Rod and Reel were getting closer and closer to the Mushroom Village. Things had just started to get better for the duo of bounty hunters as they continued to seek out the princesses. The princesses, however, were completely oblivious to them. They continued to lounge around and party with the Villagers. They had let their guard down, and it was soon going to get them in trouble.
"You hear that?" said Rod.
"Yeah" said Reel.
"Ambush time!" They both said as they got closer and closer.
Alright, we are here" said Rod.
Peach and Daisy were sitting on lawn chairs and having a blast while, Toad was continuing his best efforts to get Toadette's attention without Curtis around. Try as he might, Toad had no luck what so ever. Peach and Daisy began to eat ice cream and cake that was sitting in front of them.
"This cake is good" said Daisy.
"Yes, it is!" said Peach.
"Hey Toad, come try some ice cream!" said Daisy.
Toad finally gave in for the day and went after the ice cream. Just then, they heard a loud noise. The two bounty hunters stood on top of the Mushroom Van, as if they were making a big statement, which they were.
"Hello, princesses. You are all coming with me!" said Rod. "Reel, retrieve them!"
"My pleasure, sir!" said Reel.
Reel grabbed his rope and tied up the princesses.
"Party's over, Mushrooms!" said Reel.
"Pleasure doing business with you!" said Rod.
"Not so fast!"said Toad as he snuck behind them. "You aren't going anywhere with them!" Toad then kicked Reel and he let go of the princesses. Rod then waved his magnikoopa wand and put Toad to sleep.
"Thanks for the transport, you loser!" said Rod, as he put the tied up princesses in the van and drove off. Toadette saw Toad lying on the ground, so she went to help him.
"Curtis could you please help me?" said Toadette.
"Why? That Magnikoopa was right, Toad is a loser" said Curtis. "If I were you I'd just let him die there."
Toadette became angry at what Curtis had said. "Curtis, that is the most disgraceful thing I have ever heard you say!" said Toadette. "We are through! You heartless jerk!"
"Whatever! If you want to waste your time with this loser, then you aren't worth my time either" said Curtis as he walked away.
Toadette's brother, Toadward was near by and he helped Toadette carry Toad to a bed. Toadette sat by his side for hours, waiting for him to wake up.
"Reel, check in the back for anything valuable" said Rod as he drove the van. Reel checked in the back and found the cloning machine that Toadsworth had built.
"Hey sir, I found something called a "clone machine"" said Reel.
"Lord Bowser will be happy to get his hands on that" said Rod as they continued their drive back to Dark Mario's lair.
Mario and Luigi were finally at the closing stages of their training with Randolf. Randolf had given them all the knowledge that they needed to beat Dark Mario.
"We are almost done, my students. But I have a warning! My spies, tell me that Dark Mario is allied up with Bowser. Little does Bowser realize, Dark Mario won't let him stick around to share the glory, if they win. Dark Mario is a very vile man, and he will not let Bowser steal his thunder. If at all possible, you must save Bowser from this immenent betrayal. Enemy or not!" said Randolf.
"Bowser, may be a lying, backstabbing, grudge holding, two faced, butt headed weasel, but you are right, Randolf. We must not let Bowser be destroyed like that!" said Mario as he agreed.
"Does this mean we can go now?" said Yoshi.
"No, we still can't get our van out of the mud" said Luigi.
"I can help you with that" said Randolf. Randolf reaches out his hand and pushes a button. The button, threw a cable on the van and pulled the van out of the mud.
"Thank you, Randolf!" said Mario.
"You are welcome" returned Randolf.
Suddenly they found themselves surrounded by Luigi bots. They had snuck up on them, while the excitement with getting the van unstuck was going on, and now they were trapped.
"You know what to do, Mario. Remember all I taught you!" said Randolf.
Mario and Luigi remembered their training well, and started busting up some robots!
"Yoshi swallowed some of the robots and laid egg bombs to throw at the remaining ones. Mario and Luigi started with their Super Mega Fire Ball Attack. They destroyed ten of them with one fire ball each.
"Whoa! We really do have this down!" said Luigi. Mario then jumped behind him karate kicking a couple Luigi bots in half.
"Yeah, these Karate kicks sure came in handy too!" said Mario.
Mario and Luigi had almost gotten rid of all of the robots when something caught their attention. A Luigi bot had grabbed Randolf, and he was crying for help.
"Mario, Luigi, a little help would be… ooooooooh!" said Randolf as the Luigi bot fired a shot into his back. "Too late, save yourselves! I'm finished!"
