Author's Notes: How's everyone doing today? Well, here we are. The second chapter of SMEG. Let's see, what should I say about this chapte? Well...It's basically an over the top event chapter focusingon the Eds and Farers, with the kids thrown in for good measure. So, yeah. really can't seem to writ muc for these things for some reason. Whatever, here's the next exciting chapter of Super Mario Eds Galaxy! Please enjoy an please review!
Chapter 2: The Grand Star Festival
Nothing. That's what Eddy felt as he lied there fo what seemed like eternity, arms spread out to his side. It was all numb, tingling and gripping the furthermost reachs of his body which barey registeed the cooling breezthat sddenly ran across his face. Wait. Breeze? The short Ed twicthed his fingers and discoveed he sill had his basic motor skills. With this in mind, he rubbed his palms against whaevr he was lying upon, running them trought lushious blads of grass. Grass? he asked himself. Groaning, the boy lethargically opened his eyes, bright light and the tweeting of birds greeting him. With a labored lift, he heaved himself off of the ground and yawned loudly before pacing his hand on something surprising soft and suple. Looking down, he imediately went bright red as he realized his hand was resting on Nazz's chest.
His veiw of the sleeping girl was cut surprising short with a sharp blow to his jaw as the girl instinctively retailated the violation of her person. he Ed was sent backwards and into a small lump that squealed at th top of its lungs.
"Help! Sarah!" srceamed Jimmy as he wiggled himself ot fom beneath Eddy.
The cry was more thanenough to wake up the sleeping Nazz, who was already looking for the person who had touched her. When her eyes saw Eddy, she covered her mouth as she looked at the Ed boy and saw her fist imprinted on his jaw. Eddy, used to such punishment, soon recovered and turned his attention tote kid next to him that was screaming his head off.
"Hey! Calm down, Curly-Q." Eddy said, giving off a small grin.
The moment he looked at Eddy, the boy only screamed louder.
"Where are we?" Nazz asked, taking in her surroundings "Where's everyone else? How'd we get here?"
"Calm down, guys." Eddy said, kicking his charm into high gear "Luckily for you two, you got a pro with ya."
With that, Eddy gave his biggest, smugest grin as he puffed up his own ego. Nazz and Jimmy were, as to be expected, unimpressed, but there was no denying his experiance after what he did back at the cul-de-sac. And so, with his 'Pro Senses' guiding them, Eddy led the two kids forward as they proceeded to march their way towards the others...hopefullly.
It was not but an hour later when the trio had come across trouble. Eddy's 'Pro Senses' had led them unwittingly into a squad of MagiKoopas and Hammer Bros., soldiers who either refused to beileve that their leader had become an ally of the enemy, or completely unaware of the fact that he was missing. Nevertheless, the three were sent running for their lives sreaming at the top of their lungs; multi-colored trails of magic and whizzing hammers in hot pursuit. Thinking quickly, the short Ed spotteda bush and grabbed his companios before slipping into the foliage. All fell silent as they listened to the footsteps of the Koopas pounding by until they disappeared into faint pitter patter.
"Gee, Eddy." Nazz said, looking at the small Ed "Your sense of direction is totally perfect."
"Hey! Not my fault we ran into those guys! How was I suppose ta know they'd be there?" Eddy shouted back
"Owey!" Jimmy yelled, pulling himself from the bush "I got a prickly!"
Groaning as the small lad continued his onslaught of screams, Eddy quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled it close to him. He then quickly removed the thorn, causing Jimmy to scream even louder.
"There! Happy?" he asked
Jimmy looked down at his hand and saw that the thorn was indeed gone; his wound didn't hurt nearly as much as he thought. He gave Eddy a small nod and grin before falling in line as Eddy resumed leading the three throught the forest. Along the way, they encountered several close calls, from Wiggles to Shy Guys and even Chomp Chain, which Jimmy had mistaken as a dog from its barking. By the time they were safely away from the thret, it was quickly becoming dark out; the sun setting quickly as it sanked into the horizion. The three kids tired from all the running and had decided that it would be best if the three of them made camp for the night.
Of course, this was easier said then done, as they were deprived of anything that could have been considered even remotely useful. So instead of a nice, warm tent to lie inside, they had to make due wit the harsh ground and sky above as their accomidations. While Nazz and Eddy were quick to fall asleep, Jimmy found it much harder to drift off. Neve one for the outdoors, the lad was constantly on alert from every chirp, screech, howl and bump in the night. Shivering as a cold breeze raced across his form, the boy huddled himself closer and shut his eyes tightly. He tried to visualize himself back home, in his nice, wam bed in his favorite custom pajamas and his fuzzy friends comforting him in their stuffing, filled embrace. His shivering frown turned into a soft and content smile as he finally started to drift off to sleep.
