Deep in an alternate dimension…

The remnants of the Smithy Gang were meeting. This meeting was to discuss possible ways to continue their master's work, and take over the world. Yaridovich, the self appointed leader, called the meeting to order. Missing from the meeting were the Axem Rangers, who had found a way into Plit and were wreaking havoc, or at least trying to.

Yaridovich thought, 'If only Smithy could see them now.' They were once an undefeatable fighting machine. But then they tried to take over Plit. Separated from each other, they were easily defeated.

Mack the Knife spoke up. "There has been talk that those of Plit have gotten lazy. If we mount an all-out attack on the heroes, we should defeat them."

Bowyer rolled his eyes. "Brought that up at every meeting you have. Stupid are you? Nya! Build another portal we can't!"

Mack drew himself up. "Are you saying that I'm stupid?"

Bowyer snickered, "Smarter you are getting."

Yaridovich sighed. Mack and Bowyer were always fighting. They were jealous of each other because they were both shaped as weapons. This meeting was going to turn out as a riot, just as all the all the others had. He glanced at the Factory Chief. He was just sitting there, having no use now that Gunyolk was destroyed. The Clerk, Manager, and Director were all bickering over whose fault it was that Mario and his allies had gotten through. There was also Cloaker, Domino, and Boomer, who had been repaired.

As they watched Mack and Bowyer fight, a Shyster ran, or rather bounced, in.It was yelling at the top of its lungs. Even Mack and Bowyer stopped to see what had happened.

"Exar's back! Exar's back!"
 

Lemmy lay back on his bed, reflecting on the last few days' events. Exar had come back in their dreams, and was taking revenge. He had attacked all the Koopalings in some way, finally killing Larry. They had gone into a group dream. Exar had disguised himself as Larry. When they had unmasked him, there was a horrendous battle. Lemmy himself had been killed, consumed by a blast of energy while he was defending Wendy. They had lost the battle soon after Lemmy was killed. Exar turned Bowser's own flame back on him. Exar kept Bowser alive, only to make him watch the Koopalings die. Ludwig had been strangled. Roy had all of his bones shattered. Personally, Lemmy thought that he had deserved that, but he was not about to say that in front of him. Iggy had been literally scared to death. Morton had one of the worst deaths. A vacuum had been created inside his head, making his brain explode. Wendy was about to die from Exar's lightning when the Lord of the Dead had intervened. There had been a very few good things that had happened. For one, Lemmy and Wendy had just declared their love for each other. The only other major one was that Exar was gone and dead. The Lord of the Dead had appeared to them in a dream and told them that Exar's spirit was destroyed. There was going to be a big celebration that night. That didn't mean that the threat of Exar was over, though.

Lemmy left that thought hanging. He went down the hall to get Wendy. She was still somewhat upset from the recent happenings. Lemmy was trying his best to comfort her. He arrived at her door. Hesitantly, he knocked. Wendy's voice beckoned him in. She was lying on her bed; much in the same way Lemmy was when he had left his room. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Exar?" Lemmy asked.

"Right," Wendy agreed, getting out of bed.

They began walking down the hall. Wanting to make conversation, Lemmy mentioned, "You know, Exar didn't do everything bad. I mean, he brought us together."

"I never really thought about that," Wendy replied, "There is that."

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Lemmy grinned at her as they made their way outside to the waiting celebration.
 

Yaridovich had just managed to get the whole story out of the over-excited Shyster. It turned out that Exar had come back to Plit. They were ecstatic. Exar was one of the most capable leaders they had ever had. However, their hope was dealt a staggering blow when the Shyster told them the bad news.

"However, Exar is defeated, dead, and gone, but…"

Mack didn't let him finish. "Then why did you come here, just to give us bad news?"

"You didn't let me finish. Exar had a cache of magic and power somewhere. As he died, he told me where to find it."

"You? Ha, I don't believe it," Mack scoffed.

"Believe it I do," Bowyer replied, "If true it is not, then a chance it was. Nya! If true it is, then helped we have been."

