--------Mario Adventure---------
Chapter 4: The Caves of Mario World
Mario and friends stood around the large green pipe, surrounded on all sides by a vast field of tall grass which swayed gracefully in the late morning breeze. Small puffy clouds drifted peacefully overhead, shadowing out the warm sun from time to time.
"Alright. Cave it is!" Mario said, raising a fist.
Luigi hopped down into the darkness, sliding down the angled pipe and vanishing from sight. Mario listened carefully. The sound of overalls against metal was cut off by the sound of work shoes against gravel. Luigi's voice echoed from the pipe. "All clear!"
Mario looked back the mushroom and two yoshis. "Who's next?"
Toad and Sunnie looked at each other, then Toad stepped forward. "I'll go."
Mario picked the mushroom up under his arms and lifted him over the edge of the pipe, as Toad was too short to climb in on his own. "Ready?"
Toad gazed down into the pitch black void of death over which he was suspended. A light breeze whistled quietly from the opening, ruffling Toad's light pajamas. It was a feeling like staring into the mouth of a dragon as it prepared to eat you. Toad closed his eyes and nodded for Mario to let go.
Mario held back a smile as a high-pitched shriek of terror echoed from the tunnel, fading away as the mushroom slid down. He turned to the little yellow dinosaur who looked at him hesitantly. "Next?"
Sunnie paused for a moment before walking forward. Luigi did sound perfectly okay when he gave the all clear, but there had to be something bad in there to provoke such a wail from Toad. He did have a habbit of panicing at innapropriate times, though. Sunnie took a deep breath and gathered up some courage and stepped forward.
"Don't worry." Mario said as the dinosaur walked up to the pipe. "It's not that scary. Just be ready to catch yourself at the end." Mario helped the little yoshi scramble up to sit on the edge of the pipe and then patted her on the back. "Hop on in!"
Sunnie gazed into the darkness and sniffed the cool, damp air blowing up from below her. It smelled like wet dirt and rocks. She felt a lot better when she didn't smell monsters or anything dangerous, and soon vanished into the pipe.
Toad slapped damp dirt and sand from his aching rump as he stood in the dim orange glow of the fireball Luigi held for light, having not caught himself at the bottom of the pipe. Luigi managed to hold back laughter but couldn't keep a straight face. Toad scowled but felt unworthy to curse at a hero of Luigi's calibur, heartless as he may be. The two turned thier attention to the pipe protruding from the cavern's muddy rocky wall when the sound of sliding echoed increasingly loud from it. The small yellow yoshi flew out at high speed, catching herself with her feet, but her momentum was too great and she tipped forward and landed with an echoing whap on her face.
"Sunnie!" Toad cried as he ran to his fallen companion. He put a hand on her back and leaned close to see if she was alive. "Are you okay?"
The dinosaur groaned and pushed up with her hands into an upright sitting position on the damp sandy floor and shook her head, then nodded that she wasn't seriously hurt. As she got to her feet and began swiping sand and dirt from herself, Yoshi emerged from the green pipe, squeezing his way out as it was a tight fit for such a big yoshi. Mario soon followed and the group headed down the dark tunnel, led by Luigi with his fireball light.
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Koopas crowded the hall around Peach's chamber door as she was shoved through it. Once securely locked, the koopa crew began bolting numerous heavy iron locks to the door to ensure their safety. An escape meant a trip to the lava pits for all of them, and noone wanted that. Inside, Peach glared at the door snarling.
"You think those puny locks can stop me?!" Peach growled with tight fists. She turned her head to the speaker in the corner of the ceiling when static sound came from it once again.
"Let's not have any more of this escaping business, yes?" Bowser's voice said faintly through the static.
Peach whirled around furiously and shook a fist at the camera. "Just watch me, Cactus-ass! I'll be out of here before sunset! And next time you won't stop me!"
"...Cactus?" Bowser asked meekly. He leaned forward and looked back at the holes his shell spikes had torn in the back of the control room chair and frowned. He held up the microphone to say something but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He spun the rotatable chair around to face it. "Enter."
A small green-shell koopa troopa came though the large door (all doors in the castle had to be extra big for Bowser to fit through) and bowed. "Sir, the Lakitu surveillance team has returned. They say they have important information for you."
"Excellent. I'll be right there." Bowser said, spinning the chair back around. Using a joystick he rotated the camera in Peach's room so he could see the door on his monitor screen. "Number 78, are you there?"
Magma rummaged his way through the koopa crowd to peek through the bars of the little window in Peach's door. "Sir!" the turtle-like troopa said with a salute.
"You're fully in charge of protecting my bride-to-be from now on." Bowser's voice was hard to hear from across the room and through the little window as it spoke through the low-quality speaker. "You have my permission to give orders to low-ranking troopas as necessary in order to carry out your mission. Use your best judgement and never let the princess out of your sight. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!" Magma said, saluting the camera again. He was a bit shocked to hear such orders so soon after a failure. Getting to hand out orders was normally an honor reserved for high-ranking captains and generals. As he went to work sending out troops for weapons and supplies, the camera in Peach's chamber turned back to the scowling prisoner.
Peach glared as Bowser's voice spoke to her. "Let's talk later, sweetcakes. I have some business to tend to. Over and out." The speaker clicked off and Peach turned to go bother the guards.
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The cool cave breeze ruffled the brightly glowing fireball in Luigi's gloved hand as he and the rescue team hiked through the dark, damp tunnel, causing the group's shadows to dance about the earthy walls and floor of the cavern. Sunnie gazed up at the ceiling fifteen feet above them, which was barely visible in the dim glow of the fireball. Long, twisty roots hung down from the arched roof, drops of water occaisionally falling from them.
"How far does this tunnel go?" Toad asked, slightly worried as he looked out into the black abyss infront of them.
"We'll just have to walk and find out." Mario said from the back of the pack.
