I must say that this chapter is longer than I originally intended. I don't even know how it came to be this long, but it doesn't matter. Anyway, this is the beginning of the second story arc.
Some Things Never Change
It was the day after the second eventful broadcast. The Koopa Bros. were in their cave, eating pizza and drinking soda. They were still celebrating about becoming new heroes. Now maybe they'll start getting some newfound respect.
"Dude, life is awesome!" said Black.
"Oh yeah!" said Red. "Being new heroes is the greatest feeling ever. Why did we work for Bowser again?"
"Because he worshipped our coolness." said Yellow.
"Oh, right. Anyway, being heroes is awesome. We should go on more journeys to prove our worth to this world." said Red.
"Journeys are fun, as long as Yellow doesn't screw up." said Green.
"When have I screwed up?" asked Yellow.
"I can think of a couple of times." said Green.
"Doesn't matter." said Red. "Pass me some more of that pizza."
Black grabbed the box of pizza and handed it to Red. "Here ya go."
"Sweet! This stuff is awesome! Who makes this pizza, anyway?"
"I don't remember." said Black. "I think that it was either Tayce T. or Gourmet Guy."
"If it was Gourmet Guy, then he would've eaten it himself." said Red. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that Tayce T. only focuses on sweets, not pizza."
"Well, then I don't know who made it."
"Does it matter?" asked Green.
"I pretty sure it doesn't." said Yellow. "That's because the situation isn't important, therefore it doesn't matter."
"I'm pretty sure that all three parts of that sentence had the same meaning." said Green.
"What do you expect when Yellow is talking?" asked Black.
"I need more pizza." said Red.
"Already? I just gave you more. How did you eat it that fast?" said Black. "Wait a second…there isn't anymore."
"WHAT?!"
"There isn't anymore pizza."
"How is that possible?! Yellow, how many boxes did you order?!"
"Only two."
"TWO?! How could you order two?! You were supposed to order five!! You idiot!!"
"Why did you entrust Yellow with ordering the pizza?" asked Black.
"I don't know. I guess I wasn't thinking." said Red.
"We can see that." said Green.
"That comment was uncalled for." said Red. "I guess I was just so psyched about being heroes that I didn't know who I entrusted the ordering to."
"You should probably pay attention next time." said Black.
"Ya know, all of this talking and eating pizza reminds me of our days when we used to live in Koopa Village." said Yellow.
"How did that thought pop into your head?" asked Red.
"Don't ask." said Green.
"Now that I think about it, I wonder what's going on in Koopa Village." said Red.
"It's probably the same as when we last saw it." said Green.
"The last time we saw it was three years ago." said Red.
"Things could've changed in that amount of time." said Black.
"Maybe there are some new houses there." said Yellow. "Maybe we could move back in."
"We're not doing that." said Red. "Besides, how could any new houses fit in that tiny area? I'm pretty sure that there's no room for more than the six houses that are already there."
"Why don't we just pay a visit to there?" said Black. "That way we can check to see if anything actually is different."
"That's actually a good idea." said Green. "I'm starting to get homesick just thinking about it."
"Fine, I guess we can check up on the place." said Red.
"Cool!" said Green. "We should go right now since there's no more pizza."
"Fine, let's go." said Red. "Stupid Yellow and his crappy ordering skills."
"Wow, we're going back to our original home." said Black. "I wonder what it's like."
"Didn't we just have this discussion?" asked Red.
"I know. I was still wondering." said Black.
"It's probably the same as last time." said Yellow. "Sleeping people, Koopas without houses, Bob-ombs exploding, Kolorado missing, Kolorado's wife in an uproar, Koopa Koot asking for favors…"
"You actually remember all that?" asked Green.
"It was like that every day since we were born. It's not hard to remember." said Yellow.
"You've got a point." responded Green.
"Can we please leave?" asked Black.
"Okay, okay, here we go." said Red.
The bros. left the cave and started traveling through Forever Forest. They immediately got lost and were at the entrance (How do they find their way back to the cave, anyway?).
"I wonder if we should turn into Toads." said Red.
"We probably should." said Black. "We're in a rush to see the village, and we don't want a huge crowd swamping us."
"Alright, transform."
They immediately transformed into their Toad forms. They started walking through town, noticing the extreme joy that it was emanating. People were joyous about getting their stolen possessions back, even Rowf, the badge salesman, was jumping for joy, and he's usually calm and cool. They eventually made it to the edge of town that led to Pleasant Path. As soon as they left town, they spotted Kent C. Koopa standing in the middle of the road.
"Halt! You can't pass here without paying the price! You have to give me 100 coins in order to pass! Actually, since there are four of you, you have to give me 400 coins! Now pay up or scram!"
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." said Red. "Boys, turn back to normal."
They immediately turned back to normal.
"Huh? Koopa Bros.?" asked Kent C. "I haven't seen you guys in ages. Where have you been?"
"It's good to see you, Kent." said Red. "We've been hiding out in a cave in order to achieve solitude. Why are you still out here demanding people for money?"
"Because I have nothing better to do. Plus, I need the money to buy a new pair of glasses. I saw these awesome new black shades, and I just have to have them."
"You're serious?" asked Black. "There's no way that your going to get money this way. It didn't work before, and it's not going to work now."
"Why don't you just get a job?" asked Green.
"Because there are no jobs." said Kent. "Everything is taken."
"Well, that's too bad." said Red. "Anyway, we're in kind of a rush to go to Koopa Village, so can we please get by for free?"
"Well, I guess. But only because you guys are good friends of mine."
"Thanks, buddy. Come on, boys."
The Koopa Bros. continued down Pleasant Path. There were no obstacles along the way, since Mario already got rid of them on his previous trip. Eventually, they made it to the entrance to Koopa Village.
