Super Paper Mario X
Chapter 28: The Mysterious Team Mr. L
"SLOWPOKES!" Squirps' high-pitched voice screeched out. Mario and the rest of his reluctant gang approached the small green alien, who was looking rather proud of himself. "Squirps was tired of waiting! Squirps almost gave up! The Pure Heart that you're looking for is just ahead!"
"That's really good to hear," sighed Peach.
Amy nodded. "I'll say…"
"Squirps, you've done well…You're a smart kid…"
Squirps just chuckled and started to blush. "Stop it! Squirps is embarrassed! …wait, whose voice was that, squoh?"
"It certainly wasn't one of ours," grunted Ganondorf.
Then, like a strike of lighting, a blur of black and green came jumping out of the sky and landed on Squirps.
"Space niblet! You OK?" Bowser asked, taken aback from the sudden attack like everyone else.
Mario turned his attention away from Squirps and at the man who had attacked him- he was now accompanied by four others, all five of them grinning sinisterly.
"Heh heh heh…" chuckled the man. "Master K! Time to pump out our theme song!"
"Ya got it, Thunder!" said a guy donning a red and black outfit, pulling a boom box from nowhere and hitting the "Play" button. An odd, yet entirely catchy, tune began to play.
"Wh-Who're you?" gasped Tippi, not sure of what to make of the sudden apperance.
"Oh, me? Just one of Count Bleck's more promising minions. The Green Thunder…" He cast his arms out, spun around, then made his arms into the formation of an 'L'. "Mr. L!"
"Mr….L?"
"You've gotta be kidding…" Sonic groaned.
The man in green took a few steps forward, kicking Squirps out of the way. His apparent henchmen stayed put, except for the red guy who was dancing insanely to the song.
"I don't need you to tell me it's a cool name. I know it. Don't bother memorizing it," he said coolly, now standing face to face with Mario. Mr. L jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "You might want to bother memorizing their names, however."
"Yeah, who exactly are they?" Zelda asked, arms folded. Mr. L chuckled once again.
"None other than my loyal henchmen! Since I'm such a great minion for Count Bleck, I've been authorized to have minions of my own!" he spun around and pointed at them. "Remember what we rehearsed! Go!"
The girl of the group stepped forward first, giving a seemingly innocent curtsey before striking a threatening pose. "I know I don't look like much, but you'd be right to be afraid. Be very afraid…I'm none other than Mr. L's most reliable servant, the Marigold Menace…Lady M!" She then smirked as she walked up to Link. "But you can call me Lass M if you'd like."
She was followed by the shortest member, all wrapped up in his cape. He quickly cast out one hand dramatically, revealing his masked face to the heroes. "You'll be sorry to have crossed us."
Kirby interrupted with a scoff. "Hmph! You don't look so scary! I bet you're all just a bunch of chumps!"
The Navy Nightmare narrowed his eyes and glared at the pink puff. "Prepare to feel the wrath of…Sir MK!"
The guy dressed in red and black put down the boom box, still blaring out with the theme he had mixed for Mr. L. Just like The Green Thunder, he spun around, then finished off with his body forming a sort of 'K' shape. Samus noticed that his right arm was bandaged with a brick-red piece of cloth, and she wondered why. "The toughest member of Team Mr. L, naturally…you won't even see me coming! I'm the one and only Radical Red…Master K!"
Everyone sort of stared at the final member once an awkward silence dawned afterward, wondering when he was going to speak up. This apparently irritated Mr. L, as he walked over and gave him a hard shake.
"Introduce yourself so your name burns in their minds before we take them out!" he ordered.
"…" the youngest member, wearing black like the rest of the group with the exception of an orange scarf tied around his neck, glanced at Sonic unsurely before shaking his thoughts away and making his arms form the shape of a T. "Um…well, I'm The Orange Tornado…Captain T! Yeah…"
Master K, Lass M, and Sir MK gave him a disapproving look. Captain T just sagged his ears, obviously upset.
"We're about to give you a burial at sea…I mean, a burial at space," Mr. L continued once the introductions were over. "Do we look like we're scared of you pathetic people?"
The five of them quickly jumped back, springing to impressive heights before landing and waiting for the group to make the first move. They watched them with their pure white eyes, ready to bring it on.
"Dang it, dang it, dang it!" Samus hissed, stomping her foot on the ground repeatedly. "Where the heck is my Arm Cannon? If I had that, I'd put on my Power Suit and waste them all!"
"Don't throw a tantrum like Bowser would-"
"Ahem, what was that?"
