Chapter two of a three chapter upload ^_^
Chapter 26: Fending Off Foes
The chibibo advisor and the king run out of the throne room and into the hall. "This way sire," Chizer instructs as he dashes toward the stairs, but instead of heading up the stairs he runs beside them and reveals a secret door as he knocks on it causing it to pop open. "Down here your majesty," Chizer motions.
"Hey wait for us," Prince Toffee pleads as he, Pine, and Cashmire run down the stairs.
"How did you know we were going to be here," Chizer asks irately, not liking the fact that they knew of the secret passage.
"Herb told us when we first arrived," Pine pants. The three princes wait for the king to start descending down the hidden stairs before following him in.
"Wait, where are Prince Peasley and Duke Waluigi," Chizer asks panicked as he notices the missing courtiers.
"Those crazy nuts volunteered to hold off the troops so we could escape," Cashmire answers following Pine down the stairs.
"Follow the passage and there will be a large steel door at the end, just knock rapidly three times then again four times. Toadsworth should let you in," Chizer informs then closes the door and scrambles up the stairs to look out for the missing princes.
"There are too many of them," Peasley yells as he tries to out maneuver five paragoombas and three para-beetles.
"Waa ha ha! Take that," Waluigi challenges as he chucks another bob-omb down the hall and sends a large group of ground troops splattering against the walls. "Ha ha ha ha!" More troops come to replace their fallen comrades and Waluigi digs into his bag for another bob-omb, but comes out empty handed. "Uh oh, ahh! Run away, run away!" The lanky Wario Brother yells as he turns and runs from the advancing forces.
Peasley makes a sharp turn close to the wall on his flying bean causing the paragoombas to crash into the wall while the para-beetles continue their pursuit. The beanish prince then lines up with the fleeing Wario Brother and descends to just above his head. "Mr. Waluigi grab on," Peasley orders as he passes overhead.
Waluigi cranes his head up to see a blue-green bean with wings zoom over his head. HE reaches out and grabs onto the floating bean then is lifted off the ground. He looks back and to his relief, the ground troops fade out of sight, but as he looks further up he spots the para-beetles hot on their trail. "Ack! Bean-boy we've got company! Do something," Waluigi orders with wide eyes.
"Hold on," Peasley yells then begins to zigzag through the air, trying to confuse the Darkland pursuers.
"Waa aaahhhh aaaaahhhh!" Waluigi yells as he is tossed side to side like a rag doll in a dryer. The para-beetles are not shaken by Peasley's avoidance maneuvers and draw closer; enough so that the lead beetle is able to chomp down onto Waluigi's foot. "OW! Get it off! Get it off of me," the purple clad man yells then let's go of the bean with one arm and slams his fist down trying to hit the beetle's head, but hits his own leg instead. "Agh errr! You son of a ...," the Wario Brother curses with gritted teeth. Peasley steers over to the wall, almost grazing it with the wings of his bean transportation. Waluigi slams his leg against the wall, sending the beetle on his foot jarring into the castle stone. The shock causes the flier to release his grip on the lanky man's leg and fall to the ground. "Ha! Take that stupid bug," Waluigi gloats for a second before spotting the other two catching up. "Damn."
"Prince Peasley, Duke Waluigi over here," Chizer calls from down the hall.
"Mr. Chizer! We're coming," Peasley answers as he leans forward even more to make the winged bean fly faster.
The chibibo vizier turns and runs back for the stairs confusing Peasley. As the Beanbean prince draws closer, Chizier jumps up onto the stairwell rail and runs back to look at the pair flying towards him. "Jump," he yells as he springs off the rail to the floor below.
Peasley's mouth drops open as he watches the chibibo disappear, but quickly shakes off the shock; knowing that Chizer did it for a reason and that he should follow suit. He races forward and braces himself to jump. "Mr. Waluigi get ready to drop...," Peasley warns.
"Are you crazy? No way beanie! You go on your own," the lanky Wario Brother yells contemptuously. The pair flies over the banister and Peasley jumps off the back of the winged bean. As he descends, he quickly grabs Waluigi causing the purple clad man to lose grip on the flying bean and fall down to the floor with him. "Oww you are nuts bean brain; do you know that," Waluigi grunts in pain and irritation.
"No time for that now," Chizer scolds. "Get up and get inside before someone sees us!"
