Chapter 10:
Luca and Mia rushed through the forest, following the trail back to the S.S. Seasprite as quickly as they could. As they made their way through the forest, though, they constantly glanced back to see if the Koopas were pursuing them. The last thing they wanted was to be caught off guard by a squad of Koopatrols or Hammer Bros. So far, though, they seemed to be free and clear. As such, they continued on their trek back to the ship, stopping only to catch their breath and take a drink of water.
Not too long into their trek, they heard the familiar sound of a magical broomstick off in the distance and they came to a screeching halt. They then threw themselves into the dense jungle brush in order to avoid detection by whoever had found them. They peered through the openings and found a Magikoopa ride over the scene. They suppressed a curse as they realized that the fighting was not over yet. Mia quickly went to check on her inventory and found that she only had three Thunder Rages left. Looking over at Luca, she held up three fingers, signifying her remaining Thunder Rages. That would be well and good if the Koopas did not have any defenses up and if they were all bunched together. If they were more spread out and simply used their aerial mobility to fire from range, though, then this could become a long running battle. Still, they were low enough to the ground that they could crawl along it for a while and hopefully avoid detection.
As they began to crawl along the ground, they heard strange sounds coming from above. Turning to look up, they saw the Magikoopas casting magical spells onto rocks, trees, and other formations, as if they were trying to flush them out. The duo smiled and continued to crawl, as quickly as possible, even standing up a bit to increase their speed. As they continued to move, they quickly spotted several Hammer Bros. sitting on gray blocks with small wings that kept them aloft hovering above the scene. They looked down but did not spot the humans, nor were they joining in the attempt to flush out the humans by tossing hammers down into the jungle. They suspected that the Hammer Bros. must not have wanted to give the humans any extra ammunition. Still, there was something strange about what was going on. The Hammer Bros. and Koopatrols that were with them seemed to be waiting for something rather than actually searching for the humans. What did they know that the Marios did not?
Their questions were answered when a gray spike Koopa shell came as if from nowhere and rocketed straight towards them. The shell struck Mia in the leg and she gave a loud cry as she felt the bones in her leg break.
"Watch out!" she managed to cry out in warning despite the pain.
Luca barely managed to avoid his attacker, diving out of the way of the shell and drawing his laser pistol. The shell stopped a few meters away and the Koopatrol quickly emerged from it wielding a spear. He quickly noticed, though, that this Koopatrol looked a little different from the others that he had seen. This one had a blank look on its face, as if it was little more than a robot following its programming. Luca quickly put it down as he shot it with a laser blast. Three more shells came for Mia, one of them hitting her in the chest, the crack of her ribs echoing through the forest as she suppressed a cry while the other two stopped, the Koopatrols coming back out, armed with spears. They were quickly joined by a Hammer Bro. who jumped down from above, tossing a hammer at Luca, forcing the human to deal with him, rather than with the Koopatrols attacking his wife. The hammer struck his gun hand, knocking the gun out of his hand and possibly breaking it as pain shot through his arm. Looking back at the Hammer Bro., he noticed the same blank look on its face that he did the Koopatrol.
As for Mia, she was in bad shape with her broken leg and ribs, along with the spikes having managed to pierce the flesh on her chest. She knew that if she did not do something quickly, infection could set in. Seeing that she would not last long in this condition, and that her husband was having troubles of his own, she drew out a Thunder Rage and placed it above her head as the Koopatrols came at her. As soon as she let go of the lightning bolt, lightning began to rain down upon the Koopatrols and the Hammer Bro. The Koopas did not stand a chance against the rain of lightning. Each one was struck by a powerful lightning bolt that fried them to a crisp. As the Koopas died, though, the humans noticed that none of them had looks of pain or shock on their faces. In fact, none of them even tried to evade the lightning; they just kept coming at the Marios. After a few seconds, the lightning rain was complete and the Koopas were all reduced to ashes and dust.
With this group of Koopas having been dealt with, Mia took the time to get out a Super Shroom and eat it. The moment she ate the mushroom, she heard her ribs and the bones in her leg knit. She also saw the wounds on her chest close. The pain immediately vanished as she was completely healed, though still a little tired from the fighting. She then got out a Tasty Tonic and drank it to cure herself of any potential infection that may have entered her body while she had been wounded. Once she was healed, she quickly rose and gave her husband a Super Shroom for his hand. Luca accepted the mushroom and ate it quickly. The pain in his hand promptly vanished and he felt as good as new. He felt more refreshed than Mia since he had not suffered nearly as much injury as she had.
"Come on," Mia told him, helping him up. "We have to make a run for it. There's no use hiding anymore. They must have found us by now."
Luca agreed and did followed Mia closely, each of them keeping a close eye on their surroundings to make sure that they were not ambushed by any more Koopas. Sure enough, their suppositions were not wrong.
