to the train station. He closely examined the paths to Mushroom City. "Hm," pondered Mario, "What path should we go? There's another train station, but it's-a too far away. The Ice Flower Pass in the mountains? Could-a work, but it's too dangerous because-a of the frequent avalanches. Can't use this train station. The Mushroom River? The river may not be speedy, but it's our best of getting to the city. The river passes through the city."

He turned to the others. "We'll be using the Mushroom River. It's-a right next to my house."

"Do you have a boat?" asked Koops.

"I got-a one in my closet."

Mario rushed to the closet in his house and searched for the boat. After a minute of searching, he grabbed his boat and exited his house.

"All right," sighed Mario, "I will place the boat on the river, and I will hold on to it until all of us are on the boat. The boat will then take us to Mushroom City. Do you get me?"

"I get you," answered Koops.

"Okay, let's-a go."

Mario positioned the boat on the river, but he did not release his grip on it. Luigi climbed into the boat first. The next person to climb into the boat was Koops. Yoshi and Lily followed suit. Mario released the boat, set the engine on slow, and climbed into it afterwards.

"Next stop, Mushroom City."

Several miles away from the party's position lay a field of red roses next to a house. In the field was a very young person. The person, a 17-year-old female with a rainbow-dotted Mushroom cap and hair consisting of strands like carbon-colored silk, had shiny multi-colored armor all over her body except her head, upper legs, and left hand. Her left hand was plated with gold and her upper legs were constructed of leather, but they were obstructed by a knee-length skirt. She also had brown eyes.

She plucked a rose from the ground and placed it in her hair, which was tied back. The girl fell back into the field and was about to sleep when an earthquake occurred. "What was that?" she pondered.

She rushed with her jets over to the source of the earthquake. When she reached the source, which was at Mushroom City, she encountered a Koopa bomber squadron attempting to decimate the city. "Oh no," she sighed, "I have to warn Mario and the others..."

She dashed away from the city to warn Mario and Co. (Challenge: Can you guess who that person was?)

Back with Mario and Co, they were still sailing on the Mushroom River. They had passed the first 11 miles, leaving only 46 miles left.

"Hey, Mario," called out Yoshi, "look at that thing that is rushing in the sky." Yoshi pointed to an object that was soaring across the sky. When it rushed above the party's position, it dropped something on the boat. It was a note.

"A note?" squeaked Koops.

"Let me-a read it." Mario grabbed the note and examined it. In blue letters, the note said:

Be careful! There are Koopa Troop bombers at Mushroom City. They are attempting to destroy the city. Stay away from the bombers.

"Oh my..." gasped Lily. "Iggy is trying the destroy the Mushroom Kingdom as well."

"Great," sighed Mario, "now he's trying to obliterate this kingdom as well. This is getting ridiculous. How many more kingdoms will Iggy try to wipe out? Does his impudence acknowledge no bounds? We must-a stop him."

"Uh, M-M-Mario?" shuttered Koops. "Look up ahead... T-t-there's something up ahead..."

Mario turned around to spot the waters now rushing at a high speed. "Mamamia, that can't-a be too exciting. Hang on tight. We're-a going in for a rough ride."

"What do you m- AAAACCKKKKKK!" Luigi tried to speak, but he was cut off by the now rapid speed of the river's flow.

At the Mushroom Kingdom Prison, Bowser was in his cell watching TV. He was still searching for his favorite channels, for there were hardly any channels he liked to watch.

"This is so lame," sighed Bowser, "Why aren't there any of my favorite channels that I can watch?" As Bowser continued switching through channels, he spotted a news channel. "Hm, what's this?"

The newsperson was saying, "We have confirmed reports of a bombing in Mushroom City, the Mushroom Kingdom's largest metropolis. According to several reporters, the planes had the Koopa Clan's logo adorned on the bottom. We're not sure who is commanding those planes, but I assure you that Bowser is not behind this. There have also been unconfirmed sightings of a Koopa with glasses and a wild rainbow Mohawk."

"Iggy," Bowser chuckled. "Now that's my boy, finishing what I started."

Back with Mario and Co, the river had carried the boat over the next 15 miles, with only 31 miles left.

"Oh geez," whined Luigi, "How much longer will this take?"

"Be patient, Bro," answered Mario, "it's only about 30 miles away."

"I thought you said we had 31 more miles left."

"We just passed a mile."

"How fast is boat going?" asked Yoshi.

"23 miles per hour."

"That long."

"This area is very dark..." whispered Lily.

"The trees are-a blocking the sunlight."

"Look at the river..." Lily noticed that the river was slowly expanding. But as she watched the river expand, the boat abruptly halted.

"What-a happened?" whined Luigi.

"Not this," spat Mario. "The boat's out of fuel. Help me find some Mushrooms. They power the boat."

"I didn't spot any Mushrooms while the boat was traveling in the forest," whispered Lily.

"We're doomed," sighed Koops.

"Wha?" mumbled Yoshi, for he had spotted a red button on the boat's engine. "What happens if Yoshi press red button?" Yoshi slowly reached for the button, but Mario noticed this.

