Disclaimer: I do not own Mario or any characters in the Mario series. They belong to Nintendo. LOVE! I do own the original characters, though,but I doubt I'll use most of them again for Mario stories. *shrug*
For original characters, check the bottom of the page.
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The Day Everything Went Wrong
Written by Saturn Storm
We start this very strange adventure in Larry's Castle.
Larry Koopa was grinning maniacally as he stared through the monitors. This time, he knew he could take over the Mushroom Kingdom.
"At last," He said, "I can finally take over the Mushroom Kingdom!" He looked at a large red button, "With a push of this button, the world will be mine to rule, and then daddy will be so proud of me," He hesitated, "Hang on a minute, I'll control him! And my brothers, and sister, well, all except Ludwig, who is inside the castle, controlling the security system…"
"And listening to every word over this monitor I have placed in the computer." Ludwig pointed out, over the monitor.
"Oh, yeah. Don't worry, you'll rule, too. I wouldn't deprive you of this opportunity to take over, heh, heh." Larry said.
"Listen, I don't care about that. I'm enjoying myself, here. The Chair spins! Woo! Look at me go! It's fun."
"Uh, yeah."
"By the way, the Super Marios are waiting outside your door."
"What! Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"Because they weren't waiting outside, then, were they? Jeez! It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."
"Can't you get rid of them?"
"No, because they're outside your door. I didn't think of putting a trap outside your door."
"Why not?"
"Because I thought they would fall for my other traps!"
"Why didn't they?"
"Because they need to be man-operated, otherwise they wouldn't go off."
"Then why didn't you operate them?!"
"One, I am not a man, I am a Koopaling, and two, I was busy spinning on my chair."
"Oh, sorry. You are fully forgiven. I understand whole-heartedly. Bye bye now." Larry said happily, then switched the monitor off. He stood up.
"Not so fast, Larry Koopa!" Mario shouted through the door. He and Luigi burst through and stood ready for action.
"Ha! It's too late, Plumber boys," Larry sneered, "With a push of this button, I will take over the Mushroom Kingdom! And to stop you getting in the way, feel the wrath of my…" He looked side to side desperately, searching for a weapon, "Rats, I knew I should have put a weapon in here." He cursed under his breath. Mario and Luigi, who had been patiently waiting, realised Larry would not pull out a weapon, and advanced.
"It's over, Larry," Luigi said, "It's time to give up your life of bad."
Mario hesitated while he gave Luigi an odd look.
"Life of bad? " Mario asked.
"Forget it. Let's get Larry." Luigi said quickly.
"It's not over, yet!" Larry suddenly cried, taking off his shell, "Ha, ha! The tables have turned, now!" and he threw the shell at the plumbers, who ran off, screaming.
"Oh, no! Quick, it's gaining on us!" Luigi cried.
"I can't stand it! It's so pointy!" Mario wailed as he ran through the corridors. Larry watched them go, then turned back to the control panel.
"Ah, and now I will lower my hand ridiculously slowly and press the- oh, what the hey, I'll just push it now." And with that, Larry pressed the button.
"Have you pushed it yet?" Ludwig asked.
"Yes! I just did it!" Larry replied impatiently.
"Then why isn't it doing anything?"
"I don't know! You built this thing! You find out!"
"Oh, yes! Silly me! Uh," He tapped a few buttons, "Ah! Someone has smashed the end of the gun up. Looks like we've failed again. Well, see ya!" Ludwig switched off the monitor from his side.
"What?! You mean I'm all alone now?! The spineless coward." Larry growled out of the corner of his mouth.
"Aha! We've foiled your evil plan!" Mario called as he ran back into the room.
"Wha- Hey! What happened to my shell?" Larry asked.
"It drove itself deep into a wall," Luigi replied, "Now you're going to have to get a new one." He finished. Mario and Larry both gave him an odd look.
"That was a stupid finish, Luigi." Mario said.
"Aha! I don't need to get a new one, anyway. I will simply throw this regular Koopa shell at you to buy me time to get away!" Larry sneered, pulling out a green Koopa shell.
"Oh, please!" Mario groaned, strolling up to Larry, grabbing him and the shell and shoving him into it.
"Good work, Mario. We've captured one of the Koopa Kids! All we need to do now is get the other six and Koopa and the world will be a safe place." Luigi cried.
"Luigi, just shut up." Mario said.
"Agh! This is incredibly small! D'you think you can find me a more spacious shell?" Larry asked, his voice muffled by the shell.
"We can put you into a more spacious space, the Mushroom Kingdom Dungeons!" Mario said.
"Aww… can't we work something out?"
"No."
"You sure? I can clean your toilets for a month."
"Hmm… y-no, I don't think you'd stand for that kind of torture. Believe me, you'd prefer the dungeons."
"Ah. I suppose you won't let me go, then?"
"No!"
Later, the Super Mario Brothers emerged from the dungeons. Outside were a large group of TV reporters and cameramen, as well as a lot of happy Mushroom people.
"Mario! This is Julia Mackerel from news at seven-thirty! How does it feel to have actually captured a Koopaling for the first time in your long career, here?" one of the reporters called, shoving a microphone in Mario's face.
"Uh… great?" Mario suggested.
"Iam Smelly from the Codswallop news! Is it true that you are now going to try and capture all the other evil Koopas?" another shouted above the commotion, hitting Luigi with the mike.
"Well, it is our job…" Luigi started.
"Greggy Boy from Damnation…"
"Okay, that's enough! Give them both space!" Someone cried out, pushing his way to the front. It was Toad.
"Thanks, Toad, these guys are real savages when it comes to news reports." Mario sighed.
"Yeah, but half of these people's jobs are riding on getting a good report, which is why they're like this." Toad replied. Soon the police joined Toad in getting the people to back away. Mario and Luigi moved away from the dungeons and began to walk home, when someone called up behind them.
"Mario! Luigi! Wait up!" Peach cried, running up to them. They both stopped and waited for Peach to catch up.
"Hi, Peach. So, have you heard?" Mario asked.
"You bet! Well done, guys! You finally caught one!" Peach replied.
"Well, gee, Princess, you sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself. Mario said, unhappily.
"Sorry, but you have been here for years, you should have at least caught Bowser, by now. If anything, Tatanga should have been put behind bars. It's good that you get to see me, and you have now locked Larry up, but don't you think business is a tad slow?"
"Hey, if it wasn't for us, you'd be working for the Koopas right now! At least we keep you from having your Kingdom taken over." Luigi protested.
"Hey, you're right. Sorry, guys." Peach said. She hugged Mario and Luigi, making them blush.
"Well, we better go home and relax. It's been quite a day." Mario said.
"I've got a better idea! Why don't we all come back to my castle and have pasta?" Peach suggested.
"Wow! That would be great!" Mario and Luigi cried in unison. They each took one of Peach's arms and they all wandered back to the castle, happy as ever.
Meanwhile, over in Bowser's castle in Dark Land, Ludwig pulled his office chair up the stairs. When Bowser opened his door to see who was making the racket, he saw Ludwig finish his long climb. He then watched to see Ludwig push the chair along a bit, sit on it, then use one of the walls to push off and send him across the hallway. Bowser watched him do this a few times before grabbing the chair as it went by a fifth time. Ludwig was sent flying out of the chair and into the wall opposite.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with this chair?" Bowser asked.
"I was taking it to my room, but I found a fun game to play on the way." Ludwig replied, rubbing his head.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this," He threw it into his room, "Now, I thought you were with Larry, trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Ah, well, uh, something kinda came up, and um, what I'm trying to say is…" Ludwig began.
"Hey, King dad! Come looky! Mario and Luigi are on TV!" Morton called from across the hall.
"Ooh! Are they dead?" Bowser asked.
"I hope so." Ludwig mumbled.
" Me too. Let's go see."
Bowser and Ludwig entered the room where all the other Koopa Kids were. On the TV a reporter that Mario spoke to earlier was concluding her report.
"And there you have it," She was saying, "The Marios have, for the first time in their long career, captured a Koopa, or, should I say, Koopaling. With Larry behind bars, Bowser and his other kids are not far behind."
"What?!?" Bowser Screamed.
"Ah, that's what I was trying to say…" Ludwig began.
"You let those pesky mangy plumbers take your brother to jail?!? What the hell were you thinking?!?" Bowser yelled.
"I like the chair?" Ludwig tried. Bowser hesitated as he thought about the last comment.
"Yes, it is a nice chair, but that's no excuse! How could let the Marios foil your evil plan?!" Bowser yelled, advancing on Ludwig.
"I have a plan! I have a plan!" Ludwig cried quickly. Bowser stopped.
"What," Bowser asked, "Is it?"
"I can put my brain in gear and come up with an invention that will super power you, so you can bust Larry out, and take out the Marios at the same time." Ludwig replied, smiling.
"Uh, I suppose I could try anything once, seeing as I end up doing it anyway," Bowser said, mainly to himself, " Okay, I'll do it." Bowser replied to Ludwig.
"Great! I'll go start work on it now!" Ludwig said, dashing out of the room. Little did anyone know, though, Lizzy was peering through the window into that room.
"And, in the dead of night," She said, "Which is most likely when he'll finish it and leave it unguarded, I shall sneak in and sabotage it so that it will not super power Koopa, but make him weaker." She giggled to herself.
"Hey, everybody! There's a human at the window!" Morton cried.
"Oh, crap." Lizzy said to herself. As the Koopalings approached, she leaped backwards off of the window and into a clump of bushes conveniently growing under her.
Unknown to Bowser, the Minors were all formed on the other side of Dark Land. Their homes consisting of large circus tents. At that point in time, the Minors were all assembling in the main tent, where Katy wanted to talk to the Minors.
As the Minors all went in, they noticed that Sheila was standing on the lower podium. She was an unusual girl. So was Katy, but they were both unusual in their own unique way. Sheila had actually run away from home, as her family was always beating the life out of her. She had gone to the Minors because she had nowhere else to go, and blamed her families cruelty on the Koopas.
But this is all beside the point.
Katy waited until everyone was in before speaking.
"My loyal Minors," She began, "I'm sure you all know of our plan of getting back at the Koopas," everyone agreed, "And we know how and when we shall pull this off?" She asked.
"I have already pulled a group of budding young kids together to succeed in the attack." Someone called from the crowd.
"And you did it well, might I add. But I would really like people to actually ask to do that sort of thing. Oh, and I believe Sheila has something to say, too." Katy said. She stepped down to let Sheila up.
"My fellow Minors," Sheila started, "I have been given full permission to send out a spy to see what our -ahem- 'friends' are doing right now. My troop has already been sent out, and I am now waiting to see what my Sarasalandian spy has to say, before I report back." Sheila stepped down, letting Katy back on.
"Right. When we come up with an idea to start this War we must formulate who will go fill Sammy in or she'll kill us." Katy said. Everyone gave a worried murmur.
"When does Sheila expect her spy back?" Someone asked.
"Soon. I will be outside waiting for her when this meeting is adjourned." Sheila replied.
"Well, unless anyone else has anything to say, I guess we'll adjourn this meeting now. Anyone need to say anything? Anyone? No? Well, then meeting adjourned." Katy said, slamming the hammer down on the desk in front of her. The many children all began to file out. Sheila, Katy and one other person stayed behind.
"Who gave you permission, anyway?" Katy asked.
"Oh, me. I am a figure of authority, after all." Sheila replied.
"Hey, rather than making the Koopas start war on the Mushroom people, why don't we make the Mushroom people start war on the Koopas? It'll be much less fuss," said the left over person.
"Because that's foolish. We need to make sure Bowser has the upper hand, that way, when they fall, they'll fall hard." Katy replied.
"Besides, why cause the Mushroom people harm? Our beef is with the Koopas." Sheila added.
"The Koopas have our beef? Well, that's more reason to resent them!" The small kid replied, and left.
"Okay," Katy said slowly, "Uh… so, you're expecting Lizzy, soon?"
"Uh, huh. She may not be a Minor, but at least she's reliable."
"Really? I thought if anyone sent her to spy on anyone, she'd do the thing herself."
"Exactly."
"You mean you want her to cause aggro over there?"
"I would rather she caused trouble over there on her own, than have her just taking a look. I mean, they might get other ideas. Besides, she's doing it all on her own, so we can't get blamed." Sheila replied.
