Hey everybody! Sorry this took so long; promise it will be worth it though! ^_^ I went nuts, three chapters at once; I was on a roll! So enjoy chapters 25-27 :D Whee!
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Chapter 25: Unexpected Company
"Are you going to speak to me," the salt and pepper haired king asks his daughter after twenty minutes of silence.
"Where's Grandma," Daisy asks coldly. "I'd rather speak to her."
"She is out with Madeline for the day," Thorne replies irked. "Look I am sorry for how I acted. Mario was right, I should allow you all some grieving time, but you know me Daisy. Emotions are not my strong point. Always been taught that a king with his heart on his sleeve is one with a target on his back and a short reign in store. Your mother was much better at this than I. I miss her you know," Thorne solemnly states. "And I wasn't going to allow some chump take you away from me. I love you and I would be devastated if I lost you too."
"I know Dad, I miss her too," Daisy agrees. "It'll be okay, just give me sometime. I love you too Dad, even though you can be so stubborn and impossible sometimes," the Floral princess lightheartedly jabs.
"Well I am the one whom you get your bull-headedness from," Thorne quips with a smile. The tension is relieved for a brief minute before the throne room doors are flung open and a dirt covered noboken runs in.
"What Thorne asks furiously. "Who is responsible?"
"I don't know your majesty; I only saw them briefly before I came to warn you. A fleet of aerial pirate ships with canons firing down upon the villagers is all I saw," the noboken describes.
"Its Darkland Dad! Peach told me about these ships, she was kidnapped and held hostage at the center of the universe by Bowser and his son on one of those ships," Daisy briefly explains.
"That scale-faced fiend is back to finish the job he debacled the first time! Sound the alarms and call the troops to arm," the Floral King orders. Minutes later the siren wails, calling all guards to report for duty in the throne room. As the troops assemble, Daisy runs up the stairs to Peach's room and pounds on the door.
"Daisy what's going on," Peach asks confused as she covers her ears to block out the siren's wails.
"Bowser is attacking again," the desert princess informs.
"We have to get you two somewhere safe," Toadsworth proclaims panicked. "I cannot afford to lose one of you to that fire-breathing brute once more!"
"Neither can I," Chizer chimes in. "We should consult the king on where to hide." The chibibo advisor springs up and runs down toward the throne room once more with Mario, Toadsworth, and the princesses in tow.
"Ha ha ha, smash it all," Bowser laughs, enjoying the carnage that he is unleashing upon the outskirts of Floral Village.
"Dad when are we going to hit the castle," Bowser Jr. asks as the stone building comes into view.
"Soon son, just need to drop off some of the land troops first," Bowser answers patting his son on the head. "Kamek release the first two ships of ground troops," King Koopa orders to his right hand wizard.
"Yes sir," Kamek confirms as he teleports to the first ship.
"Kammy! Signal for the first half of flyers to stay back at the village with Kamek then follow us with the rest to the castle," Bowser orders to his faithful right hand witch.
"Right away, your Wretchedness," Kammy confirms as she flies off on her broom back to the trailing group of flyers.
"To the castle," the Koopa King commands as he leads the flagship toward their target.
"Wake up young hero," a cast of strange, dreamy voices order. "Wake up."
"Ugh, what...where am I," the green clad man asks aloud as he staggers up. He opens his eyes only to cover them again as the light is blinding, all he can see is five rough silhouettes. "Who are you?"
"It is not for us to decide your time, we serve only one and our orders are not to destroy, but help create," the voices echo again. "We fear we have made a mistake this time; however, be careful young hero. Now go, you still have much to do." Suddenly the silhouettes disappear and the man falls back into darkness.
