Chapter 9: The Fortress

"How did I get myself into this mess?" Luigi wondered as a few Shadow Beasts slammed him into the ground of a small prison. It had all started just fine, waiting for Mario to come back up and staying safe. Until a whole bunch of those Shadow Beasts appeared. No matter how many he fought down, there seemed to be more and more ready to take him down until they finally did. As they dragged him away in a semi-conscious state, Luigi had noticed them walking right through a wall. When he saw that he was getting closer to it, he thought, with some hope, that he'd just crash into the wall while the monsters didn't notice him gone. Unfortunately, the wall turned out to be some sort of illusion as they all passed through without a problem. Losing hope of escape, he drifted further into unconsciousness.

Until he felt the ascent. He got up, noticing that they had passed a large gate. He looked around and saw a majestic-looking city. Or at least, it probably was, judging by the quality of the broken stones all over. This was all he could take in before they had gotten to the top. He noticed the whole on the roof of the structure. "Oh, no," he pleaded. "PLEASE don't throw me down there!" They looked at each other, wondering what to make of his pathetic sounding grovel. So they didn't throw him down there.

They SLAMMED him down there. He got up in pain and the sound of a distinct roaring at him. What are they saying? he thought to himself.

As if to answer him, an orange Luma came out of his hat and said, "They're saying that you're not getting out of here!"

"WAH!" Luigi cried as he stumbled back, surprised at the newcomer. He had never felt the Luma's presence before, so how come it only decided just now to show itself?

The Luma just floated closer to him in a somewhat oblivious manner. "Hi, Luigi! Surprised to see me?"

"Ha—Hoo—How long have you just been sitting inside my hat?"

"Mama knew that you and your brother would be needed to go and save the universe or something, so she decided that you needed a Luma partner of your own and not keep borrowing Mario's! So, I've just been around waiting until I was needed!" It looked around for a moment. "And boy do you need it! You've just landed yourself in jail!"

"But I didn't even deserve it! All I was doing was lying around a cave not doing anything! Why would those monsters just snatch me and dump me here?"

"Um…maybe because you weren't contributing to society?" it joked.

Luigi looked at the Luma strangely for a moment, but he decided there was a more important problem he faced. "So, do you think you could help me get out of here?"

"Me? I can float out of here, but you need help to get out of here!"

"And can you help me get out of here?"

The Luma laughed. "Of course not! You're way too heavy for me to carry! You'll need to find a way out yourself!"

Luigi groaned. "Great! I'm a going to have to climb this! And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, it's not just like the answer's going to fall out of the sky, right?"

As if on cue, the duo heard some screaming getting louder and louder until a pink mass fell from the top of the hole and landed hard on the ground. They started to get closer to it, but they soon backed off when they saw it get up and start rubbing its head.

"My head is in SOOOOOOO much pain…" it murmured. Then, it turned around to acknowledge the two who were continuing to make sense of what had just happened. "Oh, hi! I'm Kirby! Who are you two?"

"Luigi!" the green-clad plumber proudly offered, tipping his hat in a form of salute.

Kirby and the Luma looked at him strangely. "Is that how you introduce yourself to everyone?" When Luigi didn't offer a response, the Luma continued. "Oh, well. My name is…well…Mama gave me REALLY long name and it's kind of embarrassing…even the shortened form is embarrassing, so just call me Fred!"

Kirby didn't know what to make of the Luma, but he soon decided that there were more important things to do. "Right! So, we're in a prison in the middle of a desert. Well, not the middle of a desert, more like a fortress, hidden away from the rest of Hyrule for so long that practically everyone forgot about it!"

Luigi looked at Kirby strangely, as if he were talking to some sort of alien. Well, he was, but it was still weird. "And?"

Kirby grinned. "There's definitely something important nearby! Right now, though, we should get out of here. I'm going to fly out. Grab onto my foot when I do."

"You could get me out of here?"

"You seem light enough for me, so sure!" Kirby began puffing up and floating. Luigi grabbed on as they floated out of the prison, Fred following shortly after.

The Shadow Beasts were standing guard at the main entrances of the fortress. Because of that, they didn't notice the floating figures heading towards one of the side entrances. Luigi dropped to the ground first, and Kirby came down soon after. Fred returned inside Luigi's hat, and they stealthily entered the fortress. A few corridors pointed to some event going on in the center, so the group began to head for the center of the fortress.