"No, Yoshi! NOT THAT-" yelled Mario. But it was too late. The boat blasted off using a hidden jet in the boat's engine.

At Peach's castle...

"Your Highness!" shouted Toadsworth. "We have an invasion force attacking Mushroom City!"

"Who is it?" asked Peach.

"The bombers have Bowser's logo on it. It's Bowser's doing!"

"You mean Iggy," corrected Peach.

"What?"

"Iggy is commanding the invasion force. Bowser is in prison."

"Oh."

"Why are they attacking the city?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am. I think they are searching for a flower of some sort. I guess it's called a Moonlight Flower..."

"This isn't too pleasing... ! The Moonlight Flowers... That's what Mario and the group are looking for."

Back with Mario and Co....

"What's going on?" asked Lily.

"I CAN'T STOP THIS THING!" yelled Mario, whose voice was vibrating. "Yoshi, what did you do?!"

"Yoshi press red button..." replied Yoshi.

"Great, now the boat's going too fast..."

"M-M-Mario?" shuttered Luigi. "Watch out..."

"HOLY-" Mario tried to steer the boat, but it was too late. BAM! The boat collided with a tree trunk in the river. Koops noted a large dent on the boat. "Aw man," sighed Mario. "I hope-a the warranty covers the damage to this boat."

"How do you stop this thing?" asked Koops.

"The only way to do that is to let the engine deplete of gasoline."

"When was the last time you filled the tank?"

"A week ago."

"So, the boat should stop about now."

By the time the boat stopped, it had already carried the group to the inner suburbs of Mushroom City. "Well," called out Mario, "we are in the inner suburbs of Mushroom City."

"Inner suburbs?" Luigi was confused by what Mario said.

"We have been in Mushroom City's metropolitan area all this time, but we are not in the actual city limits. The city and Toad Town share the same urban area in spite of the fact that they are fifty-seven miles apart."

"Woah," mumbled Koops, "That's very large, because it is the Mushroom Kingdom's largest city."

As the boat approached the city, the buildings changed from low-level versions to more towering ones. The boat passed a sign that read “Entering Mushroom City”.

"Okay, we can climb out of the boat," mumbled Luigi. Mario and Luigi jumped out of the boat first, followed by Koops and Yoshi, and finally Lily.

"Let's-a go!" Mario rushed off into the central part of the city. The others followed suit.

Meanwhile at the central part of Mushroom City, the citizens were fleeing from the bombers that were wrecking the buildings. The vehicles, however, received the full brunt of the bombing runs. On one of the planes, Iggy's voice was on a radio.

"Did you locate the Moonlight Flower?" asked Iggy to the pilot.

"No, Prince," replied the pilot, "but we are continuing our search."

"Keep searching."

"Yes, Prince Iggy."

Back with Mario and Co, Mario was pondering some way to travel between the buildings and still avoid being located by Iggy's troops.

"There must be a way of traveling between buildings and still avoid Iggy's bombers... The sewers would be good, but I would not want to travel that way. Yuck... Plus, Iggy's troops may be down there. Skywalks? That would be good."

He turned to the others. "We are taking the skywalks. It's the only of avoiding Iggy's troops."

"Are you sure this will work?" asked Lily.

"Yes, Lily."

Mario and Co. traveled into one of the nearby buildings and dashed up to the fourth floor, where the skywalk was located. When they were on the middle of the skywalk, they got a view of Iggy's bombers devastating the city. Whey they reached the next building, they climbed the stairway leading to the next skywalk. "Wait," mumbled Luigi, "how come they didn’t get the Moonlight Flower earlier?"

"They were unaware it was inside the Mushroom Tower," answered Lily.

"Uh, Mario?" shuttered Koops, "Here they come..."

He was right. The bombers were closing on the party's position. The quintet rushed out of the building just as it was bombed by the bombers. "Woah," sighed Yoshi, "That close one."

"We must-a keep moving," called out Mario. "The skywalk leads to-a the Mushroom Tower."

"All right."

Just as the party was about to leave, Lily fell to the ground, screaming in pain as she did. Mario dashed back to Lily and tried to examine what was happening to her. He noticed there were no cuts or abrasions on her, yet she was in agonizing pain. "Er, Lily?" asked Mario, "What's wrong with you? Is there something happening?"

But Lily failed to answer, as she was still screaming from the pain. "Er, Mario?" squeaked Koops, "What's going on?"

"I'm not-a sure."

When Mario positioned himself closer to Lily, he heard her mumbling, "Not her... Please, not her..."

"Not her?" pondered Mario, "What's that-a suppose to... Uh oh. Her mother is undergoing serious pain."

"How do Mario find out Lily getting harm?" asked Yoshi.

"Lily's father already went through torture. Now they're going to do the same to her mother."

"It's... not... that...." moaned Lily. "It's just the thought of them torturing her... It feels like it's tearing me apart..."

"Oh. Yoshi, carry Lily."