Cool liquid flows across his gloved fingers, causing them to twitch, then the liquid also begins to swirl around his resting face. The chilly water touching his nose causes him to stir, pulling his head up from the land it was resting on. "Uh, where am I," he asks groggily then looks at his left hand. It is resting upon sand with silver liquid flowing over it. The young man pushes himself to his feet and spots the source of flowing liquid, an overflowing fountain. "I'm alive," he questions, astonished then pinches himself to make sure he is not dreaming. "I'm alive! But how? I drowned; was it those people? They said they can only create, not destroy," the young man reminisces then turns back to the fountain. It couldn't be, could it? Is the Nigatta really a group of beings who are in charge of taking care of the mirror race and creating whatever they need to survive? Wait, they said they made a mistake, to be careful. What did they mean, the green clad plumber thinks rapidly then scratches his head in puzzlement. Or am I just going crazy? Maybe it was some delusional dream? I got to get out of here before I have a mental breakdown. The younger Mario Brother carefully steps down the slope of the sandy isle with the fountain to the edge where it meets the choppy pool of silver water. "Okay carefully," the man cautiously shuffles down the beach and gradually into the water, finding it to be waist high. This is pretty deep, he notes as he looks down at his reflection and seeing the water come up to his stomach. Hope I can find the exit soon; hey another island! Maybe I can spot the exit from there. He wades through the water for about five minutes until he reaches a different island, which has a pair of metallic trees sprouting from the middle. I'll climb up there and see if I can see it, he clambers onto the island and trudges to the trees. Carefully he climbs up the larger palm tree and settles into the spawning point of the leaves on the top. There it is due East! Quickly he slips down the tree and hits the sandy ground once more. All I have to do is get over the doors then I can find a way out of this place; I'm not sure how yet, but there has got to be a way, he optimistically thinks as he steps in the water once more; however after the second step he stops as he finds the land drops drastically and he is not prepared. "Whoa! Big drop, good thing I stopped," he notes then looks down at the water swirling ankle deep at this point. He carefully steps down into the drop and moves further into the pool when he notices that something is amiss. The water is calmer in this spot and as he looks at it all he sees is the reflection of the ceiling. He looks down where his reflection should be and sees nothing. "Okay, kind of spooky," the plumber gulps nervously. Time to backtrack, he thinks anxiously as he makes his way back to the island with the two metallic palm trees. He scrambles up onto the island and takes a couple of breaths. That's just freaky! Okay come on, my mind must be playing tricks on me, unless I am dead and am just a soul floating around with no body! He shakes off the panicky paranoid thought, I am breathing and able to feel things; I am not dead. There must be an explanation right? I'll just go back to the water and figure it out, he steps back out to just before the drop off where the water swells around his ankles and studies the water. "I still don't see anything," he whispers to himself. A dark silhouette forms in the surface of the water and the young man sighs in relief. "Ha, there I am! I just can't see it very clearly," he squats down to inspect the reflection closer, but cannot make out any details until he spots the green of his hat in the reflection. "Ah my hat, looks right, but the white insignia looks a little dark." He spots more green down by his neck, expecting to see his shirt, but instead sees what looks like a scarf. "What's that? That's not right," he states befuddled the n works back up to his face where he sees the reflection of his mustache and nose, but his eyes are still dark. "This is some odd water, I have my eyes open; I should be able to see the blue at least." He leans closer then the reflection's eyes open to show a pair of storm cloud, gray irises. "Ahhh!" He stumbles back, falling into the shallow water behind him. The reflection does not mimic his falling action. As he recovers from his fall, he looks back at the reflection and it waves a gray gloved hand. Frantically the man scuttles, crab-style, back onto the island shore where his feet are still engulfed in the silver water, but the rest of him, sitting on the sand. "What? How did it do that," the young plumber gasps scared and confused. "It didn't even look right! Is that even my reflection?" He leans forward to peer into the water once more to find the reflection still the same in appearance, but now raising its arms up as if to grab something. What is it doing? The reflection's arm rises up then lowers once again, it looks like the reflection is pushing itself up from a reclining position. Suddenly a green hat erupts from the water, followed by a head and black clad body. "Oh no, it can't be! No you are a figment of my imagination," the man screams in disbelief and terror.
The reflection sits reclined, his arms propping his upper body as his legs are bent in front of him. "What's the matter Luigi, pumpkin? Aren't you glad to finally see me? The one and only Green Thunder!"
"What a wonderful day! It's perfect for a day for shopping," Madeline notes as she soaks in the sun.
"I completely agree Madeline, but I think the best part is just getting out of the castle for a little while," Hyacinth states.
"Been extra stressful with all the prince hubbub and security increases," the blue shelled nobokon asks.
"Yes, I mean when everyone is stressed out it makes it hard to relax you know. The fact that I could not go anywhere without that stuffy, killjoy Chizer asking me twenty questions or some guard following me everywhere. I had to practically bully Thorne into letting me come out with you without any escort," the elderly queen complains. "Honestly who is going to come after the former queen? There is no gain in it, so why should I have to sacrifice my freedom for some silly fear?"
"Well Hyacinth I appreciate them protecting you. I want you to be around awhile you know," Madeline disagrees. "Now granted, you are not the first logical target, but still could be. You never know with these hooligans these days."
"Even so, I wouldn't let them take me alive," Hyacinth defends.
"Well I know that my dear, they would get quite the shock if they dared consider you a target," Madeline chuckles. "I would pay to see some young pup try to take you hostage. Definitely get more than they could chew with a firecracker like you."
"Either one of us really," Hyacinth notes.
