Complications
Chapter 21: Beware the Flood
Pink and Red were in the clouds, it did not really mean they were in love, but rather that they were in the cotton candy stand. Junior was the first to spot them when the koopalings spread out to search. He was about to call out to his mama Peach, when a large clawed hand covered his mouth.
"Shh!" The breath was warm, but fortunately no sparks of fire came out. Bowser looked very funny trying to hide himself by carrying dozens of helium filled balloons. His troops had reported that Pa'Mole called the Mario brothers to repair some pipes at Mole Mountain, but they were yet to do so. The mayor did not wish to interfere with Daisy and Peach's plans, since they paid a good amount of coins to make it work, so he did not ask the plumbers if they have received his message.
Bowser arranged it for his troops to inform the Mario brothers about the pipes. He couldn't very well have Peach visiting an amusement park with water problems. Then Mario would go off to fix the pipes and Bowser would have Peach to himself.
Father and son watched a koopa troopa in a yellow shell approach Mario and start a conversation. "Mario Mario, the famous plumber, I'm so glad you're here! Did they inform you about the situation?"
Mario shook his head, his mouth full of cotton candy. The soft sugary pink treat that Peach also loved, melted away and Mario asked, "what situation?"
"The pipes of course!" Keres, the koopa troopa, continued his act as if he really did work for Mole Mountain. "It's a terrible mess down there. It will be quite a challenge to fix those pipes, and only the best plumber can do it!"
Soon after, Mario started to leave, existed to take a look at the pipes and put his plumbing skills to the test, but Peach went with him; that was not part of the plan. "I'm sorry princess, but its best if you don't come," Keres stopped her. "You see, this can be a bit dangerous if the pipe system breaks completely."
"Then why is the park still open?" Peach had the feeling that the koopa troopa was trying to get rid of her, and she was certain that she had seen him before.
Keres looked away when he noticed Peach trying to take a better look at his face, despite the oversized helmet he was wearing. She would probably remember him as one of the guards from her many 'visits' to Bowser's castles. "It's only dangerous if you're in the basement, it could flood. But the park can still operate with the back up water supply; the flood won't reach above the basement levels."
"I understand..." Peach decided to stop being so insistent. Maybe there really was nothing more to this than the need for repairs.
When Mario and the koopa troopa were gone, Pauline approached. "Hi..." she paused realizing how suspicious she looked. "I was just..."
"You ended up alone when we got separated in the crowd, right? Mario went to work so I'm by myself too. But we have golden tickets so we might as well enjoy the rides," Peach smiled.
"Sounds like a great idea," Pauline returned the gesture and left along with Peach.
Bowser watched the scene. That was not how it was supposed to go. This was his date with Peach, not Peach's girls day out with Pauline. Mario was gone but Peach had gained a new companion. However, Pauline would not be as troublesome as Mario could have been, so things were still going relatively well; and Bowser had already devised a plan for this.
"King Dad can I have a balloon?" Junior made his best cute face to try to obtain what he wanted. It certainly worked on Peach, so maybe it would be better than throwing a tantrum; that never worked on Peach. What was that word again, the one that he needed to get treats from mama Peach? "Please!" Junior nearly squealed out the word when he remembered it.
Bowser stared at his youngest son. "What? No tantrum or chanting 'I want a balloon, I want a balloon, I want a balloon'?"
Junior shook his head, his red pony tail bounced as he did. "Nope, mama Peach said I should ask for things nicely and remember to say please."
Bowser realized that, while he was distracted by the surprise of the effect Peach was having on Junior, his princess and the raccoon girl were getting further away. "Here, you can have them, but you have to find your siblings and tell them not to bother Peach and I when we're on our date. I want absolutely no interruptions, understand?"
Junior nodded, excited to receive so many balloons. "I will and thank you!"
Bowser kept one balloon. It was shaped like a koopa's shell with little wings, as if a paratroopa was hiding inside its shell. He released the balloon into the air and a paratroopa came flying down, returning the balloon. "Skyri, reporting for duty your lovesickness."