"Either way," Link began, brandishing his sword and preparing to charge. "We're taking these guys on."
"Are you sure you don't want our help?" Zelda asked.
"Yeah, we could defeat them faster- we have them outnumbered!" Eggman pointed out. Sonic shook his head.
"This is our fight," Kirby explained, pulling out his hammer and staring intensely back at Sir MK. "Right Mario?"
Mario did have to admit, something about their new enemies gave off a bad vibe, whether it being how they might be match for them, or at how familiar they seemed…but not worrying about that at the moment, Mario tipped his hat and pointed forward. Link, Sonic, Kirby, and a reluctant Samus charged into battle. Mr. L chortled once more, then performed the same action as Mario while shouting, "HAVE AT YOU!"
Master K was quick to begin fighting, diving into the ground and disappearing from Samus' view. The huntress, getting a bad feeling that she was outmatched, meekly pulled out her pistol and darted around, hoping to avoid wherever Master K was planning to pop out. Her attempts at an evasive maneuver failed, as Master K came flying up out of the ground and sent Samus skyrocketing into the air. When she landed with a harsh smack, Master K rushed over and unleashed a plethora of punches.
Kirby found himself flying backward, thanks to a blow from Sir MK. The Navy Nightmare flew around like bat, well out of Kirby's reach, and the puff wouldn't be able to follow him fast enough even if he tried to float after him. What made matters worse was that Kirby couldn't land a blow, but Sir MK certainly could- he'd swoop in from nowhere and hack away at Kirby. Kirby attempted to defend himself…only to find himself on the ground once again.
Sonic was probably having the easiest time- Captain T didn't see to have his heart set in the battle, and Sonic didn't have a clue as to why. He'd bound up into the air and come crashing down on Captain T with a heavy Spin Dash, and the fox wouldn't know what hit him. He did hear Mr. L in the background shouting angrily at him, telling him to do something useful.
"Oh…"
"What's up with you anyway?" Sonic sneered, pausing from the onslaught for a moment. "There's something really odd about you compared to the rest of your little punk gang."
"Like I'm going to answer that," Captain T spat back, glaring angrily as he dashed forward with a wrench extended out in front of him. The next thing Sonic felt was two sharp prongs trying to stab into his side. Hissing to prevent from screaming, Sonic hit Captain T in the head and knocked him to the ground. Before he could perform a second blow, Captain T picked himself up and slapped Sonic right back with his twin tails, also using them to fly over the battle area.
"Holy cow, this girl has aim," Link wailed, ducking and running away from arrows being launched furiously at him. Lass M seemed to have an endless supply of arrows, and it made Link very uncomfortable. The swordsman tripped while running, seeing five arrows set to rain down on him. In a flash, Link covered himself with his shield, cringing as five plinks were heard when the arrows made contact with his protection. Then, nothing.
"Huh, well that's-"
"YAH!"
Link let out a wail as he rolled out of the way, the crazy girl in gold clomping her black boots down on where Link's head had once been. The realization hit Link, making him wince, but he attempted to sneak in an attack nevertheless. Lass M didn't move- she calmly pulled a flute out of her pocket and played a heavy metal song. An anvil came falling out of the sky and landed on Link harshly.
"Ow…"
After blinking a few times, the girl burst out laughing.
Mario watched his team get somewhat abused by Mr. L's, the bad feeling in his gut increasing even more than before. It was too bad he wasn't paying much attention to himself, because a cocky battle cry rang out and Mario felt Mr. L bring him to the ground by landing on him…after using a Super Jump.
"Heh heh heh, my team is pretty impressive, huh?" he chuckled, still standing on Mario. "Yeah, they're all tough…except the Captain. He's a bit of a wuss…Lady M, though, that guy with the sword won't stand a chance against her…"
Mario made a face, then flipped over and knocked an off-guard Mr. L to the ground. Before Mr. L could rebound, Mario threw Thoreau at him, picked him up, then chucked him at the ground. Mr. L hit the ground face first, them took a deep breath and stood back up.
"You're quite the fighter, eh?" he huffed, glaring at the plumber in red. "Well, this is where your fighting ends! Here and now! Just try and stop me!"
Mr. L started jumping all over the place, and Mario hated to admit that he could never jump that high, no matter how hard he tried. All he could do at the moment was duck and avoid Mr. L's well placed hops. But there was one thing Mario, and to an extent the rest of his team, knew more than anything else…was the fact that if you were cocky, you'd most likely not succeed.
Well, unless you were Sonic.