Later that evening, Ludwig looked at his machine. It was almost complete.
"Just need to twist this last nut…" Ludwig yawned. He thought about what he said and shuddered. He grabbed a wrench and screwed the last nut into place.
"Finally, I'm finished." He looked at the time. It was 1:30am. He yawned again and exited the room, turning the light off as he left. Once he was gone, Lizzy climbed through the window. She had her black jumper on, now, so she wouldn't get spotted, and a tool belt. A piece of paper was sticking out of it. She checked the coast was clear before pulling out the piece of paper. It was a blueprint.
"Gee, waiting for Ludwig to finish sure paid off. At least I got to look at his blueprints," Lizzy said to herself, then said, "My god, I've been reduced to talking to myself. How sad have I become?"
She decided she should just get to work. She studied the blueprints quickly before pulling out a screwdriver and setting to work.
Meanwhile, Larry sat on the cold, hard mattress and examined his dungeon again. It was actually well decorated for a dungeon. The Koopa dungeons were cold, dark and had no windows. Bowser had also made some artificial bones and popped some in each dungeon to scare people. It never worked, but at least it looked as though other people had actually been and died in the cells. These dungeons, though, were actually quite bright, had lights and windows and the bones in here were disturbingly real. He shuddered.
"Hey, Mac. Aren't you a Koopa?" someone asked from the cell next to him.
"Who wants to know?" Larry asked.
"What the hell does it matter?! It's not exactly as if I'm going to go and tell everyone, now, is it? Besides, by the sound of all the commotion out there when the Marios came out, everyone knows."
"Maybe, but I'd rather die in peace. So I will ask you kindly to please leave me alone!" Larry snapped.
"Whoa! Sorry! Geez! No need to be a negative ninny! I was just wondering! By the way, what happened to your shell?"
"It's not mine. Mine is in my castle sticking out of my wall." Larry replied.
"Well, it's getting late. I expect your brothers, sister and dad will be getting you out of here, tomorrow." The person said.
"I really hope so." Larry mumbled, lying down and turning his back to the wall.
The next morning, Lizzy woke up and looked at the blueprints.
Thank God, She thought, I hope I never have to put up with anything like that again. I need to put the backing on again, then get the heck out of here. She picked up the backing and was about to put it back on when…
"Yep! It's almost totally ready, but I still need to test it." Ludwig was saying. Lizzy listened as she held the screwdriver, which somehow managed to aimlessly drive itself into one of the bolts, twisting it loose.
"Uh, oh." She whispered to herself. She carelessly pulled the screwdriver out and, not remembering which bolt she loosened tightened the one next to it, then she screwed the back onto the machine, picked up her tools and the blueprint and dived out the window. Just as soon as she left, Ludwig opened the door.
"So this is your big invention?" Bowser asked.
"Yep. This should give you super powers so you can rescue Larry and clobber Mario at the same time." Ludwig replied. Bowser examined it.
"And you say this is untested?"
"No, but that doesn't matter, I built another like this, once before, which is why I have the blueprints out, and it worked perfectly." Ludwig replied happily.
"Well, if you're sure, then in I go." Bowser said, clambering into the cubicle. Ludwig hopped over to the controls and closed the door to the cubicle.
"And today we make history, when the Super Mario Brothers were destroyed, and Bowser Koopa took over the Mushroom Kingdom!" Ludwig cried.
"Just shut up and power me." Bowser snapped. Ludwig nodded and tapped a few buttons. The machine whirred.
"Woohoo! It works! And I thought I lost my touch!" Ludwig congratulated himself. Suddenly, the machine let out a huge clang, then smoke rose from the engine.
"What the…" Ludwig started. He knelt down and opened the back of the machine and had a look inside.
"Sabotage!" He cried. The loose bolt shot out from its place and hit Ludwig in the middle of his forehead. He stumbled backwards.
"This is really not going to go down well with dad." He mumbled, throwing a table to the floor and getting behind it.
Over by the dungeons, Lizzy was waiting. Sheila was with her.
"…And Bowser will try to bust his son out, fail, then blame his son, who'll blame the Mushroom people, and a war will start. Then you can do what you like." Lizzy finished.
"And we're waiting here for…?" Sheila prompted.
"To see Bowser fail miserably. You don't have to, but I think it'll be fun to watch." Lizzy replied.
"I see." Sheila replied slowly.
"If you'd like, I can watch here and tell you when he's done. That way if something goes wrong, I can sort it out and tell you."
"Alright. Come and talk to me later." Sheila said, and with that, she left. Lizzy waited patiently for Bowser to enter the scene, but was greeted with an explosion from behind her.
"Hey! The machine can't have worked!" Lizzy wailed as she was thrown aside. She landed near a tree. She grabbed it and made her way up. When she reached the top, she peered through the leaves to see what had caused the explosion. She found that it wasn't Bowser who had caused it, but one of his kids.
"Ha ha! No dungeon will ever hold a Koopa for long!" Morton cried, then looked at the carnage.
"Ooh, ah. I wasn't meant to do that. Aww, nuts. Um." He looked one last time at the wreckage, then left, embarrassed.
"Hmm, that wasn't meant to happen." Lizzy said. She looked over in the direction of Bowser's castle, and saw some strange wave lines approaching. She closed her eyes as they past, but nothing happened, oddly.
"I wonder what that was all about." She said to herself. Realising she was speaking to herself again, she put her hands over her face, or, what had originally been hands…
"What's going on?" She wondered, lowering her claws and examining them closely. Slowly, it dawned on her that if her hands had changed…
She slowly pulled a mirror out of her pocket and looked at her reflection. Finally, she drew to a conclusion.
"Oh, no! I must've messed up!" She wailed.
Mario woke up after a good night's rest. Luigi wasn't in his bed, which indicated he was already up and ready for anything. Mario hazily clambered into his usual clothes and slumped downstairs.
"OH MY GOD!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!" Luigi screamed from downstairs, as Mario was halfway down. He instantly rushed to see what had shocked his brother, and instantly met with a Koopa. It turned to Mario and gasped.
"What the hell has happened to us?!" Luigi cried. Mario frowned, then somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered a name.
"Casanova Koopa." He whispered to himself, then a chill was sent up his spine. He knew what that meant…
He looked down at himself. He couldn't see much like this, so he slowly crept up to a mirror, half knowing what to expect. Even though, he screamed when he saw, anyway.
"What's going on in here?" Peach asked, but when she saw Mario and Luigi, she gasped.
"Hey, Peach. Why haven't you changed?" Luigi asked.
"I don't know." Peach replied slowly. She seemed to remember seeing them as Koopas before, but wasn't expecting this.
There was a knock on the door, breaking the silence.
"I'll get it!" Mario quickly jumped in, rushing over to the door and opening it. A Goomba was stood there.
"You guys too?" It said.
"Toad?" Mario asked.
"Yeah. The entire Mushroom Kingdom's gone totally haywire! Everything has changed. For instance, the Fireflowers have turned into piranha plants, and vice versa!" Toad cried. Mario let him in and he waddled over to the group.
"Toad? Is that you?" Peach asked.
"Yes. Why haven't you changed?" Toad asked.
"Like I already said, I don't know." Peach said. She turned to go upstairs, revealing to everyone a shell on her back.
"Ah. That'd explain it." Mario said. Peach turned round, and everyone instantly turned away.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm going to finish freshening up, and then we can sort out this problem." Peach said. She closed the doors behind her.
Meanwhile, in the dungeon, Larry opened his eyes. The place had been ruined.
The unexpected explosion had caught him off guard, but he'd had just enough time to dive under the rock-hard bed before any rocks hit him. He'd managed to squeeze out of the shell and use it to repel any of the rocks that would happen to rebound off onto him.
Now he was lying next to a very large pile of rocks. Using his shell, he dug his way out and onto the dungeon floor. The luckless Koopas and Mushrooms and so-forth lay where the cells had been.
"Gee, I wonder if this is what happened to all the other prisoners before us." Larry said to himself. He found a Koopa about his height and slipped the shell off him. He then clambered into it himself.
"Wow. Perfect fit." He muttered. He then picked up the smaller shell and used it to dig his way up to ground level. He managed to pick his way through most of the rock before a hand grabbed him and hauled him out.
"You okay?" a female voice asked.
"Yeah," He replied, coughing up the dust from the pull. He looked up into a face he'd never seen before, but really liked.
"Good. You the only survivor?" She asked.
"Uh, yes." He said, hypnotised by her looks. She looked down the hole. Nobody else was climbing up, so she helped Larry over to a tree.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Larry, miss." He replied. He had a feeling she was older than him, despite the fact Koopalings all tend to be the same height until they reach something like seventeen.
"D'you mean Larry as in Larry Koopa?" She asked, slightly worried. He nodded and smiled.
"Yes I am, miss." He replied.
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of…" She trailed off as she looked into Larry's gaze.
"Why're you looking at me like that?" She asked, slowly, and then realised what that look meant, and moaned, "Oh, great."
Ludwig pulled himself out of the wreckage.
I must have fallen unconscious while the machine was exploding. He thought to himself.
"Ugh…" Bowser groaned from the wreckage. Ludwig clambered over to him.
"You okay?" He asked.
"What do you think?! You almost killed me! I thought you said you tested this thing last time!" Bowser yelled.
"I had! It was sabotaged!" Ludwig protested.
"Gaaagh!" Bowser wailed, jumping up and leaping to the back of the room. Ludwig frowned.
"What?" He asked.
"You… what have you done with Ludwig?!" Bowser shouted.
"I am Ludwig, dad. What's gotten into you?" Ludwig asked. Bowser stopped and examined his son carefully, then smiled.
"Well, genius, I've just found a side effect to your machine." He said.
"What?"
"You've sure made a mess of things, now, Ludwig. So long." Bowser said, then he left the room, whistling. Ludwig watched him go, slightly confused at the events.
"I wonder what he was talking about." Kooky wondered. He brushed some hair out of his eyes and picked up a piece of his machine.
Then he saw his reflection.
Peach sat with the Mario Brothers and Toad in the Aquarium.
"A shell. I have a shell." She moaned.
"Hey, it's not that bad, I mean, look at us! We're complete Koopas. Oh, and Goomba." Mario said.
"Yeah, think of it this way, at least we're worse off." Toad said.
"Why? Why don't I just put up with it for another couple of hours and then we sort out the problem like always?" Peach asked.
"I dunno. Why don't you forget it exists? Why do they raise taxes? Why anything?" Luigi asked.
"I think that's probably the cleverest thing you've said in the last week, and it's still completely dumb." Mario said.
"Shut up."
"Hey, stop arguing and let's find the root of the problem." Peach jumped in.
"Okay, hmm, I would say Bowser. Now, let's go whoop his big scaly behind!" Mario said.
"Aaaaaarrrggh!" Someone outside wailed. Finally, he burst through the door.
"My face! My beautiful face! My wonderful complexion!" The Koopa cried.
"Who're you?" Luigi asked.
"It's me! Wario!" He replied.
"What complexion, then?" Mario asked. He began to laugh, but was cut short by Wario jumping on him, prepared to beat the living daylights out of him. Luigi helped try to pull him back.
"How dare you make fun of my lovely face!" Wario yelled, struggling to get his way out of Luigi's grip. Mario stood up and brushed himself off.
"Gee, can't you take a joke?" Mario asked.
"It's just like when we were boys, and you'd make fun of how I looked. Nobody would go out with me because of you!" Wario cried.
"What a disturbing past." Luigi said to himself.
"Hey, they wouldn't go out with you not because I said you were ugly, but you were known as the Ugly Mug! It wasn't my fault!" Mario protested.
"Yeah, right!" Wario sneered.
"I'm afraid I must jump in here. Now, I don't care why you decided to run through and break my door, and I really don't want to hear about your very odd childhood, but I really want to get this whole Koopa/Human mess sorted out." Peach said.
"Okay! Let's go! Wario, will you be joining us?" Luigi asked. Wario gave the concept some thought.
"Oh, what the hey, what have I got to lose?" He asked.
Lizzy paced in a small circle near the demolished dungeons. It confused her to think why the dungeons were built all the way out here. It wasn't like there were going to be any prisoners, anyway. And wouldn't Peach have liked her victims to be near the castle?
She glanced back at Larry, who was still following her with a weird smile on his face.
