Act 2: The Exciting Middle Part

Chapter 34: Deep In The Cavern

Edit Finished On March 15, 2019

Published On March 23, 2019

Author Note: Oh boy, this was a chapter I've been waiting so long to post ever since I finished it, and it's a long one too. Well, not much else I can say but enjoy!

Review Response

Wishmaker1028: You bet it is.

After defeating O'Chunks and getting the dead sprouts, Mario and co headed back to the area of the cavern where the large scanner was. In order to get past the scanner, they each placed their dead Floro Sprout on their heads.

Since the scanner recognized them having Floro Sprouts, it dinged with a green light and let them through. They then went through the large, green door that was ahead of them.

The next room was huge. It contained several Floro Sapiens that were guarding the area. The group quickly disposed of them. Now that they weren't distracted, the group looked around at what kind of room they were actually in.

Varying jewels of high prices were carefully laid out, each having their own small pillar to lie on. And, lined across the walls were painting of the previous versions "King Croacus", the most recent one of them being King Croacus the Fourth, the one currently living.

According to writing below the painting, King Croacus the Fourth was the one who invented the method for mind-controlling Cragnons. And then, he had an initiative to "enslave Cragnons en masse."

"I can't even believe this!" Peach said. "He's been planning this since the 1600s!"

"He certainly does have a lot of dedication for what he does." Bowser commented. "Heck, even more than I do! He was planning this for almost 400 years!"

"Also, what year is it exactly?" Violet asked. "I don't know why, but I always seem to forget."

"It's 2012." Mario reminded her. "Anyway, with all these jewels and vases and whatnot around here, I'm fairly certain that the Pure Heart could be here too."

"Well, I haven't seen it in any of these vases." Junior said, looking inside one. He tried to put it back on the pillar, but it ended up tipping over, falling to the ground, and shattering. "…Whoops."

"The Pure Heart isn't in here…" Tippi explained. "Though, I think it may be close…"

"Alright, then let's take a look around, and see if we can find a way to get any further." Mario said. And so, the group fanned out throughout the room, seeing if there was anything that could lead them further.

And soon enough, they noticed that below each painting, there was a crack in the floor. They used Boomer to blow up each crack, and found that below each painting was a small, secret passage. Each passage had a different colored block that could switch between black, white, blue, and red, which corresponded to each color of a painting.

Shortly, they solved the puzzle, which was to match each color of a block with the color of a painting above. Once they solved it, a door appeared at the end wall of the room. And then, hopefully ready for whatever may lay on the other side, Mario and co went through.

And on the other side, they heard a strange, disturbing voice.

"Where, oh, where are my pretties?" The owner of the voice was King Croacus. The same one that was depicted on the last painting; the same one that had begun the mind-control and slavery of Cragnons.

"Pretties… Beautiful things…" Croacus continued. "Ooo-wee! Bring them to me… More! More! More!" As with the previous room, at least a dozen highly valuable objects were resting on pillars.

Mario and co carefully walked closer to Croacus, ready for a fight at any moment. But even though they were ready, at this point, they were still tired from just recently fighting O'Chunks, and before that, traversing through the caverns, and before that… when was the last time all of them got a satisfactory rest? All the way back when they got the fourth Pure Heart? Nevertheless, all of them were starting to reach their limits. This would truly be a test of endurance until they could get some rest…

"…Ooo? What are these hideous, clashing things?" Croacus questioned.

"Um… you look like that painting we saw… Are you really King Croacus?" Tippi asked.

"Oo-wee-oo! So you must be the intruders I've heard SO much about!" Croacus said. "Well, I will NOT forgive the great trashening of my beautiful kingdom! Noo-wee-oo! …Thus you are warned!"

"Now just hold on one second!" Mario yelled. "It's you who should be warned… if you don't release all of the Cragnons you've enslaved!"

"Never! Their sturdy bodies make them such fine workers. Exquisite!" Croacus yelled. "I need them to dig up more gems so I can build a bejeweled palace. Oo-wee!"

