Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, but here it is! Chapter 13! Enjoy!
Chapter 13: A new Hammer, a cliché chase scene, and the lamest boss battle in history
Enter Pax:
The five of us entered the ruins, looking around.
"Strange..." Bombette said.
"What?" Parakarry asked her.
"These are supposed to be ruins, right?" she asked. "So, they should be really old?"
I nodded.
"Then why doesn't it look super old and cracked?" she asked.
"Maybe it's because it's been underground for so long," I said. I blinked, then shot my fist into the air.
"YAHOO!" I shouted. "I don't have to rhyme anymore!"
"It was fun while it lasted," Bombette joked.
"Very funny," I said. "Come on, we have some ruins to explore."
We continued to the next room of the ruins. As soon as we entered, we were ambushed by blue spiky creatures. They dashed at us, but we dived out of the way in time.
"Goombario!" I shouted, pulling out my hammer. "Info!"
"It's a Pokey Mummy!" Goombario shouted, dodging an attack. "The mummification made 'em poisonous!"
"It HAD to be poison..." I said to myself as I slammed my hammer into one. It wasn't long before we beat them all.
"That wasn't so hard," I said. "Let's go, everyone!"
We continued through the Ruins. After a little exploration, we came across a new room.
"Fool!" a voice shouted. "You have ignored my warning, haven't you? You fool!"
"...what warning?" I asked.
"You will fall to my legions and become a mummy of the sands!" the voice continued. It then ended.
"...right," Pax said, continuing on.
"Why are you going on without any fear?" Goombario asked me.
"Rule of adventuring #3:" I said. "If a dark and ominous voice tells you to go back or you'll be cursed or something like that, chances are you're getting warmer. Come on guys."
We continued forward.
Enter Coron:
"I don't understand!" I shouted. "They're not here!"
We were at the oasis now, and no one was there.
"I told you no one was here," Goompa said, as he followed us.
"But... but you said that you weren't just saying that to keep us from coming here!" I said.
"I know," Goompa said. "I wasn't."
I screamed in anger.
"Get out of here before I drown you in the lake over there!" I screamed at him.
Goompa nodded stupidly before running off. I breathed heavily as I leaned on a tree.
"No one... talk to me..." I breathed.
"...you know," George said to the rest, "if you ask me, you should try tracing Mario's path like you have done earlier, only after we reach the town."
"...that's actually a good idea," I said.
"Let's go then!" Red Koopa said, going forward. We all followed suit.
Enter Pax:
We entered yet another room in the ruins. This one had a few caskets like the ones the Pokey Mummies were in, but they weren't opening and no monsters were trying to kill us, so it was off to a good start.
"Looks peaceful enough," I said, walking through. There was a single block in the room at the end. Seeing no other way to move forward, I hit it. Suddenly, the caskets opened, revealing the Pokey Mummies. Not only that, but a few bats swooped in as well.
"Of course!" I shouted, pulling out my hammer. "Goombario, what are those bats?"
"They're Swoopers, ghost bats," Goombario said. "Most of the time, they're too high to hit without flying."
"Did someone say flying?" Parakarry asked, hovering up for emphasis.
"Alright," Pax said. "Parakarry, you go after the Swoopers. Kooper, Bombette and I will take care of the Pokey Mummies. You'll have to sit this one out Goombario."
"Aw..." Goombario said as we took off to fight the monsters. With our combined team effort, it didn't take long at all to defeat the monsters. As soon as we defeated them all, a key dropped from the ceiling. Grabbing it, I un-locked the door ahead and moved onward. We hopped over a small gap and came into a large-ish room.
"Uh...?" the voice said. "Wait! C'mon, don't go in that room! ...Ooops. Ahem! I mean..."
In a more sinister tone, it said: "Flee now while you still can! If you continue... uh... you'll feel a horrible curse!"
"See?" I said to Goombario. "What did I tell you?"
After solving a simple puzzle, we came across a huge treasure chest.
"Let's see what's inside..." I said, opening it up. In it was a hammer, only with a steel top.
"Sweet!" I said, picking the hammer up. "This thing looks wicked powerful!"
"It is!" Kooper said. "It the Super Hammer! It's not only more powerful, but it can also destroy stone blocks!"
