Luigi shivered at Mewtwo's words. "The m-m-most treacherous journey of our
lives? Even m-m-more treacherous than that m-m-mansion?" stuttered Luigi.
At that Mewtwo laughed. "Ha! If you thought that your mansion was a difficult task, you will be dead before you know it. Now, the first demon lies deep within Lavalava Island. We need to take a ship there so let's get over to the harbor, shall we?"
"At once!" shouted Mario, leading the way.
They marched down the streets of the city and made their way to the harbor. They arrived at a series of wooden docks. They looked over the vast, blue ocean as Mewtwo pointed to a clearly tropical island off in the distance in the south. "That," he said, "is Lavalava Island."
They all stared at the island in wonder, watching the lone volcanic mountain of the island emit smoke. All but Bowser, that is, who cynically said, "Okay, Mr. Wise Guy! How are we supposed to get there without any ships?"
"Mario should know the answer to THAT," Mewtwo responded, looking at Mario.
Mario thought for a moment and then his eyes lit up. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "There is a whale... that will take us there, I am sure."
Just as Mario was saying this, a large marine creature emerged from the ocean. At first, only an aquatic surface and a blowhole were visible, but gradually a pair of eyes and at last a mouth could be seen by all seventeen of them. "Mario, my old friend! It is so nice to see you once again," the ancient, gentle creature said with as much enthusiasm as could be expected from such a calm creature.
Mario smiled warmly and said, "Yes, it is indeed nice to see you again. I wish that it could be under less dire conditions. We need your aid, my friend, in our perilous quest. We must be taken to Lavalava Island, a land you have taken me before."
"All of you?" the whale asked, doubtfully. "I'm not sure I could carry all of you on my back..."
"I knew you were worthless!" grumbled Bowser. "We are wasting our time with this foul creature. Be gone!"
Mario glared at Bowser. "I see you still hold a grudge against this whale for its assistance when I foiled your plan to control all of Mushroom Kingdom. You know well, Bowser, that former grudges will be our ruin in this essential journey," he declared. Bowser fell silent.
"I wasn't finished," stated the whale. "There is one way I could carry you all over to Lavalava Island. You must all travel in my stomach!"
There was a long pause, followed by laughter.
"You don't seriously expect us to travel in your stomach?" Falco asked, between chuckles.
"I have never been more serious in my life," responded the whale, slightly irritated at the laughter. "Well, come on now," he said, more determined then ever. "Jump in!" At that, he opened his mouth as wide as possible and waited for them to enter. However, no one did enter. Everyone seemed to be giving blank stares at one another, all of them confused and none of them completely trusting the whale. Mario seemed to be only one with a fair amount of trust, so he was the first one to enter. Luigi, loyal to his brother, ran in after him. Mewtwo was the next, followed by Kirby. Slowly, one by one, they came into the whale's mouth, which did not close until a few minutes after the last of the seventeen entered.
"It's pitch black in here," observed Link.
"Not to worry," said Zelda, using her powerful magic to create an orb of light.
"Well done!" remarked Mewtwo. "Of course, I easily could have done that myself..."
"Indeed," said Zelda.
After Mewtwo's arrogant comment, the whale set off to their destination. They stared at each other in the cold and damp atmosphere and sat down on various wooden boxes that the whale had long ago accidentally swallowed. However, it became apparent by their expressions that they were all disgusted by the amount of trash the whale had swallowed.
"This is disgusting," said Fox, picking up an emptied soda can. "Don't you guys keep your oceans clean?"
"Hey!" exclaimed Luigi. "You shouldn't be talking. I've heard tales about the planet Zoness!"
"Well... that was beyond our control..." said Falco at last, remembering the horrible sight of that wasted planet.
Just as Falco was going to say something more, they suddenly heard a loud splash coming from further inside the whale's body.
"Uh?" grunted Donkey Kong, awakening from a nap. He looked toward the direction of the splash and squinted his eyes. After determining nothing was there, he went back to sleep. The others, however, remained watchful.
"What was that?" asked Kirby, visibly alarmed.
"Who knows?" responded King Dedede.
"It's too dark in there to see anything..." noticed Donkey Kong Junior, who, like his father, was starting to nod off.
"Pichu!" said Pichu, running into the darkness.
Pikachu made an effort to stop him, but was held back by Mewtwo.
