Chapter 20: Thieves in the Hot Hot Desert!
Mario Bros. House
It was a beautiful, early dawn in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was just rising by then, giving a bright orange glow near the horizon while the rest of the sky was a relaxing, dark blue. Baby birds were already chirping in the trees. At this time, most people would be getting up by now. It was peaceful and quiet in the Mario Bros. residence. Mario and Luigi were still sleeping in their beds, while Yoshi was sleeping in the guest room, which was across the hallway from the Mario Bros. bedroom.
The alarm clock went off in the Mario Bros. bedroom. Luigi took his time to shut it off. He sat up from his bed and stretched his arms out. He was wearing white pajamas with vertical green stripes. After he was done stretching, he looked to his brother, who was sleeping on his stomach, snoring. Both his right arm and leg hung over the edge of the bed. He was also wearing white pajamas, but this time it had red vertical stripes. Luigi climbed out of his bed and calmly woke up his brother.
"Hey, bro." said Luigi. "It's-a time to wake up now."
"Ahhhh...Rrrravioli..." Mario turned his head away from him, still asleep. Luigi shook his head and sighed.
"Sometimes, I just don't get my brother." He went back to his bed and fixed up the covers. He then got into their bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth and got dressed up in his overalls. Instead of dressing up in his long-sleeved shirt, he put on his green short-sleeved shirt. "Today we're going to the Hot Hot Desert, and I don't want to sweat in the heat!" He looked at himself in the mirror, and put on his trademark hat, fixing it in the desired position. Suddenly, someone knocked on the bathroom door.
"Luigi? Are you in there?" It was Mario. He still sounded a little bit tired. Luigi opened the door, and found his brother holding his clothes. Mario looked up to him, surprised he was already dressed. "Wow, you're-a pretty fast."
"That's because I wake up early." Luigi teased. His brother gave him an annoyed look.
"Hey, I'm-a should tell you I'm still tired from what happened last night in Mushroom City." Mario explained. He walked past his brother into the bathroom and laid his clothes on the toilet seat. He grabbed his towel off of the bathroom hanger. "Can you start cooking breakfast now? I'm-a awfully hungry."
Luigi nodded. He was about to head for the kitchen when he remembered to remind his brother. "We're going to the Hot Hot Desert today to find the next Power Star, Mario. Make sure you wear your short-sleeved shirt. It's going to be scorching hot out there!" Mario gave him an "okie-dokie".
The green plumber walked out of their bedroom and knocked on the guest room's door. "Wake up, Yoshi! We're going to go Power Star searching today!"
The dinosaur yawned loudly. He put his blanket over his head. "Five more minutes, Luigi."
Luigi headed downstairs and headed for the kitchen. He opened up the fridge and took a few eggs out. He got the stove ready and set the frying pan on one of the elements. He cracked an egg and poured the egg yolk on the frying pan and started to cook. He cooked three eggs and a few bacon. He was setting up the table when Mario and Yoshi walked in.
The dinosaur sniffed the air. "Mmmmm! Eggs! My favourite!" Yoshi quickly sat down and waited for Luigi to give him his plate. "I was so tired from last night that forgot to have my midnight snack! The shadow figure back in the city gave us a whole lot of trouble, right?"
Mario nodded to the dinosaur. "That thing still bothers me. The shadow figure had so much power that even Sonic couldn't handle it by himself."
Luigi placed their breakfast on the table. "That shadow figure also had some sort of despise against him. It makes me wonder if that thing and Sonic knew each other in the past. It seems really likely."
"I'm just hoping the shadow figure doesn't come back." Yoshi said in a serious voice.
"Don't worry, Yoshi!" comforted Mario. He sat down in his chair. "If he does come back, we can beat him again!" The dinosaur smiled from the plumber's enthusiasm.
Luigi sat in his chair. "Come on, guys. Let's eat! We have a big day ahead of us in the Hot Hot Desert and we should get ready for whatever happens there!" The trio started to eat their breakfast, looking forward to meet up with Sonic and his friends and search for the next Power Star that will help them return back home.
Bowser's Castle, Hallway Area...