Looking down upon the forest from high above, Kammy and the Hammer Bros. stared down at the forest as the other Magikoopas were using their spells to transform rocks and tree branches into zombie-like Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros. and even Koopatrols. These Koopas were like robots, being programmed to serve Kammy and her forces. Since they lacked minds and souls, and thus, did not have any ingenuity, they were easier to defeat in combat than real Koopas. However, they made up for their lack of ingenuity with numbers and the driving force of the Magikoopas' will that would not deter them. And best of all, they were not truly living Koopas so they were easily expendable.
Not too far away, lightning rained down upon the forest, burning trees and leaves and likely striking several of their newly created Koopas. Kammy grinned as she saw the lightning rain down on the expendable for lack of a better term, zombie Koopas. She had known that the Koopas would be able to travel faster in the forest if they tucked into their shells and plowed ahead. This would force the humans to use their items to fight them off, thus revealing their location while also forcing them to expend more of their essential weapons and healing items. She had no issues sacrificing these expendable zombie Koopas if it meant killing the humans and possibly the Yoshis in the village. She would avenge Kamek's greatest defeat, as well as the loss of the airship on her watch. If the humans and Yoshis were dead, she could explain the other losses to Morton and Kamek. If they survived, though, then she would be in trouble. Still, she knew that she still had the edge. She watched as the Magikoopas created more zombie Koopas, this time merely being Koopa Troopas.
As soon as a new force was created, she raised her wand and pointed it in the direction of the lightning and cried, "Forward!"
The zombie Koopas obeyed and immediately tucked into their shells. Their shells then spun around and they soon rocketed after the humans. As they did so, Kammy looked on, knowing that she eventually, she and the others would wear down the humans through simple force of numbers. Now, all she had to do was wait until the humans were either dead, or had expended all of their weaponry and would be vulnerable to attack by her non-expendable forces.
Back on the ground, Luca and Mia continued to make their way through the forest and get back to the main trail that would take them back to the S.S Seasprite as fast as they could. They knew that the Thunder Rage's lightning barrage would light up their location to anyone who was looking for them so they wanted to be as far away from that location as possible when the enemy arrived to check out the area. While they made their way through the jungle and the brush, they constantly glanced around their surroundings for any signs of Koopas or other enemies such as Piranha Plants and Bandits. They also kept their ears open, knowing that the brush could possibly conceal any approaching Koopa. Luca kept his laser pistol at the ready but even he was beginning to grow concerned. He knew that he was expending the battery of the weapon and soon, he would have to take as much care about conserving ammunition as Mia was with her own weapon.
"Any sign of them?" Luca called back to his wife as they continued on the path.
Mia glanced around and watched and also listened for any sign of pursuit. "So far, no," she answered.
That gave Luca no comfort. Mia's expression showed that she echoed her husband's sentiments. The last batch of Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. really concerned them since they could tell that there was something wrong with them. For a moment, they wondered if they had suffered from an illness of some sort. The island's tropical climate meant that more microbes could have lived in the various animals and plants and if they had come into contact with any of them, then they could have gotten infected. Still, that seemed a little farfetched for them. Besides, it was not so much that they moved more slowly, it was that they did not really think about how to attack them. The Koopas seemed to be acting on instinct alone, almost as if their minds and souls had been missing. Suddenly, a thought came to them.
"Luca, we may have a big problem here," Mia began with a tone of concern.
"Just one?"
"This one's big," she answered, her voice trailing off. "I'm worried that the Koopa magicians are transforming items and objects into a zombie Koopa army to hunt us down. That's the only explanation I can think of for the strange behavior of the Koopas and the fact that they did not seem to feel any pain as the Thunder Rage rained lightning down on them."
Luca considered his wife's theory and he frowned, not because he believed it was stupid, just the opposite. He was concerned that she was, indeed, correct. "If that's the case, then we will have a long running battle on our hands unless we chase down those Magikoopas and force an engagement with them right now."
Mia nodded apprehensively. They both knew that that was what Kammy and the survivors of the airship wanted the most. They had exhausted a number of their supplies in the fights onboard the airship and would almost certainly exhaust remaining Thunder Rages in a battle against them right now. Checking their inventory, they saw that they only had two Thunder Rages left and two Ice Storms. They were also down to three Super Shrooms, so they knew that they would have to be careful in the next battle and conserve their items.
The next battle took place sooner than the Marios expected when they heard a rustling from the bushes not too far behind them. The rustling got louder and louder and eventually, Luca got the idea to fire off a couple of shots from his laser pistol off into the distance. The laser shots burned through the leafy brush and likely hit at least one of their attackers, for at least six yellow Koopa shells came spinning towards them. There was an opening in the center of the line, though, and Luca quickly found that opening, with Mia crowding in right behind, allowing the Koopas to sail by.