"Oh if it was both of us then they would end up running home with their tails tucked between their legs," Madeline giggles.
"Ah now that I would pay to see," Hyacinth snickers then turns serious as a shadow looms overhead. "Madeline, what's that?"
"Probably just a cloud," the elderly nobokon predicts then turns her head to the sky. Her moth drops wide as she realizes that the shadows belong to flying ships instead of cumulus clouds. "Hyacinth it's a flying armada!"
The elderly queen looks up and gasps at the sight of the enormous ships flying overhead. Hyacinth then squints up at the unfurled flag which she recognizes right away. "It's the Darkland armada, that means...," she quickly turns to head toward the castle.
"Where are you going," Madeline asks confused and concerned.
"They are going to hit the castle! I have to be there to help stop it!"
"Are you crazy? We are not spring chickens Hyacinth! A few young punks we could handle, but with numbers like that we will overwhelmed within seconds! The best thing we can do is take refuge in my house," Madeline reasons.
"But I can't just let them invade my home and hurt my family," Hyacinth states with a quivering lip.
"The castle has all the guards and defenses; they will be fine. We have to take care of us and let them deal with Dino-tyrant up there," Madeline argues. "Now come on, let's go!"
"Oh I guess your right," Hyacinth agrees as she jobs over to her friend, holding her hat down on her head as she runs.
"Good now lets go this way, it's the quickest," Madeline informs as she grabs her friend's hand and beings to run. The elderly pair stops suddenly as they spot other villagers running toward them being chased by goombas, beetles, and various other Darkland inhabitants. "Or maybe we will go the other way," Madeline corrects and drags Hyacinth left to take the long way.
As they run through the square, they are spotted by a pair of paragoombas who follow them into the residential area off the square. One street before the road Madeline lives on; the paragoombas make their move and swoop down upon the former queen and her blue shelled companion, knocking them down. "Ha ha, look this Ron; just like taking candy from a baby," one of the paragoombas gloats causing the other to smile.
The ladies pull themselves to their feet and look at each other. "Want to teach these punks about respecting their elders," Hyacinth asks with a fiery confidence.
"Of course darling, I am going to enjoy it," Madeline grins then the pair joins hands and charge at the low-flying mushrooms. The fliers easily dodge the women's charge as they take to the air.
"That's it? Please I thought you were going to make it a challenge," the paragoomba apparently named Ron teases. The two begin to chuckle, but Ron's giggling is cut short when a flying purse slams into his face and knocks him to the ground. "Oomph," the Darkland minion gasps as his body lands harshly on the ground. He tries to roll to his feet, but is stopped when Madeline tackles him down.
"Let's clip his wings shall we," Madeline smirks as Hyacinth walks around and yaks on the fallen paragoomba's wings.
"Aaahhh! Oww oww! Stop, stop! Tom help! Tom," Ron screams out as the elderly queen finally rips off the goomba's wing like a piece of paper from a notebook.
"I'm coming Ron!" Tom cries as he swoops down and knocks down Hyacinth then positions himself from another sweep.
Hyacinth brushes off and stands up, facing the airborne goomba. "Come and get me you ugly fungus," she patronizes as she curls up her index finger, daring the goomba to come closer. The paragoomba swoops again, but is caught as the elderly Floral dodges the goomba's body with a sharp lean and grabs it by the foot. She then slams it on the ground next to its buddy.
The nobokon quickly pins down the second goomba with her front claws as she keeps the first one pinned with her body. "Time to go out with a bang," Madeline sinisterly grins as she ignites the blue shell bomb on her back. The goombas gulp heavily and squirm trying to escape, but fail. A loud bang erupts as an explosion engulfs them. The smoke gradually blows away revealing Hyacinth and a now shell-less Madeline standing in the middle of the road coughing.
"Now that was fun," Hyacinth states excitedly as she victoriously pumps her arms in the air. Her back lets out a loud creak leading her to quickly bend over and massage her aching back. "Maybe we are getting to old for this."
"I told you we are not spring chickens anymore, but you know what we still got it," Madeline coughs. "But anyway, we need to get going."
"Yes, it is probably best that we recoup," Hyacinth agrees.
"Well yeah that and because this is embarrassing," Madeline confesses.
"Embarrassing? How?"
"A nobokon without a shell! I might as well be naked! Come on, I have a couple of spares at the house," Madeline explains then leads the hustle to the house.
"I told you that one day I would reign again and today is finally that day," Mr. L gloats with a smug smirk.
"It will be a short lived day," Luigi counters.
"We shall see about that Junior!" Mr. L springs from his crouched position, trying to tackle Luigi.