Bowser raised an eyebrow. "What did you just call me?"
"Um... well..." Skyri had heard people be creative with the names they used for Bowser. It wasn't always 'your majesty' but also 'your nastiness' and other such names. Maybe that creativity wasn't for her.
"Never mind, just go entertain Pauline," Bowser sent the paratroopa away.
Skyri flew off, only to return seconds later with the balloon to give it to Junior, since she didn't know what else to do with it. She realized Junior was already gone but didn't see him walk away. The little guy was probably lost in the crowds, though he would be hard to miss with all those balloons. Skyri realized she was about to have a death wish granted, even if she did not wish for it, and flew off in a rush before Bowser reminded her that she needed to hurry.
xoxox xox xoxox
On the top of Mole Mountain, Ludwig was observing the activities bellow with a telescope. He found his father, and soon after noticed a bunch of balloons flying off with a very familiar koopaling holding on to them. "Junior!" Ludwig looked through the telescope again; he had seen correctly; Junior was flying off, lifted by the helium filled balloons.
"Bye Ludwig!" The youngest koopaling called to his eldest brother. He was not worried about being trapped at that altitude at all, but rather he was enjoying the ride.
Fortunately, Ludwig was able to grab Junior when he flew to the top of the mountain, and pull him behind the railing. "You need to be more careful. If you let yourself be carried away so recklessly, you will surely be injured!"
"But it was fun!" Junior complained and tried to get away from his brother to continue flying.
Ludwig held his little brother's hand and did not let go despite the squirming and complaints. "Do not forget that what goes up must come down. It is the law of gravity; explained in a very simple way." It almost hurt Ludwig to explain things so simply, but he needed Junior to understand.
"Aw, not fun!" Junior made an adorable pouty face. He remembered the message his father had send him to give his siblings. "King Dad told me to tell you and everyone that he doesn't want us to brother him when he's on a date with mama Peach."
"Then we shall make sure, no disturbances take place," Ludwig continued searching for his siblings with the telescope.
"Is that him?" A whisper followed by girly giggles.
"Shh! Not so loud he'll hear us. I think that's him..." A second female voice was heard.
"Isn't he sweet? Taking care of his baby brother, aw!" The first girl continued.
Ludwig was yet to turn to face the two, but he knew they were talking about him. "Junior... I am about to give you a demonstration in basic survival skills against fan girls. Remember this when you are older."
Junior nodded, eager to learn something new. "Okay!"
Ludwig then started running for dear life, with Junior in tow. "He's getting away!" The two stalkers were quick to follow, but lost Ludwig in the crowds.
xoxox xox xoxox
Peach and Pauline walked by an improvised looking booth, with a sign that read 'free flying lessons'. The paratroopa tending to the booth called out to Pauline. "Tanuki lady! Are you interested in some flying lessons? Class starts very soon and the lessons are free!" The shy away who was supposed to be helping Luigi and Daisy search for the koopalings, had also signed up for the flying lessons, though he already knew how to fly, and way contently waiting for class to start while playing with the paratroopa shell balloon. Skyri didn't really mind, this way the class would consist of more than just Pauline and it would be less suspicious.
"I could use some flying lessons. Maybe I can catch the next course. When are you having more lessons?" Pauline knew she still had a long way to go before she could master flying. The golden magical leaf she was given allowed her to stay as a tanuki indefinitely, and not even a koopa's touch could take it away. There was a spell that a magikoopa could cast to change Pauline back, but the longer she stayed in that form, the more magic it would require; not that Pauline minded since she liked being a tanuki.
"I'm only in the park today. It's a special promotional deal, offering free lessons to everyone. I could give you some private lessons later, but it will cost you..." Skyri couldn't allow Pauline to refuse this offer. "One million coins."
"You're kidding right?" Pauline was still getting accustomed to using golden coins as currency instead of dollars, but she knew when an offer was too crazy to be true.
"Actually I'm going to be traveling all over the world starting tomorrow. But I'll stay and give you lessons if you pay me that much..." Skyri knew it would not happen, but there was nothing wrong with dreaming.