Once they had gone by, Luca took quick aim with his laser pistol and each Koopa once. Each blast was sufficient to destroy a Koopa, even though they were tucked inside their shells at the time. With this wave of Koopas having been destroyed, Luca grabbed Mia's wrist and pulled her along, exclaiming, "Time to go."
Mia heartily agreed and reached into her sack, grabbing one of the two remaining Thunder Rages, knowing that they would soon be needed. As they continued down the game trail, they quickly came upon the main trail that would lead them back to the ship. However, they recognized a stone that they had seen and realized that the trail would take them to Yoshi Village. The last thing they wanted was to lead the Koopas to Yoshi Village, but they knew that they would have little choice if they wanted to either get through this battle or get to the ship in time.
As they continued, they saw several more Koopa shells whiz past them. Unlike the other shells, though, these did not stop and turn to engage them when they made their way past them. Instead, they simply continued down the trail. Soon, two more Koopa shells spun past them. Then another couple made their way past, and another couple. Suddenly, the Marios realized what was going on. They were not the only targets of the Koopas. Remembering what the green Yoshi had told them and how the Yoshis had rescued the babies from Kamek, they realized that the Koopas were also planning on getting revenge on the Yoshis by attacking their village. Without the airship to destroy the village from the air, it would fall to the vast hordes of zombie Koopas to overwhelm the Yoshis.
The Marios then picked up their pace so they could reach the Yoshi Village and help the Yoshis, assuming that the village was, indeed, the destination of the other Koopas. More than just helping the Yoshis, their joining the Yoshis would allow them to present a united front against the Koopas and hopefully allow them to defeat the Koopas.
Meanwhile, Kammy was hovering above the forest, watching the humans head over to the Yoshi Village. She grinned at the sight. "Excellent," she stated in a sinister tone. "They're heading to the Yoshi Village. Soon, we'll have them."
She then prepared to order her Magikoopas and the Hammer Bros. forward when the jewel on her wand suddenly lit up. She scowled. Someone was trying to contact her. She sighed and swished her wand in the air to activate it. Suddenly the face of Kamek appeared in the jewel, surprising Kammy.
"Kamek, what is it? I was not expecting you to contact me. Is something wrong?" she asked nervously. It was not like Kamek to make unannounced calls like this.
"Not really," Kamek answered. "I just called to inform you that I have captured one of the babies once again. I'm taking him to Egg Island since that's the place Prince Bowser has chosen to be his new vacation home. How is everything going with you?"
This was it. She could not dare lie to Kamek, yet it was on her watch that an airship was destroyed with nearly all hands. Not only that, but the Mario babies' parents were still alive and while she had them on the run, their deaths were far from assured.
"Kammy, are you okay? What's wrong?" Kamek asked, his expression darkening.
"I'm alive, but things are looking bleak."
"What about the parents?" Kamek interrupted. "Are they dead yet?"
"Not yet," Kammy sighed in resignation.
She could hear Kamek give a growling sigh. "Well do it soon. Then bring the airship to Egg Island. I'll need as many soldiers as possible if I'm to find the older baby while watching over Bowser, too."
"That may be a problem," Kammy began nervously.
Kamek's eyes narrowed as he glared at her. "Why's that?"
Kammy sighed before answering, "Because the airship has been destroyed."
"What?" Kamek blurted in shock. "How?"
"The humans made an escape and damaged the airship in the process. They detonated our supply of mini-Bob-ombs and used a Thunder Rage to destroy the main rotor."
"Is the airship salvageable?"
Kammy shook her head. "The airship crashed into the ocean. The initial explosions tore a hole large enough that it could not land on the ocean without taking in water. It has since sunk."
She could hear Kamek's disapproving growl. "This won't go over well with Morton," he stated plainly. Kammy knew that, of course. And chances were that Kamek and the others would blame her for the loss of the airship. "What is the status of the humans at the moment?"
"The survivors and I have spotted them in the jungles of the island," Kammy answered. "They are headed towards Yoshi's Island as we speak. The surviving Magikoopas have already created an army of zombie Koopas to kill them as well as destroy the Yoshi Village. We will at least avenge your loss at their hands."
"You'd better," Kamek warned. "If this operation ends with us losing an airship and us having the very real possibility of having to face the humans as well, then we'll be in a lot of trouble."
What was not said but implied by his expression was that Kamek would most certainly throw Kammy under the bus in order to ensure that he was not killed. She knew that Kamek had his own goals and that these setbacks were hurting them. As such, she decided that it would be best to just make sure that the humans at the very least were killed, and if the Yoshis were killed as well, all the better. "Will there be anything else, Lord Kamek?" the female Magikoopa asked.
"Just make sure that the Mario parents die," were Kamek's only orders.