We all turned to look at him.
"...what?" he asked with a shrug. "I read magazines, okay?"
"...right," I said. "Well come on! We have to carry on!"
I smashed a stone block that was in our way, then continued on.
Enter Coron:
"We're here," King Goomba said. "Now, use your super cool tracking powers!"
"They're called Nightmare Powers," I said, bending down and sensing the path of the Dream Keeper. After about a minute, I opened my eyes and got up.
"That way," I said, pointing in a direction. We all walked in that direction. My eyes still closed, we turned in different directions. West. North. East.
After a few minutes of walking, I stopped.
"Someone scuffed up the tracks," I said, opening my eyes. "Who in the world could have-"
I stopped when I saw a janitor sweeping the desert floor.
"'Scuse me," he said, sweeping past us. "Just keeping our desert clean."
"...I'm not even going to begin saying how little that made sense," I said.
"Good," the janitor said. "Don't."
He then climbed onto his broom and flew up into the air, disappearing with a ding. We all stood there, staring at the point where he disappeared.
"...how about we say that was a hallucination and never talk about this again?" Jr. Troopa suggested.
"Agreed," we all agreed. We then set off in the desert, hoping lady luck would help us find the Dream Keeper.
Enter Pax:
We were all exploring the ruins for awhile when we discovered an idol statue thing on a pedestal.
"What's that?" Bombette asked.
"No clue," I said, "but we probably need it later."
I walked up to the pedestal and picked up the idol.
"There," I said. "Maybe this is what we need to place in that thing we saw earli-AHH!!!"
The pedestal sunk into the ground, and a boulder came out, chasing us. We ran like heck, screaming.
"It's always a boulder!" I shouted. "Why does it always have to be boulders?"
"I dunno," Goompa said, as he was running with us now. He had a satchel, a whip, and fedora. I stared at him for a minute, still running.
"Hey boulder!" I shouted. "There's Indy right there! Go and get him!"
After I said this, the boulder turned as if it had a mind of its own and began chasing Goompa down a separate passage.
"...I can't believe that worked," Bombette said, slowing down to a stop.
"You and me both," I said. "Come on. Luckily, that boulder chased us to where we needed to go."
We were now in a room with a pedestal with a hole in it. I placed the idol in the pedestal. Suddenly, the entire ruins began shaking. Soon, a section of the floor lowered, revealing a separate chamber.
"Sweet!" I said, going down into the chamber. My friends followed suit. We walked down into a small chamber with a passage in front of us.
"This is your final warning!" the voice shouted. "Enough of this foolishness! Leave at once! If you do not, I will-"
"Hey, cool!" Goompa's voice said. "Sweet intercom! Luke, I am your father!"
"Hey, give that back!" the voice shouted. There was a sound of a fight, then the intercom shut off.
"...this is some ancient ruins," I said, "and it has an intercom?"
"You say that as if your surprised," Bombette said as we continued forward.
We entered a pitch-black room. All that was in it were some flames on the walls.
"Bleah heh heh heh..." the voice said. Suddenly, a pharaoh's crown appeared. It floated around for awhile until a chunky Koopa appeared, he wearing the crown.
"You!!" he shouted. "You ignored all those very scary warnings!"
"...scary?" I asked. "I've heard scarier at a little kid's horror house."
"Don't you have the common sense to get scared and run away?" the Koopa shouted at us. "What's wrong with you!?"
"It's called bravery," Bombette said. "Look it up."
"You shouldn't mess with Tutankoopa, a faithful follower of King Bowser!" the Koopa shouted.
"...Tutankoopa?" I asked.
"Seriously," Kooper said, "that's a disgrace to all Koopas."
"Amen," Parakarry said with a nod.
"You shall regret this!!!" Tutankoopa shouted. "Mario! We shall have an epic duel!"
"Alright," I said, pulling out my hammer. "You guys stay back. I got this one."
As my friends stepped back, Tutankoopa clapped his hands twice. Suddenly, a chess board raised from the ground.
"Let's do this!" Tutankoopa shouted. "I call black!"
"...are you freaking serious?" I asked. "Chess? I thought you meant a real battle, with punching and kicking and such!"