Samus weakly grabbed her side, failing at zapping Master K once again. She was fast enough to keep up with him, but unfortunately for her, every time she went to hit with her paralyzing whip, he'd dig into the ground and avoid whatever she would dish out. The echidna was having a blast with this, glad he had the upper hand in battle. He had even jumped toward the nearest wall, climbed up it furiously, then came gliding down and smote Samus in the shoulder.
"If you don't mind my asking," Samus asked, finding it uncomfortable since she rarely asked the foe a question in the middle of a fight- especially when she was losing. "Why is there a bandage around your arm like that?"
Master K just shrugged and swung another fist at Samus- she ducked. "Mr. L said it happened in an accident- Sir MK hit me with his sword. The odd thing is, I don't recall it…maybe he just hit me a little too hard or something. Why do you care?"
"I don't…" she crouched low and tried a sweep kick- Master K jumped over it. "I'm just curious."
Samus tackled Master K, and the two suddenly had a bit of a slapping match. Master K ended it swiftly by striking with an uppercut, sending Samus flying upwards again. He struck a smug pose…until he was knocked down by Samus falling out of the air and having her foot make contact with his head. Enraged, Master K grabbed her and swung her over his head, then prepared to piledrive her. Samus rolled out of the way (in a very Link-like fashion) then shot a few small bullets at Master K. They hardly did anything. She sighed in disappointment.
Master K tried to land a few more punches, but Samus blocked them with lightning-fast kicks. Samus attempted to kick Master K in the face, but he blocked with his huge palms, grabbed her ankle, and shoved her to the ground. Samus lie sprawled out on the ground, almost afraid to move, as Master K advanced on her with a fist held high above his head.
"If I…had my Arm Cannon…I'd waste you!"
Master K froze in mid-attack and stared at Samus dumbly. "Arm Cannon? Is it a dark green cylinder thing that looks like it could be attached to an arm?"
Samus blinked. "Um, yeah…how'd you know that?"
Master K pointed behind her. "It's right over there."
Samus glanced over her shoulder- just a short distance away was her beloved Arm Cannon she had searched high and low for, and now it was about to finally be back in her possession! Master K saw how eagerly she bounded over and made an attempt to stop her, but Samus quickly whirled around and snapped her paralyzing whip at him.
"YARGH!" he bellowed- it had made contact with his injury, and not only that, he briefly couldn't move as well. Samus raced over, scooped up the cannon, and practically hugged it.
"Finally, finally, finally!" she cheered, not daring to ever let it go. Now that the pieces were united, they all floated out of her pocket, getting ready to assemble once more. Samus found herself hovering above the ground as well, all her pieces glowing blue and sparking with electricity like they had when the suit had broke in the first place. Master K stopped fighting immediately to watch what was taking place- the sight was so shiny and bright!
"Ooh…" he gasped in awe like he was watching a firework show.
Samus' grin didn't falter as one by one, the pieces attached themselves to where they belonged. Her arm cannon slid perfectly onto her left arm, ready to fire its powerful missiles and beams. The final piece to restore itself was her helmet, and Power Suit Samus landed on the ground, cannon aimed at Master K.
"(Power Suit) Samus has joined the team!" Link shouted behind her while running away from Lass M once again. "She can KO almost any enemy with a single missile from her powerful arm cannon. Her Power Suit also increases protection against outside forces, causing her battle ability to be having a higher defense - two points higher than a normal defense."
"BONZAI!"
Master K suddenly realized he was screwed.
Kirby had enough of Sir MK's flying spree- it was time to end this! He swapped his hammer out for his Final Cutter, then sprung himself into the air.
"Where did he go…"
"Yah-EEEE!"
Sir MK cried out as he suddenly gained a massive headache, Kirby's weapon hitting right on target. He crashed like a fallen kite onto the ground, Kirby landing now to far away from him. Sir MK smirked- Kirby landed with his back toward him, which was a big mistake. However, when Sir MK jumped back to his feet and charge at Kirby sword-first, he probably shouldn't have cried out with a deep and loud battle cry.
Kirby turned around instantly, yelling when he unexpectedly blocked the almost successful attack with his Cutter. The two were engaged in a sword battle moments later, Kirby doing his best to prevent himself from being cut in half. Sir MK's slashes were quick and precise- Kirby could barely defend against them, but he was lucky that he managed to even do so at this point. He dared to take the offensive at Sir MK himself, but the Navy Nightmare did a backflip, took off into the air before spiraling downward like a drill, aiming at Kirby.
