Chapter 11: Anticipation
Jonathan was dragged through the enormous doors into a large domed room. His captors held him above a red carpet with creepy black designs. Toads with weapons of all sorts lined the sides of the room. At the end of the room was a sight that made him cringe. He saw a woman in a black dress holding a clearly magical scepter, flanked by two men: a short man with green clothing and black overalls, and a tall man with red clothing and black overalls. They looked exactly like Mario and Luigi except for their clothes.
Jonathan was shoved to the ground and fell on his face. The Toads that had captured him knelt and bowed their heads.
"Your highness," said the one that had been holding Jonathan, "Our lives are held in your hands. You are the true and rightful ruler who shall this land. You have our word that we will follow you to the ends of the earth if it means conquering any and all lands. Long live Princess Peach." The Toads got up.
"State your business," said the so-called Princess Peach.
"We have caught a traitor to your empire your highness," said the speaking Toad.
"What has he done?" the princess asked.
"He has demonstrated abilities forbidden within your domain your highness," said the Toad.
"Yeah," another Toad spoke up, "He uncoiled a slinky..." The Toad who had been speaking went rigid. The princess glared at all of them.
"You've brought a citizen to me for trial simply because he uncoiled a slinky?" she asked, "You would take a fellow member of your race, and a child no less, and have him punished simply for that?"
"N-n-no your highness," the first Toad said quickly, "It is true he uncoiled a slinky… but it's the way he did it that should get him punished."
"How might you uncoil a slinky anyway?" the princess inquired, "You would need to melt it or have incredible strength, abilities that I would welcome within my realm."
"Your highness, he uncoiled it with Resourcery," said the Toad. The princess stood up suddenly.
"Resourcery," she repeated, shock hidden in her voice.
"Yes," said the Toad, "Resourcery." The princess glared at Jonathan, who had stood up by this point.
"Do it," she said, "Show me your power." Jonathan took a step back. The Toads behind him shoved him forward. Jonathan shook in fear. Nothing happened for a few moments. Then the princess raised her hand towards him. The two men at her sides began to approach Jonathan. Jonathan tried moving back again but the Toads pushed him forward again. As the men got closer, Jonathan snapped. He raised his hands to the walls. Two tapestries suddenly flew from them and tied together. They came down and tied themselves in a circle around the two men.
A few seconds later, the men ripped out of the tapestries and continued towards Jonathan.
"Stop!" the princess called, "Mario! Luigi!" The men with the same names and looks as the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom turned and returned to the princess's sides.
"He is a child," she said, "We can teach him to obey. Then we can have him fight against that insidious police officer. We finally have one who can counter his power." There were cheers and 'yeahs' all across the room. The princess raised her hand for quiet.
"We will take him to the center of town," she said, "And announce that a new warrior has arisen to aid us in our fight to take what is rightfully ours from those who do not deserve it!"
"But your highness," said the Toad who had captured Jonathan, "If he uses his powers against us…"
"You will teach him not to," said Peach, glaring at the Toad, "Or otherwise…" She hit her staff against the ground. The room went quiet. The Toad gulped and nodded in agreement.
"Make the announcement," said Peach, "Hire a band or something. Make it into a grand scene! I expect a full parade in two hours!" Toads suddenly began running around everywhere, leaving the room to get things ready. Soon the room was empty except for Jonathan, Peach, and those who looked as though the Mario Brothers.
"Princess," said the green-clothed one, "Your idea is ingenious. But what if it backfires?"
"My ideas do not backfire Mario," said the princess, looking at Jonathan, "I will make sure of it. Isn't that right young Toad?" The way she said those words made Jonathan feel sick. The princess got up and began walking towards him. The men followed. She held her scepter out as she got closer to Jonathan. Jonathan covered his eyes. However, all the Princess did was touch him and gently usher him along with her.
"Come," said Peach, "You shall be one of the greatest warriors in my army. With your help, the world will be ours. And I will have you placed at my right hand if you succeed…"
"Hey, I already called that spot!" the man who looked like Luigi exclaimed.
"And I've got the left!" said the other Mario. Peach gave them "are-you-stupid" looks and returned her eyes to Jonathan.
"You can sit on my lap," she said, "Come along." Jonathan, on the inside was utterly terrified. He had no idea what was going on or what to do. He had no idea what Resourcery even meant. Was that what his power was? He couldn't think about so many things at once. So he just focused on walking along. He feared what would happen to himself.
Kiara stormed right into a Shade hideout near the lake as the sun rose on the horizon and threw a Shade to the ground.
