Author's Notes: Chapter 4's on the air! Sit back, take off your socks, and enjoy the ride!
Chapter 4: Multi-Colored Goombas, a rocket castle, and an appropriately named location
"Good gravy!" I said, bashing yet another Goomba with my hammer. "How many of these freaking things are there?"
"Enough to fill the path between here and Toad Town," Goombario said as he bashed into a Paragoomba.
We had been going through the path for about half an hour now (We were slowed down when Goompa tried to follow us and we had to shake him off), beating up Goombas on our way. Eventually, the two of us fought our way to an area with a high up cliff and a spring looking object at its base.
"This looks simple enough," I said, taking a step forward.
"Hey hey!" a voice said suddenly. "Hold it right there! You! Yeah you, suspicious guy! Don't move!"
Two Goombas, one Red and one Blue, ran up to the edge of the cliff.
"Aha, you're Mario!" the Red Goomba said. "I knew it. You can't go past here, Mr. Big Shot. It's a direct order from the Goomba King. That's right! I'm sorry, but the only way by is through the Goomba Bros. That's me, Red Goomba, and my Brother, Blue Goomba."
"I didn't know Goombas came in different colors or had monarchies," I said. "And aren't the traditional Bros. colors Red and Green?"
"You see?" Blue Goomba said, turning to Red Goomba. "I told you Green Goomba would have been better for the job!"
"He's taking a vacation and you know it!" the Red Goomba said back.
"Uh..." I said. "Weren't we going to fight?"
"Huh?" Red Goomba asked, turning back to me. "Oh, right. Let's get him, Blue Goomba!"
"Oh yeah!" Blue Goomba said. "Let's do it, my red brother!"
They both jumped down at us. Goombario and I managed to roll out of the way in time.
"Goombario!" I said, pulling out my hammer. "Info!"
"The Blue's the weakest!" Goombario said. "Let's get him first!"
"On it!" I said, dashing forward. I dashed forward and slammed my hammer into the Blue Goomba.
"Mario!" Blue Goomba said after getting back his sense of balance. "How'd you like some of this?"
He jumped at me, damaging me. Red Goomba followed with another attack. I wasn't prepared for this, and I was slammed into a tree.
"Yo gonna pay for that!" I said, getting up and jumping on Blue Goomba.
After Blue Goomba regained himself, both he and his brother dashed at me again. This time, I was prepared and back flipped over them.
Yeah, you read that right. I back flipped over them. Mario's more athletic that you would think.
Red Goomba came out okay, but Blue Goomba was injured enough as it was, and the force of his brother's dash caused him to slam into a tree. One headbonk from Goombario, and he was finished.
"Blue, Blue Goomba!!!!!" Red Goomba screamed, a red tear coming out from his eye.
"Even your tears are red?" I asked. "How's that even possible?"
"Gaaah!" Red Goomba shouted. "My little brother! You'll pay for that, Mario!"
He dashed forward to me. I managed to jump over him and on him, causing damage. Goombario dashed in for an extra attack. Red Goomba screamed as he got up and dashed at me.
"I have an idea," I said. "Goombario, get behind me."
He did so, and I pulled out a Fire Flower that I collected earlier.
"This better work!" I said. I threw it on the ground. It suddenly enlarged and shot fire balls at Red Goomba, defeating him.
"Yahoo!" I shouted, turning to Goombario. "High-five!"
I held out my hand, but slowly drew it away as I realized he had no hands to high-five me back with.
"Right," I said. "Sorry."
"No prob," Goombario replied.
"Geeaaaah!!!" Red Goomba shouted as he and Blue Goomba got up, crying. "I... I'll let you go for now!"
They both jumped on the spring and ran off.
"Well," I said. "That was easier than I expected."
"Are you kidding?" Goombario asked. "You're Mario for Pete's sakes! Everything should be easy for you!"
"Right," I said. "Look, we better continue forward. Those Goombas are probably crying to their king even as we speak."
