The Koopaling Carnival
Chapter Thirteen: Operation Rescue…Failed?
Mario and Luigi felt their muscles tense as they entered the fun house. It wasn't pleasant, being reminded of the danger they'd faced.
Worse, danger was still present here…for them, and for Kate.
The Mecha-Koopas were waiting on either side of a large door.
"We've been expecting you," they squawked.
The door slid open.
It was a large, round room. The walls were lined with illusion mirrors- they could see themselves reflected in a hundred distorted ways.
There was a circular column of mirrors in the center.
"Finally!"
The doors slammed shut behind them, and the Koopalings dropped down from the ceiling.
"We were starting to think you wouldn't come," Lemmy taunted. "Okay, here's your friend…"
He gestured with his claw. The column lowered, revealing a large pit that had been cut in the floor. The plumbers both shuddered. The pit was filled with dozens of spinning blades and churning spikes.
And hanging above that pit was Kate.
She looked at them with bleary, half-closed eyes before her head dropped back onto her chest.
Luigi nodded and started forward. But Mario hesitated.
Lemmy, Iggy, Larry, Bowser Jr., Wendy…
Three Koopalings were missing.
Mario put a hand on Luigi's shoulder and pulled him back. "Wait a-"
"MARIO! LUGI!"
At the sound of the scream, the Koopalings burst into laughter. The brothers gasped.
Standing on a landing in the back of the room were Ludwig, Morton, and Roy.
And they had the Bays.
Ludwig had Pete in a headlock, his arm tightly around the manager's throat. Morton had Dot by her shoulders. Roy had Chris slung over one shoulder. They were laughing as though the captured Toads and the alarmed plumbers were the funniest things in the world.
"Did you really think you could trick us like that?" Morton teased. "Boy, you guys are a group of genuine idiots!"
"Let them go!" Mario demanded.
"Vhy should ve?" Ludwig said off-handedly, waving his free hand. He examined his claws, then swiped dangerously close to Pete's head. The manager recoiled, pulling desperately at the Koopaling's crushing grip. He didn't seem affected; in fact, it looked as if he was squeezing him tighter. Pete's face paled and his eyes spun from lack of air.
"You said you would give yourselves up for Kate," Bowser Jr. said. "But you tried to trick us…Maybe you shouldn't get her back at all."
At this, Wendy pressed a button. The rope suspending Kate from the ceiling dropped, and she came an inch closer to the spinning blades.
Dot shrieked.
The Koopalings exchanged looks.
"Fine," Roy muttered at last. "Ya can have yer stupid pals back."
Chris, Pete, and Dot landed in a pile at Mario and Luigi's feet.
"But now they're a part of our little game!" Morton added gleefully. There was a lever on the landing, and he pulled it.
The floor began to spin. Mario looked around and immediately felt sick, watching the warped reflections shoot by.
The Koopalings all faced the Mario Brothers, grinning mockingly. Mario and Luigi grabbed their hammers. Pete assumed the stance of a boxer, his fists in the air. Dot took a deep breath. Chris scuffed her feet on the floor.
Both groups lunged at one another.
Even with the increased numbers, Mario and Luigi were still in trouble. The Bays couldn't do much against the shelled Koopalings; their punches and kicks were only faintly fazing them.
Roy slammed his hands into Mario's stomach, forcing him backwards. He skidded beside Luigi and looked up.
Every second, Kate was dropping a little closer to the mass of spinning blades.
"Luigi, we have-a to do something," he murmured.
"Right!" Luigi agreed.
They both charged forward, but Bowser Jr., Ludwig, and Wendy all tackled them at once.
Mario managed to wriggle out of the fray. "Luigi!" he called.
"I got it, bro!" Luigi swerved out of the way of a punch from Jr., and jumped over a kick from Wendy. "Go!"
Mario would've gone, but then it happened.
Ludwig charged at Luigi. His brother grabbed the Koopaling around the middle, trying to hold him back, but he wasn't used to the increased weight. He lost his balance and fell backwards, dropping Ludwig and crashing to the floor.
And Ludwig crashed right next to him…his spiked shell crushing Luigi's torn arm.
Luigi screamed.