"I will," Kammy answered just before Kamek shut off the signal.
Once the wand went dark, Kammy sighed once more, but not of real relief. She was not doomed yet but if she failed to kill the Mario parents, she would be in severe trouble. Now her only goal was the death of the Marios. She quickly turned back to the others and yelled, "All forces fall in."
The Magikoopas fell in line, along with the Hammer Bros. and the remaining Koopatrols on their flying blocks. "We attack the humans now!" Kammy commanded, pointing her wand forward. "Send in all of the zombie Koopas that you have made. The only goal is the death of the humans. Any Yoshis that die will merely be icing on the cake."
"Yes ma'am," the others answered in unison. Then, as one, the force of Koopas surged forward towards the Yoshi Village in the hopes of intercepting Luca and Mia.
Meanwhile, the husband and wife duo were having their own problems stemming the tide of zombie Koopas spinning towards Yoshi Village. Luca continuously shot as many zombie Koopas as he could, constantly checking on the battery level of his pistol. So far, it was not running too low, but it was getting precariously close to only being at half charge. He knew that if the tide of faux Koopas did not stop, he would soon start having to conserve ammunition just as Mia was. Still, there seemed to be no end in sight for the flood of Koopas that were coming towards them and Yoshi Village.
Seeing that they had little chance of stemming the tide here, the Marios quickly began running along the trail towards Yoshi Village, hoping to reach the village before it was overrun. As they continued to travel, they glanced back and saw several Hammer Bros. riding flying blocks along with a couple of Magikoopas above them raining down bolts of magic in the form of geometric shapes. Once a bolt of magic struck a rock, the rock immediately transformed into a Koopa Troopa, a spiky rock-like creature that jumped into the air and slowly made its way towards the village called a Thwimp, a Monty Mole, or even an enemy that resembled a small brown mushroom called a Goomba. Each of these enemies had the same blank looks that the Koopas did, so the Marios knew that the only thing on their mind would be their death and the destruction of Yoshi Village.
They followed the trail until it came to Yoshi Village. Once they arrived at the outskirts of the village, they could already hear the sounds of fighting inside the village. Looking back, they saw more zombie Koopas flooding towards the village. Seeing the vast number of Koopas surging towards the entrance, as well as listening to the sounds of fighting coming from within the village, they knew that they had to do something fast. If these reinforcements arrived, the Yoshis would be overwhelmed. The Marios knew what they had to do.
Mia pulled out one of her two remaining Thunder Rages and held it above her head. Letting it go, it floated above her and then vanished. After vanishing, a stream of lightning bolts rained down upon the zombie Koopas that were surging towards the village. The Koopas were instantly destroyed and reduced to ashes and what looked to be charred skeletons. Each Koopa that surged into the area of the Thunder Rage's effect was instantly destroyed as if they had run right into an electric perimeter. Looking into the village, they saw that some of the electric rain had struck enemies inside the village. They also noticed that the sounds of fighting were lessening and after a few more seconds, they had stopped.
With the Koopas having been destroyed, the Marios made their way to check on the situation. Inside, they saw a group of about a dozen Yoshis huddled close together, eggs bouncing at their sides. They looked to be in pretty ragged condition but they did not seem to be too seriously hurt. Many of them were panting, though, indicating that they were becoming fatigued. The Marios soon noticed the green Yoshi standing out in front with six eggs trailing him. He seemed to be fresher than the others. He was likely more experienced in fighting than they were. Seeing the humans, the green Yoshi went over to them and asked, "Was that you?" They guessed that he was talking about the Thunder Rage that must have cleared out more Koopas than they had anticipated.
The humans nodded.
"Thank you," Yoshi told them, bowing. "We owe you a great deal."
"We're not out of the woods yet. There were more Koopas coming," Luca told them. "We managed to take care of that wave, but I don't know how many more are going to attack."
"Then let me answer your question," cackled the familiar voice of Kammy from above. The humans and Yoshis turned to face her and they saw that she was being flanked by four Magikoopas. Behind her were three Hammer Bros. standing on floating blocks. Standing next to the Bros. on the blocks were Koopatrols. There were four Koopatrols in total, the lead block holding two of them, for a total of twelve enemies. The Magikoopas then rained down more magical bolts on debris inside the village, creating more Koopas, as well as a couple of Koopatrols. The Koopatrols then jumped down from their blocks, deftly landing on the ground. Each of the normal Koopatrols was armed with a spear and they held it out, pointing them towards the humans and Yoshis.
"What are you going to do now?" Kammy cackled. "You're outnumbered and almost certainly running low on supplies. If I remember correctly, you only have one Thunder Rage left, but it won't kill us all and you'll still have to deal with me and my Magikoopas. So what now?"
