And after a day past my usual update, I got the new chapter up. Yippee. Hope you all enjoy this one, I know I enjoyed writing it. Thankfully, school hasn't been annoying to me recently, although I was hopping around on one foot all weekend due to a sprained ankle that I got. At the end of my 4x400 race. Right as passed the finish line. Perfect timing, but oh-so annoying.
ANYWHO, enough of my ramblings here. Enjoy this installment, and keep the reviews. Seriously though, there are one or two who review each chapter, and yet I see you all viewing this story, it keeps getting more views everytime I update. (Naw, just joking. You guys don't have to review if you don't want to, just trying to make you feel guilty :p)
Chapter 11: Kamek's Crowning Achievement
Beezos were absolutely everywhere, making yellow the only thing that Mario and co. could see. Their incessant buzzing filled the air, so much so that they couldn't even hear their own thoughts.
"Mario!" yelled Shelly over the noise. "You got a plan here? Because I don't think we have very long before these guys take us out!"
Mario was at a loss. He had put up with Beezos before, but they were only in sparse numbers, coming at him two or three at a time. Never had hundreds attacked him at once. This was just unprecedented. His face gave away his uneasiness to the rest of the team, only further raising their fear.
'Oh no,' thought Duplissa. 'I just join them, and now we've lost, and I can't even do anything to fight these things. Unless…' She snapped her fingers, shouting "That's it!"
The others turned to look at Duplissa, her sudden outburst surprising each of them. Duplissa smiled, her idea quickly formulating in her head.
"I know exactly what we can do. But I can only do it to one person, so Boone and Shelly, you guys will have to hide away. Then, I can use my shape-shifting powers to disguise us as two more Beezos. They won't even know the difference, since their brains are tiny."
Shelly was amazed at Duplissa's plan, previously unaware of the young Duplighost's potential intelligence. "You know," she shouted. "That could work!"
So Shelly and Boone quickly hid away (AN: Wherever Mario puts his Partners in those games. They just, disappear. Go figure). Mario nodded to show he was ready. Nervously, Duplissa walked over, and putting her hand on Mario's shoulder, began to concentrate on the form of a Beezo. Within seconds, the illusion was set, and both Mario and Duplissa were perfect copies of Beezos.
With that, the Beezo swarm began to quickly disperse, seeing as the intruders were no longer identifiable to them. All they saw were two simple Beezos, no different from themselves. They began to filter out, buzzing on back to their hive castle, with Mario and Duplissa in tow.
"We can just follow them back into the castle I would think. Then we could go look for that Mega Star and the missing Duplighosts…if they're still alive." She said, whispering the last few words with fear hitting her heart.
Mario merely nodded in agreement. He was positive that the other Duplighost villagers would still be alive. But he had to agree, that there was a fear that they may not be okay. He did not want to think of that possibility.
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Once inside the castle, Duplissa dispelled the illusion. The Beezo swarm had already disbanded, each going its own way to whichever area of the castle the dwelled. Mario and Duplissa were hopelessly lost, but began their search anyways.
The main foyer of the castle was huge to say the least, containing about only four doors, two on their ground level, two above on a staircase. Checking the first two doors got them nowhere. The first was a Beezo nursery. Needless to say, they dashed out quickly before hundreds of mini-pitchforks were thrown at them.
The next room was at least better, but still did not get them anywhere. Mario found a warp pipe within the small room, containing only a few bookcases. Jumping in, Mario and Duplissa jumped back out moments later in strange, blocky forms.
"Woah! What is this?" Duplissa asked, obviously shocked at her alteration.
They left the room, and were immediately returned to normal, much to the relief of Duplissa. Mario didn't seem to mind either way.
They continued up the stairs and entered a room, which seemed to be the correct one this time. Several Beezos that happened to be passing by came at them, a fight ensuing. Mario took his hammer, knocking two into each other, leaving one left. Duplissa then head-butted it with a sudden jump, KO-ing the Beezo.
Moving on, they walked on through the room, giant pillars rising up in seemingly random arrangements, and giant holes dotting the walls, obviously acting at quick transportation ways for the Beezos.