The Factory Chief got up, supported by new hope. "I say that we at least look into it," he said succinctly.

"Hands for looking into it?" Yaridovich asked. The reply was unanimous.
 

Lemmy was having the time of his life. The food was wide and varied. Lemmy tried it all, even the ultra-hot, spicy salsa. After a taste, he swallowed a gallon of water. Other than that, all the food was delicious. The master chefs of the kingdom must have made it. Then there was the dancing. They were dancing long into thenight. There were fast and slow dances. Lemmy got to dance with Wendy and later on, got to show off on his ball. Each Koopaling got a chance to dance with each other Koopaling. Even Roy was somewhat pleasant. Lemmy was up long into the night.

By the time dawn was just over the horizon, even Bowser's eyelids began to droop. As the final song drew to a close, Bowser ended the party. They all went up to their beds for a much needed morning nap.
 

Yaridovich was up long into the night as well, but it was for a purpose much different than a party. He, along with Bowyer, the Director, and Domino, were working on making sense of Exar's notes and scribblings. "Great fighter, lousy housekeeping," Yaridovich muttered as he knocked over a big pile of papers that seemed to be of… his favorite recipes?

Bowyer was more vocal. "Believe this I cannot!"

 The Director chimed in. "If he wanted us to find something, he would have put it out in the open!"

Domino sighed. He turned back to his task. He tossed aside another piece of paper covered with indecipherable mathematical scribbling. Then he spotted something on the ground. He snatched it up. It was a figurine of Exor, the sword. He was about to toss it too when he saw a switch. He fiddled with it and was rewarded with the mouth opening. A scrap of paper was inside. Domino snatched it up and studied it. It was nothing,,just twisted figurines! He threw it aside with a snort of disgust.

Yaridovich snatched it up. His eyes lit up as he surveyed it. This was the ancient language of the Gang! He called it to the attention of the others.

"What does it say?"

"I don't know. I only know a few phrases. Like here, it says 'life'. Or here, it says… um, I think it says 'spell'."

"Hmmm…" the Director murmured, "I think that the Factory Chief knows the Ancient Language. I remember him talking to Gunyolk in a strange language."

"Then let's see!" Yaridovich decided.
 

Lemmy dove into his bed, and was asleep immediately. He entered a strange dream. In his dream, he was walking down a hallway. Along the wall there were scenes of the conflict with Exar, such as the first battle, the collapsing castle, Bowser being kidnapped, DAD, red eyes, Bowser's lifeless body, a wasteland, a basilisk, and many others. He came to a crossroads of sorts. Along one side waited Yaridovich, Bowyer, and the other members of the Smithy Gang. Along the other were Bowser and his siblings. Both were beckoning him to their side. Then he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw…

Larry was walking down the hall by Lemmy's room when he heard an inhuman scream. He rushed in to see Lemmy writhing on his bed, beads of sweat coming down his forehead. His breathing was harsh and heavy as he wrestled with himself. Lemmy's eyes fell on Larry. They were red streaked. Larry gasped as Lemmy growled and leapt upon him. Larry managed to sidestep just in time, but he still wasn't fast enough. Lemmy crashed into his shoulder, knocking them both to the floor. With a snarl, Lemmy twisted himself onto Larry.

Larry wrestled with Lemmy, screaming for help all the while. Fortunately, Roy was walking down the hall at the time. When he heard Larry, he ran in to see if he was in pain. He secretly wanted him to be in great pain. Actually, it wasn't really a secret. Anyway, he ran in and saw the scene. He stared for a few seconds, then leaped on Lemmy. Lemmy fought back with insane strength.
 

The Factory Chief looked at the piece of paper that Yaridovich had brought back. He shook his head. Yaridovich's spirits sank. The Chief grinned up at him. "I should have known that Exar would do something like this! That crafty fool made a riddle out of it!"

Yaridovich brightened up. "What does it say?"