The two fallen men look up to see the chibibo standing by a door hidden in the side of the stairwell. They scramble to their feet and duck inside; Chizer shuts the door behind them. At the end of the hall, floats the two para-beetles that were chasing after the pair of suitors. The para-beetles nod at each other as they share the same idea and head for the throne room.
After dodging the rapid fire of thunderbolts, Luigi runs up the island with the trees and turns to his cunning counterpart. "All that access to memories and that's all you go." Luigi pants trying to show confidence, but is getting worried about what Mr. L would pull off next.
"Ha ha ha, don't put on a face for me Luigi. I know all your tricks there is no use in hiding from me. Just admit it, you are outmatched and outwitted because there is no way you are beating me," Mr. L informs with a smirk.
"I am starting to thin there is no way you are my doppelganger cause all you do is talk, talk, talk! For the one with the supposed 'upper hand' you are doing a lot of stalling," the younger Mario Brother jabs hoping to make his counterpart angry.
"What you call stalling, I call finesse," Mr. L retorts; "but have it your way. Have at you!" He fires a quick bolt off at Luigi, knocking the plumber off his feet and tumbling down the other side of the island.
Me and my big mouth, Luigi mentally scorns as he lands in the shallow water. Suddenly Mr. L lands right in front of Luigi with his back to him. The plumber takes advantage and lunges for the black clad man's ankles and pulls his feet from under him, sending the doppelganger face first into the water. Luigi quickly tackles Mr. L and wraps him in a headlock; pulling his upper body out of the silver liquid. "What do you have to say about your finesse now," the younger Mario Brother quips.
"Well played Junior, but you haven't won the battle yet," Mr. L gasps as he struggles against Luigi's grip. He stops tugging at the Mario Brother's arms and jabs his left elbow back into Luigi's ribs. The plumber huffs in pain, loosening his grip on the ex-Bleck minion. Mr. L capitalizes on the opportunity by breaking out of the green clad man's grip then running around and shoving Luigi to the ground.
Mr. L then jumps onto Luigi and grabs him by the throat. "See how the tide turns so quickly," the cunning clone brags. "Didn't think I would remember those broken ribs that you got from kart racing on Choco Mountain did you? I told you; you are outmatched! I know all your physical weaknesses: including that pesky knee from soccer that flares up making you stiff and your sensitive stomach!" He sharply jabs his right knee into Luigi's stomach causing him to wince in pain. "This is the end dear warden," Mr. L squeezes the younger Mario Brother's throat tightly; "and don't worry I'll tell Mario what happened to you. Let him know how you were too weak to fend me off. I will even throw in a bonus; I'll take care of your little princess for you. What was her name? Daisy? Yes, that's it. Ah yeah, I got to say you can pick 'em," Mr. L smiles; "she is beautiful and spunky. Just the type of woman I like, so don't worry I'll make sure she doesn't get too lonely at night."
Luigi's eyes narrow furiously shooting daggers at his dark counterpart. Quickly he releases his fighting grip on Mr. L's arm and snaps his fist back then drives it straight up, punching the doppelganger in the mouth causing his head to whip back and lose his advantage. The plumber shoves the ex-minion off of him then jumps to his feet and faces his laid out enemy. "You will not touch her understand," Luigi warns with burning animosity.
"Are you kidding me," Mr. L exclaims in disbelief. "I know you had a thing for her, but are you seriously getting all worked up over a woman who barely notices you?"
"Shut up! You don't know what you are talking about!"
"She is playing you, you idiot! Number one: she is a wealthy, gorgeous princess who can whomever she wants. Number two: you are a plumber, a lowly plumber; not a prince or knight, or any sort of royalty. Number three: you are the second fiddle Mario Brother; who want the second fiddle when they can get the first? Number four: her father hates you! There is no way that you are good enough for her or be able to get her," Mr. L criticizes.
"I told you to shut up," Luigi screams as he throws and lands a roundhouse on Mr. L's face. "You know nothing!" The plumber jabs the ex-minion in the stomach then grabs his shoulders and knees him in the stomach once more. Finally Luigi throws Mr. L back onto the shore of the tree island.