A sudden snap nearby shattered what little chance he had in hoping to get any sleep.
"Hello?" Jimmy called, voice trembling with fright.
Silence met his question, only the calls of creatures being heard. The boy lookedback at the two pre-teens, still throughtly knocked out, and realized that whatever it was that was hiding he'd have to deal with himself. The rustling of a bush was enough to make him nearly scream, but he bit his tounge in fear that he might cause the beast to attack. The bush shock even more furiously before and two eyes stared at him, successfully draining any bit of composure the boy had manage to hold onto.
"AHH! Monste!" the boy yelled and picked up a rock.
The rock sailed through the air before hitting his the creature on th head.
"Ow! Geez, Jimmy, why'd you throw that?" a familiar voice asked
The boy looked towards the dirction of the voice and saw that it ws none other than Johnny, rubbing his head injury. The commontion was enough to stir Nazz and Eddy, who were shocked to see Johnny standing thre with Plank in hand. The trio decided that they should sleep and then ask Johnny any question that they might have for the boy.
"...And when I woke up, me and Plank ended up in the top of a tree. Werid, huh?" Johnny said as he finished tellng his story.
Eddy and company had woken up and immediatel set out in search of the others. After a while, they decided to finally take time out in orderto ask Johnny a few questions, which he was more than happy to answer. At the moment, the four had decided to relax in a small meadow; shady trees with apples and freash water satifing thir need for food.
"So where do you think the others went?" Nazz asked, leaning back againsta tall oak.
"Who knows? They all probably landed some place different." Eddy said
"Maybe they all landed together in some sof clouds," Jimmy said, voice filled with optimism "Or maybe they laded in a nic knigdom and are all eating fine dining!"
"Yeah but with our luck, their all probably landed in every place but here." Eddy said
The statment had effectivly killed Jimmy's hopful adittutde and left him silent as he finished eating the rest of his apple. Nazz sighed deeply and looked up at the sky. Eddy's probably right, Nazz thought we'll probably have to look all over for them. Her train of thoght was interuppted when Johnny and Eddy suddenly sprang to their feet.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked
Eddy gave a sign to shush, focusing solely on the faint noise ahead. His ears twicted and his eyes went wide as he recognized a large group of figurs running in their general direction. To everyone's surprise, it was the rest of the kids, all wearing terrified looks on their faces. Jimmy's face lit up as he saw his knight in shining armor, Nazz smiling as she saw Kevin and Rolf. However, their expressions changed when they saw that behinde them was a large hoard of Wigglies, faces red with anger and their pupils gone as they burned pure white. Jimmy quickly let out an ear spliting scream; only to be scooped up by Sarah a second later. Eddy, Johnny, and Nazz were also scooped ito the arms of their friends.
The group was now running into the open with the Wiggilies closing fast. Edd quickly shouted for a quick turn left and they all heved in a quick turn, hoping to gain a few precious seconds in order to get away from the creatures. However, the hoard all successfully made the full on curve, raging even more intensely as they chased after them. The group looked ahead of themselves and saw that they were fast approaching a large body of water, whic gave Plum an idea.
"Everyone, stop and jump to the right!" she hollared
The grop readily obeyed and when they were all close to the water, the all leapt to their right and landed and a cluster of bushes. The Wiggilies, however, were't nearly as fortuate. In their rage, they had faild to noticed the water until the very lastmoment and thus were unable to stop themselves as they collectivily fell into the freezing cold water. Watching from the bushes, the group gave a sigh and collasped oto the ground.
"Sarah! It was so scary!" Jimmy said, hugging his friends "We got chased by turtles and flying things and a chain ball!"
"At least you didn't have to fight off a bunch of those...what didcha call 'em?" Kevin asked
"Koopas." Kenny replied
"Yeah, those." the boy said
"Well I for one am glad that none of us arrved injuried." Double D said
"...Hey, where's Bowser?" Eddy asked, looking around
"We though he was with you." Plum said, pointing towards the boy
"Great. Now we have ta look for him." Eddy groaned, placng a palm on his face.
A sudden rustle fom behinde made the entire group turn, hearts dropping as they heard it. The apprence of a voice didn't help to calm them either, pushing them even further on edge. Ed quickly got into an attacking position in front of Sarah and Jimmy, ready for whatever threat migt be coming their way. A sharp spear was suddenly thrusted into the bush and Ed and Kenny rushed at the weapon, leaping out of the bush and onto the owner. The person they had jumped was a rather small man wearing a blue vest with white pants and wearing, strangly, a large white and red dotted hat.