The plumber easily dodges as he jumps from the beach into the water letting the doppelganger pass overhead. "No wonder Mario beat you so easily! You're going to have to do better than that," the younger Mario Brother taunts his darker side.
"Is that cockiness I detect? Cockiness from you: the weaker, timid, pathetic, Mario Brother? Ha! I know you are not stupid enough to taunt your superior!" The ex-Count Bleck henchman springs once again and this time, hits his target. He tackles Luigi into the silver water of the Nigatta. After he lands on top of the plumber, Mr. L pins Luigi down and tries to grab his alter ego's shoulders so he can push the green clad man into the water.
The younger Mario Brother prevents Mr. L from reaching his shoulders by grabbing the doppelganger's wrists and so they struggle against each other; neither one gaining full advantage since they are evenly matched. Finally Luigi is able to squirm enough to pull his legs up to his chest and kick his darker counterpart in the stomach, launching him five feet back. "Eya! You are going to regret ever crawling out of my head," the green Mario Brother grunts as he charges at the dark clad Mr. L.
"Pfft, please," Mr. L replies unshaken as he rolls his eyes then steps out of the plumber's path and sticks his leg out. Luigi slams into the outstretched leg and stumbles face first into the shallow water and up the beach of one of the islands. "I will never regret getting out of that prison you call a mind! However, it was instrumental time to read up on you, my warden. To gain knowledge of all your secrets and weaknesses so that I can finally strike you down! Have at you!" In his grey gloves, he starts a small spark of green electricity that grows into a softball-sized orb and then he hurls it at Luigi.
The plumber's eyes grow wide and he is barely able to scramble out of the way of the crackling projectile. "Electricity? I can't do that! How can you," the younger Mario Brother asks befuddled.
"You were able to once or do you not remember? The Thunder God teaching you on Oho Oasis; in the Thunder Palace during your escapade to help those annoying bean people." Mr. L shoots a quick green bolt out of his finger like a gun, but misses his target barely as the plumber dodges with a roll. "I had complete access to your memories and unlike you, able to perfect the technique; hence why I am the Green Thunder!" He mimics the shape of a fun with both of his hands and rapidly fires bolts out of his fingers at the fumbling plumber.
"Ramming speed," Bowser orders as his ship draws closer to the castle. The hammer brother behind the wheel throws the throttle forward to full blast and braces for impact. The ship pummels into the stone perimeter wall and plows into the courtyard, uprooting the grass as it skids to a stop just before the pond. "Excellent! Sneaking in through the back! Great landing Sergeant," Bowser compliments.
"No problem sir," the hammer bro replies shakily then collapses on the steering wheel.
"Ready to go son?"
"Uh Dad, I don't think we'll be able to sneak in," Bowser Jr. points out as two dozen guards pour out the glass balcony doors.
Bowser grins "Leave it to me Jr." The Koopa King roars with the force of thunder then inhales and releases a spray of fire.
"Darkland's forces have landed at the front gates Sire and Bowser himself has penetrated the defenses in the back! I've sent men to hold them off, but he is ripping through them like tissue paper," Herb rapidly reports, overwhelmed. "I must suggest a tactical retreat your highness, for your own safety."
"No, I will not let that repulsive reptile drive me away from my castle," Thorne replies defiantly.
"King Floral, I must agree with Herb on this one," Mario chimes in. "If Bowser gets his claws on you, the kingdom is lost. I'll stay here and fend off old lizard face. You should go with the princesses to the stronghold."
"You're right Mario," Thorne begrudgingly agrees with a sigh. "I must put the kingdom ahead of my pride. Thank you Mario for volunteering to stay behind and fend off that horrible tyrant."
"Don't thank me yet your Highness, I haven't beaten him back yet. Now go before its too late," Mario advises.
"Good luck Mario," Thorne wishes the hero before disappearing out of the door with Chizer in tow.
Thanks, I'm going to need it, Mario thinks as he feels the pounding of Bowser's feet getting heavier as he comes closer. The crashing of stone bricks and screams of defeated guards also become louder and more numerous until suddenly a spot in the west wall of the throne room explodes as a bob-omb explodes.
Bowser pushes his head through the hole and scans the room, "King Floral, where are you?" The Koopa King steps through the wall and into the deserted throne room. "Come out King Floral and tell me where Princess Peach is!"
"So that's why you're here! And for a minute I thought you had wised up and given up on kidnapping Peach," Mario quips.
"Mario, what a pleasant surprise! Are you ready to finally taste defeat by my claws," Bowser asks with a grin.
"Keep dreaming because it's never going to happen, King Bowsie," Mario taunts.
"Argh stop calling me that," Bowser roars vexed then charges at the red clad plumber.