"How am I going to resolve this mess?" She whispered.
"You still haven't told me your name yet." Larry said.
"Uh," she thought about it. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She could have some real fun with this. She had no clue what, but she knew something would crop up.
"I'm sure whatever your name is, it'll sound as sweet as you look." Larry said. Lizzy hesitated.
"My name is, um, Bert…" She slowly trailed off.
"Bert?" Larry asked.
"Um, no. I was only kidding. She quickly replied. Maybe starting like that was going too far. She thought. "My name is Sandy." She finished.
"Wow. That's a wonderful name!" Larry cried. Lizzy grinned. This could be fun. She thought evilly. She had to admit it was a change from her normal day.
Ludwig had locked the door to his room and was trying very hard to fix the machine.
"I don't believe it," he moaned, "I have one plan which is bound to succeed, and it gets sabotaged by some mysterious thing!" He snarled. Soon, something dragged his attention away from his destroyed machine. Something was rushing past his door and shouting "Wheee!" As it went past. Ludwig eventually unlocked the door to see what was making the racket.
"Hey, this is fun!" Bowser called as he rushed by a second time. He was using Ludwig's chair to speed along the corridor just like he had earlier.
"That's my idea, and, come to think of it, my chair, too!" Ludwig complained.
"So sue me, human." Bowser said as he passed again.
"Hmm,"
"Sue me and I'll send you to the dungeons!" Bowser said in a more serious and threatening tone.
"Ah."
"You seen yourself, yet?" Bowser asked.
"Uh, huh."
"You really made a mess of things this time, didn't you, Ludwig?"
"Silence! What if I had decided to use the machine on me, rather than you?" Ludwig snapped. Bowser slammed his feet on the floor and skidded to a halt. He thought about what Ludwig had said.
"I don't know. I'd probably end up like one of those fat kings in the Mushroom kingdom."
"And I could have been selfish enough not to help, and saved poor Larry myself."
"King dad! King Dad!"
Ludwig and Bowser saw Morton running up the stairs. He looked really worried. But that wasn't what Ludwig and Bowser noticed first. They both burst out laughing.
"Hey, that's mean!" Morton whined.
"You look terrible!" Ludwig cried, "As a human, I mean." He added.
"I bet all this is your fault, Ludwig!" Morton snapped.
"Sort of, my machine was sabotaged." He replied.
"How's that your fault?"
"I built the machine, they sabotaged it." Ludwig replied.
"Now, anyway," Bowser jumped in, "Why were you looking so worried?"
"I accidentally demolished the Mushroom Kingdom Dungeons!" Morton wailed.
"And this is why I reckon I should be allowed to terminate him with a large bazooka." Ludwig said.
"Accidentally?" Bowser asked.
"Um, well, I was trying to get Larry out, so I threw a Bob-omb inside."
"That was a stupid thing to do." Bowser snapped.
"Yeah, at least the dungeons were destroyed. Only nobody was alive enough to be grateful."
"You killed all the prisoners?" Bowser cried.
"Uh, more like, scattered their bodies out with the dungeon a bit." Morton said.
"Hmm, I think I could use that one day." Ludwig said to himself. Bowser gave him a sharp glare, then turned back to Morton.
"Did anyone see you?" Bowser asked.
"Uh, there was one person passing by, but I think she got blown up, too." Morton said. Bowser heard scribbling behind him. He looked round to see Ludwig taking notes. He snatched the pad and pencil off of him.
"Stop with your twisted mind!" He snapped.
"Fine. I'll carry on trying to fix the machine, now." Ludwig mumbled, going back into his room.
"I'll see if I can do something useful for once." Morton said, scurrying off. Bowser picked up his chair and threw it into Ludwig's room. It hit him on the head.
"Ow!" Ludwig cried. Bowser shrugged and made his way upstairs.
Mario, Wario, Luigi, Toad and Peach all leaped out of a pipe in the Koopa Kingdom.
"Yep. All we need to do now is go beat up Bowser and this whole mess will get resolved." Mario said happily.
"I agree. Let's kick Bowser's…" Peach started.
"No, no no!" Wario shouted, "that's not how to deal with a problem!"
"But that's what we always do." Luigi complained.
"So? Does that make it right? No! Follow my plan and we'll be back to our old selves in no time." Wario said.
"Okay, we'll follow your plan."
"I haven't told you it, yet! You have to agree afterwards! Listen, you pathetic piles of pond scum! I don't have to stick around with imbeciles like you all day! I have a castle to defend!"
"Fine. What's your plan?" Mario asked.
"To start, someone who's good at solving problems without violence should go to the castle. Another person and I will check out those tents over there. Everyone else, go with the other person."
"Great. Toad, Luigi and I will check out the castle." Mario said. Peach looked at Wario, who looked very angry.
"Uh, can I go with you guys instead?" She asked desperately.
"Oh, c'mon, Princess. You've got to trust other people." Luigi said.
"Luigi, you're not meant to trust them if they stole your castle, tried to cash in your giant gold statue for a castle and has a really big cheesy grin on his face." Mario said.
"Hey, I'll have you know this grin is all the rage, today." Wario protested.
"Um, yeah. Well, do you see my point, yet?" Mario asked.
"I hadn't noticed he still had that grin." Luigi said, observing Wario.
"Shut up, snotty boy!" Wario snapped.
"Yes, now I see your point." Luigi said. Wario snorted and turned his back to the group.
"Tell you what, let's let Wario go on his own and see what's in those tents." Mario said.
"Fine! And I bet I'll end up being the one to save the day!" Wario called as they left.
"Yes, but I'll probably be the one who'll get the credit!" Mario called back.
"Gaaagh! Science projects haunt me!" Wario cried as he ran off in the direction of the tents.
Lizzy strolled through the Mushroom Kingdom, Larry following her, gazing lovingly at her every move.
This will just be too easy. Lizzy thought. I could probably jump off a cliff and he'll follow me. He's my dog, and I can make him do as I like.
She thought about what she should do with him first. She could make him be really nice, or evil, but being evil could result in the hatred of Mushrooms for Humanity.
I'll make him be nice and generous. She thought to herself.
"Hey, I'm starved. Let's say we eat." She said out loud. Larry quickly jumped in front of her.
"Sure! We can steal some grub from a good food store." Larry said.
"No, I was thinking something more like actually eating out the honest way, where you pay and stuff? You know?"
"Sure! Of course! I'll even pay!"
"You're too sweet." Lizzy grinned.
"Anything for you, Sandy." Larry said. He turned to bash a few blocks to get as many coins as possible. Lizzy shuddered at the ultimately twee comment Larry made.
Ludwig pulled a load of wires from the invention, which now lay in a huge pile on the floor. He observed them closely.
"Just as I thought." He said to himself, "Someone has been tampering with these wires. No doubt it was that stupid plumber and his brother." He sighed and threw them over his shoulder. They landed near a bin piled high with old junk.
"They completely changed the entire model from the inside! Although I wonder why they left one screw loose and one too tight." He thought about this for a little while. Finally he shrugged and pulled himself up onto the chair. He began to spin it.
Suddenly, from outside the room, Ludwig could hear Bowser trying to pound something. He opened the door to reveal Bowser with a few other Koopas. One of them spotted him.
"There's Ludwig!" He cried. He sounded a lot like Mario. Ludwig also noticed Peach there and came to a conclusion: It was Mario. He jumped back into his room and slammed the door. Mario opened it with ease.
"What do you guys want?" Ludwig asked.
"What the heck do you mean?! Have you not seen us? Have you not seen yourself? Do you not see we have morphed into our enemies? Our opposite sides?!" Luigi cried.
"Don't you think I've noticed?! I'm already trying to come up with the solution! My machine was sabotaged!" Ludwig yelled. He showed them the giant pile of metal in the middle of his floor. "This is what's left of the machine! I need to sort this out."
"Those are big piles." Luigi said.
"If we don't get this machine working again, there's no telling how long we're going to be like this." Peach said.
"However long it is, I don't care. If I could just find my blueprints." Ludwig said, then he thought of something. "Hey, Princess Toadstool. Why didn't you change?"
Peach whirled around to reveal her shell. He nodded.
"Hey, maybe the blueprints are in this door." Luigi said, opening the door to Ludwig's basement. He instantly tripped on a blueprint and fell screaming down the stairs.
"Luigi!" Mario, Toad and Peach all cried at once. They rushed down after him. Ludwig sighed and climbed into his elevator.
At the bottom of the stairs, Luigi sighed with relief to himself. He had landed safely on the blueprints covering Ludwig's floor. Mario saw the blueprints and dived in. Toad waited above them, but peach dived right in. Ludwig's elevator reached the bottom and the door opened. He waded through the blueprints.
"Hey! Those are in a nice order! Stop that," He snapped, "and help me find the blueprints in 'M'."
Mario, Luigi, Peach and toad all looked at the blueprints in confusion.
"How the heck do you expect to find 'M', or anything, for that matter, with this orderly system?!" Toad cried.
"Never mind that, now! If you want to be your normal selves again, start looking." Ludwig replied.
Lizzy wandered what else she could make Larry do. There wasn't much to do if she wanted to be good, so she would need to resort to more sick and twisted things.
Larry was still following her like a puppy. He had bought her an expensive meal and one hundred dozen roses. Now she needed to do something interesting.
"So, what do you suggest we do now, Sandy?" Larry asked. She had almost forgot! He thought she was called Sandy. She had changed her name!
She was also very surprised he hadn't noticed that there were a lot of Goombas and Koopa Troopas in the kingdom. There was also two Koopas strolling around wearing very odd clothes. When they saw Lizzy, they jogged over and stood near her.
"Hello, there." One of them said. It was female. It was Kim.
"What'ya up to?" The other asked. It was male. It was Chris. The blue hair covering his eyes gave his identity away.
"What are you guys doing here? This is the Mushroom kingdom. You should be in Candyland!" Lizzy hissed.
"Sorry, we got a bit mixed up. We're staying here, though until the end of this scene." Kim said.
"Then we're going to stay in the Kingdom until we have been returned to our original shapes…" Chris was abruptly cut off by Lizzy shoving her hand over his mouth and pulling Kim and him over to the side quickly.
"Don't say that!" Lizzy hissed. Kim and Chris looked up at her blankly
"What's gotten into you?" Chris asked.
"You see this?! This is my fault! If I hadn't sabotaged the machine Ludwig was making, then Bowser would have tried to destroy the Marios. If I hadn't waited until the morning to finish the machine, then Bowser would have weakened." Lizzy sighed.
"Is that why bloky's following you?" Kim asked.
"What? No. This shape happens to be the figure he's fallen in love with. He thinks my name is Sandy." Lizzy replied.
"I would have gone with Bert." Kim muttered under her breath.
"So would I, but I'm a bloke." Chris said.
"Yeah, and for me it would have been going too far," Lizzy said, "now I'm trying to think of what to make him do. He will do anything I say. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything."
"How about getting him to torch some place?" Kim asked.
"Or you could get him to move a shop halfway across town." Chris suggested.
"Or break an elevator."
"Or bungee jump from the Princess's castle."
"Or nuke a pony."
"Or inhale vinegar."
"Or…"
"Okay! Yes! I get the picture! I'll take those ideas aboard!" Lizzy cried.
"Dang. I wanted to bungee jump from Peach's castle." Chris mumbled.
Wario trekked across the vast plains of Dark Land all alone. Bowser's army seemed to get thinner the nearer he got to the tents. Also, a lot of grass seemed to be closer to the tents, too. He carried on venturing closer and closer.
"Hmm, there must be a circus or something. I haven't seen so many tents!" Wario muttered. Suddenly, a freaky looking Hammer Brother sidled out of a bush. Wario stopped and looked over at it.
"D-d-don't g-go there." It stammered.
"Why?" Wario asked.
"Minors! Lots and lots of Minors!" It shrieked suddenly and ran off in the opposite direction screaming. Wario stared after it worriedly before carrying on. He decided to be on the lookout for any other psychotic Koopas.
Finally, he met up with a small kid leaning against a fence blocking the way. A gate was nearby. He wore a black T-shirt with a skull on it and a pair of blue denim shorts. His golden yellow hair was only on the top of his head, and somehow managed to stand up, making it look taller than the boy it was attached to.
"Hey." He said.