Goompa and I jumped on the spring and onto the ledge, continuing forward. It didn't take us long at all to reach a large castle with a red door.
"Hey, look, Mario!" Goombario said. "See that building over there?"
"It would be kind of hard to miss it," I said.
"I'm pretty sure there used to be a bridge on the other side," Goombario said. "I wonder what happened to it."
"Maybe whoever built this castle tore down the bride in order to build it," I said. "Which would be kind of stupid if you ask me. After all, how would they get back to the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom?"
Everything shook for a second.
"What the-" I started. Then, everything shook again. The shaking stopped, then started, then stopped. I noticed it had a rhythm, like footsteps. Suddenly, Blue and Red Goomba were on top of the castle, followed soon by a huge Goomba with crazy looking eyes, a king's crown, a red and white striped shirt, and odd white tuffs on his cheeks .
"So, Mario, it's true!" the King Goomba said. "You've made it this far. I respect you for that. Unfortunately, this is as far as you'll ever get. Because I, the great and powerful King Goomba, will see to it that you advance no farther!"
"You hear that, Mario!" Red Goomba taunted. "No farther! Not one step! Are you scared, little man?"
Just to be a smart butt, I took one step forward.
"Wow..." Goombario said. "That King Goomba is... really huge!"
"Ah, we can take him!" I said. "You know what they say: The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"
"You're right!" Goombario said. "I'm sure he's no match for you, Mario! Let's get him!"
"Ready to meet my wrath, Mario?" the Goomba King asked. "You'd better be!!!"
The three Goombas jumped down.
"Beat him up, King Goomba!!!" Red Goomba said.
"We've got your back!" Blue Goomba threw in.
"Leave him to me!" King Goomba said.
"Hey Mario!" Goombario said. "I think maybe we ought to take out the Goomba Bros. first, don't you think? They must be pretty weak since we just finished beating them up back there."
"Right," I said, scanning the area. My eyes fell upon a tree nearby. I grinned.
"Oh no!" I shouted. "Whatever will we do? All is lost if they only take a few steps to the left!"
The three grinned as they moved in a direction.
"No, my left," I said.
"Oh," they said, moving back in that direction.
"That's good," I said. "Oh woe! Whatever you do, please don't hit that tree in that exact spot!"
I pointed at a point on the tree.
"Hah!" King Goomba said as he slammed into that spot. "Do you have any idea how stupid you are?"
"Not as stupid as you!" I said, grinning triumphantly.
"What do you..." King Goomba started. Suddenly, nuts from the tree fell on him and the two other Goombas. The force of it knocked out the Red and Blue Goomba instantly, but King Goomba was only damaged.
He screamed as he ran at us. I jumped on him, both dodging his attack and hurting him, while Goombario headboncked his feet. The two attacks combined caused him to fall.
"Now's our chance!" I said, holding out my hammer. I screamed as I jumped up and hit him with the hammer hard, defeating him.
"Alright!" I said, pumping my fist into the air. "Celebratory Moon Walk!"
"Wh... wh... what!?" King Goomba screamed as I moon walked. "How could I lose?"
The Goombas all ran into the castle.
"Yeah!" Goombario said. "I knew we could do it! Coooool!!! Victory!!!"
"So..." I said, "how do we get across?"
"I dunno," Goombario said. "Hey, look!"
He indicated a bright red button on the side of the castle. I walked up to it and read a message written above it.
"Warning," I read, "under no circumstances are you to push this button."
I blinked before saying: "Well, if no one's supposed to push it, why is it even here?"
"Should we push it?" Goombario asked.
"Of course we are!" I said, pushing the button. "Adventuring rule #1, my good friend: If a button says not to push, push it."
Suddenly, King Goomba jumped up to the top of the castle.
"Uh... Mario!" he said. "Good fight and all that! I must warn you, however... If you happen to see a strange button on the castle, you should definitely not press it. It's dangerous. Understood?"
"I just pressed it," I said, taking a few steps back. "Bad luck, ol' bean."