"Okay," Yoshi responded. With this, he grabbed Lily and placed her on his back. "Lily okay?" asked Yoshi.

"No...." groaned Lily.

"Let's-a move," called Mario.

The party traveled on to the next building, which was the Mushroom Kingdom Bank. But when they got there, another surprise awaited them...

"Huh?" gasped Luigi, "The door's locked. We can't-a travel to the tower now unless we have a key."

"Wait," interrupted Mario, "let me examine the door." When Mario closed in on the door, he noticed that the door had a very weak lock. "The lock doesn't look too strong. I can bust-a it down." Mario paced backwards, then charged into the door. When he rammed into the door, the unstable lock didn't break. When Mario rammed into the door a second time, the unstable lock still didn't break. After the third time, the lock cracked. Aftert the fourth time, the lock shattered.

"Good work, Mario," cheered Koops. "We can continue traveling."

Meanwhile with the mysterious person, she was attempting to get inside the Mushroom Tower through the front entrance, but the door wouldn’t budge.

"Hm," she pondered. "The door won't open. I guess Mario already acknowledged that by now. But, I need to clear a path for him."

She blasted off using her jets.

Back with Mario and Co, they were still traveling along the skywalks. At that point, Luigi and Koops were tiring from the walking. Lily was asleep. "Can.. we... get... *cough* get some... rest?" coughed Luigi.

"Use these." Mario pulled out two Mushrooms from his pocket. Luigi and Koops each grabbed and gobbled up one. When they swallowed their Mushrooms, Luigi and Koops regained energy. "That's much better," sighed Luigi. "Let's-a go!"

"Wait," called Koops, "look at one of the planes!" The bomber that was soaring around the building was abruptly shot down by a beam out of nowhere. "Hm," continued Koops. "It sounds like someone else is resisting Iggy's troops. But anyway, let's go."

Mario and Co. continued on across the skywalks.

Meanwhile with Iggy, he was wondering changes to his plans in case anything happened.

"I must add something to my plan if anything happens," he pondered. "Destroy the Moonlight Flowers? That could prevent Mario from reaching the kingdom, but then again I wouldn’t be able to steal their power, the power depends on the Moonlight Flowers.... Kidnap the messenger? Could work, but Mario may try to destroy me... Hmm...."

"Hey, Prince?" a Koopa asked. "Do you even plan on kidnapping Peach? It's sort of fun kidnapping her."

Much to the disappointment of the Koopa, Iggy replied, "Peach has nothing to do with the situation, so don't try to convince me to kidnap her."

"But-"

"I said no. If you try to argue with me, I will demote you to a lower rank. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Prince."

"But, we can kidnap the messenger."

"Okay..."

"How are the forces at Mushroom City?"

"Well, sir, some of the bombers are being wiped out."

"Grrr..." Iggy was ready to blow, "Is it Mario?"

"Err... No. Someone else must be attacking the bombers."

"Send in some fighters to provide anti-air escort."

"Yes, sir."

When the Koopa left, Iggy stood up and pondered. "I must find some answers from that man, Lily's father. I will interrogate him some more." With a swing of his wand, he vanished.

Back with Mario and Co, the group was still traveling across the skywalks. Just before they reached the next building, they noticed more planes flying into the city, but these planes were thinner in character and more speedy.

"Wait," pondered Yoshi, "are those planes fighters?"

"I guess they are," answered Luigi. "They were possibly summoned here in case the source of the beam was from an aerial force."

"But that-a is not going to aid them," sighed Mario. "Their missiles can lock on only to air units."

"But Mario, don't you-a think we're high in the air?"

"Aghh... You're right. Their missiles can hit us."

"Let's just-a go before they notice us."

Mario and Co. continued on to the next building. But when they were inside, they discovered several Koopas attacking several Toads. One in particular was frantically dashing across the room like crazy, trying to avoid the Koopas. "Hey," questioned Koops, "what's happening here?"

"T-t-t-the Koopas a-a are attacking this building..." shuddered the Toad. "C-c-c-can you help u-u-us?"

"Sure thing."

With that, the Mario Bros. and Koops charged after the Koopas. Yoshi stayed behind with Lily. The Koopas turned to see the three that were charging after them. "Hey," mumbled one Koopa, "aren't these guys the Mario Bros. and Koops?"

"Of course," answered another. "And there's Yoshi and... Hold on, that's the messenger! Prince Iggy ordered us to capture the messenger if we find her."

"So, we fight?"

"Sure."

The Koopas stopped attacking the Toads and focused on the Mario Bros. and Koops. One Koopa attempted to go after Yoshi and Lily, but Luigi electrocuted him. Three Koopas withdrew into their shells and circled around Koops. Koops knocked out the first Koopa, but the other two rammed into him. Mario stomped on one of the Koopa shells and kicked it across the room and out the window. Luigi pulled his hammer out and whacked a Koopa into a table. However, more Koopas were trying to avoid the Bros. and Koops to capture Lily. Just when one of the Koopas grabbed Lily by her snow-colored hair, Yoshi swallowed and spat out the Koopa. Lily tossed a pedal at another Koopa, whose arm got cut by the pedal. Mario grabbed him from behind and ground pounded him. That Koopa turned out to be the commanding officer, causing the remaining two Koopas to surrender and dash away.