The black clad man lands face first into the sand, the grains scraping his face like tiny knives as he skids across a few inches of beach. "You will regret that whelp," Mr. L snarls. He pushes himself to his feet and with a running start, leaps into the air and stomps on Luigi's head, like Mario would a goomba. The plumber falls back from the impact, but does not stay down long; he rockets back to his feet and throws an uppercut landing on Mr. L's jaw. The dark doppelganger stumbles back, holding his chin and growls in vexation; he counters with an elbow to the diaphragm which causes the younger Mario Brother to wheeze as the air is literally knocked out of his lungs. Mr. L continues his assault with an uppercut of his own, sending the green clad man stepping back and bleeding from the mouth. "Not so tough now are ya Junior!" The ex-Bleck minion goes for a roundhouse to the face, but Luigi ducks out of the way and pushes Mr. L back with a quick shoulder charge to the stomach.
"I am a lot tougher than you think," Luigi quips.
"Is that so? We'll see about that," Mr. L proclaims as he rebounds back and tackle Luigi down once more. The two combatants tumble a couple of feet and suddenly sink as the Nigatta's bottom drops off.
The plumber shakes off his adversary and swims to the surface gasping for much needed air. He is not alone for long as the ex-Bleck minion follows suit. Mr. L takes a deep breath and quickly slips back under the silvery surface, making Luigi nervous. The younger Mario Brother starts to swim back toward the tree island when the black clad doppelganger grabs his leg and drags him under. Luigi panics and flails his arms trying to swim back up to the surface, but to no avail. Mr. L smirks as he sees the plumber flailing to escape his grip. Luigi's lungs begin to burn, pleading for sweet, cooling oxygen as his muscles begin to tire from the anaerobic struggling. The fear of drowning begins to seep into his conscious as flashbacks of the prince drowning him come to mind. He turns his attention downward to the weight holding him down, Mr. L. I got to make him let go or I am going to drown, again! The younger Mario Brother bends over and swings his arm back then pushes forward as fast as he could against the resistance of the water. The punch lands right on Mr. L's nose which causes the clone to let go of Luigi's legs so he could tend to his sore nose. Luigi shoots up to the surface and deeply inhales, taking in the sweet oxygen his body needs. I got to get moving or he'll take me under again, Luigi urgently notes to himself in order to motivate himself to swim despite feeling exhausted; he swims as fast as possible away from his darker counterpart.
Mr. L breaks the water's surface and huffs in frustration as he see Luigi retreating. "Get back here and face me like a man coward," the irate doppelganger calls out to the plumber. "There is no escaping my vengeance warden! The Green Thunder will reign once more," he proclaims as he swims after the younger Mario Brother.
The island with the fountain comes into sight and Luigi continues to swim as fast as possible although his muscles begin to severely ache. He hits the shallow water of the beach then trudges up to the fountain and leans upon it, feeling like he is going to collapse. I have to end this now; I can't last much longer. If I don't stop him, not only will he kill me, but he'll probably go after Mario next! He might even try his hand at taking over the Mushroom Kingdom! No, I can't let him get anywhere close to my brother or Peach or Daisy. He straightens up and looks back to the water where Mr. L is quickly honing in on his positions. How am I going to take down the 'Green Thunder' when I am running out of energy, the younger Mario Brother ponders anxiously as he looks at the fountain. The solution hits him and he turns to face Mr. L once more.
The doppelganger reaches the shallow water and stands to find his longtime warden facing him. "Finally found the guts to fight me Junior? Looks like this is going to be your final stand," Mr. L predicts with a grin. "Pretty fitting for your last breath, any last words?"
"I think you are mistaken, this is where you are going down," Luigi replies calmly.
"Is that so? And how do you figure that," Mr. L chuckles.
"Well you are a good fighter, but for being the 'Green Thunder' you suck at throwing lightning bolts," Luigi jabs. "You hit me once with the fifty shots you took; that's pretty bad."
"I have not had the chance to partake in target practice considering I was trapped in that wasteland of a mind of yours," Mr. L retorts. "Of course if you are volunteering," the black clad clone sticks his hands out like two pistols, "then I will practice on you!" He fires rapidly at Luigi's head and chest, but the plumber diligently dodges each bolt.
"Is that all you got," Luigi taunts; "I could do better blindfolded with one arm behind my back!"
Mr. L growls angrily and fires faster. The plumber is barely able to keep up, but still seems a step ahead which frustrates the ex-Bleck minion. A smirk grows on his face as he figures out how to stop the evasive plumber. He continues to fire bolts at Luigi's head and torso then quickly moves his left hand and fires at the Mario Brother's knee. The deviant bolt strikes its target causing Luigi to collapse on the beach. Mr. L brings his left hand up to his face and blows on his outstretched index finger like he is blowing off steam from a hot gun barrel. "How is that for the Green Thunder?"