"I guess I'll have to find someone else. Thanks for the offer anyway," Pauline was about to leave but Peach stopped her.
"Wait, why don't you take the flying lessons now?" Though Peach was asking, she already knew the reason. Pauline didn't want to leave her alone in the park, since Mario had to go work, and the others were no where to be found.
"It's alright; I can get lessons some other time. Let's go check out the other booths." Pauline noticed Peach tilt her head, and followed that direction with her gaze. She saw a paint of horns and red hair behind a fortune telling machine. There was also a tail beside it. Unless the machine was designed after Bowser, which was not likely in a non-koopa town, then that really was Bowser hiding behind it. "On second thought, this is a very good offer. Are you sure you don't mind being all by yourself?"
"No problem, we can meet up with everyone later," Peach headed toward the fortune telling machine while Pauline, Skyri and the shy away took off for their flying lesson.
Bowser stayed hidden for a few minutes, he didn't want it to look like he was stalking Peach.
Peach inserted a coin into the fortune telling machine for some entertainment, while she waited for Bowser to come out of hiding. The machine consisted of a box modeled after a stage, with a cat plushie standing on it. The gray and white plushie started moving, doing a funny little dance. "Ordinary luck, it will be an active fortune. Give into the good will of others, and something big will happen after summer. Be careful of forgetfulness. Your lucky color is blue."
Peach giggled at the strange machine. "Here I thought my lucky color was pink."
"You look beautiful in any color," Bowser finally came out of his hiding place.
"Bowser, what a coincidence that you're visiting Mole Mountain today too," Peach knew Bowser wanted to spend some time alone with her; he did every chance he got. She started to put the pieces together and realized the koopa troopa that told Mario about the pipes before, must have been working for Bowser. But she knew Mario would be alright, if Bowser really did arrange some pipes for him to fix, then Mario might even be enjoying it.
xoxox xox xoxox
"I'm almost done with this..." Mario was truly an amazing plumber. Working much faster than any other plumber could, he was almost done with the repairs, and Keres could not allow that.
"Great, just make sure you fix it well. We wouldn't want the basement to flood," Keres snuck away while Mario was giving his work one final revision, and opened up a few water valves.
"Mama mia! The water pressure suddenly started rising!" Keres had already moved away from the valves and was innocently standing to the side, when Mario looked towards him.
"Really? Why is that?" Keres pretended he had no idea what was going on.
"Did you touch anything?" Mario asked suspiciously, while rushing over to close the valves.
"Of course not! You see they're... automatic!" It was a lie, and Keres knew it was an obvious one.
"They are not automatic," Mario could easily tell the difference, then again it didn't take a plumber to tell the difference. Anyone would know the valves needed to be opened or closed manually just be looking at them.
"Oh... well then, let me help!" In a desperate attempt to delay Mario, Keres purposely broke one of the water valves. "Oops..."
The pipes started making odd noises. They were being overloaded with more water that they could carry, and it was not long before they began to burst one by one.
"Mama mia! What a mess! You should have left it to me!" It was something that Mario found often, people trying to fix pipes without the slightest knowledge about plumbing, and creating a much bigger dilemma than the problem they were trying to fix.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Keres ran around in circles in a panic, while Mario helplessly tried to control the water.
Unable to fight against the massive flood, Mario and Keres were washed away, out of the basement and into the old mining tunnels of Mole Mountain.
xoxox xox xoxox
"Stop that!" Luigi was past the point of being frustrated and angry, and walking into the territory of driven to insanity.
Luigi had managed to track down Roy, and told the koopaling time and again that they needed to find the others and stay in one group. Roy agreed on one condition, for Luigi to not "complain like a baby," and Luigi reluctantly agreed, which meant putting up with Roy trying to trip him every step of the way, and randomly shoving him aside for no apparent reason.
"Life can be so cruel..." Luigi was shoved once again, but this time he was caught by Daisy, who arrived with Wendy. "Daisy!" Luigi hugged her.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. Next chapter, Damsel in Distress. This story will be 25 chapters long.