CHAPTER FOUR: EVE OF THE MAYHEMS

Surprisingly, Luigi and Mario were able to feed the baby dragon nothing but the formula that Trott had suggested. Three days had passed, and the dragon had already tripled in size and was now as long as Luigi's arm. It seemed to like the formula that Trott had suggested, and was doing well with two bottles a day.

That morning, Luigi, Mario, and Peach were sitting on the couch in the living room, the dragon in a large crib nibbling on its foot, when Mario spoke up.

"What are you going to name it?"

Luigi had been waiting for this question, and preparing for it. He had gone through many words, and the one he liked best stuck with him.

"Well," he began slowly, "I've always liked the world Aeolian. It basically means 'wind'. I think that this dragon will be a great flyer, so wind would be a good name for it, don't you think?"

"I think it is a boy," Peach hummed. "The dragon just looks masculine to me."
"What if it turns out to be a girl?" Mario asked. "I think Aeolian sounds a little feminine."

"I think it can go both ways," Luigi replied defensively, hoping that Mario wouldn't rule out his favorite word as a name. "Aeolian... do you think it sounds good, because I think it sounds good and it is my dragon, isn't it?" He spoke so fast it took Mario and Peach a while to process his words.

"Easy there, Luigi! We love the name." He turned to Peach, "Don't we, baby?" Mario gazed lovingly at Peach. She giggled at his term of endearment.

Luigi walked to the crib and looked down at Aeolian, whom he decided that it was a boy, for that moment at least.

"Well, do you like your name, Aeolian? I hope the Dragon Kingdom meant for me to name you."

The dragon looked up at Luigi and squeaked, showing a row of growing teeth. Aeolian grew so much that Luigi was sure that sometimes, if he watched it long enough, he could even see it get bigger.

He reached his hand down to pet the dragon, something he did often, but he was not prepared for what happened next.
The dragon, instead of allowing him to pet its head as it usually did, reached up and grabbed Luigi's hand with its own. He yelped at first, thinking that the dragon meant to pull him into the crib and eat him, but instead, he began to feel something happening.
His brain told him to close his eyes, and he did. Then, a message from the Starbringer Dragon King came to him in the same way it did in his dreams earlier. Out of the shadows came a beam of light, and through the light, Luigi saw the white Starbringer Dragon.

"Very well done. You are taking care of him remarkably well."

"He's a boy?" Luigi asked.

"Yes. And he will like his name when he can comprehend human speech. I can communicate to you through my son, a thing most Dragons don't know how to do. But when I'm doing this I'm open to harm, and this is a dangerous thing for me to do, especially during this war we are in.

"My son Aeolian, as you've named him, will begin to comprehend your speech in a matter of days. He will grow to flight size in two weeks. But in order for him to be able to fly to our world, he must climb up the tallest mountain in your world, as Dragons can only fly for so long. You must find out where this mountain is and bring him there in two weeks, while protecting him from danger.

"I must warn you that the Moonshards have a secret weapon... and they will without doubt utilize it very soon. Their secret weapon is called a Mayhem, and they have two of these beasts. Our tribe has only seen them once, because they are so hard to manage even for the Moonshards, that they are a last resort in combat, but they are nevertheless the strongest creature in our world.

"A Mayhem is a gargantuan beast of deformed features and enormous power. It has four arms, three scythelike legs, and scales of iron. It usually weilds four different weapons, and uses its axelike tail to bring down trees and other structures that are in its way. This creature, since it was made by the Moonshards, doesn't have a mind. It is a machine, a thing that we Dragons dislike using. Machines are rather popular in your world, but in the Dragon Kingdom, everything we have is natural. But, the Moonshards are abusing machines they have seen other kingdoms use. They have built their own creatures- robots, they call them. But this robot is unstable, they have programmed them to attack anything, even themselves. Though Dragons can build things we sometimes don't understand our own work and do not think about the limitations of our projects. The Mayhems couldn't be disassembled by anyone, because anyone who got close to one was killed. They keep the monsters in a deep pit, and it takes a long time for them to chain them down to take them anywhere, and normally this process is with casualties.
"Despite the Mayhem's apparent invincibility, they have multiple weaknesses. They are machines, and you are flesh. This is your advantage, as this is something the Mayhems don't have. Their weakness is-"

Suddenly, Luigi's eyes snapped open. The message ended!? He didn't know the Mayhem's weakness!
"Wait, come back!" Luigi found himself staring into Aeolian's eyes.

"What happened, Luigi? You've been standing there for five minutes just holding the dragon's hand!" Mario asked, in a tone which made it sound as though he thought Luigi was absurd.

"I... I had another dream from the Starbringer's captain..." Luigi said. "He warned us of a creature called a Mayhem... and that it will probably attack us. He said that they have a weakness and it has something to do with us being human and them being machines, but... the message ended before I could get the rest of it..."
Mario and Peach were silent for a moment, then said, "well, we have to trust that the Paratroopatroll knows what they're doing and can warn us before anything comes..."

Luigi looked down at Aeolian, then said, "I don't think I'm ready... the Starbringer's captain described them as an impossible creature... something that takes a lot to knock down."

"We've done the impossible so many times, Luigi! We can do it again." Mario said assuringly as he clenched his fist with determination. "I'm not afraid of any Mayhems."
There was a short silence, then Luigi spoke again. "But I did get some good news... he said that in a few days Aeolian will start talking. Then in two weeks, he will become full size and he can fly. But when he grows to that size we need to go to the tallest mountain in Mushroom Kingdom so he can get enough altitude to make it to the Dragon Kingdom. I don't know where that is... do you, Peach?"