The Koopa King was walking through the hallways of his castle, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. On the side of the cup, were the words, "Best King Dad Eva!" It was a gift from his Koopalings for birthday. It wasn't much, but it did mean something to him. He took a sip and continued down the hallway, thinking about what Kamek and Junior had seen last night in the Mushroom City.
"I wonder how that shadow figure had so much strength and energy." Bowser talked to himself. "If only I was there to see it. I would've gotten a kick out of it to see Mario fall to his knees. There's just gotta be a way to harness that kind of power. It would totally help in my plans to take over the Mushroom Kingdom!"
He passed by his castle laboratory, where Dr. Eggman was working on their "Doomsday" machine. The Koopa King was curious, so he walked back and entered. The doctor was working on the work table, which was situated in the middle of the room. He had a small desk light beside him. He was drawing out blue prints for their machine. Bowser looked over Eggman's shoulder.
"So, did you come up with anything yet?"
The doctor was still focused on his blue prints. "I took your advice about 'not trying to put the cockpit so close to the ground'. I've come up with a few desgins for our machine, but there always seems to be some sort of flaw that could leave us open for an attack!"
"Gah! Just keep working on it." Bowser demanded. "We need some sort of big machine that Mario and Sonic will be no match to!" He took another sip of his coffee and walked around the laboratory room. He still thought about the shadow figure. "Say, Eggman. Remember last night when Kamek and Junior hurried over here to tell us about that shadow figure back in the city?"
Eggman nodded. "Yeah. It was pretty surprising to me. Who knew that there was something that could overwhelm both Mario and Sonic with it's own strength."
"Well, that's what I was thinking." Bowser said. "We need to balance both power and size. I bet that shadow figure could've easily taken care of all of those horrid heroes, but since he was the same size as them and was outnumbered, Mario and the others beat him." He sipped his coffee again, waiting for the doctor's response.
Eggman slowly nodded, impressed by the Koopa King's idea. "Brilliant! I like your thinking, Bowser!" He took out another blue print and began to draw another design of their "Doomsday" machine, keeping Bowser's words in mind. "Say, what was wrong with Junior last night? He didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk about the incident."
Bowser shrugged. "I don't know. Kamek said it could be the shadow figure that bothered him, but it just doesn't really make sense to me." He walked to the door of the laboratory. "I think I should go talk to him. Keep working on the "Doomsday" machine."
The doctor nodded, and continued drawing the design. Bowser left the laboratory door open and headed for Junior's room. Lot's of things were going in his mind right now. He drank the last bit of the coffee in his mug.
I wonder what the Mario Bros. are doing right now...
Hot Hot Desert, Oasis Outpost...
It was a blazing afternoon in the Hot Hot Desert. Everywhere you looked, there was sand. Lots and lots of sand. The desert had various sand dunes that piled up high. There was little plant life in the desert, which consisted of barrel cactus, palm trees and few patches of grass. The wildlife in the desert included Pokeys, Spinies and Dry Bones that would play dead whenever there would be danger. There were occasional Twisters that ran through the desert. The Hot Hot Desert also had a few ruins and pyramids that were built thousands of years ago.
In the Hot Hot Desert, there was a small town located right beside an oasis. The town itself was called the "Oasis Outpost". There wasn't much people that lived in the town. Most of the buildings were made up of stone, but they were painted different colors to add life to the town. The Oasis Outpost didn't get a lot of tourists, since it was located in the Hot Hot Desert.
In the oasis itself, there were palm trees in it. A small pool of water was there. It was the only water that was close to the Oasis Outpost. Patches of grass grew in the oasis. It seemed lush. There was also red pipe in the oasis that connected to one of the pipes in the Mushroom Plains. It was one of the few ways that people could travel to the Hot Hot Desert. Right now, it was being used by our fellow heroes.
"Let's-a go!" exclaimed Mario as he jumped out of the pipe. He was followed by Sonic, who jumped out in his spin ball form. Luigi was on Yoshi's saddle when they popped out of the pipe. Lastly, came Tails and Amy.
Sonic looked around the Hot Hot Desert. "Boy, look at all this space! I could run out here for hours and hours!"
"I don't know if you could do that, Sonic." Tails started to explain. He noticed the hot temperature in the air. "It feels like an oven out here! You would get tired from all the heat."