"Don't worry," said Mewtwo. "I have a feeling Pichu sees something that we don't." Pichu ran for a little while before stumbling across a carcass of a Fuzzipede. Pichu let out a shriek at the horrible sight. The others heard Pichu's cry and ran towards the direction of the scream. Mewtwo was the first to arrive, and upon seeing the carcass, even he appeared shocked. "This is quite alarming," he commented. "This Fuzzipede was just recently slain and I expect that the murderer is not far off."
Just as he said the word "off," another splash could be heard. This time it was even closer. "Stand back," he said. "I'll handle this." Mewtwo walked forward and instantly stuck his hand into some water. After a few minutes of struggling, he managed to pull out a familiar face.
"Samus Aran!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I figured you guys needed all the help you could get. And what did you expect me to do, just sit back knowing that the galaxy could potentially be destroyed? Of course not! I will aid you in this journey whether you like it or not."
"Indeed," said Mewtwo. "Well, I don't approve of this, but I can see by the rest of your expressions that my vote will never hold up. Very well, then. Welcome, Samus Aran, to our party of seventeen, although I suppose now it is eighteen."
"I have one question for you, Samus," said King Dedede, eying her suspiciously. "Why did you kill that Fuzzipede?"
"It challenged me to a fight, so I shot it right in the head," she replied. After this comment, many gasped.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? Let it kill me?" asked Samus, obviously annoyed.
The travelers remained in the whale's belly for a few hours, and ate some of the food that they had brought until the whale finally reached the Island. The whale's mouth opened, and the travelers rushed out, happy to see the sky once again. They looked around and noticed that they had landed on a tropical island, with palm trees dotting the sandy beach. Beyond the beach was a vast jungle and looming over the entire mountain was a large volcano, with smoke emerging from the top.
"Well, we owe you our thanks," Mario said to the whale. "You will always be my friend."
"And you mine," said the whale. "If you ever need me, I will never be far. Farewell!" They all waved goodbye to the whale as he swam back towards the direction of the harbor until at last he was merely a speck on the horizon.
"Come," said Mewtwo. "We have no time to lose."
Pichu, full of energy, went rushing off ahead into the jungle.
"Damnit, Pichu!" exclaimed Donkey Kong, running after him. The others followed close behind. After about ten minutes of pursuing Pichu through the jungle, they finally caught up to him at the base of the volcano. There was a large river of lava directly in front of them and beyond them was a cave that seemed to lead inside of the volcano.
"We'll never be able to cross that thing," noted Falco.
"On the contrary," came a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw a huge raven standing behind them. He was so huge that the sight of him caused even Bowser to jump, as the Raven was even bigger than he. "I don't mean to alarm you," continued the raven. "I am Raphael the Raven and."
"Raphael!" exclaimed Mario. "I am sorry I did not recognize you at first. You are even bigger than before! How is everything?"
"Very good, my friend," said the large bird. "But now is not the time, I'm afraid. I sense strange happenings in the volcano. You and your friends must discover what is going on! Everyone, hop on my back! I will fly you to the cave."
"Do as he says," ordered Mewtwo. "We have little time!"
As quickly as possible, they hopped on the raven's back and he flew them to the cave. After arriving at the cave, they jumped off of his back and entered the cave. Pichu, of course went running ahead. Suddenly a Pirahna Plant emerged from the ground.
"INVADER! INVADER!" the plant cried out.
"Relax," said Bowser, walking out from behind Pichu.
"King Bowser!" exclaimed the plant, and saluted. "It is an honor to see you here. Please, go right in. I believe that the Lava Piranha is waiting for you."
"Didn't Mario kill him?" asked Bowser, perplexed.
"Not quite," responded the Piranha Plant. "He had enough vigor left in him to grow back to full strength. Now he has possessed even greater power!"
"Excellent!" exclaimed Bowser. "The Koopa Army is as strong as ever! Show me the way!"
"At once, sire," responded the Piranha Plant, giving Bowser directions to the Lava Piranha's lair.
"I don't like the sound of this," said Link to Zelda.
"Neither do I," she agreed.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Kamek. "Bowser knows precisely what he is doing."
"Follow him," commanded Mewtwo, as Bowser started to walk up some stairs. As they followed him, everyone seemed to be rather tense. Just by looking around, they could see that this was not a happy place. The walls and ceilings were made of stone, the ground was a mixture of molten rock and dirt, the light was scarce, and the heat was unbearable. To Bowser's great surprise, they walked across the entire cavern, yet they did not see a single living thing.