The Marios gritted their teeth. How had Kammy learned of the number of Thunder Rages that they had carried? Surely if she had known that they were armed with such items to begin with, they would have had their sacks confiscated before being taken onboard the airship. They soon figured that Kammy must have used some form of telepathy or magical scan to ascertain their arsenal. They stopped thinking about their arsenal at that moment and merely focused on protecting the Yoshis and hoping to get out of this fight alive. Huddling in close to the Yoshis, they told them, "Stay together."
As the other Koopas began their approach, the Hammer Bros. and Kammy floated up a bit and backed off. It was clear that they were using the others as shields and sponges for the attacks that the humans and Yoshis would unleash. All they had to do was wait for the Marios and Yoshis to exhaust their ammunition and then they could strike with impunity.
Sure enough, the Marios did just what they had expected. When the Koopas surged towards them, it was clear that they greatly outnumbered the Marios and Yoshis. Taking out her last Thunder Rage, Mia held it above her head and released it. The bolt of lightning promptly vanished and soon, a storm of lightning rained down upon the Koopas, and only the Koopas. None of the lightning bolts came anywhere close to striking the Yoshis or the ground close to them where they could still feel the effects of the electricity. As before, the Koopas were instantly fried to a crisp, the metal armor of the Koopatrols being more of a liability than an asset as they were easy targets for the lightning. After the storm was over, all of the Koopas in that wave had been destroyed, leaving only Kammy, her Magikoopas, the Hammer Bros., and another wave of Koopas that had been created below them during the lightning storm.
"That's it. I'm out," Mia alerted Luca.
Luca glanced back over to her and nodded. He did not want Kammy to scan them to ascertain what else they may have on them besides their normal weapons, but he also wanted her to know that she should not be too worried yet. As for Kammy, all she did was cackle.
"Now's the time," she cried, pointing her wand down at the group. "Go!"
The Koopas did as she bade. While the Koopas surged forward to attack, along with the Hammer Bros. to provide air support, Kammy and the Magikoopas stayed back to provide cover from outside of attack range. The last thing they wanted was to get smacked by a Yoshi egg.
The fighting began when the lead Green Yoshi targeted a Hammer Bro. on one of the flying blocks. The egg was launched by the Yoshi and rocketed towards the Hammer Bro. before he could respond with a toss of a hammer or an evasive maneuver. The egg struck him in the head and knocked him off the block, where he fell to the ground, either dead or dying. The fall made his final fate certain as the crack of bones could be heard as he landed headfirst.
The other Yoshis quickly joined the fight as they launched a volley of eggs on the ground enemies. The zombie Koopas struck by the eggs were quickly defeated, most of them either dying of falling to the ground unconscious and having suffered severe injury. Luca and Mia also joined in the fighting, Luca shooting the onrushing Koopas with his laser pistol while Mia grabbed any hammers from the Hammer Bros. that landed close to her, either tossing them into the fray or back up at the Hammer Bros. She even managed to fell one Hammer Bro. that had tossed a hammer down at her with his own hammer. The remaining Hammer Bro.'s eyes went wide at the sight of his comrade being taken down and, after ducking an egg thrown at him by a Yoshi, decided that discretion was the better part of valor and retreated out of range of the Yoshis' attacks.
Meanwhile, the Marios and Yoshis continued to fight off the wave of undead Koopas surging towards them. With the remaining normal Hammer Bro. staying away from the fighting, the Magikoopas began transforming the remaining stones and debris into stronger enemies such as Koopatrols and Hammer Bros. However, this posed another problem since the Yoshis could use their tongues to grab the Hammer Bros.'s hammers and spit them back at them. Many zombie Hammer Bros. fell to the Yoshis in this way. Many more also fell to the volley of fire unleashed on them by Luca, as well as the hammer volley that Mia was hurling their way, for their hammers were littering the ground, giving the humans more and more ammunition. In fact, when Luca saw that his charge was beginning to get a little low, he decided to conserve his ammunition, putting away his laser pistol and grabbing some more hammers to toss at the onrushing opponents.
Despite the courageous fight, though, the group was still outnumbered by the onrushing enemy Koopa force, though with the dwindling amount of debris, the Magikoopas were having a hard time finding resources for creating more zombie Koopas. This gave the humans and Yoshis hope and they decided to press their advantage by taking some potshots at the Magikoopas. The lead green Yoshi drew a bead on the closest of the Magikoopas and launched an egg his way. The Magikoopa was too distracted trying to draw a bead on Luca and Mia that he missed the egg coming at him until it was too late. When he did notice the egg, he tried to go evasive but he failed and the egg merely struck him in the head, knocking him off his broom and down to the ground over thirty feet below, ending his illustrious career. That left only three Magikoopas, not counting Kammy.
