Author's Note: Whenever I write one of these chapters, I always get the theme song stuck in my head. Well, I won't have to worry about that, since this is the last episode of Coron's Island! Enjoy, everyone!
Chapter 36: Coron's Isle, Episode 4: So Long and Thanks for All the Ratings
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this Mushroom port,
Aboard this tiny ship.
The Mate was a mighty killin' dude,
The Skipper a hobo,
Oh eight pirates set sail that day,
For a chase on the go.
A chase on the go.
The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.
If not for the panic of the pathetic crew,
The Mushroom would be lost.
The Mushroom would be lost.
The ship set ground on the shore
Of this uncharted desert isle,
With Coron,
And George too.
King Goomba,
And Red Koopa.
The Super Nerd.
Nottaboo and Shy Guy too,
And the rest,
Here on Coron's Isle.
Enter Coron:
"Fahgo est faramba jo einta," I said, closing my eyes and focusing on a spot ahead. "Ein terra jo est forrena, ier ond veir oush-"
"Hey Coron!" Jr. Troopa said, running up to me.
"Dershoonga apt larf…" I muttered under my breath. "What is it, Jr. Troopa?"
"Just came to check on you!" Jr. Troopa said. "You've been sitting here all by yourself for so long, Iuka was getting worried and asked me to check up on you!"
"Good for her," I said. "I've just been trying to do something I haven't done in awhile. If it works, we'll be off this island for good."
"Cool!" Jr. Troopa said. "So… what is it?"
"Opening up a corridor of darkness," I said. "I won't get into the details, you wouldn't understand. Now, stand back and shut up so I can try again."
Jr. Troopa nodded and ran some distance behind me, still watching. I closed my eyes, focused on a point in front of me, and began chanting again:
"Fahgo est faramba jo einta. Ein terra jo est forrena, ier ond veir oush fahgo est faramba oush est dientar jo einta!"
I felt dark power surge through my veins.
"Fahgo est faramba jo einta!" I shouted. "Ier, Coron, ond sein!"
Directly in front of me, a tiny hole leading into the darkness opened. I strained to keep it open, but the dream was too powerful. It closed the portal, leaving me panting and with nothing accomplished.
"Dammit, Rixamim…" I panted. "You couldn't do enough damage to allow me to open a portal?"
"Why can't you open a portal?" Jr. Troopa asked me. "Out of practice?"
"Partly," I said, getting my breathing back under control again. "An outside force is acting on the attempts I'm making at opening the gates to lead into the corridors of darkness. See, it' sort of like I'm trying to poke a hole through a piece of paper that keeps repairing itself. If I keep making small holes, I'll never get anywhere. But, again, I'm out of practice, so making a bigger hole is difficult. Also, the force closing my attempts at opening the portal also makes it difficult for me to make a bigger hole, like the paper I'm making the hole through is so tough, only tiny punctures can get through. That being said-"
"I got bored so I left!" Jr. Troopa's voice said for a bit of a ways away.
"That's the last time I ever vent to someone," I sighed. "Alright, let's try this again."
Once again, I closed my eyes and focused on an area in front of me.
"Fahgo est faramba jo einta…" I started.
It was sunset by the time I made my way back to the "camp", really the wrecked boat.
"Oh, Coron!" Iuka said, perking up when she saw me coming. "It's been awhile since you've come back to camp! I've been worried-"
"Are we any closer to building something to get us off this island?" I asked George, walking past and ignoring Iuka.
"With Tutankoopa gone, things have been going pretty slowly," George replied.
"Tutankoopa?" Iuka asked, sliding up close next to me. "Who's that?"
"What did I say about my personal space?" I asked her, holding up a clawed hand.
"Moving!" Iuka said, shuffling away from me.
"Better," I said. "And to answer your question, Tutankoopa used to be a member of our 'team'. He took off in the plane he built to take us off this island, however, so the next time I see him, I'm gonna rip out his entrails and make my own 'Kingdom Organs' out of them."