".....you what?" King Goomba asked. "YOU ALREADY PRESSED IT!?"
Suddenly, the entire castle began to shake. King Goomba ran back into the castle.
"3... 2... 1... liftoff," a voice said. Suddenly, the base of the castle erupted into flames, and the entire thing launched into the sky. Goombario and I watched it until we couldn't see it anymore.
"Huh," was all I could think of saying. Suddenly, a bridge extended from the ground where the castle once was.
"Look!" Goombario said. "The bridge!!! Now we can cross it and continue on our journey. All right!"
"Good," I said, crossing the bridge. "Finally. Now we're getting somewhere on our que-"
"HEY!" a voice sounded. Goombario and I turned around to see Goompa crossing the bridge.
"Oh no," I said. "Stop following us!"
"But I have to take all the credit for the stuff you do!" Goompa shouted. He was halfway across the bridge now, whereas Goombario and I were on the other side now.
I took one step forward, held the hammer above my head, and shouted:
"YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!!!"
At "Pass" I slammed the hammer on the bridge. Either that hammer was super strong or that bridge was super weak, because the next thing I knew, the entire bridge crumbled and fell into the ravine, taking Goompa with it.
"Oh no," Goombario said, looking down.
"I'm okay!" Goompa's voice said from the bottom.
"Come on," I said, pushing Goombario with me. "Let's get out of here before he has a chance to climb out and follow us again!"
After a little more walking, we finally reached Toad Town.
"Finally!" I said, exasperated. "We're here!"
Suddenly, a nearby Toad ran up to me.
"Mario!" he said. "I'm so glad you're OK! The town is in an uproar! The princess kidnapped! The very castle uprooted! It's bedlam! I really don't know what we can do about all this... Please, Mario! Save Her Highness!"
"Whoa whoa whoa!" I said. "Slow down! You're going a mile a minute!"
"Right," the Toad said. "Sorry. I tend to talk a lot when I get nervous."
"Right," I said. "By the by, do you know where Shooting Star Summit is?"
"Of course I do!" the Toad said. "Everyone knows where it is! Just head to the central area of Toad Town, go north until you reach Peach's Castle... or, at least where Peach's Castle used to be, and head East. From there, it's straight forward."
"Thanks," I said, walking away. "Have a good day. Come on, Goombario."
The two of us followed the Toad's directions. When we reached where Peach's Castle used to be, I stopped and gasped.
"Wow," I said. "This is... wicked."
All that was there was a crater and a few bricks from the castle. That was it.
"Bowser, that fiend!" Goombario said. "Who else could do something so dastardly?"
"Gannondorf, Dr. Eggman, Kiefka," I said, listing names. "Should I go on?"
"Who are all those people?" Goombario asked as we walked away from the crater that used to be Peach's Castle.
"I'll explain it to you later," I said. "By the way, why is this place called Shooting Star Summit anyway?"
"Well," Goombario said, "you see, when two tectonic plates collide with each other, over time it bends upward and-"
"No no," I said, shaking my head. "I get the summit part, but what about the shooting stars?"
"Oh, that," Goombario said with a shrug (or a Goomba's equivalent of a shrug, since they don't have arms or anything). "That's simple. You see, meteorites fall here so often, we call it Shooting Star Summit."
"WHAT!?" I screamed. "Isn't that kind of deadly!?"
"Only if you get hit," Goombario said. "By the way, you might want to take a few steps to your left."
I took his advice and dived to the left. Just then, a flaming meteorite crashed in the exact spot I was just standing.
"Oh my lord!" I said, getting up. "This place is a death trap!"
"Oh, that's just an exaggeration," Goombario said. "Most people find this place quite romantic!"
"Yeah," I said, diving out of the way of another meteorite, "the same people who cut themselves daily and listen to songs about suicide! Let's just go to the top of this place and get whatever we need to do over with!"
