Chapter 10
Energy crackled and sparked across every metal surface in the room as Koopa attempted to force the crystal into its slot in the Portal Keeper machinery. Every attempt he made was met with maddening resistance as the energy built up and denied him victory. Koopa's muscles bulged, his face was a mask of anger and his latest effort to start the merging resulted in the energy blasting him across the room.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" he roared as his face once again regressed, this time devolving further than it ever had before.
"Only a Portal Keeper can use any of this equipment!" Daisy explained as she struggled against the Goomba restraining her. "We're the only ones who can withstand the forces! Give it to me!"
"You'd help that guy?" Luigi exclaimed, looking gutted at the betrayal.
"I'm sorry, Luigi, but I don't belong in your world. I've learned that here."
A malevolent smile of victory appeared on Koopa's face as he handed the crystal to Daisy. She took it and subtly twisted it so that the shard would go in upside down. She approached the receptacle and inserted the rock. As soon as she did, she was bathed in a ghostly white light and everything went haywire.
SMB
In Brooklyn, people were holding a candlelight vigil for the missing girls at the site of the latest abduction, the university dinosaur excavation at the Brooklyn Bridge. About a hundred people were present, all of them holding lit candles. Reporters and journalists were on scene, the TV news reporters broadcasting live when Luca Santini showed up. He pushed his way through the crowd as the reporters shoved cameras and mics in his face and journalists threw questions at him.
"Don't you have any respect!" he yelled at the crowd. "My sister is missing too! Lighting candles isn't gonna bring anyone back!"
Two things happened at once as soon as the words left Santini's lips. First, the whole of New York felt a tremor run through it and second, the water of the East River right by the Brooklyn Bridge started churning and boiling violently, a light becoming visible in its depths.
The merging of the two worlds had begun for real.
SMB
Koopa Tower was experiencing a quake. The whole building was vibrating, scaring Lena who was making her way through a corridor, looking for a safe way out. The power in the building had failed completely, but ahead of her there was a light and she could hear music. She stumbled through and emerged on a Broadway stage, bewildered and disoriented.
Audience and actors alike looked in equal confusion at her until the theater began to shake, causing a panic. The actors fled the stage and the audience got up from their seats and hurried to the exits, pushing and shoving with a ferocity that easily matched the shoving of the crowds in Dinohattan. Lena made to follow them but stumbled and fell under a large chandelier. Lena heard something break and looked up, having just enough time to see the chandelier falling towards her before it impaled her.
SMB
The Meteorite Chamber was vibrating dangerously. Cracks were spreading across the walls and rocks were falling from the ceilings. Koopa threw himself at Daisy, throwing her away from the machine and tried to undo what she had done. Daisy stumbled around, coughing through the choking dust when Luigi pulled her out of the way of a falling rock that would have killed her.
At the other end of the chamber, Mario entered followed by Larry, Roy, Toad, and the Brooklyn Girls. He saw Luigi and Daisy on the opposite end and Koop, looking murderously at them. "Hey! Turtle breath!"
Koopa's head swiveled to look and got a glance of Mario before the plumber hit him in the shoulder and side of his face with the flame launcher. He screamed as he was thrown back into the Portal Keeper equipment which exploded on impact. The power of the meteorite was now running wild.
"C'mon, this way! Last portal to Brooklyn!" called Larry as he, Roy, and Toad ushered the girls through the fluctuating portal.
"Your Highness, it's time to go!" said Roy as the last girl went through.
"Let's get out of here!" Luigi agreed as he took hold of Daisy's hand. "C'mon, Mario! It's time to get the hell out of Dodge!"
Daisy and Luigi made it through, followed by their friends and lastly, Mario. Just as he was almost all the way through the portal, something grabbed hold of his foot, stopping him.
"You will not escape, plumber!" Koopa hissed, his burned face regressing rapidly.
A final explosion behind him through Koopa off balance and pushed him and Mario into the portal.
SMB
On the other side of the portal, everyone was in rapidly rising water as Luigi pounded on the solid rock face where the exit had been.
"C'mon! He's gotta still be in there, he's gotta!" Luigi said, beside himself with worry.
"Luigi, we have to go, or we'll drown!" pleaded Daisy.
"Yeah, what happened anyway?" asked Pauline.
"Your brother must have hired someone to blow up the dig and now we're going to die," Daisy answered.
Something hit her in the leg and when she looked down, she laughed.
"What is it?" Luigi asked.
"Look," she smiled.
Dinosaur bones swirled through the torrent of water around them, freed by the blast.
"Santini thought he could force us out by flooding the site. He just made our job easier!"
With one last look at the rockface, Luigi made up his mind. "All right girls, let's get out of here. Swim for it."
SMB
Outside the dig, the protestors had gotten back to their feet after the tremor that ran through the city. One of the protestors looked at the entrance to the cavern where the excavation was being held, blinked, rubbed her eyes, looked again, and shouted.
"Look!"