"Well," sighed Koops, "that takes care of them."

"Lily," asked Mario, "are you-a okay?"

"I'm fine..." whispered Lily. "I think I can walk again." She sat up and slid off of Yoshi's back.

When Mario and Co. reached the next door and opened it, they noticed that there were no windows on this portion of the skywalk. "Huh," pondered Mario. "Looks like the Koopas won't-a see us. But, then again we won't be able to notice if the Koopas are about to attack this portion of the skywalk..." He turned to the others. "Let's-a go."

After traveling across the windowless part of the skywalk, they stopped in the next room. "All right," Mario uttered, "we'll stop here for now."

"Just in time..." yawned Koops, "I'm tired."

"Me too..." moaned Luigi.

"Yoshi tired..." groaned Yoshi.

"I am as-a well, but I'll keep awake just in case any Koopa barges in," Mario sighed. "There are no windows here, so the Koopas can't get in that way. I'll lock the doors. Hm... The sun is setting in the western part of the sky..."

"How can you tell if the sun is setting?" asked Luigi.

"I just noticed this in the last building."

"Oh, okay."

Indeed, the sun was slowly but surely setting in the west. Dusk was nearing. As Mario proceeded to lock the doors, Lily pulled out her diary and turned to the next page.

Day 2

I am at Mushroom City now. We have defeated Bigger Boo and now we are now searching for the garnet Moonlight Flower, located in the Mushroom Tower. The Koopa Troop has summoned some bombers to bombard the city. Iggy's sent some fighters to the city as well. Fortunately, we have received some help from an unknown person. We took the Mushroom River route to reach the city. At one of the towers, I suffered an agonizing pain from the illusion of my mother being murdered by the Koopas. I hope that they won't kill her, because I would be downcast and heartbroken if they did. I am also wondering what will happen to my father... If Iggy murders both of them, will he move on to me? ... Right now we are resting at one of Mushroom City's many buildings.

Lily turned the page and continued writing. Before she did, she took her shoes off.

I am not very sure if we can reach the Flower in Mushroom Tower on time. But if we do, we can send it to the doorway to my home. But, Iggy is making this journey more and more difficult. I surely hope we can receive more allies as the journey continues....

Lily

She closed the diary, tied her white and curly hair back, and fell asleep. The four that fell asleep were sleeping near the doors. Only Mario was awake to keep watch.

Meanwhile, the Koopas in the bombers were still bombing the city, while those in fighters were on patrol for anything that could pose a threat to the bombers.

"What's your status?" questioned Iggy.

"We are still searching for the Moonlight Flower," a Koopa in one of the fighters answered.

Iggy was silent and didn't reply to this.

"Also," the Koopa continued, "there is currently no threat to the bombers and dusk is approaching. Should we pull out?"

"No," answered Iggy. "You and the others that are in fighters stay on patrol. Tell the Koopas in the bombers to find a landing area."

"Will d- Huh?" The Koopa noticed a dot on the radar. It was rushing in fast and heading towards the fighter.

"What is it?" asked Iggy.

"HOLY-" the Koopa yelled, for there was an unidentified object soaring past the fighter. The object fired several beams in order to destroy the fighters. "All bombers, retreat to a landing area immediately! All fighters, engage!" the Koopa to the other fighters. Screams and explosions suddenly muffled the voices of the Koopas.

"Black Koopa, what is your status?" Iggy interrupted.

"*&@#!"! shouted another one of the Koopas. "Cover the bombers!"

"Come in, Black Koopa!" Iggy was gradually getting impatient.

"Prince, we have discovered an unidentified unit heading towards our squadron!"

"What does it look like?"

"I can't get a closer look.... Wait, what's it doing? It's glowing and... AHHHH!!!"

Back at Iggy's castle, Iggy could hear explosions, screams, crunching, and the sounds of a beam firing. "What's going on, Prince?" a Koopa asked.

"I can't say..." Iggy replied.

"Prince," a Koopa called over the radio, "the object....It's shaped like a..."

"Shaped like a what?"

"Like a-" But the Koopa was instantly cut off when there were more explosions, and this time, slashings could also be heard over the radio.

"This is crazy...!" another one of the Koopas exclaimed. "Is that-"

Eventually the loud noises reached a high peak. Screams, explosions, slashings, beams, crunching, and distortion had dimmed out all the voices. Then, there was silence.

"Black Koopa, respond," Iggy spoke.

...

"All units, respond!"

Back with Mario and Co, Mario was still awake, for he was guarding the room while the others slept. He did not realize that the Koopa Troop's air force was being wiped out at the time.

"Hm," sighed Mario. "No Koopa is using the skywalk. I guess I'll sleep too."

Mario sat down somewhere near where the others were sleeping, then he passed out as well.

At Iggy's castle....

"Where is Mario?" asked Iggy.

"We don't know, Prince," answered one of the Koopas.