"Uh, hi," Wario replied, "um, do you know what's over there in those tents?"
"Yep." The boy replied. There was a moment's silence.
"Are you going to tell me?" Wario asked.
"Nope."
"Please tell me."
"No."
"I'll give you something."
"I'll take it, and still not tell you."
"Then I won't give it to you until you tell me."
"Then I shall not receive it."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Edward, and I live in one of those tents."
"Ah. Then if I told you I was on a quest to save the world and get lots of money for it and to succeed I would need to get though here and find out exactly what's over the other side of this large fence, would you let me though?"
"Afraid not."
"Then how about if I threatened to tell everyone this place exists as a cult against Bowser?"
"Proceed." The boy replied. He clapped his hands twice and the gate opened. Wario passed through to the other side and gazed around.
The place was huge! Millions of teenagers ranging from ten to nineteen were everywhere. Some were just wandering around; others were doing all sorts of things. He spotted a large garden where kids were happily tending to all the plants. Some were healing Naval Piranha's large wound. Teenagers were everywhere! Someone wandered up to him and smiled.
"Hi, there. I'm Andy." He said.
"I'm Wario." Wario said.
"We've heard a lot about you. You're cool. How'd you find us?" Andy asked.
"I saw the tents." Wario replied.
"So you got caught in the mix up, then?"
"You mean by being a Koopa? Yeah. I'm just lucky I still know who's who." Wario said.
"I know what you mean," The boy said. He looked around, "Hey, I've got a good idea. Why don't you join us for our meeting in a couple of minutes? You get to find out what's going on here."
"Yeah, that'll be cool." Wario replied.
Ludwig watched the Marios, Peach and Toad all searching for M in his blueprints. They had no idea he was standing in it. He shrugged and began carefully shifting the blueprints around until he found what he was looking for. He finally found the blueprint labelled 'Metamorphosis'. He pulled it out and looked at it.
"You found it?" Toad asked.
"Yeah, Metamorphosis. Under 'M', as I thought." Ludwig replied. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad all waded through the blueprints toward him.
"This is the design I had planned for if I wanted to confuse my fellow siblings, but if I make some alterations, I can make it powerful enough to transform the entire Mushroom Kingdom, that way everyone will be their normal selves again."
"And how long will it take you to build it?" Mario asked.
"It would be five minutes."
"Would be?" Peach asked.
"Well, I'll be making quite a few alterations. Plus I need to make it bigger. On the whole, it'll take me a couple of hours." Ludwig said.
"Okay. We'll help you. Time will go much quicker with a helping hand." Mario said.
Wario walked in to what was called the 'Main tent' alongside Andy. He had found that there were no adults anywhere within what the Minors called the 'Minor Territory'. He was stuck talking to eighteen and nineteen year old teens bent on the destruction of Mario and Bowser. He found that the war between the two had resulted in many homes and villages destroyed. He also heard that once Minors reach twenty, they leave for Pipe Maze (in Pipe Land) where they raise families to defend.
He stood by the side near the large stage at the end of the rectangular tent. Two girls who looked around thirteen to fourteen were stood on the stage.
"People of the Minor Society," the one on the podium began, "I do understand we have a problem here, and yes, it does need resolving. So we have Sheila here to explain how we're sorting it." She stepped down and let the other girl on.
"Thanks, Katy," She muttered, "I am afraid I am being held responsible for this mess, but the real blame will go to Lizzy, who actually set up the plan, sabotaged the machine and botched up, but I made the error of judgement by letting her do that. I haven't been in touch with Lizzy yet, but as soon as I have, I will inform you. On a more pleasant note, though, Andy, our tour for the new, has found a guest which I'm sure a lot of you have met already." She stepped down and let Andy climb up onto the stage. He helped pull Wario up, too.
"Thanks, Sheila. Now," Andy started, "You all know Wario, the older, wiser and wealthier version of us. Well, here he is, trying to resolve the whole mix-up crisis. Apparently, Mario is with Bowser right now, trying to beat the living daylights out of him so he can resolve this problem. Wario did the more reasonable thing and came to us." He stepped down and let Wario on.
"Uh, gee, I-I really don't know what to say. I haven't been in front of a crowd of children this big before. Well, not since high school, anyway." He looked around desperately. The people who could hear him gave a chuckle. He relaxed.
"From what I hear, this problem was caused by a machine, and so I suggest we build a different machine to counteract the problem. With so many people, there should be no trouble building a machine. We shall work together to resolve the problem." He finished. The crowd let up a big cheer.
Unfortunately, for both teams working on the machines, nothing went smoothly. Both started at two-thirty, and screws were broken, metal bent, wires crossed, frustration blasted, circuits exploded, people were injured, Kim got bored, covers cracked and so on.
Finally, at eleven fifty, Ludwig held up his invention.
"At last, we have finished it." He panted. He set it on the floor again.
"Great! Let's test it out! I want my arms back!" Toad cried.
"I want to get rid of this shell and tail." Peach said.
"A tail?!" Mario and Luigi both cried.
"Um, yes. I found out I have a tail, too." Peach said, slightly embarrassed.
"I'd love to see that!" Luigi grinned.
"Yeah, well I want my shell back." Ludwig muttered. He knelt by the machine and pushed the button.
Nothing happened.
"Well?" Toad asked.
"Uh, I guess one of the bolts must be loose." Ludwig said quickly, grabbing his screwdriver. He opened up the back and set to work checking the bolts.
"Wario, we're finished." Katy said happily.
"Great! Let's check it out." He said. He wandered over to it and pushed the button. A large whirring started up from inside the machine. Static poured out from the top and soon was sucked in again. Lights started going out around the place.
"It's working," Wario whispered. The Minors all began to crowd around. They were all holding candles. The more lights that went out, the more candles each Minor lit. Soon, each Minor held a shining candle, providing the only light in the Territory.
Ludwig just finished tightening the last screw. He put the back on and stood back.
"There." He said, proudly.
Then the lights went out.
"Ah, nuts." He mumbled.
On top of the castle, Larry and Lizzy were sat down, looking up at the stars. Lizzy didn't know what it was about them, but it seemed to calm her down a lot, so she wasn't bored anymore. She looked over at Larry. The stars seemed to have the same effect on him. She felt kind of sorry for him, now. She had made him do everything Kim and Chris had said. Now she was calm, she could regret it.
The lights went out.
"Hmm, must be a power out, or something like that." Lizzy said. She looked down at the candle-lit glow of the Minor Territory. Larry saw her and pulled out his wand, lighting the place up with candles. Her eyes twinkled. There was something inside her that said that she liked him. She had pushed it down all day, but it had just exploded next to the thought 'he likes me. He really likes me'. She gazed into his eyes, and one last idea popped into her mind.
"Do you mind if I borrow your wand a second." She asked.
"Sure, Sandy." He croaked. Lizzy felt bad now. As she took the wand, she looked into his eyes one more time.
"I want to see you in a… different shape." She said. She delicately used the wand on Larry, changing him into a human. Her eyes twinkled again. She realised that he was the shape she would fall in love with.
"How do I look, Sandy?" He asked. She turned away quickly. Larry, confused, could only look at her questioningly.
"Sorry, Larry, I haven't been entirely honest with you." She said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not called Sandy at all. In fact, I'm not even a Koopa." She sighed.
"Then who are you?" He whispered. She looked into his eyes.
Wario saw the machine glow a powerful white. He pulled out some shades from his pocket. He had instructed everyone to bring some for this matter.
"Shades, everyone!" Wario cried through his megaphone. Everyone stuck his or her sunglasses on.
"Now, flip the switch!" He yelled to the Minor operating the machine. The switch was pulled up, and a brilliant flash of light filled the Koopa Kingdom with light for the first time, and the Mushroom Kingdom got it next.
Wario looked at his watch.
"Exactly midnight. Considering the day, this should now work." He said to himself.
The castle brightened up again.
"Hey, I'm not a hideous little freak anymore!" Mario cried, examining his human body.
"Yes you are, you're just a human version of it, again." Ludwig sneered. Mario growled and chased him out of the room. Luigi, Peach and Toad all sighed and followed him.
Larry couldn't believe his eyes.
"I'm Lizzy." Lizzy sighed.
"I-I-I see that!" Larry stammered. Lizzy tapped her shins with the wand. Larry just looked at her in stunned silence.
"I'm sorry I made you do all that today, but I couldn't resist. You were almost like my puppet." Lizzy said.
"And that's why you changed me into a human just now." Larry groaned.
"No, I was curious. The stars do that to me." Lizzy looked back up into the sky. Larry couldn't. Instead, he looked down as the power came back on in the Minor Territory. The candles were all blown out and a large cheer could be heard. Lizzy looked down when she heard it.
"I need to say sorry to them later." She noted to herself quietly.
"I'm gonna regret saying this later, but you're one hot Koopaling." Larry said. Lizzy smiled.
"Thanks. You don't look bad yourself as a human." She replied, carefully changing him back. She then used the wand to change his shell into his normal sort, rather that the Koopa Troopa shell like he had on earlier. He smiled.
"Can I have my wand back, now?" He asked. She handed it over again.
"This'll just be me under influence of stars, you know. Later, I'm going to be my normal, bored, evil self again." She said.
"Me too," Larry replied.
"Holding a grudge against everyone, being really sneaky,"
"Same here."
Suddenly, there came a shattering of glass from below. When they looked down, Mario and Ludwig had jumped out of a window. They watched them land in the moat below and smiled. Lizzy turned back to Larry.
"Tell you what, you can come visit me anytime at my office building. Make sure you're human, though." She said.
"Cool. You can always come here, too. As a Koopa, I mean." Larry said.
"Right."
"Okay."
"Well, see ya." Lizzy jumped from the ledge and made her way down the castle. Larry watched after her and sighed.
Wario celebrated with the Minors happily.
"Well done, Wario! You saved the day!" Katy shouted above the noise.
"I knew I would." He replied, then remembered something.
"What's the matter?" Sheila asked.
"I said that to Mario earlier…" He began, then he remembered what happened.
"GAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!! Mario's going to get the credit again! I never win! WAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
The End
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Cast of New Characters
Lizzy:
A fifteen year old female human that lives in Sarasaland. She owns the biggest company in Sarasaland called N2 Fashion. She doesn't do much, just sits around the office all day. On the side, she works for the Minors, as their Sarasalandian Spy.
Sammy
At fourteen years old, Sammy already owns Pipe Maze, the city former Minors live in. Her father is the King of Pipe land, but his people for being a greedy King overthrew him. She found Tatanga washed up on a beach and made friends with him very quickly. Tatanga now lives in Pipe Maze.
Minors
A society formed by the hatred of the Koopas and Mario Brothers. They live on the opposite side of Dark Land from Bowser's castle and all live in tents. They live freely to do as they please rather than be tied down with childish limits. Ranging from ten to nineteen, these teenagers will not let anybody over the age of twenty enter the Territory for fear they will inform people. They will also not let any teenager besides humans in for the same fear.
· Katy
The leader of the Minors. During one of the take-overs of the Mushroom Kingdom, her town was destroyed and a lot of people hurt. She escaped and formed the Minor society in Dark Land, swearing vengeance on the two rivals. She later stumbles upon the Fire Necklace when it lands in Dark Land.
· Sheila
Second in command and a great lover of plants. She ran away from home at a very young age and helped form the Minor society. Katy wanted revenge, Sheila wanted freedom. She feels a sense of power above everyone else because of her position. Later, she finds the Leaf Necklace while in Giant land.
· Andy
Just an ordinary Minor. He helps welcome all the new people into the Territory. He doesn't play as an important part in any of my stories, but he showed up in this one.
· Edward
Another ordinary Minor. He guards the gate to the Minor Territory. He won't let adults in, seeing as they are not allowed, and will only let in certain types of children. He will give in to a threat, though. This one also plays no important part, he just showed up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
AN: Hmm. How old was I? 15? 14? Very young. Sorry, I decided I wanted to get this up somewhere other than Nintendoland. It doesn't all make sense and I was very... erm... imaginitive when I wrote it. You'll have to trust me -- I'm probably as critical as you are about it. So no harsh and overly critical flames please, though amused confusion is acceptable. I share that with you now.
I won't be re-writing this. I've got plenty of stories in the works right now I can shape up. PLEASE don't make me redo this one as well... it's the longest of them so far...