He quickly noted that he hadn't hit anything.
"What the-"
"Augh! Ah! AAAAH!" Kirby wailed, clutching Sir MK's head as he continued to soar around.
"The heck? Get off of me!"
"No! Nuh-uh!"
"Graaaaaaah!"
Sir MK flew around chaotically, trying to shake Kirby off, but Kirby had an iron grip! Sir MK was considering slamming into a wall when Kirby suddenly leaned in one direction, causing Sir MK to fall in that direction like a plane that was shot out of the sky.
"Go down! GO DOWN!"
"Will you knock that off?"
"NEVER!" Kirby even went as far as to yank on one of his wings, making Sir MK fall faster. They both fell to the ground, then in the reaction bounced back on their feet. It was a fury of gold and silver-blue as their weapons clashed against each other, trying to get by and make contact with the opponent. Kirby had enough- even more than before- and managed to knock Sir MK away and opened his mouth, sucking in huge amounts of air.
"Unh-"
Sir MK could barely register what had happened…besides the fact Kirby had swallowed him. Kirby spat him back out like he was a bad tasting piece of food and gained his abilities, plus a dark mask, epic cape, and a golden sword. Sir MK just scoffed and stared disgustedly at himself.
"Do you think just because you look like me, you can take me down?" he grunted, striking a battle pose one last time. Kirby nodded eagerly.
"Yup! Good-baaaaai!"
Sir MK got a taste of his own medicine as Kirby swooped upward, his own set of cape-wings taking shape as he glided about. Sir MK prepared for when Kirby came flying down again, but he made the mistake of turning around- it gave Kirby perfect access to his masked face, which he promptly broke when the copy of Sir MK's sword pierced into it.
Sonic wasn't entirely sure about what approach to take with Captain T- he was an over emotional killing machine. One minute he'd have no spark in him and Sonic would be open to attack, and the next he'd be trying to brutally stab the hedgehog with a screwdriver or clonk him in the head with some other tool. Was it just some kind of show he was putting on to have Sonic let his guard down, or was there really something up with him?
"OUCH!"
Sonic glanced down to his arm- he had bit him! Sonic pried Captain T off his arm and gave him a quizzical look.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me- nothing!" Captain T protested, this time pulling out a chainsaw. Sonic could've sworn he felt his pupils shrink, and he started to run away. Captain T chuckled psychotically and chased after Sonic, taking off into the air again and preparing to saw every one of Sonic's quills off…and Sonic knew that.
"Okay, I need a plan- this kid's crazy!"
The sound of deathly purring was getting louder and louder, and when Sonic daring to look behind him, Captain T was hovering over his shoulder. Sonic braked to an abrupt stop, sending Captain T flying forward with the unexpected drop in acceleration. The chainsaw flew out of his hands, and it was crushed by Link and Lass M trampling over it.
"No!" he wailed, falling to his knees and staring at his broken machine. "Aw man…I can fix it, but…"
"What's the matter? Not so tough without your special toy?" Sonic questioned, walking up to him at a safe distance and folding his arms. Rage flashed across Captain T's face as he lunged for Sonic. They both fell to the ground, Sonic covering his face to protect it from the clawing damage it was receiving. His legs received several tail-smacks that weren't pleasant either, and Sonic was nearly ready to punch Captain T, even if he was only just a kid. Sheesh, the kid needed to get a grip!
When Sonic prepared his fist for punching, Captain T instantly caught sight of it and jumped back, flying into the air and holding out his wrench, pointed downward at Sonic.
"N-no! Anything but that!" he cried frantically. "I-I'll surrender if ya want me to! Just don't punch me, please! I'm begging ya!"
Sonic picked himself up off the ground, gawking at Captain T while still holding his fist up. The fox yelped again and jabbed his wrench even closer toward Sonic.
"I'll stab you brutally if you even think about punchin' me! I said I'd surrender if you didn't, so don't!"
"How come you're so afraid of being punched?" Sonic asked, completely clueless.
"S'none of your business! Just…don't…"
Captain T came down to the ground, landing on his knees and hanging his head in shame. Sonic was stunned- he could've attacked right now if he wanted to, but Captain T was succumbing to the mere thought of being hit with a fist! Even if he was evil, Sonic did have to wonder…what had the poor kid been through?
"For the love of Nayru, will you QUIT CHASING ME?" Link yelled, running with his shield covering his head and back.