Peach hesitated, thought for a moment, then snapped. "The Sky Humblers! Its a range of mountains in the Shiver region! The tallest one is the Sky Tower, in the middle of the range. We could probably get to Shiver City by boat, then we can take a nice long hike to the Sky Humblers."

Luigi didn't seem to excited. "Oh, that sounds wonderful... a boat and then miserably low temperatures... my two least favorite things in the world... why couldn't Aeolian just fly us across the sea?"

"Do you think that it can fly all the way across the sea? Its a three day ride." Mario said. "The reason why we're going to the mountains in the first place is to give this dragon a good spot to take off, right? So he doesn't have to fly very far."
"Oh, you're probably right," Luigi admitted, looking down at the ground. "But I guess we've done enough planning ahead... you're making me dread my future at the moment..." He slumped over to the couch and sighed. "Everything's been going wrong lately... I'm so lonely... and now I'm the one responsible for a whole clan of dragons."

Peach hugged Luigi. "Don't worry, this'll be over soon! And I'm sure you'll find someone that likes you soon. You just have to toughen up and show us picky women that you're interested in a wife."

Luigi sighed, "I know what I have to do... but I haven't seen anyone give me 'the look' yet... the only 'looks' I get are the 'oh, goodness, its the dorky Luigi, let's leave' look. That is, I get that from the ladies when I'm not saving any cities from the odd mishap..."

"Come on, Luigi, there has to be someone out there that you can propose to." Mario said. "You're attractive! You can do this!"
"Alright, Mario, name one person that looked even the slightest bit interested in me!" Luigi whipped his arms out, expecting a blank answer from Mario.

"Um... well..." Mario swallowed. "Um..."

"Exactly," Luigi buried his face in his hands. "I'm a loser. I won't be married. Ever." Luigi and Mario were very close in age, in their early thirties, an age where many people got married.

"Why don't I make us some tea?" Peach asked, hastily changing the subject in an attempt to save whatever joy Luigi had left in him.
"Sounds fine to m-" Mario's voice was cut short by a siren ringing in the distance.

"Oh no..." Everyone breathed.

The siren continued to sound, and then, screaming could be heard in the distance. Everyone in Mario's house stood stone-still, their breaths held. Unexpectedly, Trott burst through the door, breathing hard.

"Something's... coming... six creatures restraining two large mechanical devices... they look like robotic Koopas, but... they're unbelievably huge... they're coming to attack Toad Town!"

Luigi began shivering. "It...it's the... Mayhems..." He stammered. "I don't think we can-"

Mario cut him off. "Oh yes we can!" He grabbed Luigi by the backstraps of his overalls and then grabbed two hammers with one hand. "Trott, can you bring us our first aid mushrooms?" Mario asked over his shoulder as he was dragging the helpless Luigi outside. "Peach, can you guard Aeolian?"

Peach nodded and said with determination, "I'll make sure he stays safe."

They had made it out just in time to see the landing of six dragons and two gigantic machines. They could see the creatures in the distance, making a rumbling crash into the center of Toad Town.

"Hurry!" Mario began running, half-carrying, half-dragging Luigi along.

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"We're looking for someone! He wears a green hat! He's tall and timid, and holds the will of thunder!" Malice slammed his foot into the ground as he spoke. "If you do not send us this man, we will unchain these Mayhems and let them wreak havoc throughout your world!"

The frightened townsfolk at first said nothing. Fear gripped them, and now, the life of Luigi was at stake.

"We... we..." stammered the mayor of Toad Town, timidly stepping forward to the group of six dragons, whos scale colors created a perfect rainbow.
There was a purple Dragon, Reyva, who wore an odd outfit which cannot be easily described by one seeing it. She had a yellow underside and scale decor. Next to her stood a blue dragon, Malidor, who wore a hooded robe and held a staff in one hand. His underside was orange. Zin, next to him, was green and purple. She wore a showy, vibrant outfit with a long skirt and puffy sleeves on her shirt. Next to her was Serphen, an overweight male yellow dragon with an empty expression. He did not wear a shirt, and he wore torn pants which came down to his ankles. His underside was blue. Next to him was the familiar orange and blue dragon Malice, and the red and yellow dragon Ironclaw next to him.
All six of the dragons held two chains which were bonded around two screeching creatures, made entirely of metal. They somewhat resembled dragons, or koopas, and were much larger then any known species of either race. The chains were too tight for them to break, but once let loose, everyone knew they would cause more danger then they could ever repair.

"Speak up, you fool! Where is-" Malice's voice was cut short by a shot from behind him.

"Right over here!" Mario yelled. "You looking for me? Or him?" Mario shoved Luigi forward.

"You idiot." Malidor said with a growl. "You're practically giving us the egg. This is too easy."

"Mario..." Luigi muttered. "What do we do...? Those mayhems are huge!"
Mario handed Luigi his hammer. "Everything has a weak spot, Luigi! Let's go!"
They examined the Mayhems, who were screeching and opening their iron jaws wide. Mario and Luigi were both at a loss as to how to defeat the creatures, but they knew that they had to find a way, or else the world would be lost upon their defeat...

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A/N: Attack of the cliffhanger! Don't worry, I usually add one chapter a day so you'll figure out what happens tomorrow! Muahahaha!