"How could you!" Peach nearly screamed. "You should be ashamed of yourself, forcing innocent Cragnons to do your dirty work! You'll release them this instant!"

"Trash is garbage, no matter how you dress it." Croacus argued. "This world is made for BEAUTY! And if you need some proof… then have a look at this!" And then, something appeared above Croacus. The Blue Pure Heart.

"Hey!" Bowser yelled. "Give that to us! We need that, you know!"

"I can hear it in your voice… You want it so badly, you can barely think, mm?" Croacus questioned. "Seems we all seek beauty… So how dare you take a high horse over me?"

"Excuse me?" Violet questioned. "You're really comparing yourself to us? I don't recall any of us enslaving dozens of townsfolk in order for us to get richer!"

"Your blabber hurts my ears!" Croacus complained. "And your smell is wilting me! I can stand you no longer. I rarely stoop to such thing, but I'll destroy you myself. Consider it an honor!"

Croacus put the Pure Heart away before anyone could grab it, and flew high in the air. Spiky, rosy shaped armor appeared around him, covering his face. Then, a large, prickly vine emerged from Croacus, and extended to the floor, before splitting off into three, smaller vines that at the end of them had large faces in the shape of trapezoids.

"Oo-wee-oo! Here I COME!" Croacus yelled, taunting them.

"Bring it on." Junior growled. He cracked his knuckles together, Mario summoned his firebrand in his left hand, Peach prepared her parasol, Bowser showed off his claws, and Violet summoned a sword of purple ice. Working together, this would be a fight that they would not lose.

The trapezoid vines immediately started lashing out at all of them. Violet ran forward, quickly turned her sword into a shield, and blocked one of the vines. Mario flung fire at one of the vines, while Bowser spewed fire out at that same vine, pushing it back. As the last vine got close to Peach, the princess slapped it with her parasol, knocking it back.

Even though the vines had been pushed back a little, they were relentless and quickly moved forward again. Junior quickly tucked into his shell and moved forward, going underneath the vines.

Croacus's armor opened for a moment. Violet saw this first, and turned her shield back into a sword. She leapt up and tried to hit Croacus with her sword. But as she swung at the plant king, the armor moved back over him. She needed to be quicker next time.

Junior got to the other side of the room, and got out from his shell. Croacus was focusing on the other four, so if he wanted to, he could get a clean shot in. But, the problem was that Croacus had his armor around him. So, he decided to do something risky. While Croacus was low, Junior ran and jumped onto Croacus's head, refusing to let go once he got on.

Mario jumped over a vine that came at him from the side, but after he landed, he failed to notice another one that came from the back. It hit his back, knocking him to the floor. Mario instinctively tried to turn and use his firebrand on his right hand, but gasped in pain when he remembered what happened if he used his right arm too much.

Fortunately, after Peach knocked away the vine that hit Mario with her parasol, Peach extended a hand out to help Mario up. Mario accepted it with his left hand, but hissed in pain and held his right arm where the gauze was.

Bowser tried to grab at the vine that was attacking him, but he simply couldn't get to it. It kept shoving him with its large head and smacking him around with the rest of the vine. But once it looked like Bowser would be able to grab the vine, the vine quickly moved away and moved to a new target.

That new target was Junior, who was still hanging onto Croacus. The vine came at him from behind, so he couldn't see it coming. But at the last second, Junior turned around and saw it, so he moved out of the way, but in doing so, nearly fell off Croacus.

Croacus then jerked to the left, and that was what caused Junior to finally fall off. Fortunately, Bowser was there to catch him, and then gently set him down after making sure he was all right.

Mario used his firebrand, making sure to use it from his left hand this time. He aimed it at Croacus, and threw it. The plant king just so happened to come out from his shield then, and got a face full of fire.

"Yes!" Mario said. But then, Croacus tried a new strategy. Croacus quickly retracted all of his vines back to himself, and then quickly moved out the three vines in jagged patterns, but the vines now had spikes, so that would be a huge problem.