The others saw this and realized that they were not far enough away to avoid being hit by the Yoshis' eggs. They also began to worry about the potential for Luca to draw out his laser pistol once more and go right after them directly. As such, they retreated even further away from the fighting. They also examined the scene and saw that they had run out of debris for creating zombie Koopas. That meant that the final wave that was crashing into the humans and Koopas would be the last. Kammy saw this too and grimaced. She did not like the very real prospect that she could fail to wipe out the village. However, she knew that it was a possibility so she decided that her best course of action would be to try and accomplish her primary objective. After all, she had already lost so much that if she failed to kill the humans, she could potentially be executed for gross incompetence. As such, she decided that her best bet would be to focus solely on the humans. Everything else was secondary.
She then raised her wand and cried, "The humans, focus on the humans!"
The others turned to her and nodded. The Magikoopas and surviving Hammer Bro. then formed a line in front of her and they rained down bolts of magic onto the positions occupied by the humans while they continued to fight off wave after wave of zombie Koopas. The geometrically shaped bolts of magic left their wand and traveled down towards the humans. However, the relatively slow travel of the bolts allowed the Marios to easily evade them while they focused on dealing with more zombie Koopas, a volley of hammers taking down several more Koopas, destroying them.
Kammy and the Magikoopas grimaced, but that only served to mask their concern. The last thing they wanted to do was to get closer to the Marios and Yoshis and risk getting tagged either by a hammer or an egg. Still, they knew that they were useless where they were and that the group below was tearing through the final waves of zombie Koopas. Even those that were getting close were getting devoured and either spit back out as volleys of fireballs that incinerated lines of Koopas, or were being turned into eggs that were being launched against other Koopas or even them.
In the end, they realized that they had to risk it and get closer if they were going to kill the humans. While none of them had the intimate knowledge of what the children of the humans could become if raised by their parents, the last thing they wanted Kamek to have to worry about was having the parents come after their children. As such, they got closer and began raining down bolts of magic onto the humans and even some Yoshis. One Yoshi had just swallowed a zombie Koopa with a red shell and was looking up as he spit it out in the form of three fireballs with eyes. This forced the Magikoopas to raise shields over themselves in order to protect themselves from the attack. While the fireballs failed to hurt the Magikoopas, they did collapse the shield and give the humans an opening to launch an attack of their own, one which Luca was quick to take advantage of.
Luca, seeing the fireballs collapse the Magikoopas' shield, tool out one of his two Ice Storms. Holding the blue snowflake in front of him, he then let it go, where it disappeared. Kammy saw this out of the corner of her eye and realized what was coming, huddling inside her robes. The others, however, had not been as observant, having to dodge or intercept a volley of eggs coming their way. The magical bolts managed to shoot down the eggs, transforming them into more zombie Koopas, but that did the Magikoopas and Kammy little good as suddenly, a gust of icy wind came their way, accompanied by snowflakes.
Kammy quickly retreated behind the line of Magikoopas, using them as shields so that she would not take the brunt of the damage. The icy winds buffeted the Magikoopas and the accompanying icy snowflakes froze two of the Magikoopas solid. The frozen Magikoopas promptly fell out of the sky where they hit the ground and shattered. One of the other remaining Magikoopas was not frozen but had sustained fatal damage from the attack and fell. The Hammer Bro., however, was not killed but the floating block had been frozen and it fell from the sky, bringing the Hammer Bro. with it. It struck the ground but did not shatter, though the impact was enough to stun the Hammer Bro., who was finished off when a shell came rushing towards him, barreling into it, knocking him aside. As for Kammy, she was not fatally injured, nor was she frozen solid, but she did suffer damage and was shivering inside her robes. She was almost certain that she had caught a cold. However, the Ice Storm did not just take out the Magikoopas and Hammer Bro. It also did far more devastating damage to the zombie Koopas.
On the ground, the effects of the Ice Storm were even more deadly, though that was mainly due to the fact that the Koopas on the ground were weaker than the Koopas in the air. However, it had still done its job as the Ice Storm had unleashed a blizzard upon the zombie Koopas. The zombie Koopas, not having any real intelligence, simply kept rushing towards the humans and right into the blizzard of ice and snow. This resulted in them being frozen rock solid, with most being shattered when one of the Yoshis tossed an egg at the massive ice block, shattering it. The few remaining zombie Koopas were quickly dispatched by a volley of hammers and eggs launched by the humans and Yoshis. After a few seconds, the only survivor was Kammy, who now had to face two humans and a dozen Yoshis.
In the sky, Kammy noticed that she was beginning to drift lower and lower, as she was still feeling the effects of the Ice Storm. She was thankful that she had managed to avoid the worst of it, even if it cost her her Magikoopa escort. Once she felt as if she could emerge from her robes, she did so, just to see the massive ice block be shattered by a Yoshi egg, along with most of the remaining zombie Koopas.