Everyone looked as the missing Brooklyn girls all climbed out of the site, followed by Larry, Roy, Toad, and finally Luigi and Daisy. The crowd surged forward as the missing girls were reunited with family and reporters and newscaster jockeyed to ask questions and get the best scoop. Luca Santini approached his sister and grabbed in a big bear hug.
"We thought you were dead," he said.
Pauline pushed him away from her, glaring at him. "We'd have been fine if you hadn't blown up the tunnel! You almost got us drowned!"
"But... how the hell did you get down there?"
"It's a long story, but we're all safe thanks to the Mario brothers."
"The Mario brothers?"
"Hey, are you one of the Mario brothers?" asked a newscaster as camera were shoved in Luigi's face.
"All these girls are saying that you're the ones who saved them and a sub-dimension from this Koopa!"
"A pair of plumbers?"
"Sure, they did," answered Daisy.
"If anyone's a hero, it's my brother, Mario. And he's still down there!" Luigi answered as he looked back at the tunnel entrance.
"The plumbers who saved the world, uh huh," said the newscaster as he turned back to the camera. "I think the police are going to want to talk to them later, but undeniably the missing Brooklyn girls have been returned. And just who is responsible has yet to be determined by the courts..."
The newscaster was interrupted as a rumble in the direction of the East River grabbed everyone's attention. Screams of panic rose from the people on the bridge as the churning water exploded upward in a spout.
"That's gotta be Mario..." Luigi muttered, and took off running towards the bridge.
SMB
Mario felt dizzy as he slowly and unsteadily got back to his feet. He stumbled twice before he got his bearings back and took several rapid steps back. He was atop one of the bridge towers and below him, the water of the river had turned into whirlpool, alight with the energy of the meteorite. What got Mario's full attention, however, was Koopa, now a full reptilian beast, on the side of the tower and climbing up. Mario's mind worked frantically to figure out how to get down when he remembered he was still wearing the Thwomp Stompers. He clicked his heels but instead of the high-pitched beeps, he heard an error tone. The Bullet Bill cartridges were empty. He hadn't reloaded them! Mario fumbled with the cartridge belt and removed two Bullet Bill's, slamming them into the ports as quick as he could. Koopa crested the edge of the tower and roared, startling his foe.
"Whoa!" Mario jumped back, just avoiding getting hit with the acid Koopa had spat at him. "You're in New York now, my Brooklyn! You'll never fit in unless you learn to ace like a human being."
Koopa lunged and Mario rolled out of the way only just in time.
SMB
Luigi was running along the bridge towards the tower where Mario was battling Koopa when something else ejected in the water sprout fell in front of him. It was Daisy's crystal. Without thinking he picked it up and continued to run to the tower where Mario was running out of room and slowly being cornered.
"I have to get up there..."
"Luigi! What are you going to do when you get up there?" gasped Daisy as she ran up behind him. "Look at that! Koopa's devolved into something else entirely!"
"I don't know what I'm going to do, but I've got to do something!"
Luigi reached into his tool belt, intending to grab a pipe wrench but his fingers found something else. It was that funny little bomb the fungus had given him back in the other dimension.
"Bob-omb!" exclaimed Roy who had just arrived and saw the device.
"You know what this is?" asked Luigi.
"Please be careful with that, it's far more powerful than you think!" pleaded Larry as the two took several steps back.
"I think I know what I'm gonna do now," Luigi smiled at Daisy and clicked his heels together. The stompers launched him skyward to help his brother and face Koopa.
SMB
On top of the bridge Mario stumbled, falling on his back and Koopa lunged. Mario did the only thing he could think of and raised his feet which impacted with Koopa's chest. The devolved dictator snapped at his nemesis, extending his neck as far as it would go.
"I am the lizard king!" he roared. "I need nothing from you! You're nothing but a plumber! A plumber!"
"You got that right," said Luigi as he landed on top of the tower.
Koop turned his head to face Luigi and let out another dreadful roar, opening his maw to its widest. A smile ghosted across Luigi's face as he turned the key on the side of the Bob-omb and threw it into Koopa's mouth. The dictator choked and gagged, turning his head up, trying to cough back up the offending device.
"You're right about one thing, Koopa," said Mario. "We're just plumbers... and you're a piece of shit!"
Mario clicked his heels together and with a beep and a hiss of air, Koopa was launched backwards off the tower and into the dimensional whirlpool below. Koopa disappeared amongst the energy until an explosion shook the vortex. It stuttered, flashed, rippled, and finally collapsed in on itself and winked out of existence with a bright flash of light.
The assembled crowd of people being held back by police on the bridge cheered. Mario and Luigi smiled and each put another set of cartridges into their Stompers. When they landed Luigi was immediately embraced by Daisy and Mario by Pauline.
"Hey, Daisy, I have something for you," Luigi grinned as he took the crystal out of his pocket.
"The rock!" Daisy gasped and gave Luigi a big hug. "Thank you so much..."
Reporters again swarmed them but were held back if only just by police as paramedics arrived and escorted the brothers to an ambulance. Inside and on the way to the hospital Luigi started rambling.