Peach managed to stay above the spiky vines by jumping and using her parasol to slow her fall. Junior's smaller size allowed him to slip past the vines, while Bowser had a much harder times dodging due to his much larger size. Mario had a hard time trying to dodge while making sure his right arm wouldn't get pricked. The last thing he needed right now was another injury to his right arm.

Violet had a different approach. When one of the vine heads were low, she jumped onto it. Another vine head was nearby, and she leapt onto that one. And then, the third one. She had quickly figured out that Croacus retracted in and out of his shield at certain intervals.

Purple sword in hand, she leaped at Croacus. The plant king happened to come out of his shield then and there. Violet hit Croacus with the sword, knocking him back a bit. The spiky vines immediately retracted as Violet landed behind Croacus.

Croacus tried a new way of attacking. He raised the vines up, and then started slamming them down onto the heroes. For the most part, the group was able to dodge the vines.

And then, Bowser had a different idea. As a vine slammed down near him, he grabbed it. Thankfully the vines now didn't have spikes. When Bowser grabbed the vine, he raised it up and started spinning it like a lasso. Then, right as Croacus started to come out from his armor, Bowser threw it. It made a direct hit with Croacus, knocking the plant king back yet again.

Just then, Croacus tried a new plan of attack. All of the vines disappeared, leaving only Croacus remaining. Croacus then spun around the room encased in his armor, while breaking off various parts of it to be used as weapons that spun around the room.

Everyone else was able to dodge the weapons, and one by one, every time Croacus peeked out from his armor, they were able to hit him.

Bowser spewed out fire at him, Peach hit him with her parasol, Violet swung her sword at him, Mario jumped on him, and finally, dealing the final blow, Junior ducked into his shell and launched himself at Croacus.

At that, the fight was finally over. The group had at last won.

Weakened, Croacus fell down, the weapons and his armor disappearing. "Beau…tiful…" Croacus slowly said. "Even as I wilt… I am… I am… beautiful!"

The door opened. "K-King Croacus!" Several Floro Sapiens ran in, rushing right past the group and over to Croacus. "What… whoa! What did you guys DO, huh?"

"He had our Pure Heart and threatened us." Mario explained. "So we beat him up."

"Yeah, how's it feel, flowerface?!" Bowser added.

The Floro Sapien that yelled earlier turned to them. "Hey, shut up! You don't get it at all!"

"King Croacus was awesome!" Another Floro Sapien added. "He totally thought of his people first, man! And you… You wilted him!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Tippi questioned, confused as to what the Floro Sprouts were talking about.

"Water, man! I'm talking about water!" The first Floro Sapien explained. "The Cragnons were polluting our water! Those dudes were tossing trash into the river! We had to drink that crud!"

"That dirty water was what drove our king bonkers, don'tcha get it?" Another Floro Sapien added.

"So that would mean…" Peach said, trying to think until she realized it. "Oh…"

"Of course! I knew it all along!" The door opened again as Flint, Monzo, and Hornfels ran in. "Cragley Ho!" Flint yelled. " "Emergency special report from the Floro front lines! Environmental pollution drives Floro Sapiens mad! Whither will they rampage?""

Flint cleared his throat before speaking some more. "So the villagers throwing garbage into the river was the reason for this whole thing? Well… I tried to tell those guys, but my thoughts were too far ahead of their time…"

"This play well with green Cragnon crowd…" Hornfels said.

"Ratings explode, brah!" Monzo added. "It like "Crags on Ice" meets "Barn von Craggington"!"

"Yes, once my fellow villagers see this, they'll surely realize the error of their ways." Flint explained. "Once the words of Flint Cragley reach them, they'll throw garbage no more!"

"Yeah, water, man…" The second Floro Sapien said. "I mean, it's easily our most precious treasure, know what I mean? You promise not to dirty our water and we'll just chill down here and be cool. And we'll totally take those sprouts off your villagers' noggins too, man."

"Sounds like a fine way to keep the peace in the land…" Flint responded. "Keep those promises, folks!"