"What's wrong- afraid of a girl?" Lass M teased, not giving up with her barrage of arrows. Link simply winced- how was he supposed to beat her if she wouldn't let her offense down? He had tried to attack several times with his sword, but he just couldn't get close enough! That's when he saw Boomer out of the corner of his eye, and he suddenly gained an idea.
"Make me proud, buddy!" Link called, dropping Boomer directly behind him.
"I'll try, sss-POW!"
Lass M did just what Link anticipated- she ran right into Boomer, who blew up in her face, making her stop dead in her tracks.
"Hey…you can't do that!"
"Well I just DID! So HA!"
Lass M narrowed her eyes and launched several more arrow at Link. One speared his hat and knocked it clean off. Link cringed, ducked down to scoop it up again, then rolled out of the way of another onslaught.
"You don't give up, do you?"
She smirked. "No. But you should."
Link scrambled back onto his feet and started running once again as Lass M stopped giving chase and played her flute. The ground beneath Link's feet skyrocketed, sending him up in the air. She then swapped back to her bow and fired even more arrows. Lucky for Link he saw them coming, so he grabbed his shield and protected himself at the last moment.
"She's starting to get on my nerves…" he grunted to himself, lighting up Boomer and tossing him at her again. Boomer made direct contact with Lass M and blew up in her face once more. She stumbled backward, and realized she was covered from head to toe in black soot.
"UGH! Mr. L!" Lass M cried, running up to where Mr. L and Mario were still going at it. "That idiot ruined my perfect complexion and burned some of my hair! Do something about that!"
"Not now babe, I'm trying to beat the snot out of this hero," Mr. L seethed, glaring back at Mario staring at him. "Besides, you can beat him on your own, can't you-"
"NO!"
Just then, Mr. L saw Master K rocketing around behind Mario, having been plowed in the stomach with a missile and wailing like a siren, while Sir MK was running around in circles with his cape over his face shouting, "MY FACE! MY FACE HAS BEEN EXPOSED!"
"What the heck-"
"Erm, I believe this is yours?" Sonic asked, walking up with Captain T still hanging his head in shame next to him. "He, uh, kinda surrendered…"
Mario blinked as Mr. L trembled with anger. "GRAH! Idiots!"
Lass M folded her arms and stared at Mr. L darkly. "You'd better not be talking about me…'
"Of course I'm not. I'm talking about the guy riding on a missile, the guy with a cape over his face, and the little brat who just willingly gave up!"
Mario: Some team you have there.
"Shut up, you!" Mr. L snapped, pushing Lass M somewhat violently out of the way. "So the rest of my team might be down and out, but you've still got me to deal with! I'll-"
Mario took a daring leap and landed on Mr. L's head. He instantly fell to the ground.
"Oh, ha ha," he scoffed, standing back up. "Who do you think you are?"
Mario: Mario!
"Well, guess what? Just because you're "Mario" doesn't mean I won't make sure you're down for the count- forever!"
He pulled out a Shroom Shake to replenish any lost health, when he suddenly had it swiped away from his by a Pixl shaped like a hand. Mario tauntingly shook it in front of Mr. L's face, then drank it for himself. Mr. L's mustache was standing on end now.
"Okay, that's it! NO ONE TAKES MY SHAKE! NO ONE!"
"What's so great about those things anyway?" Link asked, making a face.
Mr. L crouched down low, then shot up into the air like a bottle rocket. He aimed to land on Mario once more, but Mario jumped out of the way at the last second, then socked Mr. L right in the gut. With Mario having the upper hand by having the higher HP, Mr. L was afraid that he was about to be done in quite soon. Mario saw something in Mr. L's pure white eyes…something familiar, just like with the rest of his team. Mr. L made another wrong choice and tried to swig another drink…which gave Mario the perfect opportunity to kick him in the back and have Mr. L land flat on his face.
Mario: *sweat drops*
"Wow, you beat them that fast? Weaklings!" chuckled Bowser.
"Are you kidding? That battle took longer than usual!" Zelda protested.
"Well, you can't really say the same for the green guy," Amy admitted, scratching the back of her head.
"Oof! Impressive!"
"What are you talking about?" Master K intervened, coming back covered head to toe in "missile explosion aftermath". "You were swearing up death upon them just a few moments ago, and now you call it impressive?"
"I guess there's but one thing to do, hm?" Mr. L said darkly, ignoring Master K throwing up his hands. Team Mario gathered together and stared at him curiously. "COME TO ME, METAL BRO!"
Lass M gasped. "He's calling his brother!"
"You did finish it, right?" Sir MK asked Captain T, who was still looking as depressed as ever.
"To the best of my ability…" he murmured in reply.