"What about the air force?"

"Um, most of our air units have been destroyed by an unidentified object. Only a few managed to escape and find a landing area."

"Grrr... By next morning, I want some troops on land to invade the buildings. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Leave." All the Koopas left the throne room.

When the Koopas exited the room, Iggy wondered what he should send in next. "I must have a ground invasion force to deal with Mario and his allies directly. If this fails, I'll have to take other measures."

The next morning, Mario woke up the earliest out of the five. "Ugh..." he yawned. "We need to continue on our search for the Moonlight Flower. But, I suppose I will wait for-a the others to wake up. The Mushroom Tower isn't-a far from here."

Mario stood up and paced around the room sleepily, waiting for his allies to wake up. He still heard explosions outside, though not as frequently as last night. "Hm," he pondered. "I wonder what-a happened to the bombers? Did they retreat? Or did they get destroyed? I can't exactly say..."

He continued to pace around in order to overcome his sleepiness. He did this for the next ten minutes until he heard a noise. At first he assumed it was the small tapping of the pencils on one of the desks. But as the noise got louder, the noise deepened to the tapping of feet. Then, he realized one thing...

The Koopas were using the skywalks to capture the Moonlight Flower and Lily...

Instantly, he dashed over to the others to wake them up. "Luigi... Koops... Yoshi... Lily..." he whispered, "Wake up..."

"Urgh..." moaned Luigi. "What's-a going on?"

"The Koopas... They're coming..."

By the time Mario whispered this, the Koopas were trying to turn the knob. Koops woke up shortly after.

"Agh..." yawned Koops. "What are we doing?"

"The Koopas are coming."

"Uh oh."

"Yoshi, come on... Wake up."

"Ohh..." groaned Yosh. "What's happening?"

"The Koopas are-a approaching...!"

When the Koopas realized that the door wouldn’t open by turning the knob, they resorted to smashing down the door. "Oh no..." gasped Mario. "Luigi, wake up Lily. Koops, find some heavy objects to block the door. I'll unlock the door on the other side of the room."

As Mario rushed to the other side of the room, Koops searched for some heavy objects to block the door with, while Luigi attempted to wake up Lily. "Lily...!" Luigi whispered at his loudest. "Wake up...!"

"Ohhh..." yawned the snow-haired flower maiden. "What's happening?"

"The Koopas are approaching...."

Koops pushed a heavy office desk in front of the door, then grabbed a computer monitor, also placing it next to the door. When Lily broke out of her sleepiness, she placed her shoes back on her feet. By the time Koops placed two chairs at the door, the door was close to collapsing. After Mario unlocked the next door, everyone including Koops dashed into the next part of the skywalk. The previous door fully collapsed after that. But the Koopas were unable to storm the room due to the objects Koops placed at the door.

"That was too close," sighed Koops.

"Yeah," mumbled Luigi.

"I'm locking this door in case the Koopas burst through the barricade," Mario whispered in a low tone as he proceeded to lock the door.

"Let's-a move," ordered Luigi.

The quintet traveled through several more of the city's buildings while trying to avoid the Koopas' air units. Just when they were about to progress into the next part of the skywalk, the group heard a muffled explosion nearby. When Mario opened the door, to his shock, he noticed the section of the skywalk leading up to the Mushroom Tower was decimated.

"$%^&..." groaned Mario. "Looks like we need to jump across. I'll go across first."

Mario took several paces back. Then he rushed to the end and jumped a very far distance, landing on the other side shortly after. "Who's going next?" asked Luigi.

"I will," Koops answered. He charged up for a move of some sort by spinning in his shell, then, without any warning, he soared across the gap and reached the other side.

"I'm next," Luigi declared. He paced a few steps back, then he Spring Jumped onto the other side of the skywalk.

"Me next! Me next!" squeaked Yoshi. He jumped into the air and fluttered until he reached the other side of the gap.

"Okay, Lily," Mario called, "go for it."

"I will," Lily responded. She levitated into the air and slowly soared to the other side of the gap.

"Okay, let's-a keep going," Mario ordered.

Meanwhile, the mysterious person was soaring in the air with her jets, scanning the city through the her visor implanted in her eyes. Little did she realize that a fighter was trailing behind her.

"I got a lock on an unidentified object," the pilot exclamaed.

"Whatever it is," Iggy commanded, "shoot it."

"Will do." The pilot fired a missile at the girl. Before the girl could react, the missile slammed into her and exploded on her. This made her lose control of her flying and she crashed into a building due to this.

When she got back up she noticed that her armor was partly rusted and a portion of the armor on her left arm had chipped off. This exposed the electronics underneath as well as a tube carrying a white, milky liquid. "Ow..." she moaned. "I need to hold off the air force."

She tried to fly, but the jets were crippled. "I'll fix those jets when I get home. Good thing I always have a backup pair." Several jets, this time from her back, popped out and the girl continued flying across the city.

Meanwhile with Mario and Co., they opened the door leading to the Mushroom Tower. When they were inside, the group closed the door. "All right," sighed Mario, "the Moonlight Flower is in here at the top floor."