"That was a rather unexpected turn…" Tippi commented.

"Whaling on our king aside…" The first Floro Sapien started. "You guys are totally heroes… You should take this." He took something from the downed Croacus. "One of our earliest kings received this to safeguard until the heroes' arrival. Our people have kept that promise for, like, 1,500 years or something crazy like that… I'm sure our wilted king here would be stoked that this duty got done."

And at last… the sixth Pure Heart was presented and given to them. By now, the group was greatly weakened from their battle with O'Chunks and then Croacus right afterward. Surely, when they get to Flipside, they would need a good rest to prepare…

"Men of true grit witness live what others can only see through crag-vision."

"That is what moves me to travel into the belly of the beast week after week."

"Thanks again for watching, and until the next time… CRAGLEY HO!"

Having wrapped their latest shoot, Flint and crew went back to Downtown of Crag.

Mario and friends clutched the sixth Pure Heart as they walked back toward Flipside.

Our heroes had taken a new step toward overturning the prophecy of destruction…

The group of heroes exited the door and went back to Flipside, now with the sixth Pure Heart. To think, they already had six Pure Hearts… that was quite the accomplishment.

"So, are we gonna get some rest now?" Junior asked with a yawn. "I'm… getting pretty tired…" He blinked a couple times.

"Yes, some rest does sound good…" Tippi said.

"We probably should check with Merlon first, just to let him know we're back." Mario suggested.

The rest of the group agreed, and then started to go down the elevator. It seemed to go slower than usual.

"You know, I've been wondering about something a lot…" Violet said with a small sigh. "Do… you think we might find Luigi soon?"

There was silence.

Mario also couldn't stop thinking about it. Nothing made sense to him anymore. Just where was Luigi? What had he been doing this whole time? And now that he thought about it…

It had been a while since he saw a certain someone else… Someone he hadn't seen at all since where this all started, at Bowser's Castle. Just where was Kammy Koopa?

Luigi and Kammy… two who they hadn't seen at all since this started… Or… hang on a second…

Mario tried to recall something… from the "battle" he and Mr. L had. "Really? You've never met me? That's the funniest joke I've heard all day. It should be pretty obvious who I am, but if you can't figure it out, well that's your problem." That was the oddest thing out of anything Mr. L had said… but what did it mean? Had he met Mr. L before? Or… no… wait, that couldn't be possible…

A few stray ideas tried to form in Mario's head, but before they could, the elevator door opened, and apparently, while Mario had yet again been lost in his thoughts, a conversation had been going on, and Peach just giggled at a joke Bowser made, but stopped when she noticed how Mario looked.

"Are you feeling alright, Mario?" Peach asked. "…Aside from your arm?"

"…Yes." Mario lied. That was the most common lie anyone would say.

When the group stepped out of the elevator, they noticed how… quiet Flipside was. Usually, there would be at least a few townsfolk walking around. But today… there was total silence.

"Just where the heck is everyone?" Bowser asked out loud. "What, did they all of a sudden get scared of us or something?"

"This is very peculiar…" Tippi said. "Maybe we should check one of the buildings…"

The group ran over to the item shop for their first stop. Violet tried to open the front door, but it was locked. "Hello?" She asked, starting to knock on the door. No answer. "Hello?!" She yelled a bit louder.

"Maybe they're just closed?" Junior asked.

"No, that can't be, they're open 24 hours a day." Mario responded. "Hm…" He tried to look through a window next to the door, but it was blocked by a curtain on the other side.

"Let's try some other buildings." Violet suggested. But each building they tried was locked. Merlon's house, the inn, and the fortune teller place… all locked. And when they tried to use the elevator to go down…

"Why won't this stupid elevator work?" Bowser yelled. He pressed the down arrow button several times, but no elevator ever appeared.

"What exactly is going on here?" Peach wondered out loud. "All the doors are locked, nobody's here, and the elevator doesn't work!" A small feeling of dread was seeded within the group.