"Strange," remarked Bowser. "I had troops all over this place. Where did they all go?" As he was nearing the Lava Piranha's lair, he noticed that Koopa shells were lying all over the place.
"What in the world? These are the shells of my warriors. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!" shouted Bowser. Of course, there was no answer. The other travelers gathered around and tried to comfort Bowser, while Donkey Kong wandered ahead. He walked down a few stone stairways and entered into a room that seemed to have vines growing all over it.
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" he shouted to the others.
"Donkey Kong, NO!" shouted Link, but it was too late. Donkey Kong reached out and touched one of the vines and instantly all of the vines seemed to contract into one mammoth plant.
"AT LAST," the plant said in a deep, dark voice. "FRESH MEAT!!!!" Instantly, a vine lashed out from the plant and picked up Donkey Kong. Link came running down the stairs and fired an arrow right the vine that had grabbed Donkey Kong. The vine instantly let go of Donkey Kong, and he fell to the ground. Donkey Kong scrambled to his feet and frantically tried to run away from the plant, but he was grabbed again. Bowser came thundering from behind Link.
"LAVA PIRANHA, RELEASE HIM AT ONCE!" he shouted, and tripped over the stairs, falling flat on his face.
The Lava Piranha burst out laughing and said sarcastically, "My, how royal you look sitting there flat on your face. Try some of my spaghetti and fireballs, they're delicious!" At that, the piranha spit a barrage of fireballs at Bowser. Bowser retracted into his shell, and they bounced off of it. Meanwhile, Mario ran down the stairs and assumed his attacking position.
"I beat you once, I'll beat you again," said Mario confidently, taking out his hammer.
"Oh, I'm SOOO scared!" exclaimed the Piranha, breathing fire towards Mario's direction. Mario rolled out of the way of the fire and struck one of Lava Piranha's vines with his hammer.
"CURSE YOU!" exclaimed the Lava Piranha. "But I am not finished yet!" The Lava Piranha laughed evilly and held Donkey Kong high in the air, above a pool of lava. "Say goodbye!"
Just as he was saying this, Donkey Kong Junior came running down the stairs. "DAD!" he exclaimed, seeing his father being held over the pool of lava.
"SON!" cried Donkey Kong, with tears in his eyes. "Son... I love you."
"DAD!" cried Donkey Kong Junior, as his father was hurled into the pool of lava. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Lava Piranha laughed evilly. "WHO'S NEXT?" he challenged.
Donkey Kong Junior, filled with rage, let out a barbaric war cry and charged directly toward the Lava Piranha. He punched the Piranha right at its foundation with all of his strength. The Lava Piranha was clearly not expecting this and it was shocked for a moment. During this moment, Pikachu ran down the stairs and fired an electric bolt right at the Lava Piranha's "flower."
The Lava Piranha shrieked in pain. "ALL OUT ATTACK!" he cried. At his command, many vines, engulfed in flame, started making their way towards the travelers. Again, Donkey Kong Junior struck the Plant with all of his might, and the plant receded a small ways. However, the vines were still in full force. Just as one vine seemed to have a grab on Donkey Kong Junior, the rest of the travelers ran down the stairs. Samus fired an Ice Beam at the vine, and it instantly froze. Donkey Kong Junior looked at Samus, nodded, and punched the plant again. This time, the plant was struck so hard, that even the vines seemed to recede.
"We almost have him!" exclaimed Donkey Kong Junior. "Let's finish the job!"
"DAMN!" exclaimed the Lava Piranha. "ALL OUT DEFENSIVE!!!" At his command, the remaining vines contracted around the Lava Piranha. "HAHAHA! NOW TRY AND HURT ME!"
"I will!" exclaimed Fox. And shot his blaster right at the Lava Piranha. However, the blast merely bounced off of the plant.
"I've had enough of this," said Kamek, walking towards the Lava Piranha. "FEEL MY WRATH!" Kamek launched his most powerful magic attack at the Lava Piranha and it seemed to harm the plant. In this stage of weakness, Donkey Kong Junior let out another punch and the plant let out an extremely horrifying sound.
"THIS CANNOT BE! I... CAN'T..." gasped the Piranha Plant. Suddenly a huge red mist seemed to flow out from the Piranha Plant and into the lava. "What? Where... am... I?" gasped the plant. "King Bowser! I... what happened?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT HAPPENED?! YOU KILLED ONE OF MY ENITRE SQUADRONS!" shouted Bowser.