"Ugh, you took a cheap shot," Luigi growls.
"There is no such thing as a cheap shot Junior, just a winning shot. Now this is where we say good-bye," Mr. L notes then starts to create a green orb of electricity in his hands. The orb grows quickly and after much concentration, reaches the size of a basketball. "Good-bye my dear warden, you will not be missed. Have at you!" Mr. L launches the green orb of electricity at Luigi furiously.
Luigi quickly jumps reveal the overflowing fountain. The crackling orb barely misses his legs as he jumps to a dry patch of beach and it smashes into the fountain. The electricity's charge does not dissipate against the fountain but instead the silver water conducts the electric charge. From the pooled water of the fountain the shock travels through the streaming overflow, down the beach, into the lake of the Nigatta, and into the closest ground it can find, Mr. L. The electricity flows through his body causing him to violently shake as if having a seizure. As the electricity dissipates, Mr. L stops shuddering then collapses into the shallow water and into unconsciousness.
Luigi lets out a sigh of relief, "Phew I did it! Now to get out of here," he turns to head for the door, but stops and looks back to the unconscious Mr. L. "I am going to regret this, but I can't just leave him in the water like that to drown," the plumber confesses aloud. He walks over and drags Mr. L up onto the beach's shore then heads for the door.
Mario tumbles backward across the room as Bowser's charge hits home. He quickly hops to his feet and charges back toward his archenemy, but has to deviate left as Bowser releases a spray of flames in his direction. He avoids the flames and dives underneath the giant koopa, confusing the Koopa King, then grabs his tail.
"Argh," Bowser exclaims as the tug on his tail causes him to fall flat on his face. "Not again!"
Mario begins to spin, lifting Bowser off the floor and releases him; sending him crashing through the wall into the hallway of the east wing stairs. "Grrr, I am going to stomp that plumber into dust for that," the Koopa King growls as he stands up and dusts himself off.
Suddenly two buzzy beetles fly over to him. "King Bowser! King Bowser! We have some important information for you," one of the beetles reports.
"Not now, I need to concentrate," Bowser brushes them off and stomps back into the throne room. "Lucky hit plumber, enjoy it now because you will not get another!" The Darkland ruler charges the plumber once more. Mario dodges to the side and Bowser quickly spins knocking the plumber down with his tail. "Ha ha ha," the tyrant gloats as he punts the fallen hero like a football across the room
Mario slams into the wall and thuds to the floor. "Oh my back," the red clad plumber groans. "Can't let him get me that easily," Mario notes, encouraging himself to get back up. The Mushroom Kingdom hero runs and jumps to stomp on Bowser's head, but the Koopa King catches the plumber by the leg in the air and slams him to the ground sending a wave of pain throughout his body. What's going on? Is he taking steroids or something? Lizard lips is never this on top of it! Mario questions as he slowly tries to push himself up.
"What's the matter Mario? Have you gotten out of shape having all your stupid parties and sporting events," Bowser teases as he pushes the plumber down with his foot.
"Never too out of shape to handle you lizard breath," Mario retorts as he pushes up, making Bowser become unbalanced, the he flips over onto his back and kicks the Darkland tyrant in the lower stomach.
Bowser stumbles back, regains balance, then crumples up, holding his stomach. "Damn plumber! Just can't make it easy can you?"
Mario does not answer; he charges over to his enemy and punches the Darkland ruler in the snout. As the giant Koopa's head bobbles back, Mario jumps up and delivers a two-footed kick to the snout once more then he jumps up again and stomps on Bowser's head causing the koopa to cry out in pain.
"Stop it!" The Koopa King thrashes his head around causing Mario to retreat for a minute before heading back in, to giver King Bowser a good thrashing. The Darkland King is prepared; however, as he unleashes another spray of flames toward the advancing plumber.
Mario dodges and runs in to punch Bowser in the side, but the Koopa King backhands him and sends him flying. The plumber skids across the floor on his side. Agh, I though I had the element of surprise there, guess not, Mario observes as he rubs his side. He grits his teeth and hops back onto his feet to face Bowser again despite being batted away so many times.