The Factory Chief read. "This paper will lead you to the makings of a spell that will bring the dead to life. The ingredients can only be used once, so choose wisely! The first of the spelIs: a crystal ball. Three steps from where I sat, The beginning of it all." The Chief sat back.

Yaridovich gave a long low whistle. "Tricky!" he chuckled, impressed, "But who should we bring back? I can think of several…"

"Let's just get the ingredients first," Mack interrupted.

"Better that is, yes," Bowyer actually agreed.

"Okay, okay!" Yaridovich said. "But where did he sit?"

"Lets see… There was Exor… he sat in the cockpit…" The Chief started.

"But Exor was disintegrated," Mack finished. He continued, "Exar made this lair after the so called attack on Plit, so… what else do we have?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Cloaker interrupted, "Remember when we first started taking over this dimension? We built a fortress first. Exar referred to it as the beginning of his revenge. There were two thrones there…"

They exchanged glances, their thoughts all the same. "The thrones!"
 

Bowser was pacing along the outside of the medical room. Lemmy was chained up inside. In his madness, Lemmy had snapped the cloth strips and ropes holding him down. The chains were only barely holding.

A doctor walked out. "What's his condition?" Bowser anxiously asked.

"Oh, he'll live," the doctor reported.

"What happened?"

"He was scared."

"SCARED?" Bowser roared, "He's been afraid before, but…"

"Okay, okay. Maybe scared was an understatement. He was terrified. Something scared him so much that it activated an instinct in his mind to inject a "berserk" chemical into his blood. It was kind of a leftover from prehistoric times, when we needed to be quick or we would be dead."

"Can you stop it?" Bowser asked.

"Well, I can…" the doctor admitted, "but it would be a very dangerous process."

Bowser fired off his next question, "Will it wear off?"

"Yes, it will wear off, but it will stay in his blood. It might become active again at any time."

"Hm…" Bowser mused. "So, I have a son that might go berserk at any time and kill us all."

Yaridovich and the rest had reached the abandoned fortress. Yaridovich sat back and just looked at it. It looked just as grand as the day they had left it. He heard a sniff behind him. He turned and saw the Factory Chief wiping a tear from his eye. "What’s wrong?"

"This was the place where I made Gunyolk."

Yaridovich sighed. It seemed that Gunyolk was his life. If it had been alive, he would have probably married it. "Well, let’s go in," he ordered.

The inside was still exactly the same, like it had been frozen in time. Their footsteps echoed in the passageways. Last time Yaridovich had been here, this place was a hive of activity. Shysters, Aeros, and Drill Bits were rushing around with various errands, real or imagined. Their "masters" were usually in meetings; at least that’s what Smithy and Exar called them. They were really war games and combat training.
He pushed that thought from his mind. That was the past. Now it was the present, and they needed that crystal.

His group soon emerged from the maze of passageways. Ahead of them was a pair of huge double doors that marked the entrance to Exar and Smithy’s inner sanctum. A minion was lucky to even get a glance inside those doors. However, Yaridovich was once allowed in and he quickly memorized the inside. Shoving aside his doubts, he threw the doors open.

The inside was really very dull. Two thrones, made only of polished wood and a few jewels, stood in the middle of the room. On a table in front of the thrones, there were still battle maps and some smaller notes of known weaknesses of their enemies. In front of the table was a short staircase. But Yaridovich was only interested in the thrones. He slowly walked up to them, wary of any traps their two leaders may have set. He looked to Exar’s throne. It was the smaller of the two.

Bowyer was pacing around the throne. Yaridovich noted that he was three steps away from the throne at all times. He finished his circling. There was an expression of extreme disappointment on his face. "Nya! Here
nothing is!"

But then Domino noticed something. "Hey, look at this! See the steps? Look!"

They did. In front of Exar’s throne, three steps down, were two parallel cracks running along the length of the step. Looking closely, they could see a small crack also running along the edges of the step.

"Of course!" Mack shouted, "He didn’t mean three steps from the throne, he meant the third step down!"