Toad nonchalantly inched closer to Sunnie, the darkness and suspense beginning scare the little mushroom man. A bad thought suddenly occured to him and he moved even closer, making Sunnie look over curiously. "W-what if there's no way out at the end...?"
All but Mario stopped and exchanged a concerned look.
Mario finally stopped at the front of the group with a self-confident smile. "Don't worry. Notice the wind in here?"
The group turned their attention to the red overall-clad plumber, then to the ruffling fireball in Luigi's hand, then back to Mario. "Yeah..." Toad replied, noting his long pajama shirt flapping lightly behind him.
"That means there has to be an opening at the other end." Mario explained. "Otherwise, the air couldn't flow through like this."
Toad smiled ear-to-ear at his life long idol's seemingly endless sea of knowledge. "You're amazing, Sir Mario!"
Luigi smiled also and resumed walking, Yoshi, Toad and Sunnie following suit while Mario stood with a big grin, waiting for them to pass so he could take up the back of the group as before.
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Three small clouds floated silently a few feet off the ground near the castle's back door, small wisps of vapor drifting from them in the breeze. Inside the castle, the clouds' owners stood in a line before the Koopa King. "Lakitu Partol Unit #5 reporting, SIR!" said the three chubby turtle creatures, all wearing pilot's goggles, as they bowed to the hulking reptile. The Lakitu in the middle stepped forward to speak.
"Your highness, while on patrol, my team and I spotted a group of five crossing the Doughnut Plains in this direction." the four-foot turlte reported in a small, dwarf-like voice.
The Lakitu troopa on the right stepped forward. "They whom defeated us in the past, the plumber brothers Mario and Luigi, were among the five, your majesty." the fat little turtle said in an identical voice to the first.
The last Lakitu on the left stepped forward. "And they rode the yoshi of infinite stomach who once ate half our army, sir!" he said, also using the same voice.
Bowser smiled with slitted eyes. "Heheheh... My old friend Mario. I was hoping you'd show up." he said to himself. "Good work, Lakitu 5."
The three goggle-clad turtles bowed in perfect synchronization. Suddenly thier smiles turned to frowns and they exchanged a worried look. The middle Lakitu stepped forward again and looked up at the giant spike-shelled tortise looming over him. "Sir, our mission was not totally successful, I'm affraid."
"Hmm?" Bowser grunted, looking down at the pudgy shelled creature now only a couple of feet away.
The right Lakitu stepped forward. "Slain was our fourth comrade upon sighting by the enemy plumber, majesty." he said sadly, bowing his head.
The left turtle stepped forward. "The newcomer assigned to our team. Mario got him."
Bowser growled, his sharp teeth showing. "MARIO SAW YOU?!" He bellowed in his titanic voice, deafening the Lakitu trio as they ducked into their shells in fear.
The trembling middle Lakitu peeked from his shell. "I'm sorry, your highness. I should have instructed him better."
Bowser took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "No matter. I never expected a surprise attack to defeat the legendary plumber, but it could have been handy to get rid of a few of his henchmen." He turned his back to the three trembling shells on the rocky floor and put his arms behind his back, carefully positioning them between the spikes on his shell. "I'll rally a troop of my strongest koopa soldiers. You three stand by and then guide the troops to where you saw Mario. If you find him, kill him and anyone he has with him."
All three Lakitus popped their heads and limbs back out of thier shells as they hopped to thier feet. "Yes sir!" they said in synchronization, saluting the king as he walked away.
Bowser pondered as he climbed the stairs to the main hall. He had trained his koopa troops for two years since his second defeat by Mario, but even as one of the srongest armies in the world their chances of beating Mario were slim at best. Bowser grinned as he turned his thoughts to his own training. The thick steel rings clattering around his wrists, ankles, and neck as he walked brought him a rush of adrenaline as he realized that they felt like nothing anymore. He had worn them for over two years now, adding a 25-pound ring to each limb every six months, now donning four on each arm and leg and around his neck. He raised his right hand to gaze upon the 100 pounds of spike-studded metal around his wrist, then whipped the arm out to the side and smiled as it took no effort. Mario may have legendary strength, but would it be enough when the Koopa King removed the 500 total pounds of steel from his already powerful body? The thought made Bowser tingle in anticipation of the duel they would soon engage in.
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Mario and friends stopped their hike through the cave when the long tunnel opened into a large domed room with a pipe hanging down from the highest point of the ceiling. Luigi stood at the edge of the five or so-foot deep lake that filled the floor of the large chamber, pushing extra Fire Flower energy into his fireball to make it brighter so they could see the whole room. Some light came through the pipe in ceiling and as it reflected off the water, gave the room a very dim blue glow before Luigi's bright orange light overtook it. Sunnie's toe touched the water lightly as she stepped forward, sending a small ripple across perfectly still surface of the lake and causing a curved shadow to move along the walls and ceiling as the light was reflected from the water. From the yellow yoshi's back, Toad watched the silent light show in fascination, following the ripple and shadow to the other side of the lake where he saw an opening in the wall where the cave continued.
Mario hopped off Yoshi's back, his feet hitting the damp sandy floor with an echoing thud and the tools in his belt jingling, and stepped to the edge of the water to evaluate the situation. He looked up at the pipe in the ceiling and then the tunnel on the other side of the lake, scratching his mustache as he pondered.
"Do we swim over there and keep going in the cave, or get out of here through that pipe?" Luigi asked, making sure the flame stayed nice and bright.
Mario looked slightly concerned as he pondered the green pipe. "The breeze in here is coming from that pipe, I think." Mario said, still looking up and playing with his facial hair.
Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, and Sunnie all turned their attention to the air flow, which did seem to be coming from above more than from ahead. Toad suddenly realized what Mario was getting at and spoke up. "You mean that tunnel over there might not have an exit?" he said, leaning towards Mario while pointing across the lake.