"AND MY FATHER!" said Donkey Kong Junior, trying to hold back the rage.
"I... what? I never did this..." said the Piranha, bewildered.
"YOU JUST DID!" they exclaimed in unison, frustrated.
"I think I may be able to explain what happened," said Mewtwo, emerging from the shadows. "Your plant here was clearly possessed by a demon. In fact, he was possessed by one of THE eight demons." Mewtwo turned and directly addressed the piranha plant. "Now, what was the last thing you remember?"
The plant was now struggling with his words. "I found... a gem... I... then... I remember nothing..."
"Where is this gem?" Mewtwo asked forcefully.
"B-B-Back... behind... me," said the piranha plant, as he started to violently shake.
"What is happening to him?" demanded Bowser.
"He's dying," Mewtwo said casually. "There is no way to cure him. In a few minutes, he will be dead. We must move on, Bowser. This gem cannot be far."
"I found it!" exclaimed Mario, palming the gem in his hand. It seemed to glow a light blue while it was in his hand.
"At last!" shouted Mewtwo. "The gem of the humans! Well done, Mario! We have found one of the eight gems."
"Th-th-there are seven more?" Luigi stuttered.
"Of course! Now we must leave this place. Come, Bowser. We have no time to waste," said Mewtwo, striding out of the room.
Bowser remained, sitting next to his old friend, the Lava Piranha. "Forgive me, my old friend. Forgive me." Bowser slumped off into the shadows, and one by one everyone left the room. However, Donkey Kong Junior remained, staring at the lava pool that is his father's grave.
"I will avenge your death, Dad," he said, trying to hold back the unstoppable tears. "You were... you are...my role model... my idol... my father. I will make you proud." At this, Donkey Kong Junior burst into tears.
"There, there," Fox said, coming forward from the shadows and putting his hand on Donkey Kong Junior's shoulder. "I know what it's like to lose a father. It's like you lose a whole piece of you..." Fox sighed, and a tear came to his eye. "We must go now. We have little time to lose."
"I... I guess you're right," said Donkey Kong Junior, still crying. "My father will not die in vain!" Donkey Kong Junior took one last glance at the lava pool and ran off, with Fox close behind him.
At that Mewtwo laughed. "Ha! If you thought that your mansion was a difficult task, you will be dead before you know it. Now, the first demon lies deep within Lavalava Island. We need to take a ship there so let's get over to the harbor, shall we?"
"At once!" shouted Mario, leading the way.
They marched down the streets of the city and made their way to the harbor. They arrived at a series of wooden docks. They looked over the vast, blue ocean as Mewtwo pointed to a clearly tropical island off in the distance in the south. "That," he said, "is Lavalava Island."
They all stared at the island in wonder, watching the lone volcanic mountain of the island emit smoke. All but Bowser, that is, who cynically said, "Okay, Mr. Wise Guy! How are we supposed to get there without any ships?"
"Mario should know the answer to THAT," Mewtwo responded, looking at Mario.
Mario thought for a moment and then his eyes lit up. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "There is a whale... that will take us there, I am sure."
Just as Mario was saying this, a large marine creature emerged from the ocean. At first, only an aquatic surface and a blowhole were visible, but gradually a pair of eyes and at last a mouth could be seen by all seventeen of them. "Mario, my old friend! It is so nice to see you once again," the ancient, gentle creature said with as much enthusiasm as could be expected from such a calm creature.
Mario smiled warmly and said, "Yes, it is indeed nice to see you again. I wish that it could be under less dire conditions. We need your aid, my friend, in our perilous quest. We must be taken to Lavalava Island, a land you have taken me before."
"All of you?" the whale asked, doubtfully. "I'm not sure I could carry all of you on my back..."
"I knew you were worthless!" grumbled Bowser. "We are wasting our time with this foul creature. Be gone!"
Mario glared at Bowser. "I see you still hold a grudge against this whale for its assistance when I foiled your plan to control all of Mushroom Kingdom. You know well, Bowser, that former grudges will be our ruin in this essential journey," he declared. Bowser fell silent.
"I wasn't finished," stated the whale. "There is one way I could carry you all over to Lavalava Island. You must all travel in my stomach!"
There was a long pause, followed by laughter.
"You don't seriously expect us to travel in your stomach?" Falco asked, between chuckles.