"That thing was built to be indestructible!" Master K announced. "We'll win for sure now!"
A giant, robot head that remotely resembled Mr. L's came bursting through the wall, flying over Mr. L's team. The evil team's confidence grew considerably while the hero team's confidence shriveled only slightly.
"Ha HA! Do you like him?" Mr. L boasted. "This is my DEAR metal brother. He and I share a spiritual bond, you know. Yes, yes, and his name is…BROBOT!"
"How original," Samus groaned while rolling her eyes. "You know we're going to total that thing as well, right?"
Mr. L jumped into the pilot's seat, while Lass M and Sir MK jumped into the co-pilot seats. Master K was in charge of the secondary weapons, and Captain T was assigned to do repairs when needed.
"Enough playing already…NOW FOR PAIN!"
"All right!" cheered Master K, changing the track on his boom box. "Let's blow some people up!"
"Be careful, Mario!" Peach called.
"Or don't be so careful!" added Bowser.
Mario gave them both a thumbs up anyway as they were suddenly warped into space, Mario in possession of Squirps again, candy bars flying around, and Team Mr. L hovering before Team Mario in their metal monster.
"Okay, what's the game plan, chief?" Kirby asked, all ready to go.
Mario: Turn that thing into scrap metal!
"Great concept, but how are we going to do that, exactly?" Link questioned.
"The gravitational laws of space allow Brobot's potential to be fully realized!" Mr. L shouted triumphantly. "I'll foil your faces!"
"You know, that line lacks a punch…" Sonic criticized. "Maybe if you have a little something before saying that-"
"How's about I give you a little something?" Master K growled, hitting a red button on his control pad. A large green and red missile flew out of Brobot's nose, blasting Team Mario in separate directions. The only ones who could really attack were Mario with Squirps, Sonic with his spin dash, and Samus with her missiles and beams.
"It's really good to have you back," Samus sighed, petting her cannon though every blow she dealt only did one damage.
"This thing is tougher than it looks!" Kirby cried when Sonic and Mario's attacks only did one damage as well.
"We built this out of the toughest metal we could find!" Sir MK explained, now wearing a replacement mask. "We'll be destroying you before you even make a dent in Brobot!"
"And if you do make a dent, we've got the nerd to fix it up!" Mr. L added. Captain T pouted.
"I'm not a nerd-"
"Says who?"
"Ugh…"
Lass M fired lasers out of Brobot's eyes, the gang trying their best to avoid them all- except Samus. The lasers simply glanced off her Power Suit as she grabbed a yellow chocolate bar floating past her.
"Samus! This is no time to be eating a snack, and that's saying something coming from me!" Kirby stated, bashing back the projectiles with his hammer. However, when Samus devoured the treat, she found that it made her able to attack even faster.
"Hey, these chocolate bars are upgrades!" she realized, now doing twice as much damage on the robot.
Mario wondered if this was really true and grabbed a red chocolate bar. This one increased his attack, and soon he was doing double the damage on Brobot as well.
"They're getting stronger by eating chocolate!" Captain T cried, staring out the lower window.
"Shields up, Lady M!" Mr. L ordered. Lass M gave a salute.
"Yes, sir!"
She slammed her fist on a blue button, increasing the robot's resistance to attacks temporarily. Master K chuckled to himself as he pulled down a lever.
"Let's see how they handle this as well!"
Brobot's mouth opened up, sucking them up in a similar fashion to what Kirby would do.
"Run away, run away!" Link shouted, defying psychics and walking away from the forceful suction. "Hey, I made it guys! …guys?"
Mario, Kirby, Sonic, and Samus had been sucked up, and were now being chewed up for a few seconds before Brobot spat them out. They could hear Master K's loud chuckle coming from the inside of the robot. Link frowned and grabbed a green candy bar floating by.
"Well that kinda sucks…nom nom nom…but this tastes great!"
When Mario had pulled himself together, he started firing Squirps' beams at Brobot, only to find that he could fire missiles as well!
"Now what does this one do…" pondered Kirby, grabbing a purple candy bar and swallowing it in one bite.
When Mario and Samus fired their projectiles, they split in two! Now they were doing quadruple the damage!
"Too bad these effects don't last…" Sonic sighed, his attack decreasing. However, on the bright side, a blue candy bar came floating up to him, and it was his turn to dine on the treat. Once he finished it, a shield surrounded the entire team and rendered Brobot's attacks ineffective! "Sweet!"