Mario looked over at the mushroom midget. "Yeah." he said with an encouraging tone, slightly impressed that Toad caught on so fast. He looked back at the tunnel opening across the lake for a few moments then said, "I've got an idea." He turned to the large green yoshi standing behind him. "Yoshi, swim over there and see if there's an air current going down that tunnel, too."
The muscular dinosaur was apalled that Mario wouldn't do such an unpleasant task himself and gave the plumber an offended look.
Mario groaned. "Yoshi, if I swim over there I'll be soggy for hours. You're not wearing clothes, so you might as well go for a little swim." the plumber explained, though Yoshi wasn't convinced. He decided to try a more practical approach, and smacked dinosaur's blocky rear end with an echoing clap. "Git!"
Yoshi scowled back the persistent plumber, muttering angrily in yoshi-speech as he walked up to the edge of the lake. He dipped a foot the clear cave water and shuddered as it was quite cold. The large dinosaur paused for a deep breath to prepare for the temperature change, then crouched to hop into the lake. To his delight, he hit the icy-cold water with a huge splash that spritzed everyone on shore.
Mario glared playfully at the yoshi as it swam dog-style across the shimmering pool, wiping the water droplets from his face.
Yoshi paddled along quickly to the other side before the coldness of the water could sink in. He looked up as he passed under the pipe in the ceiling, and could see tree branches reaching over it. That made sense, he thought, noticing the tendrils of roots reaching down from all around the large green pipe. Eventually he came to the shore and climbed out, water streaming and then dripping from his smooth yoshi skin. He walked a few meters down the damp tunnel, which was totally pitch black as he had no light, then shivered as the cool cave breeze blew over his wet body.
Mario stepped forward as Yoshi reappeared from the cave. "Is there wind in there?" the plumber called out across the lake, causing many seconds of echo.
"Yoshi!" the green dinosaur called back, giving a thumbs-up.
Mario clapped his hands together. "Perfect." he said with smile. "There has to be an opening down there for air to flow through. This cave probably goes on straight like this for miles, with exit pipes all along it. That means we can go on in here and get out whenever we like." The plumber sat down on the cave floor and began removing his shoes to swim.
Toad followed Mario and Luigi's lead as they stripped off their clothes, fascinated by Mario's incredible expertise on what seemed to be everything. Soon the plumbers and the mushroom man were stark naked and Mario gathered everyone's clothes into a bundle, wrapping and tieing his shirt's sleeves, which were now their original red color instead of Fire Flower-enhanced white, around them to make a not-quite-round ball.
"Yoshi! Catch!" the stripped plumber called out to his dinosaur partner across the lake. He hurled the tightly packed bundle of clothes in a huge arc over the water with his powerful arm, landing it perfectly in Yoshi's hands. Toad watched the mini display of power, enchanted to no end by the plumber's strength and ability. Luigi picked his fireball up off the ground as his brother plopped into the water, then followed him in, carefully holding the burning orb above his head to keep it dry. Sunnie and Toad splashed in last, paralyzed momentarily as they hadn't anticipated the cold.
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Koopa troops gathered on the dry brown grass outside the huge, spike-topped walls of Bowser's dark castle, their weapons clattering as they murmured amongst themselves. Two long, flatbed wagons drawn by teams of four randomly colored yoshis rolled up from around the right and left of the castle, the crowd of 40 or so making way as they creaked to a halt infront of the vast front gate. Attention turned from the restlessly fidgeting dinosaurs to three short, chubby turtles wearing pilot goggles who floated out of the main gate on small, fluffy clouds. The hovering trio drifted up over the crowd, thier mysterious transportation giving off small wisps of white vapor which dissipated quickly as they lowered down at the front of the group. Bowser's thundering footsteps drew yet another attention shift as the massive turtle creature emerged from the main gate, following the Lakitu team.
"Koopa troop!" the king's booming voice announced. "Your assignment is to destroy Mario and his henchmen! Lakitu Partol Unit #5 will lead the way! Understood?"
All koopas struck perfect attention stances and saluted. "YES SIR!" The group of koopa troopas, half of whom sported spike-covered metal shells, hopped up on the creaky flatbed wagons, weaponry and armor clanging amid the sounds of voices and footsteps on the crunchy dead grass.
Once all were seated along the sides of the wagons, Bowser pointed out over the horizon of dark forest beaneath the conrtasting bright blue sky, rattling his heavy bracelets. "MOVE OUT!"
Whips cracked loudly above the yoshi teams as the Lakitu clouds drifted off into the hills of dry grass in the direction of Mushroom Kingdom, and soon the small army was rumbling along at high speed in roar of battle cries. Bowser watched the two wagons and three clouds until they vanished into the forest of gnarly thorn trees in the distance, then headed back inside to check up on his fiance.
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Peach sat with her arms crossed and eyes shut on the soft pink bed, irritated to no end by the eleven koopas chattering and clattering outside her door. The turtle troop was in the process of installing two new steel doors blocking the hallway on either side of Peach's door, under the direction of troopa #78.
Being by far the strongest of the group, Magma heaved the last heavy metal door upright and held it in place while his underlings bolted the hinges to the wall. Once securely attached, Magma opened and closed it and tested the lock. "Perfect! It doesn't even creak." he said aprovingly.
A green-shelled guard dropped his hammer looked at his watch. "Hey Mag, it's 12:46. Are we getting gypped out of lunch today or what?"
Magma hadn't realized they'd missed the usual lunch break while stuck guarding the princess, and once it was pointed out realized he was starved. "Good point, Slag. How 'bout running downstairs and grabbin' us some chow?" he asked, bending back as much as his shell would allow to stretch his back, still sore from Peach's stomp attack.
The green-shelled koopa recounted to make sure there would still be ten guards present if he left, then said "Sure" and walked over to the newly installed door.