"How did Mario know that Moonlight Flower is at the top?" asked Yoshi.

"I just-a guessed," answered Mario. "Let's-a go."

Mario dashed up the stairs leading to the top, and the others followed suit. When they reached the top, they didn't see the Moonlight Flower there.

"We must-a search the room," Mario ordered. "Check all over the room to find the Flower."

Mario searched by the crates, Luigi by the elevators, Koops by the closet, Yoshi by the roof, and Lily by the railway outside.

"Hm," Mario mumbled to himself. "I wonder what I will find in these crates?" He opened up one of the crates, only to find some silverware items. "No, not this one," he sighed. "What's in the other crates?" Mario opened another crate and spotted some packaged food items, but still no Moonlight Flower. In the third crate...

"Oh my..." gagged Mario. "Spoiled meat... Oh my... Urgh..."

Luigi, meanwhile, was by the elevators. He pressed a button next to the elevator on the far left. However, a light didn't glow from the button; and when Luigi squeezed himself against the elevator, he didn't hear the elevator sliding up to the current level. "This one is broken," moaned Luigi. "What about the others?"

Luigi tried the other elevators, but all of them were the same as the first. The elevators were all idle.

"Man," whined Luigi, "all of them are out of commission."

On the other side of the room, Koops opened up the door to the closet. What he discovered were several construction items, a bucket, and a janitor's uniform. When he pulled the janitor's uniform, he located a door inside the closet. He attempted to open it, but the door was locked. "Hm," he pondered, "there doesn't seem to be a key around here. I can't get in... I need to find some other way."

As this was happening, Yoshi was up on the roof searching for the Moonlight Flower. "Where flower at?" Yoshi asked himself. "Need find Moonlight Flower."

Yoshi searched all over the roof's garden. He located many different types of flowers, including poppies, roses, and more, but no Moonlight Flower... "Yoshi must go back insid-"

Before Yoshi could finish, his left foot slipped over the edge. This sent him over the edge and would he have fallen to his death had not he grabbed onto the edge. His hands were having difficulty holding because not only was he heavy, but the edge was also very slippery as well. "WWWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" he shrieked. "HELP YOSHI"

Yoshi's fingers were beginning to slip off the edge. As they did, Yoshi screamed ever louder to draw attention. Yoshi then closed his eyes slowly, realizing that he would soon fall to his death. His last finger slipped and Yoshi waited for his death to come swiftly…

...

Yoshi slowly opened his eyes, and to his surprise, he noticed that he was wasn't falling, but he was stuck in midair. He slowly pulled his head up and....

"Mario!" Yoshi squealed.

"I got you," he grunted. "It's okay. I'll pull you up." Mario pulled Yoshi up, grunting as he did so, for Yoshi had a heavyweight.
"Did you find-a the Moonlight Flower?" Mario asked.

"No," replied Yoshi.

As this was happening, Lily was searching the railway. "Hm," she whispered. "The Moonlight Flower has to be here somewhere on the top of the tower..."

As she was walking across the railway, Lily stepped on a fragile panel. She did, however, step back before the panel detached from the railway. "I need to be careful next time," she breathed. Lily continued to search around the railway, but still no Moonlight Flower.

After searching all over the area, the group came back together to discuss the Moonlight Flower. "I searched in the crates," stated Mario, "but all I found were some food items, forks, silverware, and everything food-related."

"I tried searching in the elevators," Luigi sighed, "but the elevators are out."

"Well," muttered Koops, "the Moonlight Flower wasn't in the closet. There was another door inside, but it was locked."

"Yoshi searched in garden," Yoshi squeaked, "but Yoshi didn't find Moonlight Flower."

"I searched in the railways," Lily whispered, "but there was nothing on the railways."

"Well, the Moonlight Flower must be in here somewhere..." pondered Mario.

"Yoshi hungry..." moaned Yoshi, "Can Luigi get food?"

"Not now," replied Luigi.

"Please?!"

"We'll find some food later."

"Yoshi hungry!!!"

"Uh oh.."

Yoshi bashed Luigi up against the wall while dashing around in hunger, leaving Luigi in a daze. "Give Yoshi food!" Yoshi yelled.

"Mamamia..." groaned Luigi.

"Um... Are you going to put a stop to that?" asked Koops. Mario, however, did not answer, for his eyes were fixed on something on the wall.

"Urr, Mario?"

"Is there something wrong with him?" asked Lily.

"I can't really explain..." Then Koops turned around and now his eyes were also glued to the same object Mario was looking at. When Luigi had been slammed against the wall, the wall chipped off to reveal a button underneath.

"Oh..." muttered Koops, "So, this is what you were looking at."

"Hold it," Mario ordered Yoshi, and Yoshi stopped prancing around. "Who would-a put a button behind a wall?"

"Beats me," answered Koops.

Mario didn't reply to Koops's comment. He slowly traveled to the button and pushed it. When he did this, the room shook weakly at first, but gradually it evolved into a stronger form. Luigi was frightened by this. "W-w-w-w-what's going on?" he shuddered, a tone of fear and shock in his voice.