"I don't think you… you… idiots!" she yelled, "Are supposed to be telling other people what I have to do!" Every Shade in the place looked at her in confusion. She had clearly been crying. Her eyes were stained red from tears.
"Miss Kiara…" Kiara socked the Shade in the face and it fell on the ground.
"Don't speak my name or I'll beat the darkness out of you and you'll scream like little baby kittens!" she screamed. All of the Shades backed up. Kiara's glowering eyes suddenly settled down. She sighed.
"I'm sorry…" she said. There was a brief pause. She straightened up and breathed in and out.
"Where's your commander?" she asked. A Shade walked forward.
"Commander #4 reporting for duty… uh… ma'am," it said.
"What is the current plan?" she asked.
"Walk right in, take the princess, use my mirror warping abilities, and we're out," said the Shade. Kiara stared at it with an "are-you-an-idiot" look.
"Commander," she said, "You realize that this mission could decide the fate of our cause. So stop being a… a… a…" She stopped for a few seconds.
"Trying to find nice words to say…" she said, "Nincompoop. Stop being a nincompoop." The Shade just stared at her. She sighed.
"Let's all just sit down and discuss this now that I'm here," she said.
"That sounds good," said the commander. So they sat down and began discussing the plan.
Toadbert's hand shook as he put another book on the shelf. The experience was driving him mad. He had but two more stacks and he would be finished. The library would be once again completely and perfectly organized. He took a heavy breath as he trudged over to the stack of books again. He picked the next one up and put it on its designated shelf. His stomach roared at him. He hadn't eaten in two full days. He ignored it. The library was more important.
He went to get the next book. He picked it up. He almost cried. It was a cookbook. The food depicted on the front danced before his eyes. He shoved it on the shelf and ran away, trying not to focus on the hunger. He moved through the second-to-last stack as quickly as possible. He was almost done. He cut the last stack down to half, ignoring his hunger. As he reached the last five books, he nearly collapsed. His hands were shaking uncontrollably. His legs were like jelly. And yet his mind still told him he had to get those last five books on the shelf.
He crawled over and grabbed the fifth-to-last book. He managed to get himself over to the bottom of the last shelf. He shoved it in. He crawled back and got the next two on the shelf. It took him five minutes to get the second-to-last book on the shelf. He hovered over the last book, a book about sleep. He tried to pick it up, but his arms failed him. His head fell upon the book and he did just that: sleep.
Kayla ran as fast as her feet could carry her after Kendall, who was chasing a Shade desperately. They had come across a group of Shades from which Kendall assumed the Shade they had defeated had come. Kendall had defeated the group, but one had escaped, so, against Kayla's logic, which was to get information out of a defeated Shade, he had chased after it.
So now Kayla was running after Kendall who was running after the Shade. Are we clear? Good. Kayla stopped for a second to catch her breath. Kendall immediately called out, "Hurry up!"
"Slow down!" Kayla yelled back.
"Catch up!" Kendall called back a few seconds later. Kayla watched as he started running and then jumped into his shell. She dove into her shell as well and pursued.
Kendall managed to gain some ground by rolling instead of running. As soon as he was close enough, he dove out of his shell, frontflipped, raised his hand to a loose tree branch, and formed a boomerang. He threw it in the same motion. The Shade was knocked over. Kendall hit the ground with a somersault and stepped on it in victory. Kayla rolled up seconds later.
"Nice," she said, breathing heavily. Kendall pulled the Shade off the ground and pinned it to a tree.
"Where are you all coming from?" Kendall asked through gritted teeth. The Shade said nothing.
"Answer me!" Kendall yelled.
"Mirrors," the Shade said.
"I know that!" Kendall yelled, "From where do you enter the mirrors?"
"A world that only appears in your worst nightmares," the Shade said, "Where you will meet your doom."
"Where is it?" Kendall asked, "How do you get to it?" The sound of trumpets suddenly blared through the air. Kendall was so shocked he let go of the Shade. The Shade took its opportunity and scampered off into the woods.
"What was that?" Kayla asked, running up to Kendall.
"Trumpets…" Kendall said, "They only use them when… oh no… come on Kayla!" He ran off again. Kayla sighed.
"Does he ever consider that some people are too busy to exercise?" Kayla asked herself. She shook it off and started running after him again.
A/N: A short chapter here, but there's a good reason for that. The next chapter is going to be utter chaos. Jonathan has gone through an unexpected turn of events. We've gotten a glimpse of how Toadbert is doing. And Kendall and Kayla are now on their way towards the sound of trumpets. What will Jonathan do in the situation he is in? Where are our Koopa friends headed? And will Toadbert ever get out of that library?