As they moved to turn left, a lone Shadow Beast suddenly appeared from the same direction. Taking cover behind a nearby crate, they waited to see if it was turning in their direction. Hearing the movement come closer and closer, Luigi started to panic. Rocking himself back and forth, Kirby stared at him for a moment before realizing why he was panicking. He readied himself, and, when the Shadow Beast finally spotted them, Kirby lashed out against it. It stumbled for a moment and signaled others to come. At that point, Fred grabbed hold of the monster and unleashed a spin. It didn't stand a chance, and it soon fell, leaving behind a strange looking flower. Luigi's eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed the flower. His clothes changed color from a green shirt and blue overalls to a white shirt with green overalls.

"Oh, yeah!" he joyously exclaimed, before realizing he had just alerted two more Shadow Beasts about their presence. Part of him winced, but that part was silenced as he began to defend himself against his opponents. Summoning green fire, Luigi quickly dispatched the two monsters.

Kirby was clearly impressed. "Cool. Mind shooting a fireball towards me?" Luigi gave a questioning look before complying with Kirby's request. To his surprise, Kirby opened his mouth and swallowed the fireball. He then realized why Kirby asked for the fireball when a crown exuding fire appeared on his head. It was then when he noticed a final Shadow Beast creeping up behind Kirby. Before Luigi could get his attention, Kirby turned, opened his mouth, and released a great amount of fire, easily taking down the monster.

"Right, that was probably noticeable," Kirby stated. "We should really get going." Luigi nodded as Fred returned to Luigi's hat, and they rushed off to where a sign said the center was. They passed by a few more of the Shadow Beasts, and Kirby wondered why these ones seemed so easy to fend off. Probably because these ones are from this world rather than the World of Twilight. To him, it made sense based off of Princess Zelda's explanation regarding the strength of Zant's army. Apparently, Link had faced much stronger monsters inside the Twilight Realm largely because that was where Zant's power was strongest.

Sensing a large room nearby, the two hurried faster before coming to a complete stop. Before them was an immense room with an open ceiling. Markings all over the walls indicated the history of the indigenous people. The center seemed to contain a coliseum of some sort. It seemed as if this place had once held a great significance for its natural inhabitants. Tons of Shadow Beasts were there guarding what seemed to be a treasure chest containing a bright glow. The heroes stared at each other for a moment and promptly nodded, knowing what their immediate goal was.

They headed towards the center, carefully ensuring that they didn't attract any attention. Once they were close enough, Kirby jumped up to attract their attention. "Look at me!" he exclaimed. "I'm a target!" Most of the Shadow Beasts noticed him and chased him around the room. Luigi crept up behind the chest and remaining monsters as he waited for Kirby to get to the fight place.

As soon as he got there, Luigi sent up two green flares. Noticing the flares, Kirby turned around and dashed straight at the monsters. When the first line came ready to grab him, he turned into a burning fireball. He burned through the first lines and spewed fire on the remaining ones. Once he made sure all of them had fallen, he sent out his own flare.

Luigi noted the flare working as the distraction he wanted. With his foes momentarily unfocused, he jumped up and fired at the ones closest to the chest. For the remaining ones now heading towards him, Fred came out and held each monster captive before Luigi unleashed his fire. Once all the enemies were down, Kirby jumped toward the two with a smile.

"Nice work, everybody!" he declared. Luigi nodded and approached the treasure chest. Opening it up, he found a small fragment of what appeared to him as a Grand Star.

Fred seemed pleased. "Great! We've got a part of a Grand Star! We can use this to get the Starship Mario back and return to the cosmos!"

Luigi paused for a moment. "Wait a minute…Mario's a still in that cave! I've a gotta get him!"

Kirby nodded. Not needing an explanation, he knew that Mario was important player in whatever scheme was going on. They escaped through the roof and landed outside the prison they had been in earlier. Noticing the large gate, Luigi pointed out that through there was the way out of this mysterious place.

"Right, then," Kirby said, "let's get going!"

Author's Note: Two chapters in two days? You probably won't be seeing that again. I'm really asking for some feedback because I've only gotten three reviews so far.

You may have noticed, if you've read the story Luigi Gets Busted, the weak explanation for Luigi's arrest. I felt like including a brief mention of a piece that gave me a few laughs.

One last thing. I purposefully included TWO references to the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. The first person to point out BOTH references will be my new favorite author. I'll even include a hint: one is a reference to the Classic series while the other is a reference to the New series. This offer is valid until I post who got it right in a future Author's Note.

Alright, I'll stop now. I hate long Author's Notes…