As he reached for the handle, the door's lock snapped open, making him jump and pull his hand back. The door opened to reveal the giant koopa king, who looked down curiously at the relatively small turtle. The koopa guard quickly stepped sideways out of Bowser's way and bowed.
Bowser entered the sort of room created by the two doors in the rock-walled hall and examined the Magma and his team's work as the troop backed up against the wall in attention stance to avoid blocking the king's way. "Not bad, Magma." Bowser said, impressed as he played with the creak-less door. "Why don't you guys take a quick break." Bowser suggested as he walked with thumping footsteps to Peach's door. "I'll take over here for now. I have some things to discuss with my princess."
"Thank you, sir!" Magma said with a bow. "We'll return in ten minutes." he said, then headed for the door, followed by his ten cohorts in single file. As he passed the king, a strange figure came into view in the metal doorway. The dark figure had the snout of a koopa, but the rest of it's face was covered by thick eyeglasses and the hood of it's dark blue cloak. In the mysterious person's clawed hand was a long staff, tipped with a glowing star-shaped stone. Magma eyed the creature cautiously while passing it as it stood motionless like a statue in the middle of the large doorway. The line of ten green-shelled koopas behind Magma each took their turn suspiciously eyeing the cloaked figure as they too passed, keeping as much distance as possible from the peculiar stranger.
As Bowser unlocked Peach's heavy wooden door and walked in, the staff-weilding statue finally came to motion, following the king into the chamber and slamming the door without touching it.
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Smoke filled the air as Luigi lauched a fireball from his free hand, burning away a wall of spider webs that stretched from floor to ceiling. The large green yoshi he rode continued forward once the obstruction was gone, holding his breath as he passed through the smoke which smelled of charred silk. Riding behind Luigi was Mario, who sat backwards on the dinosaur's back out of boredom and watched the cave's scenery of earthy walls and hanging roots fade into the darkness behind them. Sunnie, with Toad in her saddle, walked alongside the larger green yoshi, staying as close as she could to Luigi's bright flame ball.
Toad looked around the shadowy surroundings, unchanging except for the occasional spider webs which stretched across the ceiling or dangled down, swaying in the cool cave breeze. Almost six hours had passed since he set out on the quest at Mario's side, and so far it seemed the mission wouldn't be as dangerous as he'd though. "How long will it be till we're at Bowser's castle?" the mushroom asked, having never been to the Koopa Kingdom before.
"If this tunnel goes on all the way to Koopa Kingdom, we can probably get there by tomorrow afternoon." Mario said, leaning on Luigi's back as he rode Yoshi facing the wrong direction, using the dinosaur's short, upright tail as a footrest. "That's if we camp out tonight." he added.
Toad nodded and gazed down the dark tunnel ahead, almost wishing something exciting would happen as after an hour of wakling in there it was becoming somewhat monotonous. Then again, the goomba battle earlier was pretty scary, he thought. As he relived the terrifying scene in his mind, a sudden, deep growling sound made his heart stop in fear.
Luigi put a hand on his stomach and blushed slightly at the gruesome sounds coming from it, though no-one could tell in the orange light of his fireball. "Heheh... Guess I should eat somethin', huh?" the plumber said with a bashful smile.
Toad tried not to show it as he restarted his heart, exhaling the breath he was holding in panic. "Y-yeah." he said as casually as possible.
After a long moment of silent walking, a horrifying realization came to Mario's mind and he froze.
Luigi looked over his shoulder when the plumber leaning on him felt as though he had turned to stone. "You okay, bro?"
Mario's eyes were circular as he thought back to when they stopped at the house for a bath, and when they stripped to cross the lake. Something was missing from that heap of clothing and he finally realized what it was. "I left the food we packed at the house." he said flatly without moving.
Luigi, Toad, and Sunnie all became equally paralyzed with equally circular eyes. Yoshi stopped walking and gaped at the plumber's mindlessness, though he hadn't expected to eat any of the packed food anyway since there'd be plenty of enemies to gobble along the way.
Luigi broke the paralysis and spin-jumped to stand on Yoshi's back, facing his brother. "YOU FORGOT THE FOOD?!" he said, squeezing his fireball light source till exploded with a bang, leaving the group blinded by total darkness.
Mario's head ducked down until he had no neck as Luigi's outburst echoed through the blackness. He was too ashamed to reply and sincerely wished Luigi couldn't make another fireball, so he wouldn't have to bear the embarrasment of being seen again. To his dismay a new fireball formed in his brother's hand with a hiss of combustion and all were staring at him.
Luigi's glare was cold and hard as granite; he was too mad to say anything.
Toad stared with saucer eyes, half terrified of starvation, half devistated by the realization that his life-long idol wasn't nearly as perfect as he seemed.
Sunnie was just plain scared and Yoshi was embarrassed to have such an idiot riding on him.
Mario just sat crumpled up and sulked for a while until Toad broke his silence.
"A-a-are we gonna... starve to death... Mario?" he asked, truly concerned.
"Well... no..." Mario said, then seemed to relax a bit. "We can still get food from nature..."
Toad and Sunnie were quite relieved to hear that though Luigi was still furious.
Mario regained his cool most of the way and sat up straight again. "Well then, I guess we better get outta here first chance we get and look for food outside. I'm getting pretty hungry too."
"But what if we get caught by the Koopas??" Toad asked worriedly.
"It's a risk we've gotta take." Mario said. "Don't worry, me and Luigi usually have to travel outside the whole way when saving Peach anyway. It's almost a routine to us now."
Finally relaxed enough to unclench his fists, Luigi took a calming breath and sat back down on Yoshi's back. The group set off down the tunnel once more, at a faster pace than before, hoping the next exit pipe wasn't too far off.
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End of Part 4.
Fanfiction by LavaLizard
Mario Bros and it's related material copyright by Nintendo.