Another staircase greeted them, which they began a long trek up. Before long, they came to another hallway of a multitude of doors. At this point, Mario called out Shelly and Boone again to help in searching each door individually for the next way through. More and more Beezos seemed to be arriving, and by the time they found the way out, they were all hit with fatigue.
Mario pulled out several mushrooms, passing them among the team. They ate them quickly, and were soon ready to move on. Passing through the correct door that Boone had found, they moved on into the next corridor. This one was different however it smelled-
"Sweet. It smells like sugar or something in here." said Boone. He was looking all over the torch-lit corridor for the source, but could find nothing.
Shelly face-palmed herself. "Maybe you would actually see the source if your helmet wasn't blocking out most of your vision. It's just honey."
"Oh, heh heh," Boone laughed sheepishly, pulling his helmet back up. "Well, I would guess that we would be getting close then. That would seem right since they are a bunch of bees."
"Actually," interrupted Shelly. "They're just a bunch of weird Shy Guys that went off on their own a long time ago. But enough of that! I can hear a lot of buzzing just ahead!"
Sure enough, as they all quieted down, a buzzing could be heard emanating from the end of the hall. They began to run as fast as they could, avoiding splotches of honey as they continued on their way. It ended in a hexagonal hole, like so many they found scattered randomly throughout the castle.
"Well, I guess there's only one way through." said Shelly as she scrambled through.
Mario, Boone, and Duplissa looked at each other, before Boone shrugged and began to scurry in. Mario followed, and Duplissa, hesitant at first, followed them. The hole opened up into a huge chamber, lit only by the torches that were scattered throughout the area. This room was also more heavily coated with the honey, and hundreds of the hexagon passages were lining the walls.
"So…what now?" Shelly asked. It truly seemed as if there was nothing in the room, even with the minor visibility.
"I don't know," said Boone. "But in my experiences, I wouldn't risk moving forward just yet. Let me just-yah!" he said with a shout, throwing his boomerang across the room. Moments later, a sound, similar to wood hitting wood, resonated throughout the room, before the boomerang miraculously came back. "Yeah…no idea how it does that." He said as Duplissa gave him a weird look.
Suddenly, the room began to shake as a slight breeze picked up. A buzz, louder than any they had heard before began to pick up, as two piercing red eyes opened from across the room, staring directly at the group.
"BZZZZZZZZZZZ! Who chucked that stick at me?!" a voice shrieked, clearly coming from the direction of the eyes.
"Uh, if I say I did, what exactly does that-GAH!" Boone shouted as a two-pronged pitchfork was shot at him, catching him between the tines before trapping him in the wall.
"Mamma-mia!" shouted Mario in shock. Suddenly, the buzzing picked up as the eyes approached, soon revealing a Shy Guy mask, and soon enough, a yellow body. It was a Beezo, but not just any normal one. This particular Beezo was at least thirty feet tall, with a complementary giant pitchfork, and a small golden crown adorning its head.
"Heh, you meddlesome creature had what was coming to you. Clocking me in the head, the KING, for all that matters! I should have my subjects execute you now, but I feel unusually kind today. Instead, I will destroy you myself. An honor really, since that almost never happens."
A normal Beezo flew up to where the King Beezo's ear would have been, making unintelligible buzzing noises to him as he nodded in acknowledgement. "Ah that's right. It's never happened before. What an honor for you four!" he laughed.
"Not much of an honor if you ask me." grumbled Shelly as she crossed her arms.
"Silence you insolent grub!"
"Yeah, love to but kinda in a hurry here. We don't want to bother you, just get a certain Mega Star here. Our little map said it'd be here, so we came to get it. You know, save the world stuff."
The King Beezo began to laugh, a deep resounding laugh that seemed to make the floor and walls shake, knocking loose some dust from the ceiling. "Sorry fools, but that is impossibility. My lord, Kamek, gave me his complete trust in guarding that silly little star. He granted me my power, so I, in return, guard that star for him and the King Bowser."
At this point, Shelly had just about had it with the Beezo, and with a yell, began to run at him for a blow. She head-butted him, and the battle for the second Mega Star began…
Haha! And the evil cliffhanger strikes again! Next chapter: The battle with King Beezo! Woo! I'm separating this from the battle, mainly because I wanted to put a bit more effort into a fight scene. Plus, I felt this chapter was long enough.
See you guys next time!