"I have never been more serious in my life," responded the whale, slightly irritated at the laughter. "Well, come on now," he said, more determined then ever. "Jump in!" At that, he opened his mouth as wide as possible and waited for them to enter. However, no one did enter. Everyone seemed to be giving blank stares at one another, all of them confused and none of them completely trusting the whale. Mario seemed to be only one with a fair amount of trust, so he was the first one to enter. Luigi, loyal to his brother, ran in after him. Mewtwo was the next, followed by Kirby. Slowly, one by one, they came into the whale's mouth, which did not close until a few minutes after the last of the seventeen entered.
"It's pitch black in here," observed Link.
"Not to worry," said Zelda, using her powerful magic to create an orb of light.
"Well done!" remarked Mewtwo. "Of course, I easily could have done that myself..."
"Indeed," said Zelda.
After Mewtwo's arrogant comment, the whale set off to their destination. They stared at each other in the cold and damp atmosphere and sat down on various wooden boxes that the whale had long ago accidentally swallowed. However, it became apparent by their expressions that they were all disgusted by the amount of trash the whale had swallowed.
"This is disgusting," said Fox, picking up an emptied soda can. "Don't you guys keep your oceans clean?"
"Hey!" exclaimed Luigi. "You shouldn't be talking. I've heard tales about the planet Zoness!"
"Well... that was beyond our control..." said Falco at last, remembering the horrible sight of that wasted planet.
Just as Falco was going to say something more, they suddenly heard a loud splash coming from further inside the whale's body.
"Uh?" grunted Donkey Kong, awakening from a nap. He looked toward the direction of the splash and squinted his eyes. After determining nothing was there, he went back to sleep. The others, however, remained watchful.
"What was that?" asked Kirby, visibly alarmed.
"Who knows?" responded King Dedede.
"It's too dark in there to see anything..." noticed Donkey Kong Junior, who, like his father, was starting to nod off.
"Pichu!" said Pichu, running into the darkness.
Pikachu made an effort to stop him, but was held back by Mewtwo.
"Don't worry," said Mewtwo. "I have a feeling Pichu sees something that we don't." Pichu ran for a little while before stumbling across a carcass of a Fuzzipede. Pichu let out a shriek at the horrible sight. The others heard Pichu's cry and ran towards the direction of the scream. Mewtwo was the first to arrive, and upon seeing the carcass, even he appeared shocked. "This is quite alarming," he commented. "This Fuzzipede was just recently slain and I expect that the murderer is not far off."
Just as he said the word "off," another splash could be heard. This time it was even closer. "Stand back," he said. "I'll handle this." Mewtwo walked forward and instantly stuck his hand into some water. After a few minutes of struggling, he managed to pull out a familiar face.
"Samus Aran!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"I figured you guys needed all the help you could get. And what did you expect me to do, just sit back knowing that the galaxy could potentially be destroyed? Of course not! I will aid you in this journey whether you like it or not."
"Indeed," said Mewtwo. "Well, I don't approve of this, but I can see by the rest of your expressions that my vote will never hold up. Very well, then. Welcome, Samus Aran, to our party of seventeen, although I suppose now it is eighteen."
"I have one question for you, Samus," said King Dedede, eying her suspiciously. "Why did you kill that Fuzzipede?"
"It challenged me to a fight, so I shot it right in the head," she replied. After this comment, many gasped.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? Let it kill me?" asked Samus, obviously annoyed.
The travelers remained in the whale's belly for a few hours, and ate some of the food that they had brought until the whale finally reached the Island. The whale's mouth opened, and the travelers rushed out, happy to see the sky once again. They looked around and noticed that they had landed on a tropical island, with palm trees dotting the sandy beach. Beyond the beach was a vast jungle and looming over the entire mountain was a large volcano, with smoke emerging from the top.
"Well, we owe you our thanks," Mario said to the whale. "You will always be my friend."
"And you mine," said the whale. "If you ever need me, I will never be far. Farewell!" They all waved goodbye to the whale as he swam back towards the direction of the harbor until at last he was merely a speck on the horizon.
"Come," said Mewtwo. "We have no time to lose."
Pichu, full of energy, went rushing off ahead into the jungle.
"Damnit, Pichu!" exclaimed Donkey Kong, running after him. The others followed close behind. After about ten minutes of pursuing Pichu through the jungle, they finally caught up to him at the base of the volcano. There was a large river of lava directly in front of them and beyond them was a cave that seemed to lead inside of the volcano.