Chapter 4: The Caves of Mario World
Mario and friends stood around the large green pipe, surrounded on all sides by a vast field of tall grass which swayed gracefully in the late morning breeze. Small puffy clouds drifted peacefully overhead, shadowing out the warm sun from time to time.
"Alright. Cave it is!" Mario said, raising a fist.
Luigi hopped down into the darkness, sliding down the angled pipe and vanishing from sight. Mario listened carefully. The sound of overalls against metal was cut off by the sound of work shoes against gravel. Luigi's voice echoed from the pipe. "All clear!"
Mario looked back the mushroom and two yoshis. "Who's next?"
Toad and Sunnie looked at each other, then Toad stepped forward. "I'll go."
Mario picked the mushroom up under his arms and lifted him over the edge of the pipe, as Toad was too short to climb in on his own. "Ready?"
Toad gazed down into the pitch black void of death over which he was suspended. A light breeze whistled quietly from the opening, ruffling Toad's light pajamas. It was a feeling like staring into the mouth of a dragon as it prepared to eat you. Toad closed his eyes and nodded for Mario to let go.
Mario held back a smile as a high-pitched shriek of terror echoed from the tunnel, fading away as the mushroom slid down. He turned to the little yellow dinosaur who looked at him hesitantly. "Next?"
Sunnie paused for a moment before walking forward. Luigi did sound perfectly okay when he gave the all clear, but there had to be something bad in there to provoke such a wail from Toad. He did have a habbit of panicing at innapropriate times, though. Sunnie took a deep breath and gathered up some courage and stepped forward.
"Don't worry." Mario said as the dinosaur walked up to the pipe. "It's not that scary. Just be ready to catch yourself at the end." Mario helped the little yoshi scramble up to sit on the edge of the pipe and then patted her on the back. "Hop on in!"
Sunnie gazed into the darkness and sniffed the cool, damp air blowing up from below her. It smelled like wet dirt and rocks. She felt a lot better when she didn't smell monsters or anything dangerous, and soon vanished into the pipe.
Toad slapped damp dirt and sand from his aching rump as he stood in the dim orange glow of the fireball Luigi held for light, having not caught himself at the bottom of the pipe. Luigi managed to hold back laughter but couldn't keep a straight face. Toad scowled but felt unworthy to curse at a hero of Luigi's calibur, heartless as he may be. The two turned thier attention to the pipe protruding from the cavern's muddy rocky wall when the sound of sliding echoed increasingly loud from it. The small yellow yoshi flew out at high speed, catching herself with her feet, but her momentum was too great and she tipped forward and landed with an echoing whap on her face.
"Sunnie!" Toad cried as he ran to his fallen companion. He put a hand on her back and leaned close to see if she was alive. "Are you okay?"
The dinosaur groaned and pushed up with her hands into an upright sitting position on the damp sandy floor and shook her head, then nodded that she wasn't seriously hurt. As she got to her feet and began swiping sand and dirt from herself, Yoshi emerged from the green pipe, squeezing his way out as it was a tight fit for such a big yoshi. Mario soon followed and the group headed down the dark tunnel, led by Luigi with his fireball light.
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Koopas crowded the hall around Peach's chamber door as she was shoved through it. Once securely locked, the koopa crew began bolting numerous heavy iron locks to the door to ensure their safety. An escape meant a trip to the lava pits for all of them, and noone wanted that. Inside, Peach glared at the door snarling.
"You think those puny locks can stop me?!" Peach growled with tight fists. She turned her head to the speaker in the corner of the ceiling when static sound came from it once again.
"Let's not have any more of this escaping business, yes?" Bowser's voice said faintly through the static.
Peach whirled around furiously and shook a fist at the camera. "Just watch me, Cactus-ass! I'll be out of here before sunset! And next time you won't stop me!"
"...Cactus?" Bowser asked meekly. He leaned forward and looked back at the holes his shell spikes had torn in the back of the control room chair and frowned. He held up the microphone to say something but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He spun the rotatable chair around to face it. "Enter."
A small green-shell koopa troopa came though the large door (all doors in the castle had to be extra big for Bowser to fit through) and bowed. "Sir, the Lakitu surveillance team has returned. They say they have important information for you."
"Excellent. I'll be right there." Bowser said, spinning the chair back around. Using a joystick he rotated the camera in Peach's room so he could see the door on his monitor screen. "Number 78, are you there?"
Magma rummaged his way through the koopa crowd to peek through the bars of the little window in Peach's door. "Sir!" the turtle-like troopa said with a salute.
"You're fully in charge of protecting my bride-to-be from now on." Bowser's voice was hard to hear from across the room and through the little window as it spoke through the low-quality speaker. "You have my permission to give orders to low-ranking troopas as necessary in order to carry out your mission. Use your best judgement and never let the princess out of your sight. Understood?"
"Yes Sir!" Magma said, saluting the camera again. He was a bit shocked to hear such orders so soon after a failure. Getting to hand out orders was normally an honor reserved for high-ranking captains and generals. As he went to work sending out troops for weapons and supplies, the camera in Peach's chamber turned back to the scowling prisoner.
Peach glared as Bowser's voice spoke to her. "Let's talk later, sweetcakes. I have some business to tend to. Over and out." The speaker clicked off and Peach turned to go bother the guards.
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The cool cave breeze ruffled the brightly glowing fireball in Luigi's gloved hand as he and the rescue team hiked through the dark, damp tunnel, causing the group's shadows to dance about the earthy walls and floor of the cavern. Sunnie gazed up at the ceiling fifteen feet above them, which was barely visible in the dim glow of the fireball. Long, twisty roots hung down from the arched roof, drops of water occaisionally falling from them.
"How far does this tunnel go?" Toad asked, slightly worried as he looked out into the black abyss infront of them.
"We'll just have to walk and find out." Mario said from the back of the pack.