"I'm sure that there could be a logical explanation for all this…" Tippi tried to reason. "Maybe we should go back up…"

"Good idea, Tippi." Mario said, walking back over to the big elevator. He pressed it. Nothing happened. "Huh?" He pressed it again. Still nothing. "Are all of the elevators not working?"

The feeling of dread within the group grew further. Nothing about the current situation made sense. Why were the elevators not working? Why were all of the doors locked?

"Well, hello Mario and friends!" Merlon's sudden voice rang out from behind them. The group quickly turned around to see Merlon and several of the Flipside townsfolk a couple feet away from them.

"Oh, hello! You kinda showed up out of nowhere…" Mario said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, that is a little strange." Violet commented. "Oh, Merlon, do you know why everything is locked or doesn't work?"

"Oh, oh yes! There is a very good explanation for that!" Merlon quickly answered. A pause.

"…And that explanation is?" Peach questioned after several seconds of silence.

"Hang on a second." Junior said. "…Merlon, what is that pink thing you have around your waist? And why does everyone beside you have one? Is that a new fashion trend or something?"

Suddenly, Merlon stopped right before coming up with an excuse. The tension seemed to suddenly rise. Mario was about to say something, and then…

"Any and all threats to The Darkness must be eliminated."

"Merlon's" eyes turned a sickly green, and so did the "townspeople" around him.

"Mario, Peach, Violet, Tippi, and Junior will be eliminated at once."

And then, with the Fake-I-Fiers they all wore on their waists, they turned back into their real forms: Eliminators.

"Just what the heck are those things?" Bowser quickly questioned. But there was no time for a response. Even though the group didn't know at all how and why the Eliminators got into Flipside, they only had one goal at the moment. Take down the Eliminators.

But as Mario prepared to run forward, and as Violet summoned a sword of ice, all of them realized something. They were greatly weakened from the battle with Croacus, and they have hardly had any breathers at all lately.

The Eliminators all prepared to attack them, raising their arm cannons at the group. Violet, though tired, attacked first. She ran forward with her sword, though a lot slower than usual. Behind her was Peach, ready with her trusty parasol.

Some of the Eliminators flew above the group, and then landed all around them, forming a complete circle around the group. Just how many Eliminators were there?

Violet ran toward one of the Eliminators and tried to swing her sword down, but she was far too slow, as the Eliminator grabbed her sword. The Eliminator then yanked her up by the sword, and quickly tossed her toward another Eliminator, her grip of the sword disappearing. The Eliminator then grabbed both ends of the sword and snapped it in two.

Violet flew in the air, right toward another Eliminator. Time slowed. Nobody would be able to get to her before what would happen next. The Eliminator that she was flying towards' vortex opened. And then, a second later, before Violet could register what was going on, got sucked into the vortex. The vortex closed. Time resumed.

"Violet!" Tippi yelled in panic.

"Hey! Give her back!" Mario practically screamed. …Even though one of them had been captured, they could still win… right?

"Violet has been eliminated." The Eliminator that captured Violet said.

Peach growled, and refocused her attention to that particular Eliminator. "Give her up, you monster!" Peach yelled, starting to try to run toward it. And her pace soon slowed, clearly still tired from the previous battles.

Due to Peach's slowed pace, the Eliminator was clearly able to see her attack coming. And so, the Eliminator counteracted by punching Peach in the face, causing her to fall down.

"Hey!" Bowser suddenly yelled, rushing forward to Peach. "You don't hurt Peach like that! …Or anyone else, for that matter!"

And yet, as Bowser ran forward to beat down the Eliminator that attacked Peach, the Eliminator raised its arm cannon, and out launched a giant net that encased Bowser, throwing him backwards and onto the ground. And to make matters even worse, several seconds later, Bowser roared in agony as electricity coursed through the net for several seconds straight.

"Unregistered threat has been neutralized." The Eliminator that unleashed the net said.

"Oh no! Dad!" Junior said, a few tears in his eyes, as he ran toward the net Bowser was encased in. As he got close, he dropped to his knees. "D-don't worry dad, I'll get you out of this…" Junior was hesitant to touch the net, remembering what happened the last time he touched something that recently electrified.