--SaturnStorm
For original characters, check the bottom of the page.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
The Day Everything Went Wrong
Written by Saturn Storm
We start this very strange adventure in Larry's Castle.
Larry Koopa was grinning maniacally as he stared through the monitors. This time, he knew he could take over the Mushroom Kingdom.
"At last," He said, "I can finally take over the Mushroom Kingdom!" He looked at a large red button, "With a push of this button, the world will be mine to rule, and then daddy will be so proud of me," He hesitated, "Hang on a minute, I'll control him! And my brothers, and sister, well, all except Ludwig, who is inside the castle, controlling the security system…"
"And listening to every word over this monitor I have placed in the computer." Ludwig pointed out, over the monitor.
"Oh, yeah. Don't worry, you'll rule, too. I wouldn't deprive you of this opportunity to take over, heh, heh." Larry said.
"Listen, I don't care about that. I'm enjoying myself, here. The Chair spins! Woo! Look at me go! It's fun."
"Uh, yeah."
"By the way, the Super Marios are waiting outside your door."
"What! Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"Because they weren't waiting outside, then, were they? Jeez! It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."
"Can't you get rid of them?"
"No, because they're outside your door. I didn't think of putting a trap outside your door."
"Why not?"
"Because I thought they would fall for my other traps!"
"Why didn't they?"
"Because they need to be man-operated, otherwise they wouldn't go off."
"Then why didn't you operate them?!"
"One, I am not a man, I am a Koopaling, and two, I was busy spinning on my chair."
"Oh, sorry. You are fully forgiven. I understand whole-heartedly. Bye bye now." Larry said happily, then switched the monitor off. He stood up.
"Not so fast, Larry Koopa!" Mario shouted through the door. He and Luigi burst through and stood ready for action.
"Ha! It's too late, Plumber boys," Larry sneered, "With a push of this button, I will take over the Mushroom Kingdom! And to stop you getting in the way, feel the wrath of my…" He looked side to side desperately, searching for a weapon, "Rats, I knew I should have put a weapon in here." He cursed under his breath. Mario and Luigi, who had been patiently waiting, realised Larry would not pull out a weapon, and advanced.
"It's over, Larry," Luigi said, "It's time to give up your life of bad."
Mario hesitated while he gave Luigi an odd look.
"Life of bad? " Mario asked.
"Forget it. Let's get Larry." Luigi said quickly.
"It's not over, yet!" Larry suddenly cried, taking off his shell, "Ha, ha! The tables have turned, now!" and he threw the shell at the plumbers, who ran off, screaming.
"Oh, no! Quick, it's gaining on us!" Luigi cried.
"I can't stand it! It's so pointy!" Mario wailed as he ran through the corridors. Larry watched them go, then turned back to the control panel.
"Ah, and now I will lower my hand ridiculously slowly and press the- oh, what the hey, I'll just push it now." And with that, Larry pressed the button.
"Have you pushed it yet?" Ludwig asked.
"Yes! I just did it!" Larry replied impatiently.
"Then why isn't it doing anything?"
"I don't know! You built this thing! You find out!"
"Oh, yes! Silly me! Uh," He tapped a few buttons, "Ah! Someone has smashed the end of the gun up. Looks like we've failed again. Well, see ya!" Ludwig switched off the monitor from his side.
"What?! You mean I'm all alone now?! The spineless coward." Larry growled out of the corner of his mouth.
"Aha! We've foiled your evil plan!" Mario called as he ran back into the room.
"Wha- Hey! What happened to my shell?" Larry asked.
"It drove itself deep into a wall," Luigi replied, "Now you're going to have to get a new one." He finished. Mario and Larry both gave him an odd look.
"That was a stupid finish, Luigi." Mario said.
"Aha! I don't need to get a new one, anyway. I will simply throw this regular Koopa shell at you to buy me time to get away!" Larry sneered, pulling out a green Koopa shell.
"Oh, please!" Mario groaned, strolling up to Larry, grabbing him and the shell and shoving him into it.
"Good work, Mario. We've captured one of the Koopa Kids! All we need to do now is get the other six and Koopa and the world will be a safe place." Luigi cried.
"Luigi, just shut up." Mario said.
"Agh! This is incredibly small! D'you think you can find me a more spacious shell?" Larry asked, his voice muffled by the shell.
"We can put you into a more spacious space, the Mushroom Kingdom Dungeons!" Mario said.
"Aww… can't we work something out?"
"No."
"You sure? I can clean your toilets for a month."
"Hmm… y-no, I don't think you'd stand for that kind of torture. Believe me, you'd prefer the dungeons."
"Ah. I suppose you won't let me go, then?"
"No!"
Later, the Super Mario Brothers emerged from the dungeons. Outside were a large group of TV reporters and cameramen, as well as a lot of happy Mushroom people.
"Mario! This is Julia Mackerel from news at seven-thirty! How does it feel to have actually captured a Koopaling for the first time in your long career, here?" one of the reporters called, shoving a microphone in Mario's face.
"Uh… great?" Mario suggested.
"Iam Smelly from the Codswallop news! Is it true that you are now going to try and capture all the other evil Koopas?" another shouted above the commotion, hitting Luigi with the mike.
"Well, it is our job…" Luigi started.
"Greggy Boy from Damnation…"
"Okay, that's enough! Give them both space!" Someone cried out, pushing his way to the front. It was Toad.
"Thanks, Toad, these guys are real savages when it comes to news reports." Mario sighed.
"Yeah, but half of these people's jobs are riding on getting a good report, which is why they're like this." Toad replied. Soon the police joined Toad in getting the people to back away. Mario and Luigi moved away from the dungeons and began to walk home, when someone called up behind them.
"Mario! Luigi! Wait up!" Peach cried, running up to them. They both stopped and waited for Peach to catch up.
"Hi, Peach. So, have you heard?" Mario asked.
"You bet! Well done, guys! You finally caught one!" Peach replied.
"Well, gee, Princess, you sure know how to make a guy feel good about himself. Mario said, unhappily.
"Sorry, but you have been here for years, you should have at least caught Bowser, by now. If anything, Tatanga should have been put behind bars. It's good that you get to see me, and you have now locked Larry up, but don't you think business is a tad slow?"
"Hey, if it wasn't for us, you'd be working for the Koopas right now! At least we keep you from having your Kingdom taken over." Luigi protested.
"Hey, you're right. Sorry, guys." Peach said. She hugged Mario and Luigi, making them blush.
"Well, we better go home and relax. It's been quite a day." Mario said.
"I've got a better idea! Why don't we all come back to my castle and have pasta?" Peach suggested.
"Wow! That would be great!" Mario and Luigi cried in unison. They each took one of Peach's arms and they all wandered back to the castle, happy as ever.
Meanwhile, over in Bowser's castle in Dark Land, Ludwig pulled his office chair up the stairs. When Bowser opened his door to see who was making the racket, he saw Ludwig finish his long climb. He then watched to see Ludwig push the chair along a bit, sit on it, then use one of the walls to push off and send him across the hallway. Bowser watched him do this a few times before grabbing the chair as it went by a fifth time. Ludwig was sent flying out of the chair and into the wall opposite.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with this chair?" Bowser asked.
"I was taking it to my room, but I found a fun game to play on the way." Ludwig replied, rubbing his head.
"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this," He threw it into his room, "Now, I thought you were with Larry, trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Ah, well, uh, something kinda came up, and um, what I'm trying to say is…" Ludwig began.
"Hey, King dad! Come looky! Mario and Luigi are on TV!" Morton called from across the hall.
"Ooh! Are they dead?" Bowser asked.
"I hope so." Ludwig mumbled.
" Me too. Let's go see."
Bowser and Ludwig entered the room where all the other Koopa Kids were. On the TV a reporter that Mario spoke to earlier was concluding her report.
"And there you have it," She was saying, "The Marios have, for the first time in their long career, captured a Koopa, or, should I say, Koopaling. With Larry behind bars, Bowser and his other kids are not far behind."
"What?!?" Bowser Screamed.
"Ah, that's what I was trying to say…" Ludwig began.
"You let those pesky mangy plumbers take your brother to jail?!? What the hell were you thinking?!?" Bowser yelled.
"I like the chair?" Ludwig tried. Bowser hesitated as he thought about the last comment.
"Yes, it is a nice chair, but that's no excuse! How could let the Marios foil your evil plan?!" Bowser yelled, advancing on Ludwig.
"I have a plan! I have a plan!" Ludwig cried quickly. Bowser stopped.
"What," Bowser asked, "Is it?"
"I can put my brain in gear and come up with an invention that will super power you, so you can bust Larry out, and take out the Marios at the same time." Ludwig replied, smiling.
"Uh, I suppose I could try anything once, seeing as I end up doing it anyway," Bowser said, mainly to himself, " Okay, I'll do it." Bowser replied to Ludwig.
"Great! I'll go start work on it now!" Ludwig said, dashing out of the room. Little did anyone know, though, Lizzy was peering through the window into that room.
"And, in the dead of night," She said, "Which is most likely when he'll finish it and leave it unguarded, I shall sneak in and sabotage it so that it will not super power Koopa, but make him weaker." She giggled to herself.
"Hey, everybody! There's a human at the window!" Morton cried.
"Oh, crap." Lizzy said to herself. As the Koopalings approached, she leaped backwards off of the window and into a clump of bushes conveniently growing under her.
Unknown to Bowser, the Minors were all formed on the other side of Dark Land. Their homes consisting of large circus tents. At that point in time, the Minors were all assembling in the main tent, where Katy wanted to talk to the Minors.
As the Minors all went in, they noticed that Sheila was standing on the lower podium. She was an unusual girl. So was Katy, but they were both unusual in their own unique way. Sheila had actually run away from home, as her family was always beating the life out of her. She had gone to the Minors because she had nowhere else to go, and blamed her families cruelty on the Koopas.
But this is all beside the point.
Katy waited until everyone was in before speaking.
"My loyal Minors," She began, "I'm sure you all know of our plan of getting back at the Koopas," everyone agreed, "And we know how and when we shall pull this off?" She asked.
"I have already pulled a group of budding young kids together to succeed in the attack." Someone called from the crowd.
"And you did it well, might I add. But I would really like people to actually ask to do that sort of thing. Oh, and I believe Sheila has something to say, too." Katy said. She stepped down to let Sheila up.
"My fellow Minors," Sheila started, "I have been given full permission to send out a spy to see what our -ahem- 'friends' are doing right now. My troop has already been sent out, and I am now waiting to see what my Sarasalandian spy has to say, before I report back." Sheila stepped down, letting Katy back on.
"Right. When we come up with an idea to start this War we must formulate who will go fill Sammy in or she'll kill us." Katy said. Everyone gave a worried murmur.
"When does Sheila expect her spy back?" Someone asked.
"Soon. I will be outside waiting for her when this meeting is adjourned." Sheila replied.
"Well, unless anyone else has anything to say, I guess we'll adjourn this meeting now. Anyone need to say anything? Anyone? No? Well, then meeting adjourned." Katy said, slamming the hammer down on the desk in front of her. The many children all began to file out. Sheila, Katy and one other person stayed behind.
"Who gave you permission, anyway?" Katy asked.
"Oh, me. I am a figure of authority, after all." Sheila replied.
"Hey, rather than making the Koopas start war on the Mushroom people, why don't we make the Mushroom people start war on the Koopas? It'll be much less fuss," said the left over person.
"Because that's foolish. We need to make sure Bowser has the upper hand, that way, when they fall, they'll fall hard." Katy replied.
"Besides, why cause the Mushroom people harm? Our beef is with the Koopas." Sheila added.
"The Koopas have our beef? Well, that's more reason to resent them!" The small kid replied, and left.
"Okay," Katy said slowly, "Uh… so, you're expecting Lizzy, soon?"
"Uh, huh. She may not be a Minor, but at least she's reliable."
"Really? I thought if anyone sent her to spy on anyone, she'd do the thing herself."
"Exactly."
"You mean you want her to cause aggro over there?"
"I would rather she caused trouble over there on her own, than have her just taking a look. I mean, they might get other ideas. Besides, she's doing it all on her own, so we can't get blamed." Sheila replied.
Later that evening, Ludwig looked at his machine. It was almost complete.