"Oh my!" Iuka said. "Don't you think that's a little… extreme?"
"Not at all," I said. "Do you have any idea what kind of hell I went through to get the materials needed to build that plane?"
"Uh…" Iuka started.
"I fought a giant spider," I said. "A giant. Freaking. Spider."
"Wow!" Iuka said. "Giant Spiders… the Cannibalization… you're so brave, Coron…"
"Brave?" I asked. "No. Not willing to put up with any crap from anyone? Yes."
"Oh don't be so modest, Coron," Iuka giggled. "You're the bravest one here!"
I turned my head to see King Goomba cowering in fear from the sight of a bug.
"Can't argue with that," I said.
"You two lovebirds mind paying attention for a moment here?" George asked. My clawed hand was at his throat a second later.
"You wanna say that again?" I growled.
"Okay, okay!" George said. "Geeze, can't take a joke…"
"Anyway…" I said as Iuka blushed and looked the other way and I pulled my hand away, "what were you saying?"
"Oh," George said. "Right. Well, I believe that with a few materials, we can re-build a plane. So, I'll need-"
"I'll go get it!" Iuka said before dashing into the jungle.
"…I didn't even get to finish," George said, blinking.
"Sooooooo?" Jr. Troopa asked me.
"Soooo what?" I asked.
"I think Iuka likes you!" Jr. Troopa said.
"What was your first clue?" I asked.
"Why don't you ask her out, then?" Jr. Troop asked.
"…okay," I said, "there are quite a few things wrong with that. First of all, we're tow completely different species."
"Love can overcome even the biggest barriers like that!" Jr. Troopa shouted.
"…secondly," I continued, "I can't love."
"Oh come now!" Jr. Troopa said. "Everyone can love!"
"Not a Nightmare," I said. "We're missing a key component that allows us to love."
"And what's that?" Jr. Troopa asked. I placed a hand on my chest and looked down.
"None of your business," I replied.
"Ooh, looks like I hit a soft spot there!" Jr. Troopa said.
"I'm going to dig a claw into your soft spot if you don't back off," I growled.
"Backing off!" Jr. Troopa said, doing so. It was about then a whirring noise was heard from the jungle.
"What's that?" General Shy Guy asked as he and Red Koopa looked up from their game of Battleship™. Out of the jungle came a fully-working airplane, piloted by Iuka.
"What the…" I said as Iuka powered off the plane and hopped out.
"Where did you find this?" George asked, staring at the plane in awe.
"A nice old man jumped out of the bushes, told me he was hiding from the aardvarks, and gave me this before running away."
"And thus does Goompa save us yet again!" Red Koopa shouted as he ran into the airplane.
"I'm coming home, Bow!" Nottaboo shouted as he floated into the plane.
"Are you impressed, Coron?" Iuka asked me.
"If you can successfully pilot this plane back to Toad Town, maybe," I replied, stepping into the plane.
"Anything for you," Iuka sighed, climbing into the plane as well.
From my seat, I looked out the window to see the tiny island dissapear in the distance.
"Sayonara, you God-Forsaken island," I said as I leaded back in my seat. "I'm gunning for you, Dream Keeper."
This was the tale of our castaways,
They were here for an ark at least.
They had to make the best of things
and none were eat by beasts.
Oh Coron and the hobo too
Had done their very best,
To make the others stay on track
In their tropic island nest.
No phones, no lights, no Mario,
Well that's all about to change.
They're gunning after Mario now,
They're coming back in range.
So thanks for tuning in my friends,
I hope you got a smile,
From the eight stranded castaways,
Here on Coron's Isle.
Author's Note: And thus does both Coron's Island and the whole ark itself end. Also, between classwork, homework, Cross Country, and spending time with my girlfriend, I'm finding myself with less and less time to write. So if I just stop writing, I'm on hiatus. Until next time, this is Pax the Dreamer, signing out.