"Did someone page the bird of awesome? " Oh my god, I almost died from laughing when I read that. Except…my mood was brought down by the fact that it was 6 AM and I had to go to school again. Dammit.
Why should you sound too critical, Madz? It was your honest opinion, and I even asked for it. I prefer people being honest and giving me criticism when they feel like there is the need for some. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this story.
Now, about the character issue: I think I know why this could be a thing. Because that is how we know them from the series. I mean, I guess it would be funnier if I kept Alphadream´s original concept, but I some sort of felt like shifting their personality for this story. And about Dreambert: I think he is fine with new technology, because they have some pretty impressive technology as well… *looks at Pi'illodium*
In the beginning, Nico really looked a bit invulnerable. However, I didn´t want him to BE overpowered. He´s just a guy who is more powerful than others, while he still has his flaws and pays for the mistakes he makes, just like everyone else.
I think I´ll go back to Alphadream´s personalities in the next story, and then we´ll see where that goes.
About the story: I guess you are right…but hey, at least you still like it, as well as some other guys around here. I have a plan for a sequel in mind, so I´ll try to remember that there. Thanks for your offer, by the way. I´ll think about it. I won´t make any promises, though.
Really? A sequel? That won´t be good…
So? I can write whatever I want (while I still follow the rules), and the plan I have doesn´t look too bad in my opinion. I´ll write that eventually, and then we´ll see how it turns out.
Can you stop talking and give us the story?
Right, I´ve been rambling for too long again. Thanks again, Madz, same to all of you guys who reviewed and liked this story so far as well.
Enjoy!
Sometimes, the only thing Nico could do was going out of his mind for a certain amount of time. During these times, it was best to stay away from him, for safety reasons. This time, he couldn´t calm down with just raging around and doing things he´d never do under normal circumstances. The four heroes, or "more than annoying obstacles", as he sometimes called them, had not only destroyed his factory, but also almost destroyed the work he had spent a year on.
Luckily, for everyone, Nicbot just got badly damaged. Nico managed to repair everything (expect for his pride). But now, he had to unleash the feelings he had. And since he didn´t want to destroy his own base, he sent his destruction orbs down at Toad Town. He was careful not to miss a building, and soon the town looked like an entire war had been fought there. The houses were not completely destroyed, but the repairs would take forever to perform.
Nico calmed down and was finally able to think straight again. He had to plan what he was going to do now. He knew that he couldn´t save his shield. The robots were useless against the heroes, and his friends and Nicbot were lucky to not have been defeated. And he had to maintain his machine…the machine that would finally give him full control over everyone in this kingdom.
"But if they come up here, I can´t hit them with it. Wait…that is just nonsense! How do they want to get up here without us noticing them closing in? We´d annihilate them mid-air. I´m still save up here…they haven´t thought that far," Nico thought, while he stared into the distance.
His earpiece told him about a warning of his machine. He re-entered his house and typed a few commands on his computer. The warning disappeared.
"I am still going to reach my goal, and I´ll use any means necessary to do that," he continued his thoughts, and then a grin crossed his face.
"I won´t fail now. You are not going to see me lose, and then I´ll laugh at you. I told you, eventually I´ll be at the very top of something. And this something is going to be a whole kingdom. The kingdom the Mario Bros. defend every single time someone tries to take it over. But I´ll get them out of the way. Out of my way. And I´ll do it my way," he said, and looked into a certain direction. The direction where he had come from. One day, he would rule the area there as well. It´d be just a matter of time.
They had no time to waste. Mario and Luigi dragged the robots with them, and Starlow and Dreambert already flew ahead to tell everyone about their success. Professor E. Gadd and Dr. Toadley waited in front of Broque Madame´s house, and they seemed to be pretty upset. When they were close enough for communication, Toadley spoke up.
"Are you guys incredible? Of course you are! Are we only a few steps away from victory? I think so. However, has Nico turned Toad Town into a ruin? I am afraid that he has," he said, and looked into the direction of their beloved town.
