Paper Luigi X

Chapter 36: Chase Me Through Grimble

After an hour of grieving and throwing rocks at the never-ending trees, Luigi decided it was time they actually accomplished something. He had been thinking over the forest, why his compass had gone mad, and why they could only return to this very spot. He had sort of an idea, but he wasn't completely sure if it was right or not.

"Anyone have any idea yet?" Malon asked, restingon her palms. Tails, lying on his back, just continued to blow a leaf into the air. Meta Knight was doing some serious hackingskills to a tree, takingout any frustration, and the partners were sitting in a circle playing Rock Paper Scissors. Luigi sighed, then stood up.

"I…sort of have one." he announced.

"Oh really? Shoot."

"Well, we could all try to go in one direction together…since it appears when we split up, we ended up coming back because someone was always left behind!"

"But what happens if we go the wrong way?" grumbled Torque.

"…we go back?"

Tails folded his arms. "Hmm…I don't know. What if we start walking in one direction and just end up back here anyway? Or if we go one direction and keep walking forever-"

"Tails!"

"Sorry…the possibilities are endless…"

"I don't want endless possibilities! I want a definite solution!" whined Jerry. Malon then sparked an idea.

"Hey Tails! Meta Knight! Can you guys fly up and see if-"

"AAAHH!" they both cried at the same time before talkingoff into the air. A rapid rattling of leaves was heard as they tried to fly to the top. Moments later they came back down looking disappointed.

"It's like we're trapped in a box!" wailed Tails.

"What? Did you find where to go?" Luigi questioned.

Meta Knight shook his head. "No, the trees…apparently they're as high up as far as they stretch across!"

"There's no way to get above them!" finished Tails.

"We have no way to figure out where to go…"

"There's gotta be something…" Luigi muttered, beginning to search.

"but there isn't! What else haven't we possibly thought of?" Hayzee wondered.

"I don't know!" Luigi shouted in an outburst. "I really, truly, honestly, don't know! The next person who asks a question none of know the answer to, they're getting a taste of Frozen North!"

"WAIT THAT'S IT!" Tails suddenly screamed, causing everyone to fall to the ground and cover their ears. "Sorry, sorry! But I've just realized! Luigi- every time you use a compass move, doesn't only one part of the compass light up?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah, pretty much…except for Refresh Direction- only the base lights up then-"

"Ignore that move! Think of only Frozen North, Wild West, Eastern Wind, and Down South!"

"Okay-"

"Whenever you use them, which direction do they originate from?"

"…Tails you're a genius!"

They laughed and slapped high fives penguin style. Everyone else was confused.

"What? What?" Malon, Meta Knight and the partners all wondered.

"Okay, you know how the compass is going all whack and stuff?" Luigi asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, every time I've used a Compass Move, it always originates from the direction in the title!"

"So if Luigi uses Frozen North, we use the direction the wind blows from to figure out where North is- and that's the direction the ruins are said to be!" Tails explained frantically.

"And if we need any other direction, I can just whip up a little Wild West or Down South…" Luigi added modestly.

Malon jumped into the air with excitement- which wasn't as high as Luigi's, but still decent since their team specialized in heights- and practically hugged Meta Knight.

"We're not doomed after all!"

"Well what are you waiting for? Perform some Frozen North already!" Hayzee chuckled.

"Yeah yeah!" cheered Blooey, Jerry, and Torque. Luigi held up his hands and chuckled.

"Okay, okay…" he then pulled out the compass, then did the trademark compass Move pose:sticking it out in front of him and shouting-

"FROZEN NORTH!"

Everyone watch eagerly, and hopefully, for the cold move to be put into effect. It had to work- otherwise they'd all be trapped! Nothing happened for a few moments, downing their spirits, until a chilly breeze came up from behind them and froze Tails, Blooey, and Hayzee.

"Hooray! We found North!" Maloncheered, almost running off again until Meta Knight pulled her back. Luigi instantly cringed and tried to thaw out his team, which he was helped out when Malon played a pretty hot song to melt them.

"Talk about cool…" chattered Tails.

"Sorry…we didn't know where North was, remember!" Luigi exclaimed before using Refresh Direction on the trio. "Now we can actually get somewhere! Let's hurry!"

Malon gasped and pulled out her flute. "Oh my gosh! That reminds me!"