Toad nonchalantly inched closer to Sunnie, the darkness and suspense beginning scare the little mushroom man. A bad thought suddenly occured to him and he moved even closer, making Sunnie look over curiously. "W-what if there's no way out at the end...?"
All but Mario stopped and exchanged a concerned look.
Mario finally stopped at the front of the group with a self-confident smile. "Don't worry. Notice the wind in here?"
The group turned their attention to the red overall-clad plumber, then to the ruffling fireball in Luigi's hand, then back to Mario. "Yeah..." Toad replied, noting his long pajama shirt flapping lightly behind him.
"That means there has to be an opening at the other end." Mario explained. "Otherwise, the air couldn't flow through like this."
Toad smiled ear-to-ear at his life long idol's seemingly endless sea of knowledge. "You're amazing, Sir Mario!"
Luigi smiled also and resumed walking, Yoshi, Toad and Sunnie following suit while Mario stood with a big grin, waiting for them to pass so he could take up the back of the group as before.
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Three small clouds floated silently a few feet off the ground near the castle's back door, small wisps of vapor drifting from them in the breeze. Inside the castle, the clouds' owners stood in a line before the Koopa King. "Lakitu Partol Unit #5 reporting, SIR!" said the three chubby turtle creatures, all wearing pilot's goggles, as they bowed to the hulking reptile. The Lakitu in the middle stepped forward to speak.
"Your highness, while on patrol, my team and I spotted a group of five crossing the Doughnut Plains in this direction." the four-foot turlte reported in a small, dwarf-like voice.
The Lakitu troopa on the right stepped forward. "They whom defeated us in the past, the plumber brothers Mario and Luigi, were among the five, your majesty." the fat little turtle said in an identical voice to the first.
The last Lakitu on the left stepped forward. "And they rode the yoshi of infinite stomach who once ate half our army, sir!" he said, also using the same voice.
Bowser smiled with slitted eyes. "Heheheh... My old friend Mario. I was hoping you'd show up." he said to himself. "Good work, Lakitu 5."
The three goggle-clad turtles bowed in perfect synchronization. Suddenly thier smiles turned to frowns and they exchanged a worried look. The middle Lakitu stepped forward again and looked up at the giant spike-shelled tortise looming over him. "Sir, our mission was not totally successful, I'm affraid."
"Hmm?" Bowser grunted, looking down at the pudgy shelled creature now only a couple of feet away.
The right Lakitu stepped forward. "Slain was our fourth comrade upon sighting by the enemy plumber, majesty." he said sadly, bowing his head.
The left turtle stepped forward. "The newcomer assigned to our team. Mario got him."
Bowser growled, his sharp teeth showing. "MARIO SAW YOU?!" He bellowed in his titanic voice, deafening the Lakitu trio as they ducked into their shells in fear.
The trembling middle Lakitu peeked from his shell. "I'm sorry, your highness. I should have instructed him better."
Bowser took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "No matter. I never expected a surprise attack to defeat the legendary plumber, but it could have been handy to get rid of a few of his henchmen." He turned his back to the three trembling shells on the rocky floor and put his arms behind his back, carefully positioning them between the spikes on his shell. "I'll rally a troop of my strongest koopa soldiers. You three stand by and then guide the troops to where you saw Mario. If you find him, kill him and anyone he has with him."
All three Lakitus popped their heads and limbs back out of thier shells as they hopped to thier feet. "Yes sir!" they said in synchronization, saluting the king as he walked away.
Bowser pondered as he climbed the stairs to the main hall. He had trained his koopa troops for two years since his second defeat by Mario, but even as one of the srongest armies in the world their chances of beating Mario were slim at best. Bowser grinned as he turned his thoughts to his own training. The thick steel rings clattering around his wrists, ankles, and neck as he walked brought him a rush of adrenaline as he realized that they felt like nothing anymore. He had worn them for over two years now, adding a 25-pound ring to each limb every six months, now donning four on each arm and leg and around his neck. He raised his right hand to gaze upon the 100 pounds of spike-studded metal around his wrist, then whipped the arm out to the side and smiled as it took no effort. Mario may have legendary strength, but would it be enough when the Koopa King removed the 500 total pounds of steel from his already powerful body? The thought made Bowser tingle in anticipation of the duel they would soon engage in.
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Mario and friends stopped their hike through the cave when the long tunnel opened into a large domed room with a pipe hanging down from the highest point of the ceiling. Luigi stood at the edge of the five or so-foot deep lake that filled the floor of the large chamber, pushing extra Fire Flower energy into his fireball to make it brighter so they could see the whole room. Some light came through the pipe in ceiling and as it reflected off the water, gave the room a very dim blue glow before Luigi's bright orange light overtook it. Sunnie's toe touched the water lightly as she stepped forward, sending a small ripple across perfectly still surface of the lake and causing a curved shadow to move along the walls and ceiling as the light was reflected from the water. From the yellow yoshi's back, Toad watched the silent light show in fascination, following the ripple and shadow to the other side of the lake where he saw an opening in the wall where the cave continued.
Mario hopped off Yoshi's back, his feet hitting the damp sandy floor with an echoing thud and the tools in his belt jingling, and stepped to the edge of the water to evaluate the situation. He looked up at the pipe in the ceiling and then the tunnel on the other side of the lake, scratching his mustache as he pondered.
"Do we swim over there and keep going in the cave, or get out of here through that pipe?" Luigi asked, making sure the flame stayed nice and bright.
Mario looked slightly concerned as he pondered the green pipe. "The breeze in here is coming from that pipe, I think." Mario said, still looking up and playing with his facial hair.
Luigi, Toad, Yoshi, and Sunnie all turned their attention to the air flow, which did seem to be coming from above more than from ahead. Toad suddenly realized what Mario was getting at and spoke up. "You mean that tunnel over there might not have an exit?" he said, leaning towards Mario while pointing across the lake.