"Just need to twist this last nut…" Ludwig yawned. He thought about what he said and shuddered. He grabbed a wrench and screwed the last nut into place.
"Finally, I'm finished." He looked at the time. It was 1:30am. He yawned again and exited the room, turning the light off as he left. Once he was gone, Lizzy climbed through the window. She had her black jumper on, now, so she wouldn't get spotted, and a tool belt. A piece of paper was sticking out of it. She checked the coast was clear before pulling out the piece of paper. It was a blueprint.
"Gee, waiting for Ludwig to finish sure paid off. At least I got to look at his blueprints," Lizzy said to herself, then said, "My god, I've been reduced to talking to myself. How sad have I become?"
She decided she should just get to work. She studied the blueprints quickly before pulling out a screwdriver and setting to work.
Meanwhile, Larry sat on the cold, hard mattress and examined his dungeon again. It was actually well decorated for a dungeon. The Koopa dungeons were cold, dark and had no windows. Bowser had also made some artificial bones and popped some in each dungeon to scare people. It never worked, but at least it looked as though other people had actually been and died in the cells. These dungeons, though, were actually quite bright, had lights and windows and the bones in here were disturbingly real. He shuddered.
"Hey, Mac. Aren't you a Koopa?" someone asked from the cell next to him.
"Who wants to know?" Larry asked.
"What the hell does it matter?! It's not exactly as if I'm going to go and tell everyone, now, is it? Besides, by the sound of all the commotion out there when the Marios came out, everyone knows."
"Maybe, but I'd rather die in peace. So I will ask you kindly to please leave me alone!" Larry snapped.
"Whoa! Sorry! Geez! No need to be a negative ninny! I was just wondering! By the way, what happened to your shell?"
"It's not mine. Mine is in my castle sticking out of my wall." Larry replied.
"Well, it's getting late. I expect your brothers, sister and dad will be getting you out of here, tomorrow." The person said.
"I really hope so." Larry mumbled, lying down and turning his back to the wall.
The next morning, Lizzy woke up and looked at the blueprints.
Thank God, She thought, I hope I never have to put up with anything like that again. I need to put the backing on again, then get the heck out of here. She picked up the backing and was about to put it back on when…
"Yep! It's almost totally ready, but I still need to test it." Ludwig was saying. Lizzy listened as she held the screwdriver, which somehow managed to aimlessly drive itself into one of the bolts, twisting it loose.
"Uh, oh." She whispered to herself. She carelessly pulled the screwdriver out and, not remembering which bolt she loosened tightened the one next to it, then she screwed the back onto the machine, picked up her tools and the blueprint and dived out the window. Just as soon as she left, Ludwig opened the door.
"So this is your big invention?" Bowser asked.
"Yep. This should give you super powers so you can rescue Larry and clobber Mario at the same time." Ludwig replied. Bowser examined it.
"And you say this is untested?"
"No, but that doesn't matter, I built another like this, once before, which is why I have the blueprints out, and it worked perfectly." Ludwig replied happily.
"Well, if you're sure, then in I go." Bowser said, clambering into the cubicle. Ludwig hopped over to the controls and closed the door to the cubicle.
"And today we make history, when the Super Mario Brothers were destroyed, and Bowser Koopa took over the Mushroom Kingdom!" Ludwig cried.
"Just shut up and power me." Bowser snapped. Ludwig nodded and tapped a few buttons. The machine whirred.
"Woohoo! It works! And I thought I lost my touch!" Ludwig congratulated himself. Suddenly, the machine let out a huge clang, then smoke rose from the engine.
"What the…" Ludwig started. He knelt down and opened the back of the machine and had a look inside.
"Sabotage!" He cried. The loose bolt shot out from its place and hit Ludwig in the middle of his forehead. He stumbled backwards.
"This is really not going to go down well with dad." He mumbled, throwing a table to the floor and getting behind it.
Over by the dungeons, Lizzy was waiting. Sheila was with her.
"…And Bowser will try to bust his son out, fail, then blame his son, who'll blame the Mushroom people, and a war will start. Then you can do what you like." Lizzy finished.
"And we're waiting here for…?" Sheila prompted.
"To see Bowser fail miserably. You don't have to, but I think it'll be fun to watch." Lizzy replied.
"I see." Sheila replied slowly.
"If you'd like, I can watch here and tell you when he's done. That way if something goes wrong, I can sort it out and tell you."
"Alright. Come and talk to me later." Sheila said, and with that, she left. Lizzy waited patiently for Bowser to enter the scene, but was greeted with an explosion from behind her.
"Hey! The machine can't have worked!" Lizzy wailed as she was thrown aside. She landed near a tree. She grabbed it and made her way up. When she reached the top, she peered through the leaves to see what had caused the explosion. She found that it wasn't Bowser who had caused it, but one of his kids.
"Ha ha! No dungeon will ever hold a Koopa for long!" Morton cried, then looked at the carnage.
"Ooh, ah. I wasn't meant to do that. Aww, nuts. Um." He looked one last time at the wreckage, then left, embarrassed.
"Hmm, that wasn't meant to happen." Lizzy said. She looked over in the direction of Bowser's castle, and saw some strange wave lines approaching. She closed her eyes as they past, but nothing happened, oddly.
"I wonder what that was all about." She said to herself. Realising she was speaking to herself again, she put her hands over her face, or, what had originally been hands…
"What's going on?" She wondered, lowering her claws and examining them closely. Slowly, it dawned on her that if her hands had changed…
She slowly pulled a mirror out of her pocket and looked at her reflection. Finally, she drew to a conclusion.
"Oh, no! I must've messed up!" She wailed.
Mario woke up after a good night's rest. Luigi wasn't in his bed, which indicated he was already up and ready for anything. Mario hazily clambered into his usual clothes and slumped downstairs.
"OH MY GOD!! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!" Luigi screamed from downstairs, as Mario was halfway down. He instantly rushed to see what had shocked his brother, and instantly met with a Koopa. It turned to Mario and gasped.
"What the hell has happened to us?!" Luigi cried. Mario frowned, then somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered a name.
"Casanova Koopa." He whispered to himself, then a chill was sent up his spine. He knew what that meant…
He looked down at himself. He couldn't see much like this, so he slowly crept up to a mirror, half knowing what to expect. Even though, he screamed when he saw, anyway.
"What's going on in here?" Peach asked, but when she saw Mario and Luigi, she gasped.
"Hey, Peach. Why haven't you changed?" Luigi asked.
"I don't know." Peach replied slowly. She seemed to remember seeing them as Koopas before, but wasn't expecting this.
There was a knock on the door, breaking the silence.
"I'll get it!" Mario quickly jumped in, rushing over to the door and opening it. A Goomba was stood there.
"You guys too?" It said.
"Toad?" Mario asked.
"Yeah. The entire Mushroom Kingdom's gone totally haywire! Everything has changed. For instance, the Fireflowers have turned into piranha plants, and vice versa!" Toad cried. Mario let him in and he waddled over to the group.
"Toad? Is that you?" Peach asked.
"Yes. Why haven't you changed?" Toad asked.
"Like I already said, I don't know." Peach said. She turned to go upstairs, revealing to everyone a shell on her back.
"Ah. That'd explain it." Mario said. Peach turned round, and everyone instantly turned away.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm going to finish freshening up, and then we can sort out this problem." Peach said. She closed the doors behind her.
Meanwhile, in the dungeon, Larry opened his eyes. The place had been ruined.
The unexpected explosion had caught him off guard, but he'd had just enough time to dive under the rock-hard bed before any rocks hit him. He'd managed to squeeze out of the shell and use it to repel any of the rocks that would happen to rebound off onto him.
Now he was lying next to a very large pile of rocks. Using his shell, he dug his way out and onto the dungeon floor. The luckless Koopas and Mushrooms and so-forth lay where the cells had been.
"Gee, I wonder if this is what happened to all the other prisoners before us." Larry said to himself. He found a Koopa about his height and slipped the shell off him. He then clambered into it himself.
"Wow. Perfect fit." He muttered. He then picked up the smaller shell and used it to dig his way up to ground level. He managed to pick his way through most of the rock before a hand grabbed him and hauled him out.
"You okay?" a female voice asked.
"Yeah," He replied, coughing up the dust from the pull. He looked up into a face he'd never seen before, but really liked.
"Good. You the only survivor?" She asked.
"Uh, yes." He said, hypnotised by her looks. She looked down the hole. Nobody else was climbing up, so she helped Larry over to a tree.
"What's your name?" She asked.
"Larry, miss." He replied. He had a feeling she was older than him, despite the fact Koopalings all tend to be the same height until they reach something like seventeen.
"D'you mean Larry as in Larry Koopa?" She asked, slightly worried. He nodded and smiled.
"Yes I am, miss." He replied.
"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of…" She trailed off as she looked into Larry's gaze.
"Why're you looking at me like that?" She asked, slowly, and then realised what that look meant, and moaned, "Oh, great."
Ludwig pulled himself out of the wreckage.
I must have fallen unconscious while the machine was exploding. He thought to himself.
"Ugh…" Bowser groaned from the wreckage. Ludwig clambered over to him.
"You okay?" He asked.
"What do you think?! You almost killed me! I thought you said you tested this thing last time!" Bowser yelled.
"I had! It was sabotaged!" Ludwig protested.
"Gaaagh!" Bowser wailed, jumping up and leaping to the back of the room. Ludwig frowned.
"What?" He asked.
"You… what have you done with Ludwig?!" Bowser shouted.
"I am Ludwig, dad. What's gotten into you?" Ludwig asked. Bowser stopped and examined his son carefully, then smiled.
"Well, genius, I've just found a side effect to your machine." He said.
"What?"
"You've sure made a mess of things, now, Ludwig. So long." Bowser said, then he left the room, whistling. Ludwig watched him go, slightly confused at the events.
"I wonder what he was talking about." Kooky wondered. He brushed some hair out of his eyes and picked up a piece of his machine.
Then he saw his reflection.
Peach sat with the Mario Brothers and Toad in the Aquarium.
"A shell. I have a shell." She moaned.
"Hey, it's not that bad, I mean, look at us! We're complete Koopas. Oh, and Goomba." Mario said.
"Yeah, think of it this way, at least we're worse off." Toad said.
"Why? Why don't I just put up with it for another couple of hours and then we sort out the problem like always?" Peach asked.
"I dunno. Why don't you forget it exists? Why do they raise taxes? Why anything?" Luigi asked.
"I think that's probably the cleverest thing you've said in the last week, and it's still completely dumb." Mario said.
"Shut up."
"Hey, stop arguing and let's find the root of the problem." Peach jumped in.
"Okay, hmm, I would say Bowser. Now, let's go whoop his big scaly behind!" Mario said.
"Aaaaaarrrggh!" Someone outside wailed. Finally, he burst through the door.
"My face! My beautiful face! My wonderful complexion!" The Koopa cried.
"Who're you?" Luigi asked.
"It's me! Wario!" He replied.
"What complexion, then?" Mario asked. He began to laugh, but was cut short by Wario jumping on him, prepared to beat the living daylights out of him. Luigi helped try to pull him back.
"How dare you make fun of my lovely face!" Wario yelled, struggling to get his way out of Luigi's grip. Mario stood up and brushed himself off.
"Gee, can't you take a joke?" Mario asked.
"It's just like when we were boys, and you'd make fun of how I looked. Nobody would go out with me because of you!" Wario cried.
"What a disturbing past." Luigi said to himself.
"Hey, they wouldn't go out with you not because I said you were ugly, but you were known as the Ugly Mug! It wasn't my fault!" Mario protested.
"Yeah, right!" Wario sneered.
"I'm afraid I must jump in here. Now, I don't care why you decided to run through and break my door, and I really don't want to hear about your very odd childhood, but I really want to get this whole Koopa/Human mess sorted out." Peach said.
"Okay! Let's go! Wario, will you be joining us?" Luigi asked. Wario gave the concept some thought.
"Oh, what the hey, what have I got to lose?" He asked.
Lizzy paced in a small circle near the demolished dungeons. It confused her to think why the dungeons were built all the way out here. It wasn't like there were going to be any prisoners, anyway. And wouldn't Peach have liked her victims to be near the castle?
She glanced back at Larry, who was still following her with a weird smile on his face.
"How am I going to resolve this mess?" She whispered.
"You still haven't told me your name yet." Larry said.