"Hey! Get off me!" the man, known a a Toad, shouted.
Ed and Kenny, upon seeing him, backed off and were suddenly at the mercy of dozens of spears. In the bush, the others emerged, only to find themselves at spear point. The group all gulped, sweat beating down their backs as they all put up their hands to avoid a confomtation.
"What's going on here?" a voice asked
From the large group of Toads emerged a figure. He, too, was also a Toad, albeit much older than the rest as evident by his bushy, white mustache and cane. He wore a purple shirt with gold buttons, a purple and gold trimmed vest, white pants, and brown shoes. His cane was made of wood and topped with a brown and bagie spotted mushshroom similar to his hat. The elderly Toad adjused his glasses and examined the group before setting his sights on Plum, who gave a faint smile.
"Good heavens! Put down your weapons!" the Toad ordered "Are you all mad! This Miss Plum, Peach's daughter an heir!"
The kids all turnd and stare at the girl with wide eyes and gapping jaws.
"You're a princess!" they all asked
"Yeah...Did I forget to mention that?" she said with an akaward smile.
The Mushshroom Kingdon was an area filled with life. Toads busily rushed throght the strees, each cheerfully accomplsihing their tasks at hand. Trees and lush plants were abound, each filling the area with beauitful dots of color. But the most distingusihing feature was the castle. It rose high into the air and colored grey and pink for it's ruler. Tall, pink cones jetted skyward and clean, clear windows dotted the walls. The sight was enough to make everyone aw, even the Eds. The group were in the courtyard, dozens of Toads surrounding them as they rushed to gawk at the princess and 'Legendary Heros'.
"I can't believe its really you!" a youg Toad said to Ed "Can I please, please, please, please have your autograph!"
Ed quckly nodded and scribbled his two letters sloppily on the paper, the boy beaming as he was given the hero's signiture. Double D and Eddy were also bombarded by raving fans and eagar hands reaching out for the heros. Eddy, as to be expected, was enjoying evey secod of stardom and was absolutly milking it for everything it was worth. Double D, much less egotistic as Eddy, was nervously grinning as tied his best to comply with everyone's demand whle Kenny was mobbed by the onslaught of fangirls grasping at everything he had. The rest of the kids simply stood to the side and watched as te Eds were threated like super stars.
"Ladies! Guys! There's enough Eddy to go around!" Eddy said as the crowd became even more dense and aggressive.
"Everyone please! Organize yourself in a single file!" Double D yelld as he was becoming even more overwhemled
"Gee, their really excited to them." Nazz said, looking at he mass of Toads.
"How the heck those dorks get so popular?" Kevin pouted
"Please! Set aside!" a voice said
Immediately, althought reluctively, the Toads parte in order to let in the voice. Now before the distraught heros was a short man, barely Eddy's hight, with white labcoat, swirled glasses, and a poof of white hair that was combed upwards. The man looked at the boys and flash a smile.
"It's been awhile gentlemen." the man said
"Professor E. Gadd! It's been quite a while indeed!" Double D said, shaking the man's hand.
"Who is this man strange eye wear, yakky-yak Ed boy?" Rolf asked
"This is Professor E. Gadd. He helped us achieve our goal last time we were here. He's an incredibly talented inventor and scientis." Double D explained.
"It's a pleasure to met you all." the man greeted.
"But why're here?" Kenny asked "Don't you have other important things to do like, built a giant drill powered by chocolate or something?"
"Oh, the Super Choco Diller 1000 was finished last week." E. Gadd explained "I came here today for the Grand Star Festival."
"The what?" Eddy asked
"I take it you've never heard of it." E. Gadd cleared his throat and began his explantion "You see, it's a time of year when star bts rain down from the sky. Where they originate or even why they cme down during this period is still unknown, but each year we celebrate it as a time of joy and peace. And to start it off..."
E. Gadd reached into his pocket and pulled out an item. It was a flower with black, determined eyes and flaming, red petals. Ed instantly gasped at seeing the item after so long.
"Mister Ed, some fireworks?" E. Gadd asked
Ed egarly scooped up the Mega-Up and stared at it in his hand before slamming it in-between his hands. The tall boy was engulfed in a burning arua, hot blaze surrounding everything around him. The ids all looked on in awe, while Eddy and Double D gave looks of familiarity at the sight. The flame disappeared and Ed stood now in new clothing. His now wore a black jacket with orange flames as well as the rest of his attair, his eyes now burning fire. The Ed looked down at himself and gave a gleefu squeal of delight at being in his Mega-Up form once again. He then rose his hands in the air and fired of a stream of flame that snaked high into the air. At their peak, the flames exploded in a powerful and colorful spray of fire. The kids looked dumb-founded at th feat and then at the one who had preformed it. It was thing to hear about it, but to see it was another thing entirely.