"Take a look," Mario called out as he pointed his finger towards the column in the center of the room. The column had originally been black, like carbon, but it slowly transformed into a yellowish-white color, like a bright flower pedal. Next, the column slowly lifted into the ceiling, revealing a dark hole below. Then a bright light shattered the darkness inside the hole. Finally, a pedestal lifted from the hole. A flower was standing on the pedestal. The flower was contained inside a capsule. This flower had garnet-colored petals attached to it. When Mario and Co. glued their eyes to the flower, they realized it meant one thing...

"The garnet Moonlight Flower..." Luigi gasped.

Koops captured the capsule and was about to open it, but then...

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!

"What was that?" Yoshi asked.

"It must be the bombers," Mario answered.

"We need to get out of here!" panicked Luigi.

"All right, let's-a-"

Another loud explosion occurred and it created an earthquake that was very powerful, to the point that Koops was thrown right out the building through the window, tumbling to the edge of the railway.

"Koops!" Mario gasped. "I need to help." With this, he dashed outside and grabbed Koops's hand. Mario would have pulled him up completely had not another bomb crashed into the ground. This also pulled Mario over the edge, but he grabbed on to the edge of the railway.

"Mario!" Luigi shrieked. Luigi dashed outside and grabbed Mario's hand to pull him and Koops up. But he fell over the edge as well due to the earthquake left behind by the bomb. Lily and Yoshi rushed outside to help the other three, but with the third bomb, Yoshi fell very quickly to the earthquake. Lily struggled to pull the other four up, but she was not very strong in physical strength. This was made worse by another bomb. Eventually Lily's strength faded away and all five were sent falling off the Mushroom Tower.

"No!" Koops yelled. "The Moonlight Flower!" Koops's grip slipped off the capsule containing the Moonlight Flower.

"ACK!" shrieked Luigi. "WE'RE DOOMED! WE LOST THE MOONLIGHT FLOWER!"

Neither one of them realized that worse was to come. "What about this?" Mario pointed to a hole in the streets below. "Brace yourselves."

"What are you-" Koops spat, but before he could finish...

SPPLLLLLASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!

....

At Iggy's castle...

"What?!" Iggy yelled. "What do you mean you lost the signal?"

"Well, sir," the pilot answered, "the signal just cut off abruptly when we dropped the bomb. I don't understand why, but when we dropped the bomb, the signal disappeared."

"Rrrrr... I have no choice... Retreat from the city."

"But-"

"Fall back immediately."

"Yes, sir."

At Peach's castle...

"What?" Peach gasped. "What happened to Mario?"

"I don't know, Your Highness," Toadsworth answered. "But, after the fourth bomb, they disappeared. I don't know why, but they just disappeared instantly."

"Oh, Mario... I hope you're okay..."

Back with Mario & Co....

"Is everyone okay?" asked Mario to the others.

"I'm fine," answered Koops.

"Me too," squeaked Yoshi.

"I'm okay..." moaned Luigi, his voice still shaking in fear.

"I'm all right..." sighed Lily.

"Ugh... *hack* Oh, not this..." gagged Luigi.

"Where are we now?" Koops asked Mario.

Mario and Lily illuminated the room, and to the dismay of the other three, the group realized they had landed in the sewers. "Hm," sighed Mario, his voice echoing off the sewer walls, "that's why you were gagging, Luigi."

"Yeah... *cough*" coughed Luigi.

"Let's move."

Mario slowly splashed across the sewers, searching for the fallen Moonlight Flower as they did. To avoid her hair from being soaked by the sewage, Lily tied her white hair back even farther.

"Um, Mario?" asked Koops.

"Hmm?" mumbled Mario.

"Are there any enemies down here? I'm not scared, but I'm just asking. Are there any enemies?"

"Not-a very likely..."

"Yoshi hungry..." whined Yoshi.

"Here." Mario tossed a Shroom Shake and a Mushroom at Yoshi. Yoshi began to chug down on the Shroom Shake, but did not devour the Mushroom immediately.

"Thanks..." sighed Luigi. "Now he should calm down..."

"No problem," replied Mario.

"I'm scared..." shuddered Lily.

"I'm not," whispered Luigi, "but my eyes are watering from the stench."

"Hold up," Mario called out. "Look." Mario pointed at a compact gap at the edge of the sewers. Inside the gap lay a capsule. The capsule contained a flower with garnet petals. Then, it struck Mario and Lily.

It was the Moonlight Flower that Koops dropped earlier...

"Hm," pondered Mario. "I can't reach into the gap because the capsule is too far and I am too large to crawl into the hole. Luigi, Lily, and Yoshi can't reach into the hole either, but what about Koops? The gap looks large enough for his shell to fit in."

Mario rotated to Koops. "Koops, see if you can capture the capsule that is stuck in the hole."

"Okay." Koops shot his shell and quickly stole the capsule from the gap, but on the way out, Koops's shell suddenly stopped.

