CHAPTER 21

A NEW PLAN IS DEVISED

The V.G.S.A. Transporter blew into the atmosphere of the Nintendo planet and made a safe landing at the Mushroom City Airport by the downtown area.

As soon as the ship came to a complete stop and the engine was killed, the characters all exited the ship and left it on the runway, while several rangers were left behind to guard the ship from any possible trespassers.

After they left the airport, they pondered on where they should gather. They wanted to gather in an area large enough for everyone to listen to the conversation.

"Perhaps we could head over to the city square," suggested Marth.

"I would suggest meeting somewhere indoors where it could be safer. Who knows? Wizpig could possibly be looking for us after what happened in his former palace," said a ranger.

"I know-a-somewhere large enough," said Mario.

"And where might that be?" asked Sonic.

"The Coconut-a-Mall," replied Mario.

"Are you sure that place would be big enough to fit all of us? There's like a million of us in this one group!" said an unsure Captain Falcon.

"I'm-a-sure it's-a-big enough," said Mario, "Let's-a-head over there."

"If you say so," said another ranger.

The characters and rangers agreed and decided to gather in the Coconut Mall so that everyone could squeeze into the conversation and hear everything that would be heard without any possible detections from the outside world.

Soon after, the characters located the mall and eventually filled up an entire hallway both downstairs and upstairs. Surely, everyone could hear everything that would be brought up in this conversation.

The time to make up their new plan had come!

Ryukyu stood behind a microphone in front of the large crowd.

"Now, then, we're all here because you all want to help our friend Diddy Kong escape from the hands of Wizpig, am I right?"

All of the characters nodded their heads.

"As you may know, this mission we are about to engage in could be extremely dangerous, especially for those of you who are at a very small size and highly vulnerable to attacks from Wizpig and … whomever he has left in his army … ," continued Ryukyu, " … but we understand what your intentions are. You want to help Diddy Kong because you couldn't get the time to thank him for his heroism before he got captured, … and now you wish to repay the favor by saving him in return for securing your freedom and safety. However, if we're going to be able to do this, then we'll have to take plenty of extra precautions."

"What precautions?" asked Cream the Rabbit.

"To ensure less intensity against the smaller ones in here," answered Ryukyu, "Some of you may have never experienced what it's like to actually be in a battle, … but if so, then we want to ensure that you will not be seriously harmed. Inexperience can lead to fatal mistakes when it comes to dealing with Wizpig. We, at the V.G.S.A., have dealt with him thousands of times and have had to avoid any fatal mistakes that could be caused by the lack of experience. We don't want that to happen to any of you. If Diddy Kong could save you all from Wizpig, then he wouldn't want you to make any fatal mistakes in this mission because it could be a very poor way to repay him! Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded their heads again.

"Right, then," said Ryukyu, "If everyone is coming, then we'll have to split into groups comparing to size."

Hattori stepped beside Ryukyu as he turned the microphone over to him.

"Now, as far as size groups are concerned … ," began Hattori, " … the less experienced you are, the more experienced your ranger partners will be. Now, everyone had better listen to this because this is very important. The smallest of lightweights will have to be joined with the most experienced of our rangers so that they can protect you to make your survival chances higher. The strongest of you people will be teamed with the rookie rangers because we know how strong you are, and if one of our rookies make a mistake, do NOT, I repeat: Do NOT … let them down in any way! They've been progressing very well and we want them to be able to stay in the V.G.S.A. in the future, so help them if they need it."

Everyone nodded once more.

Hattori turned the microphone back to Ryukyu.

"Of note … ," said Ryukyu, " … Diddy told us shortly before his capture that just as we lost our former captain, Howard Newman, … he told Diddy that he should be the one to take down Wizpig … in this very mission. Although he may be in Wizpig's hands now, we can still help our hero by taking out Wizpig's remaining men and rescuing him from the villain's grasp. As soon as we free Diddy from Wizpig's possession, we must let him go after Wizpig and destroy him. Newman clearly stated upon his death that only Diddy can kill Wizpig … and nobody else."

"Why would he want him in particular to kill Wizpig?" asked Peach, "That seems rather forward for someone like him."

"Well, … that we really don't know the answer to," answered Ryukyu, "However, I, along with my fellow rangers, had come to notice how much favoritism Newman had given to Diddy, … and he could understand how much of an enemy Wizpig has been to him, … so it could be assumed that he wanted to give the little monkey a chance to show him what he's truly made of."

"Wait a minute!" shouted Toon Link, "I thought he was just a sidekick!"

"Well, he's not the sidekick here!" explained Ryukyu, "He's the main hero and it's going to stay that way for the rest of this mission! We're just going to be his backup until Wizpig is finished!"

"Backup?" said Cranky Kong curiously, "I thought only he was allowed to kill Wizpig!"

"We're only going to be his backup when we help him out of Wizpig's restraints! Then, as soon as Diddy and Wizpig begin fighting each other, … hopefully, … we'll all back down and leave him to it!"

"Of course, there could be a disadvantage to this mission, … a … big disadvantage," said Ganondorf.

"What do you mean?" asked Ryukyu, "I've already brought up all of the disadvantages we might have."

"What if we don't know where Wizpig's new location is? Remember: he blew up his palace to make it difficult for us to find him and Diddy. With there being no more evidence on that planet we've just spent a hellish day on, it'd be impossible to find them now!"

"That's why we've got advanced radars to help us locate everything!" explained Ryukyu, "With the technology we have on our side, nothing is impossible!"

"We believe you," replied Link.

Just then, they heard an explosion coming from outside.

"Probably a problem with our ship," assumed Ryukyu, "Everyone stay in here where it's safe. Hattori and I are going to head outside and see what the commotion is about."

Ryukyu and Hattori scooted themselves out of the big crowd and rushed to the main entrance of the mall.

They looked around and spotted a tower on fire and about to collapse.

"They must have misfired a practice shot," said Ryukyu, "I'll call them up."

With that, he opened his wrist communicator.

"Ranger Ryukyu to Transporter! Ranger Ryukyu to Transporter!"

"Yes, this is Transporter!" came a reply, "Are you guys ready for pre-launch?"

"No," replied Ryukyu, "We called because we've just spotted a tower on fire and assumed you might have been messing around with practice shots."

"That's SO immaterial, Ryukyu!" came an angry reply, "None of us have even fired a shot at anything! More likely a trespasser on the loose!"

"My apologies," said Ryukyu, "If that's the case, then keep the ship protected. The trespassers could be enemies willing to stop us in our tracks! Ryukyu out!"

As Ryukyu closed his communicator, Hattori tapped him on the shoulder and pointed up at the sky.

"Bad news, Ryukyu," said Hattori, "That ship looks highly familiar."

The two rangers stared at it for a few seconds before realizing who it was …

So, someone really is trying to stop them in their tracks. We'll find out who it is in the next chapter.