It has occurred to me to me that If I want any one to review, I have to earn the attention. I'm uploading this chapter in spite of my previous statement because I want to stop delaying with this peremptory gobbldey gook and get on with the dang story. One more chapter after this one, and then we get real.
It has also occored to me to use manners, so I will say this: please review, it's killing me to get no feed back what so ever.
Disclaimer: Mario Luigi, Peach and Daisy are owned by Nintendo
They walked and talked. A few monsters attacked on the way, but the party didn't let it bother them. Sometimes just a growl and a look from Mario was enough. On occasion, one stubborn giganticipuss, echidniclossal or other monster would attack for real, on which case they would die. The puss's large beaver tail and duck beak, each the size of a wild wing race car, where hard to get past and deadly. Luigi had to clear out. His wings, although not at all fragile, would only hold him back. Although the trees here were farther apart than in a regular forest, which allowed the truly huge predators to get through, Luigi's wingspan was greater than the distance between the trees. However, Mario was fast and deadlier than the massive monotreme. After weaving around the tail and bill with incredible grace, he saw an opening and went for it. After landing quickly on it's bill, Mario rolled onto the ground and then under the monster's belly, where it couldn't see him. The puss stopped attacking and became very still, looking for his opponent. Mario slashed the underbelly viciously, creating deep cuts and drenching himself in the blood of the combatant. He had to quickly roll out again before the monster collapsed on top of him.
"Well, what's next?" He asked, standing up on his two hind legs. His claws dug into the ground to make deeper and more detailed foot prints than before.
"You need to wash up." Luigi said, trying not to barf. "There's a stream over that way." He directed, pointing.
Mario raced off, on all fours. The other three followed him. They found him all clean, and mostly dry, with his snout poking in a large bundle of weeds beside a river bed.
"Wow." Daisy remarked in wonder.
The river Mario had washed off in was absolutely huge and very deep, three times the volume of Peach's Castle was held in a section no longer than the the giganticipuss was.
"Look at this." Mario said, briefly bringing his snout up from the bundle of elephant grass. Inside, seven large eggs were nestled in a nest of the large grass.
"She was just protecting her nest." Daisy said forlornly.
"This is horrible!" Peach cried. "Now they won't have a mother."
"Don't worry," Mario assured her. "They don't really need their mother, that's not exactly how giganticipusses function."
He backed out from the elephant grass nest and continued to trot toward wherever the two were taking them.
It was a little while before they reached the castle, which was apparently where Mario and Luigi were taking the princesses. They had followed the river until a smaller one split off of the absolutely huge one. A little further down river, the huge structure was literally placed on the river.
"Make yourself at home." Luigi said when they entered. "Our cutlery doesn't sing or dance, but it's a great place to explore. If you're lucky, there may be otterflies around."
"Otterflies?" Peach asked.
"They're otters with owl wings, and they're really creepy." Mario supplied.
"They're not creepy," Luigi argued, "They're adorable."
"But they can turn their head around all the way."
"But they're so cute and funny."
"And they throw up their food. Every sensible animal will poop it out the other side, not force disgusting germs up there mouth." Mario gagged, his tongue lolling out of his own mouth.
"Don't be so hypocritical. You will eat whatever you catch raw out in the woods, isn't that somewhat unsanitary? Huh bro?"
"Animals do that all the time. What they don't do all the time is eject out of their mouth stuff that their stomach and intestinal juices are on." he said, baring his teeth threateningly.
"But that's why they eject them, they can't digest it. If-"
"WILL YOU TWO QUIT THAT BICKERING!" Daisy growled. Luigi shrunk back right away. Mario's tail shot between his legs as he fell back down to all fours.
"Whatever," he growled. "You'll agree with me when you see them."
"Oh wow!" Peach said in delight. She had found the kitchen, with lots of otterflies flitting about. One landed on the island and made a big show of licking it's paw. It's wings were flared dramatically, simply demanding attention.
"Look at you, you little cutie!" Peach cooed, planting her elbows on the island and resting her head in her hands.
"Bleck." Mario grumbled reluctant to enter the kitchen.
"Jees Rio, don't be such a scared-y-cat." Daisy teased.
"I'm not scared." Mario proclaimed, though his tail tightly hugging his belly told a different story. "And I'm not a cat… at the moment."
"I told you you're the only one who would ever think these things to be creepy." Luigi said triumphantly. Mario let out a low growl and backed out of the kitchen. He turned tail and trotted elsewhere.
"Is he always that grumpy as a wolf?" Daisy asked.
"Nah," Luigi replied. "He just doesn't like being' wrong, especially when I'm right, especially about the otterflies."
"Who seem to have taken over your kitchen," Daisy observed. "and Peach."
Luigi took in the scene before them again, Peach had a whole mess of otterflies around her, all of them chattering excitably. They adorned not only Peach, but the whole kitchen. There were some swimming in the sink, playing tag in the cupboards, or fencing with knives. Luigi's sharp eras could even pick up shrill high chirps coming from the dishwasher, the otterfly equivalent of singing in the shower.
"Yeah, they pretty much have." He admitted. "They came up from the river," he said, pointing to a structure over a hole in the island, next to the sink.
"It's an indoor well." Luigi explained. "It runs straight down to the river underneath the castle. It used to have a cover, but Mario ripped it off in frustration: biggest mistake of his night-life yet. It let in these fellows, Mario hasn't set paw in the kitchen since."
"What are those ones doing?" Daisy said, pointing to a wet otterfly who was turning on the electric stove.
"Hum, I don't know." Luigi admitted. Daisy was about to ask if they should stop the critters, when Luigi chattered something in a really high-pitched voice.
The otterfly that had turned on the stove dial stepped on to the element and chattered something back at Luigi, pointing with a paw to a TV that was switched off. It stood on it's hind legs and spread It's wings majestically, It's front paws planted at their corresponding hips before falling back onto the element with it's wings and paws spread-eagle.
"Oh boy, that's not going to end well." Luigi grumbled.
"What's it doing?" Daisy asked.
"It's using the electric stove as a tanning bed to turn its fur black so it can become Bat Man, as seen on TV." He replied.
"You can talk to them?" Peach asked, astounded.
Luigi shrugged. "More or less."
Peach looked amazed, and then suddenly discussed, her face contorted into a cringe.
"What's that smell?"
"That would be burning fur." Luigi answered.
Peach made even more of a face.
"I'm gonna go catch up with Mario." she wheezed.
"We're right behind you." Daisy coughed.