"Man, Pleasant Path sure is boring." said Black.
"I remember years ago when it was swarming with enemies that tried to kill you." said Green.
"Good times." said Yellow.
They entered the village. Everything was pretty much the same as it was three years ago. Koopas and Bob-ombs were standing outside, and there were still only six houses. As soon as they entered, they were greeted by Koover.
"Hello, and welcome to Koopa…oh…my…god." said Koover.
"What?" asked Red.
"It's you four. You're the Koopa Bros., aren't you?"
"Who wants to know?"
"I haven't seen you guys since the parade."
"Yeah, once that thing was over, we made ourselves scarce. We currently live in a cave, and no one knows where it is except for one person."
"Who would that be?" asked Koover.
"We're not telling you." said Red. "You might get that person to tell you, and then you would tell everybody."
"Whatever. So what's been going on? Are you guys still evildoers?"
"Nah, we stopped that. It was uncool. We're actually heroes among the people of Toad Town now."
"Really?"
"Yeah. A bunch of Shy Guys robbed the people again, so we invaded the Toy Box, beat up the Shy Guys, and got everything back."
"How's General Guy?"
"He's fine. It turns out he wasn't behind it at all. It was Anti Guy."
"Anti…who?"
"Yeah, we didn't know who he was, either."
"So, what brings you guys back here, anyway?"
"We just wanted to see how this place has been doing."
"Well, it's pretty much the same as before."
"I can see that, Koover."
"How's Kolorado's wife?" asked Black. "Is she still angry about him being gone?"
"How did you know that Kolorado wasn't here?" asked Koover.
"When you get to know Kolorado, which is nearly impossible since he's never here, it's not that surprising." said Black.
"I suppose you have a point." said Koover.
"Where's Kooper?" asked Green.
"He's currently out on an expedition with Kolorado. That boy loves being an archeologist."
"Some things never change." said Red.
"What do you mean?" asked Koover.
"When we used to live here, he would always tell us how he loves archeology and how Kolorado is awesome and how exploring is cool. He wouldn't shut up. It was the most annoying thing ever." said Red.
"Tell me about it." said Koover. "I'd almost forgotten about his fetish for that subject. I'm just so glad that he goes with Kolorado, because that means that he's never here."
"Does Kolorado live in the same house as before?" asked Red.
"Yes. Why?" said Koover.
"We just want to talk to his wife."
"We do?" asked Yellow.
"Yes, we do." said Red.
"Alright, I won't stop you." said Koover. "Just don't start any trouble. I remember how mischievous you guys were."
"We won't."
The bros. started walking down the path to Kolorado's house.
"Why do we want to talk to his wife?" asked Black.
"Because, I want to here her rant about how Kolorado isn't here. Those were good times."
"Yeah, they were." said Yellow. "I remember when he left to explore Flower Fields, she yelled about why he wouldn't just stay home and read about it. He never did find Flower Fields anyway, which brought more scolding."
"It was really hard to sleep at night." said Green. "All that yelling could be heard from across the world."
"Here we are." said Red as they stopped in front of Kolorado's house. Red knocked on the front door and shortly after, Kolorado's wife opened it. She couldn't believe what she saw.
"Oh my god! It's you four! I haven't seen you in awhile." she said rather loudly.
"Shhhh! Keep it down." said Red.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm just shocked to see you boys again. I can't believe what I saw on the news."
"You saw the news?" asked Red.
"Yep, and I couldn't believe it. You boys actually helped the town. I always remembered you four to be troublemakers."
"Well, we've changed."
"I can see that." said the wife. "Can you guys come in for a minute? I have to talk to you about something."
"Oh, sure." said Red. Kolorado's wife walked back into the house and the Koopa Bros. followed. There was apparently a new table in the main room, with four chairs around it. Kolorado's wife sat down in one of the chairs.
"Take a seat." she said.
"Wait, there are only three seats left." said Yellow.
Red, Black, and Green immediately grabbed a chair and sat down, leaving Yellow to stand up.
"Hey, that's not fair." said Yellow. "We should've played musical chairs to decide who gets to sit down."
"Too bad, Yellow." said Green. "Quit yer bitching."
"What did you want to talk to us about?" asked Red.
"Okay, I'm going to get straight to the point." said the wife. "I want you to bring my husband back."
"Say what?!" yelled the Koopa Bros.
"Don't panic." she said. "He's currently on an expedition in the Dry Dry Desert. I simply want you to go there and bring him back."
"Why's he in the desert?" asked Black.
"He's trying to find Dry Dry Ruins so he can explore it."
"Why?" asked Red. "Mario already searched every inch of that place. There's nothing left."
"My husband refuses to believe that until he's explored the ruins for himself. I just want you to go there and bring him back to me. I'm sick of having him leave the house."
"I'm surprised that you haven't gotten used to it by now." said Black.
"I'm surprised by that, too." she said. "However, I still want him back. I'm only entrusting this to you four because of your experiences in the Toy Box. If you were able to accomplish that task, then you shouldn't have any problem with my request. Can you do this for me?"
"Sure thing." said Red. "We always helped you out in the past, so we'll help you again, right boys?"
"Sure thing." said Black.
"No problem." said Yellow.
"You got it." said Green.
"Wonderful. Thank you very much."
"Okay guys, let's go find Kolorado." said Red.
The Koopa Bros. left the house and started walking down the path to the entrance of Koopa Village.
Well, there you have it. The eleventh chapter. Will things be easy in the desert? You know the answer: of course not. Things are never easy, and if they were, then there wouldn't be a good plot. Therefore, things must be hard. Now, review on what you thought.