And yet, because Mario, Tippi, and Peach were focused on trying to take down other Eliminators, and because Junior was too focused on trying to free his dad, nobody saw until it was too late. Nobody saw the Eliminator sneak up behind Junior. The young koopa saw the shadow go over him, and turned around.

Once he did, the Eliminator grabbed him by his bib. Junior's eyes widened, and he tried to do anything to fight back. But it was futile. The Eliminator quickly unleashed its vortex and sucked Junior in with no remorse.

The vortex closed. "Junior has been eliminated."

At seeing two of their group get captured and one temporarily out of commission, Mario and Peach began to worry. Less than half of their active fighters were left, and they had taken out zero Eliminators. Tippi stayed close to Mario, wanting to stay safe.

"I'm… not… going to give up…" Mario said, very out of breath. He and Peach noticed that most of the Eliminators haven't done anything. They… only attacked when one of them attacked first…

Were the Eliminators… toying with them?

No time to dwell on that now. Several of the Eliminators flew up, and then started to quickly fly down toward Mario, Peach, and Tippi. Peach reacted quickly and pulled Mario to the ground, and just in time, because several Eliminators flew just over them.

Peach quickly picked herself up and pulled Mario up, Tippi clinging to his cap. The Eliminators that had stayed on the ground started to speed toward them from behind, and the flying Eliminators circled around to fly back toward them.

"Come on!" Peach yelled, grabbing Mario's left arm and pulling him forward, trying to break into a run. Mario and Peach both tried to run, but one of the Eliminators grabbed Mario's right arm and yanked him away from Peach flew high into the air, leaving her to deal with the Eliminators.

Peach held up her parasol as the Eliminators started to swarm around her. She couldn't give up. Not now. But at it was, there were dozens of Eliminators, and only one of her. Having no regrets, she charged at one of the Eliminators with a battle cry.

She got punched, kicked, and even hit with her own parasol multiple times before her body gave out. And that was finally when she was captured and sucked into the vortex. The Eliminator that held her parasol crumpled it into bits like it was a piece of paper.

"Peach has been eliminated."

Up above, Mario tried to hold in a scream, because the Eliminator holding him up by his right arm was gripping it so tight, right where the gauze was. At the moment, Mario didn't care about how high up above the ground he was. All he cared about was stopping the pain and getting free.

"Let go of me!" Mario screamed, starting to thrash about. His thrashing caused the Eliminator to jerk around violently. And then, with one kick to the Eliminator's jaw, the tight grip on Mario's arm was released…

…Leaving Mario to fall.

Mario screamed as he fell at least twenty-five feet to the ground. He tried to break his fall, but all too soon, he landed right on his right arm, causing him to let out another scream of pain.

Mario lie there for a few moments. He heard the whirring of the Eliminators. If he didn't at least try to get up, they would be upon him in seconds. Even though every part of himself felt like it was in agony, Mario pushed himself up onto his knees with his left arm.

He had to move, or at least try to. But when he did try, he started coughing up blood. Mario's vision became hazy. Time seemed to slow to an absolute still. Mario looked further in front of himself.

"T…T-Tippi…" Mario said, seeing the passed out butterfly in front of him. Tippi must have passed out and fallen to the ground sometime when Mario was taken into the air. Mario reached out to Tippi, and then gently cradled her in his left hand.

"I…have to… I-I have to… move…" Mario tried to stand up, at this point not even hearing the Eliminators right behind him. His eyes slowly closed as he passed out.

…

"So, little bro, anything you want for our birthday this year?"

"Hm… well, I've always wanted a-"

"Oh yes! I'll get you just that indeed! Don't worry about a single thing, little bro!"

"Mario, why are you acting so weird!? And… you usually never call me little bro…"

"Don't worry about a thing, little bro! I'm sure that around our birthday, everyone will get the surprise of a lifetime!"