"I think we're more civilized than that!" Tutankoopa said. "If you'd prefer, though, we could have a collectable trading card duel! I have a few booster packs that you could borrow!"
"...chess it is then," I said, sitting down. "Your move."
"Alright," Tutankoopa said, pushing a Pawn forward.
"Pawn to D4!" he shouted. "Beat that!"
I remained silent as I moved a Pawn to D5.
"Good one..." Tutankoopa said as he moved a Pawn to B3.
Enter Coron:
"Well," King Goomba said, "we're not making much progress."
"How about those ruins?" Jr. Troopa said, pointing at some large ruins we were passing.
"...well," Red Koopa said, "adventurers ARE attracted to ruins. I guess it couldn't hurt."
"...they're definitely in there," I said, sensing the ground. "Let's go."
We all took a few steps forward when a green mouse with a turban jumped down.
"You cannot enter," he said. "Only the nice guy's allowed in here."
"Outta the way runt," I said, stepping forward. Suddenly, he back flipped and knocked me back.
"What the?" I asked. "No one's gotten the drop on me in years!"
"I've been told that," the mouse said.
"Whatever," I said, my arm transforming into a sword. "We still outnumber you five to one."
"Make that four to one," George said, stepping back. "I'd rather not fight a battle I know I won't win."
"Whatever," I said. "Team Nightmare, ATTACK!!!"
The four of us dashed forward as George sat back and watched. I swiped at him with my sword-hand, but he flipped right over it and landed on Red Koopa, kicking him into King Goomba. They were both sent flying away.
"Now I know how Mario beat them so quickly..." Jr. Troopa said as he dashed forward. The mouse simply side stepped him and hit him in his neck, knocking him out instantly.
It was just me and the mouse. We stood there, wind blowing by.
"It's just you and me," the mouse said. "Best of luck to you."
"You to," I said. "You're gonna need it."
We both screamed as we dashed at each other. I swiped with my arm/sword, but the mouse pulled out some knives he hid in his sleeves and kept the blade at bay. We continued to fight, swiping at each other and parrying each other's blows.
Enter Pax:
"Boo yah!" Tutankoopa said, moving his bishop. "Check!"
I simply moved my knight and took his bishop.
"Ooh..." Tutankoopa said. "I didn't see that coming..."
"How much longer do you think this'll take?" Goompa asked, kicking some dirt.
"2, 3 hours tops," Bombette said as she flipped through a magazine.
Enter Coron:
The mouse tried a lower kick, but I back flipped over it. In mid air, I transformed into a drill and dived down at him. The mouse rolled away in time and kicked me in the ribs as I fell down. I grunted as I fell back.
"This is good," George said, eating popcorn as he watched.
"You're NOT HELPING!" I shouted as I shot an arrow at the mouse, which he naturally dodged.
Enter Pax:
"Yeah!" Tutankoopa said. "I took your Queen! Eat that!"
I moved a bishop to take his Queen.
"Aw darnit!" Tutankoopa said. He moved a Pawn uncertainly. I then moved a Rook, taking the Pawn.
"Checkmate," I said. He looked down in shock at the board, seeing just that.
"Y... you're mean!" he cried. "I'm gonna go complain about my problems on the internet!"
He then ran away, crying. During his flight, he dropped the Star Card. I walked over and picked it up.
"Sweet!" I shouted, holding up the Star Card. "I got a Star Card! The boss battle was kinda lame, but I still got the Star Card!"
Everyone gave a cheer.
"Let's head back to Toad Town," Kooper said.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," I said, pocketing the Star Card. "Let's go."
Together, the five of us left the room.
Enter Coron:
I laid on the ground, defeated.
"That'll teach you to try to mess with nice guys," the mouse said before running off.
"I... hate... mice..." I said, slowly getting up.
"You have to admit that fight was awesome though," George said. "The way you two jumped off each other when you..."
I gave him a venomous glare.
"...right," George said. "Well, we should probably get the rest of the team and head to the town to rest, shouldn't we?"
"Screw them," I said, walking off. "Feel free to collect them if you want, I'm going to rest myself."
I walked off, grumbling to myself.
"...okay," George said. He then walked off to find the rest of the team.
Author's Notes: And thus ends the Dry Dry Ruins Part! Until next time, everyone! Remember to review!