Yaridovich wedged the tip of the spear he always carried into the crack in the top of the stair. With a shove, he turned the step over to reveal a little compartment holding a chest. The Chief snatched it. He worked the
little handle on it, but it refused to open.  Then he noticed the little sheet of paper on the underside. It read:

"The key, as well as the second ingredient, is where night meets day.
Often have I been there.
Where am I?
Evermore will I rest.
Remove the shade to see."

The six looked at each other. This would be harder than they thought!
 

Wendy was pacing outside the room that Lemmy was confined in. Bowser was inside, talking to the doctor.  He had strictly forbidden her to enter. As he had put it, "Lemmy will do anything when he is in the grip of his madness. He will not recognize you, me, or anybody. It doesn’t matter if you two love each other, he may even kill you." She tried to listen in on the other side of the door, but she didn’t have Larry’s keen ears, so she couldn’t hear anything.

Finally, Bowser walked out. Wendy jumped up, eagerness in her voice. "Is Lemmy okay? Can I see him? Please?"

Bowser cast a depressed glance at her. "Yes, you can see him. But be careful!" Bowser could have sworn that Wendy just glowed when he said that phrase.

Wendy ran in, only to be greeted with the scene of Lemmy lying on a bed, wrists and legs shackled in heavy chains. Lemmy struggled upright when he saw her. "Oh Wendy, you’re all right! I was so worried that I had… hurt you. No one has told me anything about what happened while I was berserk." He slumped down, his face a mask of shame. A single tear winded its way down his face.

Wendy gazed down him, her face a mask of love and tenderness. "Don’t be ashamed, Lemmy. You’re not at fault. You didn’t hurt me, though I think it will be a long time until Larry peeks in on his siblings again!"

They shared a laugh. Wendy’s face softened again. Her claw gently traced a path down the side of Lemmy’s face. She sighed and turned her head aside.

"Wendy? Are you okay?" Genuine concern was in Lemmy’s voice. Wendy looked back at him. He raised a claw. It almost seemed too much for his claw to lift the heavy chain. "Wendy?" he asked, "Can you get them to take this off?"

Before she could respond, Bowser called her from the next room. "Wendy! The doctors need to work with Lemmy!"

Wendy paused on her way out. She turned to Lemmy. Her lips pressed onto his and she slowly closed her eyes. Lemmy’s claw was resting on her back, slowly, gently, stroking it. It was meant to be a short goodbye kiss, but it soon turned into a passionate, lingering kiss that left their lips tingling. Wendy slowly walked out of the room, turning and gazing at Lemmy until the door cut them off from each other.

As Wendy left the room, Lemmy touched his lips with a quivering claw. He laid his head back and sighed.

That night, Lemmy was treated to a repeat performance of his dream, but it was different this time. He was walking in a different direction and the pictures along the sides were different. He saw a picture of an adult
Koopa, but that Koopa had scars down his face, just like him. He continued onwards, and saw a Koopa that looked almost just like him, but much smaller. Further along, he saw a picture of himself and Wendy holding hands and it seemed they were in front of the alter at a wedding. The Lemmy and Wendy in that picture didn’t seem to be much older than they were now. He suddenly came along to the crossroads, but he was past it this time. On the side where the Smithy Gang was, there were many spears along the ground and it was rough terrain, but on the side where Bowser and the Koopalings were on, the path spiraled into a deep blackness, a void so deep it made Lemmy shudder. Lemmy tried to go back to the serene joy of the hallways behind him, but he couldn’t move. In fact, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. The void expanded to fill his entire vision. The blackness enveloped him. Too late, he cried out in despair as he was dragged into the black void.

Lemmy’s eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was the doctor in front of him. He was suddenly filled with a rage against the doctor. This wasn’t berserk; this was focused hatred. He strained against his chains as he tried to sink his claws into the doctor’s face. A bloodcurdling yell issued from his throat.