…

"Mario and Tippi have been eliminated." The Eliminator said. He turned to face the other Eliminators. "Now, let's move." He, along with the other Eliminators quickly flew out of Flipside.

…

Sounds of a net being ripped apart could be heard. As Bowser finally managed to get the strength to rip open the net, he flung each piece aside as he got it off of himself. And eventually, he got the entire net off.

It took about a minute for everything to set in. Thanks to the electric net, Bowser had multiple burn marks all over his body, his chest hurt, and he was a little short of breath. Bowser tried to stand up, but it was difficult due to all of the injuries and pain he was in.

It didn't take Bowser long to piece together what happened. Because he had seen Violet get captured by… whatever those robots were called, and the fact that he didn't see anyone else, all of them had to have been captured…

…Which meant that he was completely alone.

"Great. Just freaking great." Bowser groaned. Just what was he supposed to do now? He was weak, injured, all alone… And as far as he knew, he couldn't even leave. All of this slowly started settling in. What was he supposed to do? Wait here until the Void destroyed everything?

Bowser saw an untouched bench nearby, and decided to sit on it, and he did with a sigh. Just… what could he do now? How would he be able to get to those robots that captured everyone else?

"It sounds like you need some help, Koopa!"

The sudden, familiar voice caused Bowser to snap up. He definitely knew that voice. A voice that he familiarized with horrible, horrible hatred, and for good reason. A voice that was like a poison to him, with no cure.

Mr. L.

The minion of Count Bleck himself revealed himself before Bowser could say anything. Mr. L jumped in from below the floor, coming in from the side.

"Well, well, well Koopa, looks like you've gone and caught yourself in quite a pickle, haven't you! And just for future reference, even though there might not be a future, those robots are called Eliminators." Mr. L quickly said without any break.

"W-w-what the?" Bowser sputtered out. He got up off of the bench he previously sat on. "You!" Memories of Mr. L brutally beating up Mario came back to him. "I'm gonna… I'm gonna…"

"Kill me? Is that what you were going to say?" Mr. L questioned.

Bowser paused. "…Yes. That's what I was going to say! So what? I can do it right now if I want to!"

"You can?" Mr. L laughed. "Then go ahead. Give me your best shot." Mr. L then stood still. Without warning, Bowser tried to rush toward Mr. L, only to falter and fall after taking a couple steps due to how weak he still was.

Mr. L laughed, and started to circle around the fallen koopa. "I knew it, Koopa. You can't stand a chance against me, especially because of all those battles you face so often. It's sad how many ineffective strategies you insist on using, wasting your precious time and energy."

"Just shut up!" Bowser yelled. He soon managed to get the energy to stand up. "And… just why the heck are you here, anyway? Just to insult me?"

"Well, no actually. You see, I had wanted to find Jumpman, in order to-"

"In order to what? Finish him off?" Bowser interrupted in rage.

Mr. L paused. "Well… maybe you could say that."

Bowser stopped for a moment. Was it just him, or… did Mr. L sound a little different in that last statement? Also… there was a strange… aura around Mr. L? It was hard to describe, he couldn't really see it at all, it was just… there.

"Allow me to explain." Mr. L cleared his throat as he casually leaned against a wall. "I had already known that the Eliminators would arrive here around this time. After all, their attack patterns are so obvious even a child could figure it out. So, I decided to stay here and specifically disable the elevators after one was used once, so that Jumpman didn't have anywhere to run. But it looks like those Eliminators decided to come here a bit earlier than I predicted, which is where you come in, Koopa!"

Bowser was silent, waiting for what Mr. L would say next.

"So, Koopa, I was thinking… we could make a deal!"

"…What?" Bowser questioned, a little confused.

"Oh come on, Koopa! I'm sure you know what a deal is!" Mr. L said, not leaning on the wall anymore. He started walking toward Bowser. "You know, when one person makes an agreement with another, when each part of the agreement has their own good side… You know! So, let's make a deal!"

Once Mr. L was close enough to Bowser, he extended his arm out to the Koopa King. "You help me find Jumpman, and I'll help you find everyone else you're looking for! Doesn't that sound great?!"