After witnessing the rest of the zombie Koopas get dispatched with contemptuous ease, she realized that things were looking bleak. She now had two options: one, attempt to fight the humans and hope that she managed to kill them before being killed by the Yoshis. Studying them, she found that to be an unlikely outcome, for while the humans were looking winded and looked to have a few bruises from the fighting, they were far from dead and she was currently on her last legs and nowhere close to full strength. And that was before taking into account the Yoshis defending them. No, there was no way that she would be able to take down the humans at this point. The other option she had was to flee and make her report to Morton. This was by far the better option. Without any other survivors to contradict her story, she could make up a story that painted her in the best light despite the losses sustained. There were still issues with this, particularly if Morton decided to scan her while she gave her story. Besides, she would also have to report to Kamek, if for no other reason than to let him know what would soon be coming his way. She greatly preferred that option. As such, she wasted no time rising into the air and rocketing off into the distance. Still, she could no resist getting in one last statement.
"Mark my words, I will have my revenge one day!" she screeched as she fled. The Marios and Yoshis made no retort as she retreated out of sight and fled the island. They merely sat back and took a moment to relax.
With the battle over, Luca and Mia quickly took stock of their situation once more. They went over to a bench to rest, each of them grunting as they slowly sat down, the aches and pains of the fighting beginning to make themselves known. The couple then took out a couple of Super Shrooms and ate them. The moment they did so, a wave of refreshment washed over them and they felt as good as new. They then stood up and checked the time. They still had a half hour left so they knew that they still had a chance to make it to the boat.
As they were preparing to leave, the green Yoshi and a few others came over to them and stood before them, smiling. He then handed the humans two package of cookies and said, "We thank you for helping us against the Koopas. Take this as a small gift of our thanks."
The humans accepted the packages but then told the Yoshis, "It's we who should be thanking you. Without you, we never would have defeated the Kammy and her minions."
The Yoshis were a little confused at first but still smiled. "If there's anything we can do for you, tell us. At least let us have a feast in your honor," the green Yoshi offered.
"We'd love to stay but we have to continue the search for our children," Mia explained, giving a wistful smile. "To do so we have to get back to the cruise ship at the harbor before six o'clock. Even if we leave now, there's no guarantee that we'll make it back in time."
The green Yoshi looked over at a red Yoshi and they both nodded and smiled before turning back to the humans and telling them, "Hop on." They then turned to their sides, revealing their saddles and lowering themselves so the humans could mount them. "We could definitely get you back to your ship in plenty of time."
The Marios went over to the two Yoshis and Luca mounted the green Yoshi while Mia mounted the red one. Once they were on the Yoshis, the Yoshis told the Marios, "Hold on." The Marios nodded and gripped the reins as the Yoshis sped off into the forest, following the trail that would lead them back to the ship.
The trek through the forest was free of any real incident. A few Bandits and Dayzees came out of the jungle to try to accost the humans and Yoshis, but they were quickly eaten by the Yoshis and transformed into eggs. Other than that, no other enemies dared to attack the humans and Yoshis.
After a while, the group eventually made it back to the docks. The Marios could see the S.S. Seasprite off in the distance and they examined it. It looked as if passengers were still boarding. Checking the time, they saw that they still had a few minutes to spare. They told the Yoshis, "That's our ship."
The Yoshis stopped and let them down. The humans dismounted the dinosaurs and before heading over to the ship, they turned back to the Yoshis and told them, "Thank you for everything you've done, both for us and for our children. If there's any way we can repay you, please tell us."
"You already did when you took down that airship and helped us fight that Magikoopa crone," the green Yoshi answered.
The red Yoshi nodded in agreement. "Good luck finding your children," they wished as they waved to the humans.
"Thank you," the Marios answered, waving back. The Yoshis then made their way back to their village while the Marios made their way over to the Seasprite.
As they neared the ship, they heard a Toad shout from the ship, "All aboard?"
This was bad. Checking his watch, Luca saw that they still had a few minutes to spare. Their thoughts began to turn a little darker as they began to worry that the ship was actively trying to leave them behind.
"Wait!" Luca called to the ship.
The Toad at the bottom of the ramp heard Luca's cry and saw the two humans rushing towards the ship. He turned back to the captain at the top of the ramp and bellowed, "Wait, sir, we've got two more."
The captain looked out over the railing of the ship and saw the two humans running as fast as they could to reach the ship. The captain gave them a sigh and activated a hand radio, saying, "Hold up. We've got two more coming in. But be ready. I want to leave the moment they're onboard."
A chorus of affirmatives greeted the captain as he waited for the humans to come. As they arrived, he eyed them suspiciously. He had heard rumors that they were wanted by King Lactarius but he did not exactly know why he wanted the humans so badly, assuming that the rumors were true. The last thing he wanted was to be drawn into a feud or any political games. However, he also did not want to bring any danger to the ship, either. Still, since the humans had arrived in time, he decided that it was best to let them onboard without contest.