Wendy was lying in her bed, thinking. She tried to sleep, but she just couldn’t. Her mind was too uneasy.  Suddenly, she just got a feeling of imminent danger. Her first reaction was to shove herself deep under her covers, but this was too strong. She pulled herself up and slowly walked to see Lemmy. As she neared the room, the feeling intensified. She covered the last few yards at a flat-out run and burst into the door. She
saw Lemmy, covered in a cold sweat, screaming and straining to reach the doctor.

Lemmy took his eyes off the focus of his hatred for just long enough to see Wendy standing in a corner, chewing on her lower lip and trembling. At that sight, he suddenly went limp and collapsed on to the bed,
his eyes staring blankly into space.

Yaridovich sat solemnly in Exar’s old throne. The other riddle had been easy compared to this! In fact, he had given up thinking about it. It was so puzzling, it made his metal head hurt. They had been there all day. So far, they had figured out one thing. It had said, “Often have I been there.” That probably meant it was still in this fort, as he had been here most often.

He leaned his head back and looked up. It was dawn now and the tower above him had a strange property, which was only apparent to him now. The shadow of the tower and the light of dawn had bisected the tower perfectly, half in light and half in shadow, which was as dark as night. The flash of revelation was so sudden that the chamber around him seemed to brighten as he leaped up and dashed up the stairs at the side of the room, calling for the rest of his group at the same time.

They were soon gathered there. Mack looked at the trinkets that surrounded the tower. “So, what do we do now?”

“Remove the shade…” the Chief mused. He picked up a model of Plit and turned it in his hands. There was a lens on top of it, probably to refract the light out the other lenses on the sides. He placed it in a niche in the center of the room. Slanted light glittered on the lenses on it. He looked up.

“Bowyer?”

“Nya?”

“You see that little portal up there?”

“See it I do.”

“Can you hit it?”

“Try I can.”

Bowyer carefully aimed, imagining it was a rather dull Mushroom citizen with a stupid target hat on, and fired.

Kaping!  The arrow glanced off, spent. However, the portal was shifted just enough to let a single shaft of light into the room, right into the lens on the globe. There was a dazzling display of lights that bounced around the room.

“Quick!” the Chief shouted. “Get it the rest of the way off!”

As Bowyer aimed again, Domino leaned over to Yaridovich. “Look what I just noticed. Look at the first letters of each of the lines.

“'The key, as well as the second ingredient, is where night meets day.' Letter T.
'Often have I been there.'  Letter O.
'Where am I?'  Letter W.
'Evermore will I rest.'  Letter E.
'Remove the shade to see.'  Letter R.

Altogether, that’s T, O, W, E, and R. Look! Tower! Right where we are! The tower!”

Ping! The portal shifted and crashed to the ground. Light streamed into the chamber and hit the globe. Light rays scattered around the room, reflecting off mirrors around the sides. Then they all entered, again, into lenses on the sides. There was a blast of light, and where the globe was lay a key, covered in some green slime. There was a note with it.

“Place this key in the chest. It will all come together when you find the final part.

You have found the key
Call it time
Keep it well
Now my message is here

An ay, an eff, a cat, a why, a gee, and what old clothes can do.

And remember, the key is time!”

(A note from Lemmy: As requested by Smash, I will award a Koopaling vote to anyone who can answer this riddle before the next part of the story is written. I don't know the answer, so if you want to take a crack at it, you'll have to Email him.)

Meanwhile…

Bowser walked out of Lemmy’s room. Lemmy had talked to no one since the last time he went berserk. He had noticed no one, talked to no one, even didn’t respond when food was placed in front of him. It was like his spirit had left his body.

No one guessed the truth. Lemmy was so ashamed of himself that he settled into a suicidal depression. The only thing that was keeping him sane was a meditative trance that he had learned from a friend, a few years ago, that was taught to him for saving his friend’s life. He roamed the Path of Dreams (as it was called), looking for explanations for his dream. There was nothing, but he kept on looking. It was the only thing he could hang onto. He somehow knew that it was vital that he understand it.

Comments, suggestions, stories, or story ideas? Email me!
Go back to Lemmy's Fun Fiction.
Go back to my main page.