Mario looked to Luigi. "Did you make sure you filled up all the canteens with water?"
The green plumber nodded back to him. "I filled all of them up to the lid." He had all six of their canteens with him. The canteens had a carrying strap. He attached all of them onto Yoshi's saddle so they would know where they all were.
"Wow! It sure is hot out here!" said Amy. The pink hedgehog took out bright, white parasol that Princess Peach gave to her before they left the castle. She had warned them about the intense heat. Amy opened up the parasol and put it over her head, covering her in the cool shade of the parasol.
Sonic looked over to Amy and noticed the parasol she had. "Hey, come on, Ames! The sunshine out here is great, and you're hiding under an umbrella. It's not even hot out here!" He stretched out his arms and relaxed.
"Easy for you to say, Sonic!" The pink hedgehog walked up to him. "Unlike you, I'm wearing my boots and dress. I'd like to see you dressed up like this in the middle of the desert."
Sonic shook his head. "Sorry! But I would never be caught dead in one."
"Yo, both of you!" Luigi shouted to them. The two hedgehogs looked to see that the others were already on their way to the Oasis Outpost. "You guys had better catch up! We're on a mission to find the Power Star, remember?" Sonic gave the plumber an "alright!" and ran back to them. Amy followed.
When the heroes got there, the Oasis Outpost seemed deserted. No one appeared to be occupying the place. The only things there were the buildings, a few palm trees and some beautifully painted baskets that were outside the houses. The heroes walked around for a bit, hoping to find a resident of the place.
"Gee, this place appears to be a ghost town." Tails commented.
Luigi shuddered at the word 'ghost. "D-d-d-did you say g-g-g-g-g-ghost?"
Tails gave out a small chuckle. "Don't worry, Luigi. I'm sure there is no ghosts anywhere near this place."
"Hmm, I'm-a think we should split up and see if there still is anyone in this town that has seen a Power Star fall from the sky." Mario recommended. The group nodded. "Okie-dokie. Yoshi and Tails, you check one part, me and Luigi will check the other and Sonic and Amy will check the remainder." He walked up to Yoshi and took one of the canteens. "Make sure you get-a your water. It's-a starting to get hot out here!"
The group each took their own canteen and searched around the town, each in their own direction. Mario and Luigi checked the north end, Yoshi and Tails checked the east end, while Sonic and Amy checked the west end.
"You know," Sonic started. "Now that we're in a desert and all, you think we'll see some sort of cool-looking desert creature?"
"If we do see one, I hope it's small and furry." Amy replied. "Maybe it'll have these big, round eyes. That would be soo cute!"
The blue hedgehog looked at her, all confused. "Uhmm, I don't think they have those in the desert." They both stopped near a building window and looked to see if anyone was there. To their dismay, there was no one. "If I saw some sort of desert creature, I'd hope it would have this long tongue! And maybe some sharp claws on it's hand!" He pretended he had sharp claws and started to swipe in the air.
"Ugh! That would be ugly-looking!" Amy said in an unpleasant tone. "Come on, Sonic. We should continue looking."
Suddenly, one of the baskets beside them moved. Both hedgehogs stopped in their tracks and looked to the basket.
"Was it me, or did that basket move?" Sonic asked. The basket started to move again. It crawled towards them.
Amy went behind the blue hedgehog and tightly held on his shoulder. "Sonic! Do something about it."
Sonic nodded. The basket kept moving towards them. Once it was right in front of Sonic's feet, the hedgehog carefully lifted his foot and slid it under the basket. HE counted to himself, and quickly flipped the basket over. Under it, was a red-shelled turtle, with white spikes placed on it's shell. It crawled on all it's fours. It was a Spiny. It stared up to the hedgehogs and walked past them, thinking them as nothing more than regular people.
"...that was unexpected." Sonic said. Amy nodded back to him. The blue hedgehog smiled. "Come on, we've still got to find someone in this town." The hedgehogs continued searching, forgetting about the Spiny.
On the other end of the Oasis Outpost, Yoshi and Tails were continuing their search for any civilians. The fox and dinosaur were sweating from the heat. They drank from their canteens until they almost had no water left.