"Hey, you two! Bring these robots in, so I can start working!" E. Gadd told them, so they took the robots and placed them inside the house.
When they left it again, they saw that Starlow and Dreambert had returned. They had been in Toad Town in order to look at the damage that Nico had caused, as well as to find some items.
"He has attacked every building there, that will take several months to repair…and we couldn´t find more items. We still have some left, but I doubt that they will be enough," Starlow reported to the doctor.
"Have I thought about this possibility? Indeed I have. Should you take the Miracle Toadley Cure with you? I think you should. It will resurrect you guys with full power if you need it," Dr. Toadley replied.
"Really? Thank you, you don´t know much of a help that will be," Dreambert said.
"I do know, but should we destroy the shield now?" he asked, but before he could answer his own question, the couple answered "Of course we should".
Dr. Toadley took out the Miracle Cure and placed it in front of them. Mario took it and held it up high, aiming at the shield protecting Nico. After a few moments, a beam emerged from it and started digging into the shield. Starlow and Dreambert now focused on their love and fired their own beam at the Miracle Cure. As soon as it hit it, the item started to change. It formed into a heart-shaped Miracle Cure, and now the beam was white.
After some seconds, white cracks started to appear on the shield. They slowly grew bigger, until the whole barrier was filled with them. The Miracle Cure fired one large white orb, which was the end of the beam. As soon as it struck Nico´s defense, the shield shattered. Now all they had to do was get up to the castles and defeat Nico. The Miracle Cure transformed back into its original state.
Everyone cheered, because their plan worked out so far. Up next was E. Gadd, who walked out of the building after a few minutes.
"Excellent. I´m done with the modifications, so you can go up there whenever you want. I´ll bring you guys as close as possible to Bowser´s Throne Room, because I have located the antenna that sends all orders to Nico´s robots there. If you can destroy it, he won´t be able to use his remaining robots anymore," he told them.
"Will it disable Nicbot as well?" Luigi asked.
"I honestly don´t know, but it seems like he can operate independently. I doubt that Nico designed him to rely on something like that," E. Gadd replied.
"I guess it´ll be good enough if his robots to stay inactive. Is everyone ready? We have a few humans and a robot to stop," Mario said.
Dr. Toadley handed him the Miracle Cure, and they checked their items one last time. They had some Candy for emergencies, as well as some Mushrooms, Syrup Jars and 1-Ups. It wasn´t much, but it had to be enough. The Miracle Cure was a wonderful addition, because they now had an unfair advantage in battles. On the other hand, you never knew what tricks Nico had in store.
"I think we are ready, Professor," Starlow said after they checked on everything.
"Fine, please follow me," E. Gadd answered and entered the building.
"Will you guys be successful? Of course you will. Should you still be careful? Indeed you should," Toadley told them.
"Thanks, Dr. Toadley," Dreambert replied, and together they entered the building.
E. Gadd stood next to the two robots, which had their front opened. Inside of them was just enough space to fit one brother and either Starlow or Dreambert in.
"Alright, Mario and Dreambert will go into one robot, while Luigi and Starlow enter the other one. Once you are in there, I´ll close the front again and start controlling the thrusters. If my calculations are correct, there is only a 0.000000000001% chance of failing," he told them.
"Told you that it´d be like that," Luigi whispered.
They entered the robots, the brothers in the lower part and Starlow and Dreambert in the part with the head. E. Gadd closed the robots again and took out a remote control. He pressed some buttons, and then used a joystick. The robots started hovering above the ground. He put the control aside and attached binoculars to his glasses, so he could steer them when they would be too far away to see the heroes without them.
He picked the remote up again and steered them out of the house. There, he let them fly up high into the direction of the castles. In the distance, robots could be seen flying to the fortress. Nico must have called all of his robots up there to defend him. After a few minutes, they reached Bowser´s Castle. The robot landed on the balcony, where E. Gadd remotely opened the robots. The four of them left their disguise and looked around.