"What? ! NO!" Mr. L shouted, pounding on his dashboard. "Darn the overwhelming powers of a chocolate delicacy!"
"Nothing's working!" Master K shouted, firing missiles and lasers like crazy while Lass M and Sir MK were veering away from the massive onslaught of beams, missiles, and spin dashes directed at them.
"Our health is already under fifty percent, sir…" Captain T announced nervously, keeping an eye on their energy levels. Mr. L narrowed his eyes and shot a glare at him.
"Isn't it your job to prevent that from happening?"
"I-I guess…but there's really no preventing our inevitable fate if they keep up with these huge attacks and heavy defenses-"
"Argh, you're so useless!" Mr. L shouted, fist slamming on a red button just as Master K pulled back the lever again.
"They're trying to suck us in again! Retreat!" Kirby wailed, the five of them backing away quickly from the robotic creation. Not only that, but a torrent of lasers were directed at them. If they struck the group, they would be knocked into the suction for sure. To make matters worse, the shield Sonic had given to everyone wore off.
"Well that's just beautiful," the hedgehog grumbled, bracing himself for either being zapped or chewed up. Samus reached out for a yellow candy bar and smirked.
"It's not over yet. Everyone scatter!"
The five of them separated, the feat being made easier thanks to the candy bar increasing their speed. Mr. L had another fit at missing the intended targets once again, and grew even angrier when Mario obtained a "Power Up" chocolate bar.
"Shields up! Attack up! Take everything to the max!" Mr. L ordered. Lass M, Sir MK, and Master K scrambled around to try and fill out the orders. He then turned to Captain T, who was standing around doing nothing in particular. "Why aren't you helping?"
"W-What am I suppose to-"
"Just do something! I will see to it to make sure that Count Bleck is pleased with my work, and I won't have you interfering with it!"
"But I-"
A loud boom echoed throughout Brobot- something large had struck its cheek.
Samus blew the smoke off the end of her cannon. "Well, that was interesting…"
"You think we're wearing it down a bit?" Link asked as he obtained a green candy bar again and their attacks gained double the missiles once more.
"A bit? At this rate it'll be demolished!" cried Sonic, crashing into the forehead again.
"Holy cow, they made a dent…" winced Sir MK.
"Yeah, can we say we're doomed now?" Master K moaned, voice on the edge of panicking.
"Plus we've only got very limited HP left," added Captain T. Mr. L nearly twitched.
"That's not helpful- that's negative! Why I outta-WAOMPH!"
Brobot lurched backward, more missiles being launched at the face. Sonic acquired a shield again, and Team Mr. L couldn't even unleash a counterattack.
"Um…should we admit defeat now?" Master K asked again.
Mr. L threw his arm into the air and raised a finger. "Never!"
"Oh yeah, I suppose you should know we're not going to last another hit," Captain T said bluntly. Everyone but Mr. L, who remained in his seat, began freaking out.
"We're all gonna die!" shouter Master K. His boom box fell off the shelf it was on and hit the ground with a shatter. "NO! My beautiful catchy music! GONE!"
"Brace for impact! Brace for impact!" Lass M blared like an alarm as Sir MK dove under his dashboard. Mr. L was squeezing his steering wheel so hard, he thought the handles would snap.
"Everyone, get a grip!" he ordered, but no one listened. Only Captain T gave him any attention by saying:
"We're doomed!"
"One last hit- come on!" cheered Kirby.
"Show no mercy!" called Link.
Mario, Sonic, and Samus all exchanged a nod. Mario blasted a beam, hitting a certain spot on Brobot. Samus weakened the spot even more with a spot-on missile, and Sonic finished it off with a spin dash while Kirby and Link split a purple chocolate bar.
"Hey…this doesn't make any sense!" Mr. L shouted, seeing his precious metal brother begin to blow up rapidly.
"I told you," Captain T threw in.
"You're going to be punished, you know," Lass M hissed, staring him down.
"It's not my fault!"
"My beautiful boom box…"
"Oh, shut up!"
They all returned to the Whoa Zone, Team Mario unscathed while Team Mr. L landed harshly thanks to Brobot being blown to bits.
"That could have gone so much better…" groaned Sir MK.
"N-No! You beat Brobot?" Mr. L winced. He got off the ground and shot a disgusted look at the team. "Ugh…I'll let you off the hook for the rest of today, I suppose…but remember this…when Fortune smiles next, she'll smile right HERE! On Team Mr. L!"
The ten of them exchanged glares before Mr. L jumped away, followed by Lass M, and then Sir MK, Master K, and Captain T flew after them. Mario, Link, Sonic, Kirby and Samus just looked on.