"Man! The temperature out here is starting to get higher and higher by the second!" Tails complained. "At this rate, I may just shave my fur off just to feel the slight breeze on me!"
The dinosaur imagined Tails without his fur. "Oh my..." He quickly shook the image out of his head. "That's just disturbing..." He went back to drinking the water out of his canteen. He drank every last drop. Yoshi was still thirsty. "Uhh, Tails, do you still have any water in your canteen?"
The fox opened up his canteen and turned it upside-down. A single drop fell out from it. "Sorry, Yoshi, but I drank all my water too." He thought for a moment. "We should check around to see if the townspeople left any water!"
The two friends checked the baskets that were scattered around by the buildings. Unluckily for them, they were all empty. Nothing was left inside the baskets.
"There's no water in this basket." Yoshi said to Tails. "I'll check the building over there!" He headed into a building a few feet from him. Tails continued searching through a pile of baskets.
"Nothing..." the fox whispered to himself. He wiped a sweat off his forehead. "It's starting to burn out here." He looked beside him. "Hey, what's that." A few feet from him, was a huge bag with a picture of a coin at the side. It was definitely a coin bag. Curious, the fox walked up to it and opened the bag. He peeked inside. "Whoa..." Inside, was a big pile of blue coins. In the Mushroom Kingdom, blue coins were worth the equivalent of five yellow coins.
"Wow! There's so many in here!" Tails exclaimed.
A voice came from behind him. "Yeah! There is!"
The fox was surprised. He looked behind him and saw these two men behind him, wearing long, black robes that covered their whole body, including their faces. The only thing you could identify from both of them was the two, big pink noses that stuck out from their faces were. The difference from each of them was one was short and plump while the other was skinny and tall.
The disguised, plump man pointed to Tails. "Grab him!" He had a deep, gruff voice.
In a moment, the mysterious tall man grabbed another bag from his pocket and stuffed Tails in it. The fox yelped for help.
"Gah! This one is such a loudmouth!" complained the tall guy. His voice was higher than the plump man's voice, resembling a duck quack.
"Quick! Hurry! I hear someone coming!" the plump man demanded.
Yoshi came out from one of the buildings he was in and saw his friend getting kidnapped by two goons. "Tails!"
The plump man looked back, seeing Yoshi. "Oh no! It's that dinosaur!" He turned to the tall man, who held the bag with Tails over his shoulder. "Come on! Let's-a get a move on!" The two men abandonded the scene, bring along Tails as their captive. Yoshi chased after them. They ran around most of the east end of the Oasis Outpost until they came upon a blue pipe in a dead end alley.
The tall man looked back to Yoshi, who was exhausted from running. "See ya, dino breath!" He jumped into the pipe, with Tails still in the bag. Yoshi could hear his shouts from the pipe.
"Hey! Yoshi!" the plump man snapped at him. "Tell Mario, that I'm-a gonna be the richest man in the world!" He jumped into the pipe, giving out a maniacal laugh down the way.
Yoshi gasped. "Oh no! I'd better tell the others about this!" The dinosaur quickly ran around town, desperately searching for his friends.
.
..
...
To be continued!
Oh no! Looks like there has been a foxnapping in the peaceful town of Oasis Outpost! Will our heroes save our fox friend? Who are those two mysterious cloaked men? And why does the town seem to be deserted? Tune in next week for the next chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite!
Author Notes: Got this chapter done! Yay! You can kind of tell that the Hot Hot Desert is supposed to be based off most of the desert levels of the Mario games. I based the Oasis Outpost from the Dry Dry Outpost from the Paper Mario series. I just added a few changes to give it a unique feeling. I'm quite happy with this chapter. I added lots of good communication between the characters. If you know your Mario characters, you may recognize the two mysterious men! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
This is also the 20th chapter of Mario and Sonic: Heroes Unite! Kudos for this great achievement! I wouldn't have come this far without the support from you guys!
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P.S. This is the first chapter I've done on a Mac. It's not my Mac though, so this may be the last time I upload a chapter with a Mac.
I do not own any Mario or Sonic related characters. They both belong to Nintendo and Sega.