Robots were flying around the castles, but nobody seemed to expect them up here. Ready to stop Nico, they entered Bowser´s Throne Room. It didn´t change much, except for a device with an antenna next to the main computer in the room. The computer and device were protected by a force field, but Starlow and Dreambert would be able to break through it. The computer was managed by Marius, who was busy looking at the display and eating chocolate.
He didn´t notice them, so they snuck towards the field. If they fired at it, he would notice them and raise the alarm, but attacking him was impossible. They didn´t need to worry about that problem, however, because the alarm suddenly went off. Marius raised his head in surprise, and was so shocked to see them that his chair fell over, together with him.
"Whoaaah! What are YOU doing here?!" he yelled after he recovered from his fall.
His earpiece activated, and someone told him something.
"Yes, I´ve noticed them. Because they are RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" he shouted. He then faced them.
"I don´t know how you got here, but this was your last mistake. I know that I can´t take you down on my own, but who said that I have to fight alone?" he said with a grin.
"Guys, I think we will have guests here. Get rid of that shield!" Mario told them, and together with Luigi he prepared to face any reinforcements.
Starlow and Dreambert fired at the shield, but it was quite strong. It would take them a few minutes to break it. Robots started entering the room, and Mario and Luigi welcomed them with a Bomb Derby attack. The robots went down, but those who got destroyed were quickly replaced by new ones. Luigi took a green shell and kicked it towards the row of enemies. Robot after robot sank to the ground, but no matter how many they got, even more robots took their places.
The robots eventually were able to open fire, and now the brothers were busy dodging the rays. This allowed even more of them to enter the room, and soon an entire army stood against them. Starlow and Dreambert were almost through, but their time was running out rapidly. The brothers were cornered between the robots and the shield.
"Look up," a faint voice in Mario´s mind told him. It sounded like the voice from…no, that was impossible.
Mario looked up, and saw a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The chain fixing it to the ceiling was rusty, and should break from a strong impact. He took his hammer and threw it at the chain, which broke and let the chandelier fall on a large group of robots.
"We did it!" Starlow yelled, and the shield shattered.
"Oh no, you won´t do that," Marius said, and activated his swords. He jumped in front of the machine, but he couldn´t stop all of them at once. Mario and Luigi attacked him, and the couple fired a beam at the device. Soon, sparks appeared everywhere on it. Marius knew that the robots were of no use anymore, so he disengaged from the brothers and ran through the army of robots.
The device finally exploded, and the robots instantaneously stopped doing anything. They then shut themselves down, which put Nico´s troops out of order. Mario, Luigi, Starlow and Dreambert were confident. They could stop Nico, but he still had his friends and maybe Nicbot on his side. Before they could take on the leader, they had to get his best fighters out of the way. But maybe, with the Miracle Cure, they could take on all of them.
"YOU!" a voice shouted. A drone projected a hologram of Nico. "You destroy my factory. You almost destroyed my best creation. You are getting in my way again and again. And now you think you can beat me up here? I´m almost done with my plan, all I have to do is to wait. But now I need to get you out of here. Look for me on the tower of Peach´s Castle, we´ll settle things there once and for all," he said, and looked really angry. The conversation ended.
"He´s pretty unhappy about us being here, huh?" Luigi asked.
"Hopefully. Come on, the final battles await," Mario replied.
They left the room and made it to the main gate of Bowser´s Castle. There, a bridge connected both castles. They went over it and entered Peach´s Castle, ready to face the remaining foes.
I originally intended to put the upcoming fight in here as well, but then I realised how much I wrote here. So, I guess that fight will be its own chapter, as well as the finale. I think you can expect about 3 more chapters to come out: the next fight, the final battle and the end of this story.
I think you know the drill by now, but I´ll say it anyways: Review if you want to, and stay tuned for the next chapter!