"Hrrm…Mr. L. What nut job," snickered Bowser. " I feel like I've seen that guy before…"
"I feel like I've seen all of them before!" exclaimed Amy, with Peach, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Eggman agreeing instantly. Team Mario exchanged looks among themselves- that's what they thought as well…
"If anything…" Kirby started to say slowly. "…they reminded me of Team Luigi…"
"…I don't really like the thought of that being Tails, even if it does resemble him slightly…" Sonic murmured under his breath.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was them!" gaped Link. "…except, there's absolutely no way that Mr. L was Luigi! I mean, can you imagine? Ha!"
"Yeah, there's no way Luigi could pull off being evil like that," Samus stated, her tone making it hard to indicate whether she was being sarcastic or not.
Mario didn't exactly agree with that statement, but he said nothing more on the matter. The important thing was, they could now get by and find the Pure Heart!
After being congratulated by the girls and (somewhat) the villains, the group spotted Squirps come limping up to them.
"Ugh….that was awful, squirp! We have to pull ourselves together, space grunts…"
"We are near the Pure Heart, right?" Zelda asked. Squirps gave her a nod.
"The Pure Heart is just ahead! Come along, space grunts!"
Squirps ran excitedly ahead of everyone, everyone struggling just to keep up as they followed him through the door.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Squirps brought them here!"
"Did he just say 'Mommy'?" Peach asked in disbelief. There was no one else in the room besides them- just a huge golden statue of someone that Squirps kept calling "Mommy". Samus took one look at the statue and gasped.
"No way! That would mean…whoa…"
"What? What's up Sam?" Sonic asked. Samus started to speak, but then shook her head.
"I think Squirps should tell you…trust me, it's a bit of a shocker…"
"Oh, we're finally here!' Squirps cried, unable to contain his excitement. "Come on! Say hi to Squirp's mommy!" he gestured to the giant golden statue. "Yeah, this is Squirp's mommy! The queen of Squirpia! Her name is Squirpina XIV!"
"The queen…is you mother?" gaped Tippi. "So you are…"
"Squirps is the prince of Squirpia, a once-great kingdom…my true name is…Squirp Korogaline Squirpina! Sorry for not telling you. Squirps promised not to tell! It makes Squirps a target!"
"Well, what do you know…" Kirby chuckled.
"And you wanted to get him out of our hair!" Eggman scoffed to Ganondorf.
"Just because he's a prince, doesn't mean he's any less annoying."
"I've read about Squirpia…Squirps did remind me of what Queen Squirpina XIV looked like, so that's why I trusted him almost right away," Samus explained. She smiled slightly. "Looks like I was right again…"
Squirps coughed, then began the tale about his back story. "Long ago, Squirp's mother was told that destruction would come to the world. And in order to protect us from this destruction, we needed the Pure Heart…So Mommy hid the Pure Heart in the Whoa Zone, where no one could get to it. And so, 1,500 years ago, Squirps was put to sleep in a hibernation capsule, squeeeep. Squirps was meant to bring the heroes here…to protect the world, squirp!"
"Huuurgh! My head hurts! I can't keep up with plot points this complicated!" complained Bowser.
"I can keep up with it, I'm still just a little…stunned…" Link trailed.
"Now I feel bad…" moaned Tippi, guilty of calling him terrible things and being so defensive.
"The prince of Squirpia, Squrips, has a message from the queen to deliver…"I bestow upon you the Pure Heart in hope that you will save the world…" Here! Take it! Squirp!"
A beautiful light blue Pure Heart emerged out of thin air, blinding everyone with how pretty and pure it was. Mario stepped into the light it produced, the Pixls floating away from the owners and doing their infamous little dance before the light blue Pure Heart allowed itself into Mario's possession.
"We got a Pure Heart!" cheered Link, high-fiving Sonic while Kirby performed another "Samus Glomp".
. . .
"Phew! Now that Squirps is all relaxed, Squrips feels kinda…tired…" said Squirps. And with that, Squirps lay down before the statue of his beloved mother.
"Mother," he said, his voice soft. "I did my best, right? Are you…proud…of me?"
Then…slowly…young Squirps closed his eyes…the mission had weight heavy on his tiny back, and he was proud to fulfill it.
This chapter was fun to write. ^^ And now we have the mysterious Team Mr. L! WHO ARE THEY? ! (and who am I kidding, besides people who haven't played the game...?) But nevertheless, I got "creative" with their names, huh? ;)