The two of us walked up the path to the top of the mountain. (Well, technically Goombario was the only one walking. I was sprinting and diving out of the way of a meteorite every 15 seconds.) Eventually, we reached the peak. It was rounded and had a round stone statue on it, sort of like an alter. In the center was a transparent creature that resembled a star with a large mustache.
"Are you the one who sent for me?" I asked him.
"Yes, I am," he replied. "Welcome Mario... We've been waiting for you."
Suddenly, 6 other stars phased into being. They were all transparent, just like the one with the mustache.
"Wow..." Goombario said, stupefied.
"We're the 7 Star Spirits," the Star with the mustache continued. "Our job is to grant the wishes of good people from our home in Star Haven, a place high beyond the sky. We're going to tell something incredibly important. Please listen carefully. The other day, Bowser and his followers invaded our peaceful Star Haven. They stole our prized treasure, the Star Rod, which we've cared for since the beginning of time."
"The Star Rod..." another star, this one female with a pink bow in her hair, "...is powerful beyond belief. It can grant any wish. For as long as we can remember, Bowser has been making wishes like, for instance... 'I'd like to trounce Mario' or 'I want princess peach to like me'. Of course, Stars ignore such selfish wishes. As a result, his wishes were never granted."
"Bowser..." a third star said. His one had glasses and a thin mustache. Basically, he looked like a scholar. "...that fiend... When he found out that we were ignoring his wishes, he came and stole the Star Rod so he could grant his own wishes. He seems content right now, mainly because he defeated you and captured the princess. Soon enough, though, I fear he will wish for more... and then terrible things will happen."
"It is the responsibility of the 7 Star Spirits to keep the Star Rod safe and use it properly," another star said. This one was blue and had a sailing cap on. He also had an aura of mischief. "We must get the Star Rod back from Bowser and return it to its rightful place! In order to do this, Mario, we need your help!"
"Sadly..." another star said. This one was pink and was, in star terms, hot. Usually, I don't use this term, but this star earned it. "...right now you are not strong enough to challenge Bowser... he has made himself all-powerful by making wishes with the Star Rod. He is terrible to behold!"
"Once we 7 Star Spirits are reunited in Star Haven," another star said, this one with a bow tie and a book, "we can give you the power to fight Bowser even with his newfound strength. With our help, you can prevail!"
"Mario..." another star said, this one simply with a father's mustache, "we are..."
They all blinked out of existence for a minute, then returned. "Alas... We've nearly exhausted our power to talk to you. Although it looks like we're there beside you, it is only an illusion. We're using all of our strength to communicate with you over a great distance. But even now, our strength is fading... We've been caught and are being held by Bowser's followers in different places throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Please, Mario, first of all, you must rescue us!"
"In order to take the Star Rod back from Bowser..." the star with the big mustache continued, "and save Princess Peach... we need your help..."
They all faded for a second, then returned.
"Please, Mario..." the star said, "you are our last hope... and we will..."
They all faded.
"Mario..." Goombario said, "It looks like things are a lot more serious than I thought..."
"I'll say," I said, getting up. (I sat down at the beginning to listen to them.)
"Do you think the princess is going to be all right?" Goombario asked. "I'm really worried about her."
"Don't worry," I said. "It's rated E, so Bowser won't do anything to her in any sense of the word."
"...what?" Goombario asked.
"Nothing," I said. "Ignore that last part."
"Alright," Goombario said. "I'm just a bit worried is all."
"It's only natural," I said. "I suppose if we're going on an adventure, we might as well get started, right?"
"That's the Mario attitude!" Goombario said, dashing forward. I grinned as I followed behind him.
What will I do? I thought to myself. I suppose my best bet is to play along with the story and see what happens. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll find a way back home during it. Yeah, that's it! Maybe if I beat the game and save the world, I'll head back home!
With that thought in mind, I pushed forward, following Goombario. I didn't know it then, but we were both about to embark on a bigger adventure than either of us could possibly imagine.
Author's Notes: Well? How was it? Remember to review please! This story's only started, and it's not about to stop soon! So just enjoy the ride, possibly order some food, and remember to tip your waitress!