Beat.

Bowser shook his head, turned around, and crossed his arms. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"What?" Mr. L questioned, slightly taken aback.

"You heard me." Bowser turned back around, angry, arms still crossed. "That sounds like the actual worst deal I have ever heard. Firstly, Mario is part of the "everyone else" I'm looking for, so that wouldn't give me a single advantage."

"Well, I was going to add that-"

"Second!" Bowser interrupted. "Why would I make a deal with you, when you're the one that decided it was a good idea to try and kill Mario, and stab him in his arm with a knife!"

Mr. L didn't say anything for a moment. He then cleared his throat. "Well, that's what happens when he decides to try to break my arm."

Bowser noticed it again. Mr. L's voice changed… again. "Well, you were going to stab him!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Mr. L questioned, walking to Merlon's house. "If you know the reason, then it should become obvious."

"Then what is the reason, cause I sure as heck don't know it!" Bowser yelled.

Mr. L shrugged. "Well, if you don't know, then I don't feel the need to tell you."

Bowser sighed. How could Mr. L act so… casual about this? "W-well… the only thing I'm worried about is finding a way out of here! So why don't you tell me that?"

"Well, of course I know a way out of here. If you'd have done some digging around earlier, then you should've found it by now." Mr. L said, standing right next to Merlon's door.

"Why do you feel the need to keep insulting me?" Bowser questioned, starting to get very tired of Mr. L's attitude.

"I think it's simple. You say you're the "King Of Koopas,"" Mr. L used air quotes. "But the King Of Koopas shouldn't be going soft and befriending their enemies."

Bowser blushed a little, realizing Mr. L was right "W-What do you mean by that? I'm not befriending anyone! Especially not you!" At least that last part was true.

"I'm not talking about befriending me, idiot. I'm obviously talking about you befriending your worst enemy, Jumpman."

Bowser paused. He didn't know how to respond for a moment. He didn't like to admit it, but… He breathed in deeply.

"Yeah? So what if I befriend Mario? Is that such a big problem with you? Huh? I'm King Of The Koopas, I can befriend whoever I want to! Just because I'm a king doesn't mean I have to always make enemies with everyone!" Bowser breathed heavily after his rant.

Mr. L just took in what Bowser said. After a moment, he laughed. "Well, well, looks like you're braver than you thought. Admitting that you want to be friends with your sworn enemy? Well well well, I wonder how Jumpman will take it, if you haven't told him already."

"…Nope. Haven't told him." For the time being, Bowser's pride got in the way of himself. He couldn't just waltz up to Mario and ask, "Hey wanna be friends?"

"Well, I'm getting bored." Mr. L said with a yawn. "I'm looking to get out of here as soon as possible." Mr. L swiftly kicked down the door to Merlon's house. "The exit is in here. Let's just get it over with."

As Bowser walked over the fallen door and into the house, he saw Mr. L roughly slam down a large shelf that was supported by the right wall, breaking almost everything that was on that shelf.

"Hey, why are you breaking all of Merlon's stuff?" Bowser questioned, but he didn't get an answer, as Mr. L felt the wall the shelf used to be on, Mr. L punched it to show that it was a lot weaker, and climbed through the hole.

Bowser followed him, and saw Mr. L sliding down a pole that was inside the hole. Bowser grabbed the pole and slid down it after Mr. L. He slid for around half a minute before landed on a dark surface. Mr. L illuminated the area by letting out a little bit of green electricity from his hand, and walking down a short hallway.

At the end of the hallway, Mr. L didn't have to illuminate it with his hand anymore, because something else did. A huge, rainbow portal, hidden in Merlon's basement this whole time.

"Hang on a second!" Bowser yelled. "How did you know this was here, and do you even know where this goes?"

Mr. L turned to Bowser. "1, you don't need to know that, and 2, I don't know that." Before Bowser could ask any more questions, Mr. L jumped into the portal. A second later, Bowser jumped after him.