"We'll never be able to cross that thing," noted Falco.
"On the contrary," came a voice from behind them. They turned around and saw a huge raven standing behind them. He was so huge that the sight of him caused even Bowser to jump, as the Raven was even bigger than he. "I don't mean to alarm you," continued the raven. "I am Raphael the Raven and."
"Raphael!" exclaimed Mario. "I am sorry I did not recognize you at first. You are even bigger than before! How is everything?"
"Very good, my friend," said the large bird. "But now is not the time, I'm afraid. I sense strange happenings in the volcano. You and your friends must discover what is going on! Everyone, hop on my back! I will fly you to the cave."
"Do as he says," ordered Mewtwo. "We have little time!"
As quickly as possible, they hopped on the raven's back and he flew them to the cave. After arriving at the cave, they jumped off of his back and entered the cave. Pichu, of course went running ahead. Suddenly a Pirahna Plant emerged from the ground.
"INVADER! INVADER!" the plant cried out.
"Relax," said Bowser, walking out from behind Pichu.
"King Bowser!" exclaimed the plant, and saluted. "It is an honor to see you here. Please, go right in. I believe that the Lava Piranha is waiting for you."
"Didn't Mario kill him?" asked Bowser, perplexed.
"Not quite," responded the Piranha Plant. "He had enough vigor left in him to grow back to full strength. Now he has possessed even greater power!"
"Excellent!" exclaimed Bowser. "The Koopa Army is as strong as ever! Show me the way!"
"At once, sire," responded the Piranha Plant, giving Bowser directions to the Lava Piranha's lair.
"I don't like the sound of this," said Link to Zelda.
"Neither do I," she agreed.
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Kamek. "Bowser knows precisely what he is doing."
"Follow him," commanded Mewtwo, as Bowser started to walk up some stairs. As they followed him, everyone seemed to be rather tense. Just by looking around, they could see that this was not a happy place. The walls and ceilings were made of stone, the ground was a mixture of molten rock and dirt, the light was scarce, and the heat was unbearable. To Bowser's great surprise, they walked across the entire cavern, yet they did not see a single living thing.
"Strange," remarked Bowser. "I had troops all over this place. Where did they all go?" As he was nearing the Lava Piranha's lair, he noticed that Koopa shells were lying all over the place.
"What in the world? These are the shells of my warriors. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?!" shouted Bowser. Of course, there was no answer. The other travelers gathered around and tried to comfort Bowser, while Donkey Kong wandered ahead. He walked down a few stone stairways and entered into a room that seemed to have vines growing all over it.
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" he shouted to the others.
"Donkey Kong, NO!" shouted Link, but it was too late. Donkey Kong reached out and touched one of the vines and instantly all of the vines seemed to contract into one mammoth plant.
"AT LAST," the plant said in a deep, dark voice. "FRESH MEAT!!!!" Instantly, a vine lashed out from the plant and picked up Donkey Kong. Link came running down the stairs and fired an arrow right the vine that had grabbed Donkey Kong. The vine instantly let go of Donkey Kong, and he fell to the ground. Donkey Kong scrambled to his feet and frantically tried to run away from the plant, but he was grabbed again. Bowser came thundering from behind Link.
"LAVA PIRANHA, RELEASE HIM AT ONCE!" he shouted, and tripped over the stairs, falling flat on his face.
The Lava Piranha burst out laughing and said sarcastically, "My, how royal you look sitting there flat on your face. Try some of my spaghetti and fireballs, they're delicious!" At that, the piranha spit a barrage of fireballs at Bowser. Bowser retracted into his shell, and they bounced off of it. Meanwhile, Mario ran down the stairs and assumed his attacking position.
"I beat you once, I'll beat you again," said Mario confidently, taking out his hammer.
"Oh, I'm SOOO scared!" exclaimed the Piranha, breathing fire towards Mario's direction. Mario rolled out of the way of the fire and struck one of Lava Piranha's vines with his hammer.
"CURSE YOU!" exclaimed the Lava Piranha. "But I am not finished yet!" The Lava Piranha laughed evilly and held Donkey Kong high in the air, above a pool of lava. "Say goodbye!"
Just as he was saying this, Donkey Kong Junior came running down the stairs. "DAD!" he exclaimed, seeing his father being held over the pool of lava.
"SON!" cried Donkey Kong, with tears in his eyes. "Son... I love you."