"Mamamia!" Luigi gasped. "Koops is-a stuck. Let's-a pull him out." Luigi attempted to pull Koops out of the hole, but his fingers instantly slipped when he tried. Yoshi joined Luigi in pulling Koops out, but even though Koops's shell slid a bit, there was still no success. Lily joined as well, but still no success. Mario was the last to join and this time, Koops's shell was forced out of the gap, along with the capsule.

"Phew," sighed Koops. "I thought I was going to be stuck here forever."

"Yeah," replied Luigi, "I thought so too, but we can get out now."

The plumbers, the Koopa, the green dinosaur, and the white-haired maiden eventually located the exit out of the sewers and climbed their way to the streets. The group traveled across the streets to reach the highway.

"Well," muttered Luigi, "we can now report back to Peach and Toadsworth."

"Wait," Koops mumbled, "the fighters and bombers are gone... Why would they leave Mushroom City now?"

"They must have retreated because of the threat, or because they were tired of searching," answered Mario.

"Uh, Mario?" asked Yoshi, who now had a tone of fear in his voice.

"Hm?"

"T-t-t-t-t-t-the b-b-b-b-b-b-bridge..."

"What is it?"

"T-t-t-t-the bridge..."

"Yoshi, what is it?"

"I-I-I-I-I-It's about..."

"C'mon, what is it?"

"It's..."

"What is it?"

"It's about..."

"What is it?!"

The ground slowly began to vibrate violently. "It's about to..."

"WHAT IS IT, YOSHI?!" Mario screamed.

"The bridge is about to collapse!" Yoshi pointed the other side of the bridge. A crack was slowly but surely expanding towards the group.

"Oh no," sighed Mario. "The bombers damaged the highway so severely that it's about to collapse. We need to dash away."

"Wait," whispered Lily, "everybody grab on to me."

"Wha?!" gasped Luigi. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Just grab on to me."

"Okie dokie." Luigi grabbed on to Lily, as did Mario, Koops, and Yoshi. Meanwhile, the crack was expanding at a now speedy rate. At the same time, the highway started to collapse to the ground. When Luigi and Koops witnessed this, their eyes expanded with fear. Yoshi closed his eyes. Mario waited patiently for Lily to take action.

As the crack rushed by the group, the ground beneath them began to collapse. When the ground beneath collapsed entirely, Lily suddenly levitated into the air, carrying Mario and the others with her. "Oh," Luigi muttered, awestruck. "So that is why you ordered us to grab on to you. I forgot that you can levitate."

"Correct," Lily answered. "I will lower you four down to the ground so you can let go of me."

And with that, she slowly lowered herself until she reached the ground. Mario and the others released their grip on Lily. Once Koops released his grip on Lily, he opened the capsule and gave the garnet Moonlight Flower to Mario, who placed it in his pocket. "Thanks," Mario sighed. "Let's get back on my boat."

"Mario?" asked Koops. "Don't you remember that the boat depleted itself of gasoline?"

"You're right. We must use the train that leads to Toad Town."

"But doesn't that lead to the damaged station?"

"No, it leads to another station closer to Peach's castle. I'll get my boat first, then we'll go to the station."

As soon as Mario retrieved his boat, the group traveled to the train station in the downtown area of Mushroom City. When they reached Toad Town, the group entered Peach's castle and explained what happened at Mushroom City.

"I see," whispered Peach. "The Moonlight Flower was inside the Mushroom Tower?"

"Yes," answered Yoshi. "Yoshi and others got it, but we fell out of Mushroom Tower. Then we fell into sewers, but we got out."

"I hate the sewers..." complained Luigi. "It made my eyes water..."

"Along-a the way," Mario continued, "Lily suddenly fell to the ground and was screaming in agony because of-a the illusion of the Koopas torturing her mother."

"Hmm," sighed Peach. "I understand. Lily, if anything like what you experienced earlier happens again, try to overcome the illusion."

"I will," replied Lily.

"Let's-a go!" Mario called out. As soon as he did, the others followed him out of the castle. Afterwards the group traveled back to Mario's Pad. However, they didn't realize that a Koopa was stalking them.

"Prince Iggy," he spoke over the radio, "the group has gained the second Moonlight Flower."

"What?!" Iggy yelled. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"I'm not. I'll keep watch over them."

"You’d better, or I will fire you!"

Back with the mysterious girl, she was still searching the city when she realized that both the air force and Mario's group were gone. "Hmm," she whispered. "The air force is gone, and so is Mario... I'll go home."

She blasted her way back to her home.

Back at Mario's Pad...

"Well," sighed Mario, "there's six more Moonlight Flowers out there."

"After this," Lily continued, "we can save my parents and defeat Iggy. The fate of my homeland, and possibly the Mushroom Kingdom, depends on us..."

End of Chapter 2. What happened to Lily's mother after she was captured by the Koopas? What created the illusion of the torturing of Lily's mother? Will Lily's father survive his torture, and will Mario collect the Moonlight Flowers in time? Find out in Chapter 3.

Read on!