Mario looked over at the mushroom midget. "Yeah." he said with an encouraging tone, slightly impressed that Toad caught on so fast. He looked back at the tunnel opening across the lake for a few moments then said, "I've got an idea." He turned to the large green yoshi standing behind him. "Yoshi, swim over there and see if there's an air current going down that tunnel, too."
The muscular dinosaur was apalled that Mario wouldn't do such an unpleasant task himself and gave the plumber an offended look.
Mario groaned. "Yoshi, if I swim over there I'll be soggy for hours. You're not wearing clothes, so you might as well go for a little swim." the plumber explained, though Yoshi wasn't convinced. He decided to try a more practical approach, and smacked dinosaur's blocky rear end with an echoing clap. "Git!"
Yoshi scowled back the persistent plumber, muttering angrily in yoshi-speech as he walked up to the edge of the lake. He dipped a foot the clear cave water and shuddered as it was quite cold. The large dinosaur paused for a deep breath to prepare for the temperature change, then crouched to hop into the lake. To his delight, he hit the icy-cold water with a huge splash that spritzed everyone on shore.
Mario glared playfully at the yoshi as it swam dog-style across the shimmering pool, wiping the water droplets from his face.
Yoshi paddled along quickly to the other side before the coldness of the water could sink in. He looked up as he passed under the pipe in the ceiling, and could see tree branches reaching over it. That made sense, he thought, noticing the tendrils of roots reaching down from all around the large green pipe. Eventually he came to the shore and climbed out, water streaming and then dripping from his smooth yoshi skin. He walked a few meters down the damp tunnel, which was totally pitch black as he had no light, then shivered as the cool cave breeze blew over his wet body.
Mario stepped forward as Yoshi reappeared from the cave. "Is there wind in there?" the plumber called out across the lake, causing many seconds of echo.
"Yoshi!" the green dinosaur called back, giving a thumbs-up.
Mario clapped his hands together. "Perfect." he said with smile. "There has to be an opening down there for air to flow through. This cave probably goes on straight like this for miles, with exit pipes all along it. That means we can go on in here and get out whenever we like." The plumber sat down on the cave floor and began removing his shoes to swim.
Toad followed Mario and Luigi's lead as they stripped off their clothes, fascinated by Mario's incredible expertise on what seemed to be everything. Soon the plumbers and the mushroom man were stark naked and Mario gathered everyone's clothes into a bundle, wrapping and tieing his shirt's sleeves, which were now their original red color instead of Fire Flower-enhanced white, around them to make a not-quite-round ball.
"Yoshi! Catch!" the stripped plumber called out to his dinosaur partner across the lake. He hurled the tightly packed bundle of clothes in a huge arc over the water with his powerful arm, landing it perfectly in Yoshi's hands. Toad watched the mini display of power, enchanted to no end by the plumber's strength and ability. Luigi picked his fireball up off the ground as his brother plopped into the water, then followed him in, carefully holding the burning orb above his head to keep it dry. Sunnie and Toad splashed in last, paralyzed momentarily as they hadn't anticipated the cold.
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Koopa troops gathered on the dry brown grass outside the huge, spike-topped walls of Bowser's dark castle, their weapons clattering as they murmured amongst themselves. Two long, flatbed wagons drawn by teams of four randomly colored yoshis rolled up from around the right and left of the castle, the crowd of 40 or so making way as they creaked to a halt infront of the vast front gate. Attention turned from the restlessly fidgeting dinosaurs to three short, chubby turtles wearing pilot goggles who floated out of the main gate on small, fluffy clouds. The hovering trio drifted up over the crowd, thier mysterious transportation giving off small wisps of white vapor which dissipated quickly as they lowered down at the front of the group. Bowser's thundering footsteps drew yet another attention shift as the massive turtle creature emerged from the main gate, following the Lakitu team.
"Koopa troop!" the king's booming voice announced. "Your assignment is to destroy Mario and his henchmen! Lakitu Partol Unit #5 will lead the way! Understood?"
All koopas struck perfect attention stances and saluted. "YES SIR!" The group of koopa troopas, half of whom sported spike-covered metal shells, hopped up on the creaky flatbed wagons, weaponry and armor clanging amid the sounds of voices and footsteps on the crunchy dead grass.
Once all were seated along the sides of the wagons, Bowser pointed out over the horizon of dark forest beaneath the conrtasting bright blue sky, rattling his heavy bracelets. "MOVE OUT!"
Whips cracked loudly above the yoshi teams as the Lakitu clouds drifted off into the hills of dry grass in the direction of Mushroom Kingdom, and soon the small army was rumbling along at high speed in roar of battle cries. Bowser watched the two wagons and three clouds until they vanished into the forest of gnarly thorn trees in the distance, then headed back inside to check up on his fiance.
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Peach sat with her arms crossed and eyes shut on the soft pink bed, irritated to no end by the eleven koopas chattering and clattering outside her door. The turtle troop was in the process of installing two new steel doors blocking the hallway on either side of Peach's door, under the direction of troopa #78.
Being by far the strongest of the group, Magma heaved the last heavy metal door upright and held it in place while his underlings bolted the hinges to the wall. Once securely attached, Magma opened and closed it and tested the lock. "Perfect! It doesn't even creak." he said aprovingly.
A green-shelled guard dropped his hammer looked at his watch. "Hey Mag, it's 12:46. Are we getting gypped out of lunch today or what?"
Magma hadn't realized they'd missed the usual lunch break while stuck guarding the princess, and once it was pointed out realized he was starved. "Good point, Slag. How 'bout running downstairs and grabbin' us some chow?" he asked, bending back as much as his shell would allow to stretch his back, still sore from Peach's stomp attack.
The green-shelled koopa recounted to make sure there would still be ten guards present if he left, then said "Sure" and walked over to the newly installed door.