"Noooooooooooooooo!" said Mario as he watched Randolf fall to the ground. Yoshi, took immediate action and destroyed the Luigi bot who shot Randolf.
"Stupid robot!" said Luigi.
Mario and Luigi had just destroyed the last ones, when they ran to Randolf's side.
"Mario, Luigi, I have never met more capable heroes, in my lifetime! I know you can beat Dark Mario, and Bowser!" said Randolf. "Don't forget to work together and save Bowser from being betrayed." That was Randolf's dying wish. He couldn't say much more before he passed on.
Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Tuigi, who had been hiding in the van, all had a memorial for Randolf. They would never forget the things he taught them. Even Tuigi learned something from him. The sadness, and pain would all have to be pushed to the side, because it was time to leave the forest and go after Dark Mario and Bowser.
Rod and Reel had arrived and brought the princesses to Dark Mario's castle lair. They then unloaded the cloning machine.
"Master, we brought you something very valuable in addition to the princesses" said Rod.
"What is that?" said Dark Mario.
"Yes, what could be as valuable as the princesses? Unless you have those Mario brothers with you" said Bowser.
"No, we found this cloning machine in their possession" said Rod.
"Black Yoshi, bring me Toadsworth" said Dark Mario.
"Yes sir" said Black Yoshi.
Seconds later, Black Yoshi had dragged Toadsworth into the room and threw him on the floor in front of Dark Mario.
"What is this, Toadsworth?" said Dark Mario.
"My clone machine!" said Toadsworth. "What did you do to the princesses and Toad?"
"They are fine, you will see the princesses when you go back to your cell" said Bowser.
"Clone machine?" said Dark Mario. "Let's see if it works." Dark Mario sat in the chair, and pushed the button. "It's pretty easy to figure out." The lights flashed, and then a clone of Dark Mario came out.
"Duuuuuuuuuh" said Dark Mario's clone, as his tongue hung out and his eyes were crossed.
"What is this Toadsworth?" said Dark Mario.
"I still haven't worked out all the bugs yet" said Toadsworth. Dark Mario walked over to him and slapped him.
"Then make it work right" said Dark Mario. "Don't even think about trying any funny business or I will start hurting your friends next!"
Black Yoshi put a chain cuff on his leg and chained him to the wall so Dark Mario and Bowser could keep an eye on him.
"Black Yoshi, kill the clone" said Dark Mario.
The clone was running around making stupid noise. Black Yoshi then shot the clone with a gun similar to the ones built into the hands of the Luigi bots.
"I want clones that are obedient and good at fighting!" said Dark Mario.
Toadsworth began to work on the machine.
Daisy and Peach were sitting in their cell, and they noticed Wario and Waluigi had also been captured.
"Is Mario here too?" said Peach.
"No Mario is still out there" said Waluigi.
"Probably hiding" said Wario.
"Mario and Luigi are not hiding!" said Daisy. "I bet they and Yoshi are on their way up here right now trying to rescue us!"
Wario and Waluigi didn't seem so sure, they wouldn't blame Mario and Luigi for running away. But even they had to admit that those two were gutsy. Just then the dungeon doors opened. Black Yoshi brought Toadsworth back to his cell, after he had finished fixing the clone machine.
"Toadsworth! What have they done to you?" exclaimed Peach.
"It's nothing compared to what Mario and Luigi will face when they get here?" said Toadsworth. "Where is Toad?"
"The bounty hunters beat him and left him in the Mushroom Village. He is still alive, and I am sure that the Mushroom people are taking care of him" said Daisy.
Toadette continued to stay by Toad's side, until he finally woke up.
"Where am I?" said Toad.
"You are in my house" said Toadette. "Me and my brother brought you here after you were knocked out."
"Oh, well thank you!" said Toad.
"Curtis turned out to be a big jerk! He didn't want me to help you, so I broke up with him!" said Toadette, as she started to cry.
"Don't cry, Toadette" said Toad. Everything will be ok."
"You are right, Toad" said Toadette. "In the mean time, I will get you some soup. You need to get better, before you go after the princesses. That was brave of you to do that, Toad. No one in our village is that brave" said Toadette as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"Wow!" said Toad. Things were finally looking up for Toad. But he needed to focus on a speedy recovery so that way he could find Mario and get to the princesses.
Things are really starting to shake up now! I cant imagine what Dark Mario would want with a clone machine. Could what Randolf told Mario about Bowser and Dark Mario be true? Will Mario, Luigi and Yoshi be successful in their next destination? Will Tuigi ever find something useful to do? Find out in Chapter 5!