"Hey, Mario..."
"Yeah, Luigi?"
"You know, Pop's advice and what he taught us actually came in handy in the sub-dimension."
"Yeah... it did."
"Do you think he knew we would get sucked into a sub-dimension where dinosaurs still exist?"
"I don't think so..."
"He always said we'd thank him eventually, didn't he?"
"Yeah... Can't you give him something to make him go to sleep?" Mario asked the paramedic.
"I already have."
"Thanks Pop..." Luigi slurred. "Now you say it."
"Gimme a break."
"C'mon, say it. Say it, say it, say it."
"Oh, be quiet..."
"C'mon, say it," the paramedic said. "It won't kill you."
Mario was silent for a second before sighing and quickly muttering out, "Thankspop."
SMB
Mario and Luigi had to spend the night in the hospital but were released the next day. Mario was grumbling about how high the bill would likely be and wondering how they were going to afford it when they ran into Daisy, Pauline, Larry, Roy, and Toad waiting for them in the lobby. Pauline told them that Luca would cover the hospital bill for them in thanks for returning her safely. The shoe dropped, though, when Daisy informed Luigi of her decision to return to the sub-dimension.
"It's solid, your highness," said Roy as he and Larry inspected the rockface where the portal had been.
They were all in the cavern which was now clear of the dinosaur fossils and Daisy's face looked downturned. Luigi put a comforting hand on her shoulder when the crystal which was back around Daisy's neck began to glow. Daisy took it in her hand and when she did, a beam of light shot out from the pointed end and hit the wall, creating ripples and distortions. The portal was open again.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Luigi inquired, hoping she would decide last minute to stay.
"I'm sorry, Luigi," answered Daisy. "But I have to go back. I'm a princess! I have a duty to help rebuild that world. My world. And besides, my father is there. Larry and Roy say they can evolve him again and I'd like to meet him when he's not a bunch of fungus infesting the city."
"I-I guess I understand..." Luigi admitted sadly.
"Hey, this isn't good-bye. The portal's still here and I'll come back for visits," she promised.
Daisy smiled sadly at Luigi before standing up on her toes and giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"I'll be back. I promise."
"Hey," said Toad as he approached the brothers. "It's been real here. But the princess is right. Now that Koopa's gone, our world needs to rebuild. Maybe then we can finally join our two dimensions in peace."
"Correct," agreed Larry and Roy. "If at all possible, our two worlds meeting should be done in an atmosphere that is devoid of malice or malicious intent."
The party of four departed through the portal, one after the other with Daisy going last. After she went through the ripples in the rock ceased and became solid again. Luigi stared longingly at where the portal had been for a minute before Mario took a hold of his arm and started leading him back to the surface.
"C'mon, Luigi," he said quietly. "She's gone. No reason for us to stick around. But she'll be back, kid. You can count on it."
"Yeah, count on it..."
SMB
THREE WEEKS LATER...
"That's a lovely dress, Pauline. Is it new?"
"Thanks for noticing, and yes, it is," Pauline smiled.
Mario and Pauline were in the kitchen of the Mario brother's apartment making lunch while Luigi sat disconsolately in the living room, watching the latest episode of Miraculous World.
"Luigi, are you gonna mope around or come and eat?" asked Mario as carried a bowl of pasta to the table.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute..."
Mario sighed but nodded his head and continued to set up the table with Pauline's help. He was startled out of his thoughts by Luigi calling him.
"Hey, Mario! Come quick! We're on Miraculous World!"
"... And now we have the story of the Mario brothers, plumbers who found themselves in a sub-dimension and rescued it from a ruthless dictator. Along the way they saved our world from an invasion and returned the girls that had been missing from Brooklyn. I'd call them the Super Mario Brothers..."
There was a knock on the apartment door and Mario said absently, "It's open..."
"Luigi! Mario! I need your help!" exclaimed Daisy as she threw open the door to the brothers' apartment. She looked like she had just escaped a war zone, dressed in torn black coveralls, combat boots, and a bandolier. She had dirt smudged on her face and was armed with a flame launcher.
"Daisy! What's wrong?" asked Luigi, his stunned face mirroring Mario's.
"We have a leak," she answered.
"Looks like we've got work, Luigi," said Mario as he and his brother moved to pull on their coveralls. "Don't forget your belt, it's got everything a plumber needs."
"Not exactly everything," Daisy amended as she took out some Bullet Bill cartridges. "You'll need the Stompers."
"Must be some job..." said Mario.
Luigi just smiled. "Come on, big brother, nothing the Super Mario Brothers can't fix!"
A/N: FINALLY FINISHED! If you want to know what happens to Mario and Luigi on their next adventure in Dinohattan, it won't come from me. However, You can check out the sequel to the movie that's being done as a web comic. Just look up SMBthecomicdotcom and you'll find it. Fair warning, though. The comic is incomplete and has not been updated in over two years. So maybe show the comic some love, support it on and maybe we can get it continued.
Keep on writing.
Knight Writer 95