"Uh," she thought about it. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. She could have some real fun with this. She had no clue what, but she knew something would crop up.
"I'm sure whatever your name is, it'll sound as sweet as you look." Larry said. Lizzy hesitated.
"My name is, um, Bert…" She slowly trailed off.
"Bert?" Larry asked.
"Um, no. I was only kidding. She quickly replied. Maybe starting like that was going too far. She thought. "My name is Sandy." She finished.
"Wow. That's a wonderful name!" Larry cried. Lizzy grinned. This could be fun. She thought evilly. She had to admit it was a change from her normal day.
Ludwig had locked the door to his room and was trying very hard to fix the machine.
"I don't believe it," he moaned, "I have one plan which is bound to succeed, and it gets sabotaged by some mysterious thing!" He snarled. Soon, something dragged his attention away from his destroyed machine. Something was rushing past his door and shouting "Wheee!" As it went past. Ludwig eventually unlocked the door to see what was making the racket.
"Hey, this is fun!" Bowser called as he rushed by a second time. He was using Ludwig's chair to speed along the corridor just like he had earlier.
"That's my idea, and, come to think of it, my chair, too!" Ludwig complained.
"So sue me, human." Bowser said as he passed again.
"Hmm,"
"Sue me and I'll send you to the dungeons!" Bowser said in a more serious and threatening tone.
"Ah."
"You seen yourself, yet?" Bowser asked.
"Uh, huh."
"You really made a mess of things this time, didn't you, Ludwig?"
"Silence! What if I had decided to use the machine on me, rather than you?" Ludwig snapped. Bowser slammed his feet on the floor and skidded to a halt. He thought about what Ludwig had said.
"I don't know. I'd probably end up like one of those fat kings in the Mushroom kingdom."
"And I could have been selfish enough not to help, and saved poor Larry myself."
"King dad! King Dad!"
Ludwig and Bowser saw Morton running up the stairs. He looked really worried. But that wasn't what Ludwig and Bowser noticed first. They both burst out laughing.
"Hey, that's mean!" Morton whined.
"You look terrible!" Ludwig cried, "As a human, I mean." He added.
"I bet all this is your fault, Ludwig!" Morton snapped.
"Sort of, my machine was sabotaged." He replied.
"How's that your fault?"
"I built the machine, they sabotaged it." Ludwig replied.
"Now, anyway," Bowser jumped in, "Why were you looking so worried?"
"I accidentally demolished the Mushroom Kingdom Dungeons!" Morton wailed.
"And this is why I reckon I should be allowed to terminate him with a large bazooka." Ludwig said.
"Accidentally?" Bowser asked.
"Um, well, I was trying to get Larry out, so I threw a Bob-omb inside."
"That was a stupid thing to do." Bowser snapped.
"Yeah, at least the dungeons were destroyed. Only nobody was alive enough to be grateful."
"You killed all the prisoners?" Bowser cried.
"Uh, more like, scattered their bodies out with the dungeon a bit." Morton said.
"Hmm, I think I could use that one day." Ludwig said to himself. Bowser gave him a sharp glare, then turned back to Morton.
"Did anyone see you?" Bowser asked.
"Uh, there was one person passing by, but I think she got blown up, too." Morton said. Bowser heard scribbling behind him. He looked round to see Ludwig taking notes. He snatched the pad and pencil off of him.
"Stop with your twisted mind!" He snapped.
"Fine. I'll carry on trying to fix the machine, now." Ludwig mumbled, going back into his room.
"I'll see if I can do something useful for once." Morton said, scurrying off. Bowser picked up his chair and threw it into Ludwig's room. It hit him on the head.
"Ow!" Ludwig cried. Bowser shrugged and made his way upstairs.
Mario, Wario, Luigi, Toad and Peach all leaped out of a pipe in the Koopa Kingdom.
"Yep. All we need to do now is go beat up Bowser and this whole mess will get resolved." Mario said happily.
"I agree. Let's kick Bowser's…" Peach started.
"No, no no!" Wario shouted, "that's not how to deal with a problem!"
"But that's what we always do." Luigi complained.
"So? Does that make it right? No! Follow my plan and we'll be back to our old selves in no time." Wario said.
"Okay, we'll follow your plan."
"I haven't told you it, yet! You have to agree afterwards! Listen, you pathetic piles of pond scum! I don't have to stick around with imbeciles like you all day! I have a castle to defend!"
"Fine. What's your plan?" Mario asked.
"To start, someone who's good at solving problems without violence should go to the castle. Another person and I will check out those tents over there. Everyone else, go with the other person."
"Great. Toad, Luigi and I will check out the castle." Mario said. Peach looked at Wario, who looked very angry.
"Uh, can I go with you guys instead?" She asked desperately.
"Oh, c'mon, Princess. You've got to trust other people." Luigi said.
"Luigi, you're not meant to trust them if they stole your castle, tried to cash in your giant gold statue for a castle and has a really big cheesy grin on his face." Mario said.
"Hey, I'll have you know this grin is all the rage, today." Wario protested.
"Um, yeah. Well, do you see my point, yet?" Mario asked.
"I hadn't noticed he still had that grin." Luigi said, observing Wario.
"Shut up, snotty boy!" Wario snapped.
"Yes, now I see your point." Luigi said. Wario snorted and turned his back to the group.
"Tell you what, let's let Wario go on his own and see what's in those tents." Mario said.
"Fine! And I bet I'll end up being the one to save the day!" Wario called as they left.
"Yes, but I'll probably be the one who'll get the credit!" Mario called back.
"Gaaagh! Science projects haunt me!" Wario cried as he ran off in the direction of the tents.
Lizzy strolled through the Mushroom Kingdom, Larry following her, gazing lovingly at her every move.
This will just be too easy. Lizzy thought. I could probably jump off a cliff and he'll follow me. He's my dog, and I can make him do as I like.
She thought about what she should do with him first. She could make him be really nice, or evil, but being evil could result in the hatred of Mushrooms for Humanity.
I'll make him be nice and generous. She thought to herself.
"Hey, I'm starved. Let's say we eat." She said out loud. Larry quickly jumped in front of her.
"Sure! We can steal some grub from a good food store." Larry said.
"No, I was thinking something more like actually eating out the honest way, where you pay and stuff? You know?"
"Sure! Of course! I'll even pay!"
"You're too sweet." Lizzy grinned.
"Anything for you, Sandy." Larry said. He turned to bash a few blocks to get as many coins as possible. Lizzy shuddered at the ultimately twee comment Larry made.
Ludwig pulled a load of wires from the invention, which now lay in a huge pile on the floor. He observed them closely.
"Just as I thought." He said to himself, "Someone has been tampering with these wires. No doubt it was that stupid plumber and his brother." He sighed and threw them over his shoulder. They landed near a bin piled high with old junk.
"They completely changed the entire model from the inside! Although I wonder why they left one screw loose and one too tight." He thought about this for a little while. Finally he shrugged and pulled himself up onto the chair. He began to spin it.
Suddenly, from outside the room, Ludwig could hear Bowser trying to pound something. He opened the door to reveal Bowser with a few other Koopas. One of them spotted him.
"There's Ludwig!" He cried. He sounded a lot like Mario. Ludwig also noticed Peach there and came to a conclusion: It was Mario. He jumped back into his room and slammed the door. Mario opened it with ease.
"What do you guys want?" Ludwig asked.
"What the heck do you mean?! Have you not seen us? Have you not seen yourself? Do you not see we have morphed into our enemies? Our opposite sides?!" Luigi cried.
"Don't you think I've noticed?! I'm already trying to come up with the solution! My machine was sabotaged!" Ludwig yelled. He showed them the giant pile of metal in the middle of his floor. "This is what's left of the machine! I need to sort this out."
"Those are big piles." Luigi said.
"If we don't get this machine working again, there's no telling how long we're going to be like this." Peach said.
"However long it is, I don't care. If I could just find my blueprints." Ludwig said, then he thought of something. "Hey, Princess Toadstool. Why didn't you change?"
Peach whirled around to reveal her shell. He nodded.
"Hey, maybe the blueprints are in this door." Luigi said, opening the door to Ludwig's basement. He instantly tripped on a blueprint and fell screaming down the stairs.
"Luigi!" Mario, Toad and Peach all cried at once. They rushed down after him. Ludwig sighed and climbed into his elevator.
At the bottom of the stairs, Luigi sighed with relief to himself. He had landed safely on the blueprints covering Ludwig's floor. Mario saw the blueprints and dived in. Toad waited above them, but peach dived right in. Ludwig's elevator reached the bottom and the door opened. He waded through the blueprints.
"Hey! Those are in a nice order! Stop that," He snapped, "and help me find the blueprints in 'M'."
Mario, Luigi, Peach and toad all looked at the blueprints in confusion.
"How the heck do you expect to find 'M', or anything, for that matter, with this orderly system?!" Toad cried.
"Never mind that, now! If you want to be your normal selves again, start looking." Ludwig replied.
Lizzy wandered what else she could make Larry do. There wasn't much to do if she wanted to be good, so she would need to resort to more sick and twisted things.
Larry was still following her like a puppy. He had bought her an expensive meal and one hundred dozen roses. Now she needed to do something interesting.
"So, what do you suggest we do now, Sandy?" Larry asked. She had almost forgot! He thought she was called Sandy. She had changed her name!
She was also very surprised he hadn't noticed that there were a lot of Goombas and Koopa Troopas in the kingdom. There was also two Koopas strolling around wearing very odd clothes. When they saw Lizzy, they jogged over and stood near her.
"Hello, there." One of them said. It was female. It was Kim.
"What'ya up to?" The other asked. It was male. It was Chris. The blue hair covering his eyes gave his identity away.
"What are you guys doing here? This is the Mushroom kingdom. You should be in Candyland!" Lizzy hissed.
"Sorry, we got a bit mixed up. We're staying here, though until the end of this scene." Kim said.
"Then we're going to stay in the Kingdom until we have been returned to our original shapes…" Chris was abruptly cut off by Lizzy shoving her hand over his mouth and pulling Kim and him over to the side quickly.
"Don't say that!" Lizzy hissed. Kim and Chris looked up at her blankly
"What's gotten into you?" Chris asked.
"You see this?! This is my fault! If I hadn't sabotaged the machine Ludwig was making, then Bowser would have tried to destroy the Marios. If I hadn't waited until the morning to finish the machine, then Bowser would have weakened." Lizzy sighed.
"Is that why bloky's following you?" Kim asked.
"What? No. This shape happens to be the figure he's fallen in love with. He thinks my name is Sandy." Lizzy replied.
"I would have gone with Bert." Kim muttered under her breath.
"So would I, but I'm a bloke." Chris said.
"Yeah, and for me it would have been going too far," Lizzy said, "now I'm trying to think of what to make him do. He will do anything I say. Unfortunately, I can't think of anything."
"How about getting him to torch some place?" Kim asked.
"Or you could get him to move a shop halfway across town." Chris suggested.
"Or break an elevator."
"Or bungee jump from the Princess's castle."
"Or nuke a pony."
"Or inhale vinegar."
"Or…"
"Okay! Yes! I get the picture! I'll take those ideas aboard!" Lizzy cried.
"Dang. I wanted to bungee jump from Peach's castle." Chris mumbled.
Wario trekked across the vast plains of Dark Land all alone. Bowser's army seemed to get thinner the nearer he got to the tents. Also, a lot of grass seemed to be closer to the tents, too. He carried on venturing closer and closer.
"Hmm, there must be a circus or something. I haven't seen so many tents!" Wario muttered. Suddenly, a freaky looking Hammer Brother sidled out of a bush. Wario stopped and looked over at it.
"D-d-don't g-go there." It stammered.
"Why?" Wario asked.
"Minors! Lots and lots of Minors!" It shrieked suddenly and ran off in the opposite direction screaming. Wario stared after it worriedly before carrying on. He decided to be on the lookout for any other psychotic Koopas.
Finally, he met up with a small kid leaning against a fence blocking the way. A gate was nearby. He wore a black T-shirt with a skull on it and a pair of blue denim shorts. His golden yellow hair was only on the top of his head, and somehow managed to stand up, making it look taller than the boy it was attached to.
"Hey." He said.
"Uh, hi," Wario replied, "um, do you know what's over there in those tents?"