"And why should he be the only one to have fun?" E. Gadd said, presenting Plum with a bow. The weapon was gold with a pink heart where the arrow would rest and was drapped in a golden arua. Plum egarly gripped Precious Glory and aimmed high into the sky, grabbing the heart and pulling out an arrow. She let loose and multiple arrows flew from the bow, exploding high in the sky in an array of pink mist and hearts. The kids were now completely speechless at the display while E. Gadd comfronted the remaining heros.
"Mister Double D, Mister Eddy, Mister Kenny." the professor said wth outstrecthed hands.
The trio quickly picked up the items and crushed them in their hands, a blinding light engulfing them. When it settled, the three now stood in differnt attir. Eddy was now covered in a black and orange armor, orange visor placed over his eyes. Next was Double D, covered in white and orane fur with a fox's head as the hood and carrying a staff with a fox head at the top. And finally, Kenny was sporting a yellow shirt with orange stripes down the sides with matching pants, dual wrist bands and a head band completeing his look. The three then looked themselves over, re-familiarizing themselves with their power.
"Now then," E. Gadd said "Let the Grand Star Festival Commence!"
The night quickly came and the kingdm was now even more alive then ever. Booths and stands littered the streets, Toads bartering for various items or simply enjoying themselves. At the castle, the kids were all outside, gazing up at the sky as they awaited for the star bits shower to start. Sarah and Jimmy were reclining on the patio while enjoying tea made by Toadsworth, which Jimmy demanded to know the recipe to. Rolf was chanting it u wth the gardener over farm work while Nazz tried, and failed, to snuggle with Kevin. As for our heros, they had to make due with impressing the masses by showing off their skills for the crowds.
Eddy was entertaining with a display of power, breaking huge boulders into nothing with nothing more than a single toss of his hammer, Double D was explaining the wonders of aerodynamics through hands on demostrations, Ed was juggling fireballs as he danced around, Kenny was amazing others by preforming tasks of extreame speeds, and Plum shot off several arrows and made them seemingly dance around the targets. It was right as Eddy was about to amaze with his special hammer techquine when E. Gadd called for everyone. As they all gathered near the front of the castle, they all noticed as a large drapped object standng before them.
"Welcome, everyone!" the man said "As you are all well aware of, we owe the peace and harmony we have now thanks to Princess Plum and her cohorts: the Eds and Kendrick!"
A loud roaring cheer burst fromthe crowd, all chanting out the names of their heros. Plum and Double D blushed while Eddy, Ed, and Kenny simply smiled and waved to the adoring crowd. Even the kids gave their friends a round of appluase, glad that they had accomplished something good for once.
"Now, if I could turn your attention towards me please," E. Gadd asked "I present to you, 'The Heros Statue!'"
With that, he pulled the long sheets off of the object an let the crowd all gawk in awe. There in fot of them, was a stone statue of the Eds, Kenny, and Plum. Ed was in the center, fist rasied high in the air, with Double D and Eddy on either side with their respective weapons and Plum and Kenny completeing the image. The five could only look o in awe at the statue that had been crafted in their image from adventures that had taken place. Suddenly, their attention was again turned to the sky as crystals fell frm the sky in beautiful displays of color. The cul-de-sac kids all looked on with wonder, Sarah and Jimmy locking hands and looking at the Star Bits crash open into primary colors.
Immediately, Ed started runnng around, attempting to catch the falling space debris on his colored tounge. He manage one, but upon chewing, the bits grounded his teeth to gravel. Edd quicky rushed over to help out his poor friend while Eddy simply looked on and calle Ed an idiot. Now everyone was up and about, trying to catch the color stars as they fell frm high above. Double D quickly took to collecting and study, Kenny and Jimmy offering to help out. Eddy was bashing away at the bits as to impress a group of girls while Plum was being fussed over by the Toads.
"Fascinating!" Double D exclaimed "It would seem these star bits are composed of materials not unlkie those of metorites."
"Really?" Jimmy asked, looking over a purple one in his hands.
"Now if only had a chance to go out and observe the eent from orbit..." Double D mused.