As for the Marios, once they approached the boarding ramp, they presented their tickets to the Toad at the bottom of the ramp. The Toad came forward and examined the tickets. Seeing that they were legitimate, and checking the passenger manifest, and seeing that their names and faces matched those on the manifest, he said, "Welcome onboard the S.S. Seasprite. We're heading directly back to Toad Town. Your room is Number 204. Please enjoy your stay. We should arrive back in Toad Town in a few hours."
The Marios thanked the Toad and proceeded to board the ship and make their way to their room. Once they entered the room, they made their way into the bedroom and plopped down on the bed, wanting to sleep for at least a few hours. Despite the Super Shrooms having healed them of their bumps and bruises, they were still exhausted from the fighting and felt that a good night's sleep was just what they needed. As they went to sleep, they did not hear the ship's horn as it signaled that it was departing Yoshi's Island and heading back to Toad Town.
Meanwhile, in the command cabin, the ship's captain looked over some sheets while listening to the news in the background. There, he heard mention of two humans, a male and female, who were wanted for questioning in connection with the kidnapping of two babies. When he heard this, he remembered a news report from earlier in the day where there was the suspicion that two humans were searching for some babies. Remembering the two humans that boarded the ship at the last minute, the captain got up and went over to the phone. He then picked up the receiver and dialed the emergency number. After a few rings someone picked up and he heard a voice say, "This is the Toad Guard Response Line, who is this and how may we be of assistance?"
"This is Captain Toadshroom of the S.S. Seasprite," the captain began. "I heard that you were looking for a human couple in connection with the kidnapping of two babies. Well, I think I've spotted them."
"The babies or the humans?" the voice asked.
"The humans," the captain answered.
"Thank you. When will you be arriving?"
"At approximately twelve midnight," the captain answered. "We're hurrying back as quickly and safely as possible."
"We'll be ready for them," the voice answered.
The captain then hung up the phone and went back to work, no one the wiser of what was about to happen in Toad Town.
The rest of the journey back to Toad Town passed without incident for the Marios. They awoke at around eleven at night and glanced outside the window, looking at the stars in the sky. They knew that it would not be long before they arrived back in Toad Town so they then each took showers, got dressed, and went up on deck to wait for the ship to arrive back in Toad Town.
After about forty-five minutes, the Toad Town docks were within sight. As they caught sight of the docks, their hearts skipped a beat in anticipation. They would finally be able to continue the search for their children. They quickly discussed their next course of action among themselves and came to the conclusion that the first place they would visit would be Merlon. He had led them to Yoshi's Island, which had been a place where the babies had been, so he would likely know where the final destination of the babies would be. They had already concluded that they would not likely be able to get the babies in transit. They would have to intercept them at their final destination.
After a few more minutes, the boat eventually pulled into the docks. Since it was midnight, the place looked to be barren save for the Club 64. They could see the silhouettes of people in the bar partying and drinking. There were a few pedestrians in the streets but other than that, the streets looked to be quiet…a little too quiet for somewhere so close to a bar. Something clicked in the back of their minds and they were suddenly on edge. Mia fingered the Dizzy Dials in her sack as Luca did the same with his Ice Storm.
"I don't like this," he said ominously.
Mia nodded in agreement. While they had felt as if Toad Town was safe, they did not put it past the Koopas to try an ambush, especially since the Toads did not look to have all that strong a military. They had a feeling that once they got off the boat, that they would have to be on their guard and that a fight would likely follow.
Once the boat came to a stop, the boarding ramps extended down to the docks. There were a few Toads standing on the docks, likely family members of some of the passengers. However, since they were arriving in the middle of the night, there were few passengers that were disembarking. They proceeded to make their way down the ramp, passing a Toad security guard as they disembarked. The Toad guard nodded towards them as they departed the ship.
Once they were off the ship, they quickly headed into the streets and made their way past Club 64 as quickly as possible. While they did not expect there to be any trouble from any patrons, they did not want to take any chances. As they made their way past the club, they spotted two Toad guards standing near the item shop.
The two guards approached the Marios and stopped before them, making certain not to present their spears. As they stood before the humans, they asked, "Are you Luca Mario and Mia Mario?"
The humans nodded.
The Toad guards gave a disconcerting grin. "King Lactarius wishes for you to see him immediately."
"Why?" the Marios asked in unison.
"He says that he has found your children, or at least their final destination. Come with us. We'll take you to see him."
The Marios glanced at each other skeptically. This seemed a little too convenient for their liking. Still, this was also an opportunity and they would not get another one. Time was of the essence and they were quickly running out of it. As such, they felt as if they had no real choice but to follow the guards. As such, they followed the Toad guards as they led them through Toad Town.