"Yep." The boy replied. There was a moment's silence.
"Are you going to tell me?" Wario asked.
"Nope."
"Please tell me."
"No."
"I'll give you something."
"I'll take it, and still not tell you."
"Then I won't give it to you until you tell me."
"Then I shall not receive it."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Edward, and I live in one of those tents."
"Ah. Then if I told you I was on a quest to save the world and get lots of money for it and to succeed I would need to get though here and find out exactly what's over the other side of this large fence, would you let me though?"
"Afraid not."
"Then how about if I threatened to tell everyone this place exists as a cult against Bowser?"
"Proceed." The boy replied. He clapped his hands twice and the gate opened. Wario passed through to the other side and gazed around.
The place was huge! Millions of teenagers ranging from ten to nineteen were everywhere. Some were just wandering around; others were doing all sorts of things. He spotted a large garden where kids were happily tending to all the plants. Some were healing Naval Piranha's large wound. Teenagers were everywhere! Someone wandered up to him and smiled.
"Hi, there. I'm Andy." He said.
"I'm Wario." Wario said.
"We've heard a lot about you. You're cool. How'd you find us?" Andy asked.
"I saw the tents." Wario replied.
"So you got caught in the mix up, then?"
"You mean by being a Koopa? Yeah. I'm just lucky I still know who's who." Wario said.
"I know what you mean," The boy said. He looked around, "Hey, I've got a good idea. Why don't you join us for our meeting in a couple of minutes? You get to find out what's going on here."
"Yeah, that'll be cool." Wario replied.
Ludwig watched the Marios, Peach and Toad all searching for M in his blueprints. They had no idea he was standing in it. He shrugged and began carefully shifting the blueprints around until he found what he was looking for. He finally found the blueprint labelled 'Metamorphosis'. He pulled it out and looked at it.
"You found it?" Toad asked.
"Yeah, Metamorphosis. Under 'M', as I thought." Ludwig replied. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad all waded through the blueprints toward him.
"This is the design I had planned for if I wanted to confuse my fellow siblings, but if I make some alterations, I can make it powerful enough to transform the entire Mushroom Kingdom, that way everyone will be their normal selves again."
"And how long will it take you to build it?" Mario asked.
"It would be five minutes."
"Would be?" Peach asked.
"Well, I'll be making quite a few alterations. Plus I need to make it bigger. On the whole, it'll take me a couple of hours." Ludwig said.
"Okay. We'll help you. Time will go much quicker with a helping hand." Mario said.
Wario walked in to what was called the 'Main tent' alongside Andy. He had found that there were no adults anywhere within what the Minors called the 'Minor Territory'. He was stuck talking to eighteen and nineteen year old teens bent on the destruction of Mario and Bowser. He found that the war between the two had resulted in many homes and villages destroyed. He also heard that once Minors reach twenty, they leave for Pipe Maze (in Pipe Land) where they raise families to defend.
He stood by the side near the large stage at the end of the rectangular tent. Two girls who looked around thirteen to fourteen were stood on the stage.
"People of the Minor Society," the one on the podium began, "I do understand we have a problem here, and yes, it does need resolving. So we have Sheila here to explain how we're sorting it." She stepped down and let the other girl on.
"Thanks, Katy," She muttered, "I am afraid I am being held responsible for this mess, but the real blame will go to Lizzy, who actually set up the plan, sabotaged the machine and botched up, but I made the error of judgement by letting her do that. I haven't been in touch with Lizzy yet, but as soon as I have, I will inform you. On a more pleasant note, though, Andy, our tour for the new, has found a guest which I'm sure a lot of you have met already." She stepped down and let Andy climb up onto the stage. He helped pull Wario up, too.
"Thanks, Sheila. Now," Andy started, "You all know Wario, the older, wiser and wealthier version of us. Well, here he is, trying to resolve the whole mix-up crisis. Apparently, Mario is with Bowser right now, trying to beat the living daylights out of him so he can resolve this problem. Wario did the more reasonable thing and came to us." He stepped down and let Wario on.
"Uh, gee, I-I really don't know what to say. I haven't been in front of a crowd of children this big before. Well, not since high school, anyway." He looked around desperately. The people who could hear him gave a chuckle. He relaxed.
"From what I hear, this problem was caused by a machine, and so I suggest we build a different machine to counteract the problem. With so many people, there should be no trouble building a machine. We shall work together to resolve the problem." He finished. The crowd let up a big cheer.
Unfortunately, for both teams working on the machines, nothing went smoothly. Both started at two-thirty, and screws were broken, metal bent, wires crossed, frustration blasted, circuits exploded, people were injured, Kim got bored, covers cracked and so on.
Finally, at eleven fifty, Ludwig held up his invention.
"At last, we have finished it." He panted. He set it on the floor again.
"Great! Let's test it out! I want my arms back!" Toad cried.
"I want to get rid of this shell and tail." Peach said.
"A tail?!" Mario and Luigi both cried.
"Um, yes. I found out I have a tail, too." Peach said, slightly embarrassed.
"I'd love to see that!" Luigi grinned.
"Yeah, well I want my shell back." Ludwig muttered. He knelt by the machine and pushed the button.
Nothing happened.
"Well?" Toad asked.
"Uh, I guess one of the bolts must be loose." Ludwig said quickly, grabbing his screwdriver. He opened up the back and set to work checking the bolts.
"Wario, we're finished." Katy said happily.
"Great! Let's check it out." He said. He wandered over to it and pushed the button. A large whirring started up from inside the machine. Static poured out from the top and soon was sucked in again. Lights started going out around the place.
"It's working," Wario whispered. The Minors all began to crowd around. They were all holding candles. The more lights that went out, the more candles each Minor lit. Soon, each Minor held a shining candle, providing the only light in the Territory.
Ludwig just finished tightening the last screw. He put the back on and stood back.
"There." He said, proudly.
Then the lights went out.
"Ah, nuts." He mumbled.
On top of the castle, Larry and Lizzy were sat down, looking up at the stars. Lizzy didn't know what it was about them, but it seemed to calm her down a lot, so she wasn't bored anymore. She looked over at Larry. The stars seemed to have the same effect on him. She felt kind of sorry for him, now. She had made him do everything Kim and Chris had said. Now she was calm, she could regret it.
The lights went out.
"Hmm, must be a power out, or something like that." Lizzy said. She looked down at the candle-lit glow of the Minor Territory. Larry saw her and pulled out his wand, lighting the place up with candles. Her eyes twinkled. There was something inside her that said that she liked him. She had pushed it down all day, but it had just exploded next to the thought 'he likes me. He really likes me'. She gazed into his eyes, and one last idea popped into her mind.
"Do you mind if I borrow your wand a second." She asked.
"Sure, Sandy." He croaked. Lizzy felt bad now. As she took the wand, she looked into his eyes one more time.
"I want to see you in a… different shape." She said. She delicately used the wand on Larry, changing him into a human. Her eyes twinkled again. She realised that he was the shape she would fall in love with.
"How do I look, Sandy?" He asked. She turned away quickly. Larry, confused, could only look at her questioningly.
"Sorry, Larry, I haven't been entirely honest with you." She said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm not called Sandy at all. In fact, I'm not even a Koopa." She sighed.
"Then who are you?" He whispered. She looked into his eyes.
Wario saw the machine glow a powerful white. He pulled out some shades from his pocket. He had instructed everyone to bring some for this matter.
"Shades, everyone!" Wario cried through his megaphone. Everyone stuck his or her sunglasses on.
"Now, flip the switch!" He yelled to the Minor operating the machine. The switch was pulled up, and a brilliant flash of light filled the Koopa Kingdom with light for the first time, and the Mushroom Kingdom got it next.
Wario looked at his watch.
"Exactly midnight. Considering the day, this should now work." He said to himself.
The castle brightened up again.
"Hey, I'm not a hideous little freak anymore!" Mario cried, examining his human body.
"Yes you are, you're just a human version of it, again." Ludwig sneered. Mario growled and chased him out of the room. Luigi, Peach and Toad all sighed and followed him.
Larry couldn't believe his eyes.
"I'm Lizzy." Lizzy sighed.
"I-I-I see that!" Larry stammered. Lizzy tapped her shins with the wand. Larry just looked at her in stunned silence.
"I'm sorry I made you do all that today, but I couldn't resist. You were almost like my puppet." Lizzy said.
"And that's why you changed me into a human just now." Larry groaned.
"No, I was curious. The stars do that to me." Lizzy looked back up into the sky. Larry couldn't. Instead, he looked down as the power came back on in the Minor Territory. The candles were all blown out and a large cheer could be heard. Lizzy looked down when she heard it.
"I need to say sorry to them later." She noted to herself quietly.
"I'm gonna regret saying this later, but you're one hot Koopaling." Larry said. Lizzy smiled.
"Thanks. You don't look bad yourself as a human." She replied, carefully changing him back. She then used the wand to change his shell into his normal sort, rather that the Koopa Troopa shell like he had on earlier. He smiled.
"Can I have my wand back, now?" He asked. She handed it over again.
"This'll just be me under influence of stars, you know. Later, I'm going to be my normal, bored, evil self again." She said.
"Me too," Larry replied.
"Holding a grudge against everyone, being really sneaky,"
"Same here."
Suddenly, there came a shattering of glass from below. When they looked down, Mario and Ludwig had jumped out of a window. They watched them land in the moat below and smiled. Lizzy turned back to Larry.
"Tell you what, you can come visit me anytime at my office building. Make sure you're human, though." She said.
"Cool. You can always come here, too. As a Koopa, I mean." Larry said.
"Right."
"Okay."
"Well, see ya." Lizzy jumped from the ledge and made her way down the castle. Larry watched after her and sighed.
Wario celebrated with the Minors happily.
"Well done, Wario! You saved the day!" Katy shouted above the noise.
"I knew I would." He replied, then remembered something.
"What's the matter?" Sheila asked.
"I said that to Mario earlier…" He began, then he remembered what happened.
"GAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!! Mario's going to get the credit again! I never win! WAAAAAHHHH!!!!"
The End
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Cast of New Characters
Lizzy:
A fifteen year old female human that lives in Sarasaland. She owns the biggest company in Sarasaland called N2 Fashion. She doesn't do much, just sits around the office all day. On the side, she works for the Minors, as their Sarasalandian Spy.
Sammy
At fourteen years old, Sammy already owns Pipe Maze, the city former Minors live in. Her father is the King of Pipe land, but his people for being a greedy King overthrew him. She found Tatanga washed up on a beach and made friends with him very quickly. Tatanga now lives in Pipe Maze.
Minors
A society formed by the hatred of the Koopas and Mario Brothers. They live on the opposite side of Dark Land from Bowser's castle and all live in tents. They live freely to do as they please rather than be tied down with childish limits. Ranging from ten to nineteen, these teenagers will not let anybody over the age of twenty enter the Territory for fear they will inform people. They will also not let any teenager besides humans in for the same fear.
· Katy
The leader of the Minors. During one of the take-overs of the Mushroom Kingdom, her town was destroyed and a lot of people hurt. She escaped and formed the Minor society in Dark Land, swearing vengeance on the two rivals. She later stumbles upon the Fire Necklace when it lands in Dark Land.
· Sheila
Second in command and a great lover of plants. She ran away from home at a very young age and helped form the Minor society. Katy wanted revenge, Sheila wanted freedom. She feels a sense of power above everyone else because of her position. Later, she finds the Leaf Necklace while in Giant land.
· Andy
Just an ordinary Minor. He helps welcome all the new people into the Territory. He doesn't play as an important part in any of my stories, but he showed up in this one.
· Edward
Another ordinary Minor. He guards the gate to the Minor Territory. He won't let adults in, seeing as they are not allowed, and will only let in certain types of children. He will give in to a threat, though. This one also plays no important part, he just showed up.
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AN: Hmm. How old was I? 15? 14? Very young. Sorry, I decided I wanted to get this up somewhere other than Nintendoland. It doesn't all make sense and I was very... erm... imaginitive when I wrote it. You'll have to trust me -- I'm probably as critical as you are about it. So no harsh and overly critical flames please, though amused confusion is acceptable. I share that with you now.
I won't be re-writing this. I've got plenty of stories in the works right now I can shape up. PLEASE don't make me redo this one as well... it's the longest of them so far...
--SaturnStorm