It was cut short as a series of screams broke out behinde him. They all turned and saw that star bits were hitting Toads, causing them to become encaed in crystal. Not only that, but i seemed as if Koopas had suddely infiltrated the kingdom; hammers, boomeanges, and magic flying all over the place. Wasting no time, Edd and Kenny both charged at the enemies; allowing their old experiance kick in. Just on the other side, Sarah was ducked bhinde a table with Nazz as Ed and Plum fired off attack after attack in many heated attempts to push back the ever going waves of opposition.
"How'd these guys get inside!" Plum asked, firing off thee more arrows.
"Die evil mutate turtles!" Ed yelled and fired off a massive fireball.
The action was even more intense on Eddy's side, as he single handly held off the Koopas from the Toads and Kevin and Rolf. Eddy threw his first hammer forward and ducked a striking hammer before slamming his own into the Koopas side, sending the enemy into his own allies. He then dual weilded his hammers and began to constantly hit the enemy, sending them flying off in every direction. Kevinand Rolf could only watch, helpless to assist the small boy in his fight. The small boy ducked a quick swipe from a boomerange and lanuched a charged up upper cut with his hammer. As he pepared to preform the coup de grâce, a giant quake shook him and everyone else from their feet. And the Koopas all disappeared, retreating into te far off woods.
"What's happenig!" Double D asked, racing up to Eddy.
The answer came soon after. From the castle rose a mighty explosion of black mist, slivery trails of it snaing to their feet. From this mighty explosion formed a figure, one that they all were familiar with.
"Is that Bowser!" Plum yelled
True, it ws indeed the Koopa King, but in a muc different form. He was many times bigger than his previous size, lare enough to crush a tower of the castle with his scalely foot. The giganic Koopa roared at the top his lugs, rattling the timbers and foundations of the area. The kids all covered their ears; Jimmy crying as he clucthed Sarah in fright. Once he was done, the Koopa gave a toothy grin at the heros before giving a laugh.
"Hi there, 'heros'." the giant Koopa gloated
"Bowser! What on earth are you doing!" Plum asked
"What do ya think? I'm gonna get rid of you!" he replied
"What!" the kids all screamed
"You backstabbing jerk!" Kenny bellowed "I'm gonna pound you into dust!"
The young Koopa stopped, however, when he realized that he wasn't going anywhere. He looked down to see that he was slowly floating off of the ground and not only him, but everyone. They all screamed and hollared a they were pulled away from one another before being covered in a sphere of orange light. But what struck them, however, was that the Eds were still on the ground; staring up at the feat.
"And I'm gonna start by sending you and the rest of this to the place to oblivion!" he yelled
He then held up his hand and focus. Soon, a dark sphere of energy bagan to form above his hand, swirling in chaotic energy. Everyone below looked on with frighten eyes, running around and screaming their heads off. From above, the kids ponded on their prision, trying to escape in order to help but to no avial. The Eds simply looked up above, the sphere now bigger than Bowser, who was now smiling sadistically. Then, he slammed his hands down and the sphere descended upon the kingdom. Ed, in his panic, fied off as any fieballs as he could, hoping that he might be able to stop the inpendng doom, only to watch them fizzlze on the surface.
"Good lord." was all Double D managed to mutter before the sphere hit the surface, immedatiely engulfing everthing in a dark explosion.
Bowser looked on from above and saw that the entire event take place, laughing all the while. The kids were speechless, Sarah and Plum espically. Tears welle up and poured rom Sarah's eyes as she watched her the planet her brother was on disappear in a dark inferno. Plum fell to her knees, bawling as Bowser carried them away, sur that they might never see their friends again.
Edd groaned, gripping his head as he dizzily got up. His eyes flickered several times as he tried to get his bareings, finally tiny bursts of light returning his vision to nrmal. However, once he looked around him, he quickly wished he hadn't. All around him was nothing but floating debris, including the small plantoid he resided on. A quick survey revealed his two friends, de-powered and lying sprawled on the ground. He rused over to them and quickly shook them hard.
"...What happened?" Eddy asked
"I believe it's safe to say we survived the explosion." Double D said
"Butter Toast." Ed groaned, waking up.
The three Eds, now awake, faced the full wieght of the situation at hand. They were all stuck on the remains of a planet, with no Power-Ups, means of travel, and no idea what to do not. Ed, in his own fashion, paniced and started digging around in order to escape.
"Ed, I doubt digging will help us." Double D said "And any Power-Ups left are surely either destroyed or out of reach."
"So how're we suppose ta get off this rock!" Eddy yelled
"Eddy, how are we suppose to get anywhere?" Double D yelled, voice echoing in the vast casmos.
Auther's Notes: Sorry for the wait, wanted to do this sooner but my computer was acting crazy again. Anyway, this was basically a set-up chapter and the action will finally start in the next chapter. TTFN!