As he reached for the handle, the door's lock snapped open, making him jump and pull his hand back. The door opened to reveal the giant koopa king, who looked down curiously at the relatively small turtle. The koopa guard quickly stepped sideways out of Bowser's way and bowed.
Bowser entered the sort of room created by the two doors in the rock-walled hall and examined the Magma and his team's work as the troop backed up against the wall in attention stance to avoid blocking the king's way. "Not bad, Magma." Bowser said, impressed as he played with the creak-less door. "Why don't you guys take a quick break." Bowser suggested as he walked with thumping footsteps to Peach's door. "I'll take over here for now. I have some things to discuss with my princess."
"Thank you, sir!" Magma said with a bow. "We'll return in ten minutes." he said, then headed for the door, followed by his ten cohorts in single file. As he passed the king, a strange figure came into view in the metal doorway. The dark figure had the snout of a koopa, but the rest of it's face was covered by thick eyeglasses and the hood of it's dark blue cloak. In the mysterious person's clawed hand was a long staff, tipped with a glowing star-shaped stone. Magma eyed the creature cautiously while passing it as it stood motionless like a statue in the middle of the large doorway. The line of ten green-shelled koopas behind Magma each took their turn suspiciously eyeing the cloaked figure as they too passed, keeping as much distance as possible from the peculiar stranger.
As Bowser unlocked Peach's heavy wooden door and walked in, the staff-weilding statue finally came to motion, following the king into the chamber and slamming the door without touching it.
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Smoke filled the air as Luigi lauched a fireball from his free hand, burning away a wall of spider webs that stretched from floor to ceiling. The large green yoshi he rode continued forward once the obstruction was gone, holding his breath as he passed through the smoke which smelled of charred silk. Riding behind Luigi was Mario, who sat backwards on the dinosaur's back out of boredom and watched the cave's scenery of earthy walls and hanging roots fade into the darkness behind them. Sunnie, with Toad in her saddle, walked alongside the larger green yoshi, staying as close as she could to Luigi's bright flame ball.
Toad looked around the shadowy surroundings, unchanging except for the occasional spider webs which stretched across the ceiling or dangled down, swaying in the cool cave breeze. Almost six hours had passed since he set out on the quest at Mario's side, and so far it seemed the mission wouldn't be as dangerous as he'd though. "How long will it be till we're at Bowser's castle?" the mushroom asked, having never been to the Koopa Kingdom before.
"If this tunnel goes on all the way to Koopa Kingdom, we can probably get there by tomorrow afternoon." Mario said, leaning on Luigi's back as he rode Yoshi facing the wrong direction, using the dinosaur's short, upright tail as a footrest. "That's if we camp out tonight." he added.
Toad nodded and gazed down the dark tunnel ahead, almost wishing something exciting would happen as after an hour of wakling in there it was becoming somewhat monotonous. Then again, the goomba battle earlier was pretty scary, he thought. As he relived the terrifying scene in his mind, a sudden, deep growling sound made his heart stop in fear.
Luigi put a hand on his stomach and blushed slightly at the gruesome sounds coming from it, though no-one could tell in the orange light of his fireball. "Heheh... Guess I should eat somethin', huh?" the plumber said with a bashful smile.
Toad tried not to show it as he restarted his heart, exhaling the breath he was holding in panic. "Y-yeah." he said as casually as possible.
After a long moment of silent walking, a horrifying realization came to Mario's mind and he froze.
Luigi looked over his shoulder when the plumber leaning on him felt as though he had turned to stone. "You okay, bro?"
Mario's eyes were circular as he thought back to when they stopped at the house for a bath, and when they stripped to cross the lake. Something was missing from that heap of clothing and he finally realized what it was. "I left the food we packed at the house." he said flatly without moving.
Luigi, Toad, and Sunnie all became equally paralyzed with equally circular eyes. Yoshi stopped walking and gaped at the plumber's mindlessness, though he hadn't expected to eat any of the packed food anyway since there'd be plenty of enemies to gobble along the way.
Luigi broke the paralysis and spin-jumped to stand on Yoshi's back, facing his brother. "YOU FORGOT THE FOOD?!" he said, squeezing his fireball light source till exploded with a bang, leaving the group blinded by total darkness.
Mario's head ducked down until he had no neck as Luigi's outburst echoed through the blackness. He was too ashamed to reply and sincerely wished Luigi couldn't make another fireball, so he wouldn't have to bear the embarrasment of being seen again. To his dismay a new fireball formed in his brother's hand with a hiss of combustion and all were staring at him.
Luigi's glare was cold and hard as granite; he was too mad to say anything.
Toad stared with saucer eyes, half terrified of starvation, half devistated by the realization that his life-long idol wasn't nearly as perfect as he seemed.
Sunnie was just plain scared and Yoshi was embarrassed to have such an idiot riding on him.
Mario just sat crumpled up and sulked for a while until Toad broke his silence.
"A-a-are we gonna... starve to death... Mario?" he asked, truly concerned.
"Well... no..." Mario said, then seemed to relax a bit. "We can still get food from nature..."
Toad and Sunnie were quite relieved to hear that though Luigi was still furious.
Mario regained his cool most of the way and sat up straight again. "Well then, I guess we better get outta here first chance we get and look for food outside. I'm getting pretty hungry too."
"But what if we get caught by the Koopas??" Toad asked worriedly.
"It's a risk we've gotta take." Mario said. "Don't worry, me and Luigi usually have to travel outside the whole way when saving Peach anyway. It's almost a routine to us now."
Finally relaxed enough to unclench his fists, Luigi took a calming breath and sat back down on Yoshi's back. The group set off down the tunnel once more, at a faster pace than before, hoping the next exit pipe wasn't too far off.
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End of Part 4.
Fanfiction by LavaLizard
Mario Bros and it's related material copyright by Nintendo.