"DAD!" cried Donkey Kong Junior, as his father was hurled into the pool of lava. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The Lava Piranha laughed evilly. "WHO'S NEXT?" he challenged.
Donkey Kong Junior, filled with rage, let out a barbaric war cry and charged directly toward the Lava Piranha. He punched the Piranha right at its foundation with all of his strength. The Lava Piranha was clearly not expecting this and it was shocked for a moment. During this moment, Pikachu ran down the stairs and fired an electric bolt right at the Lava Piranha's "flower."
The Lava Piranha shrieked in pain. "ALL OUT ATTACK!" he cried. At his command, many vines, engulfed in flame, started making their way towards the travelers. Again, Donkey Kong Junior struck the Plant with all of his might, and the plant receded a small ways. However, the vines were still in full force. Just as one vine seemed to have a grab on Donkey Kong Junior, the rest of the travelers ran down the stairs. Samus fired an Ice Beam at the vine, and it instantly froze. Donkey Kong Junior looked at Samus, nodded, and punched the plant again. This time, the plant was struck so hard, that even the vines seemed to recede.
"We almost have him!" exclaimed Donkey Kong Junior. "Let's finish the job!"
"DAMN!" exclaimed the Lava Piranha. "ALL OUT DEFENSIVE!!!" At his command, the remaining vines contracted around the Lava Piranha. "HAHAHA! NOW TRY AND HURT ME!"
"I will!" exclaimed Fox. And shot his blaster right at the Lava Piranha. However, the blast merely bounced off of the plant.
"I've had enough of this," said Kamek, walking towards the Lava Piranha. "FEEL MY WRATH!" Kamek launched his most powerful magic attack at the Lava Piranha and it seemed to harm the plant. In this stage of weakness, Donkey Kong Junior let out another punch and the plant let out an extremely horrifying sound.
"THIS CANNOT BE! I... CAN'T..." gasped the Piranha Plant. Suddenly a huge red mist seemed to flow out from the Piranha Plant and into the lava. "What? Where... am... I?" gasped the plant. "King Bowser! I... what happened?"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT HAPPENED?! YOU KILLED ONE OF MY ENITRE SQUADRONS!" shouted Bowser.
"AND MY FATHER!" said Donkey Kong Junior, trying to hold back the rage.
"I... what? I never did this..." said the Piranha, bewildered.
"YOU JUST DID!" they exclaimed in unison, frustrated.
"I think I may be able to explain what happened," said Mewtwo, emerging from the shadows. "Your plant here was clearly possessed by a demon. In fact, he was possessed by one of THE eight demons." Mewtwo turned and directly addressed the piranha plant. "Now, what was the last thing you remember?"
The plant was now struggling with his words. "I found... a gem... I... then... I remember nothing..."
"Where is this gem?" Mewtwo asked forcefully.
"B-B-Back... behind... me," said the piranha plant, as he started to violently shake.
"What is happening to him?" demanded Bowser.
"He's dying," Mewtwo said casually. "There is no way to cure him. In a few minutes, he will be dead. We must move on, Bowser. This gem cannot be far."
"I found it!" exclaimed Mario, palming the gem in his hand. It seemed to glow a light blue while it was in his hand.
"At last!" shouted Mewtwo. "The gem of the humans! Well done, Mario! We have found one of the eight gems."
"Th-th-there are seven more?" Luigi stuttered.
"Of course! Now we must leave this place. Come, Bowser. We have no time to waste," said Mewtwo, striding out of the room.
Bowser remained, sitting next to his old friend, the Lava Piranha. "Forgive me, my old friend. Forgive me." Bowser slumped off into the shadows, and one by one everyone left the room. However, Donkey Kong Junior remained, staring at the lava pool that is his father's grave.
"I will avenge your death, Dad," he said, trying to hold back the unstoppable tears. "You were... you are...my role model... my idol... my father. I will make you proud." At this, Donkey Kong Junior burst into tears.
"There, there," Fox said, coming forward from the shadows and putting his hand on Donkey Kong Junior's shoulder. "I know what it's like to lose a father. It's like you lose a whole piece of you..." Fox sighed, and a tear came to his eye. "We must go now. We have little time to lose."
"I... I guess you're right," said Donkey Kong Junior, still crying. "My father will not die in vain!" Donkey Kong Junior took one last glance at the lava pool and ran off, with Fox close behind him.