She quickly played Epona'sSong, causing Epini to appear. Malongave her horse a hug and petted her anxiously.

"Aw, Epini! Sorry I haven't seen you much…I guess I just didn't need you when I was kidnapped, in a kart race, or doing a play!"

"Did you say play-"

"Shush Hayzee." She hopped on, then helped Luigi up, followed by Blooey and Hayzee. "We can get to the ruins in record time now!"

Jerry and Torque jumped up, being carried by Meta Knight and Tails, and the team quickly took off down the path. There was no more time to waste…

Meanwhile, no one noticed the rattlingin the bush. Something, or possibly even a someone, poked their head out, snickering.

"Huh. So THAT'S probably why I ended up here…gotta be fate or something like that…"

Eager to catch up with the team and to cut them off, the spy jumped up, then quite literally burrowed into the ground.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Okay…we've been going north for, like, ever, and I'm not seeing any ruins yet…" complained Torque.

"I know! We finally get going in the right direction -no pun intended- and we're still no closer than we were before!" threw in Blooey.

"Ah, this makes an even more interesting plot! Perhaps this'llbe my next big thing!" chatted Hayzee, writingeverything down eagerly in a notebook.

"Can you not think about plays for even a tiny moment?"

"Yes- when I'm running for my life."

"UGH…"

"The ruins are supposedly way deep in the jungle, so it might take us a while to get there!" Malon told the gang. "So, we keep going on!"

Just then, Epini disappeared, sending Malon, Luigi, Blooey, and Hayzee crashing onto the ground while Tails, Meta Knight, Torque, and Jerry braked to a halt.

"…wow. Great time for Epini to disappear. Nice."

"Now we're going to get there even slower!" Jerry shouted to the sky until Torque smacked and told him to get a grip.

"…that means I have to walk…" groaned Tails. "But that's alright. My tails were getting tired anyway…"

"Oooh…I wish there could just be a sign or something!" Luigi stated with a heavy tine.

"Oh! Someone give me a sign-!"

"Don't start singing, Blooey…"

"I was just trying to raise the morale…"

Luigi moaned and trudged on. Oh, how he ached! The wear and tear of travel was finally taking a toll…and then, just like that, it was as if it was a miracle. A gift from the sky. A ray of sunlight was falling perfectly onto a piece of paper, attached gently to a tree- it was a Conveniently Placed Map. Everyone thought they would cry!

"YES! I bet it shows us a shortcut!" Tails cried, already scrambling for it like everyone else. There is was. Right in front of their reach. Hope was so close in the form of a piece of paper…until a flash of red shot up out of the ground and snatched it away from them. Just like that. It disappeared into the tree, taking away their good fortune, their hope, and apparently that pretty little ray of sunlight.

"What the-?" Luigi nearly choked on the suddenness of the moment. He braked on his heel, causing everyone to pile up and crash into him. Malon instantly went berserk and started Boot Bashing the tree the blur ended up in.

"YOU IDIOT WHOEVER YOU ARE! Give us that map back! It means more to us that your very own life!"

She got no reply, however, there was a suddenly rattling of the leaves above, headed easterly. Outraged, Malon took off after, threatening to shoot her arrow. The rest of the team exchanged glances before bolting also.

"What just happened?" Hayzee cried, still in quite the daze.

"We were just about to get a Conveniently Placed Map and that…red flash stole it!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Wow! What a plot twist!"

Luigi smacked his head.

"Well that doesn't matter! We're getting it back!" Malon shouted, firingarrows wherever the rattling and movement in the trees was. But as soon as she shot, that red little bit of movement darted into another tree, or just out of range. The culprit suddenly took a turn to the left, promptingeveryone else to follow as well. Tails noticed something out of the corner of his eyes head into the ground, but didn't focus on it long as trees suddenly started falling.

"WAH!"

"I've got it." Meta Knight said calmly, slicing through them all. More and more came crashing down, but Meta Knight moved swiftly, destroyingthem before they caused anyone any harm. Jerry also did a fair bit of exploding, and Blooey torpedoed right through them also. And suddenly- the trees stopped falling! Malonnoticed something in the ground stopped abruptly, then start going right through a narrow path of trees.

"This way!" she called, trying to run faster. The thief quickly climbed a tree and started jumped from them again, but this time he was pursued by Tails. Tails sprung from trunk to trunk, staying decently close to the map-stealer.

"You won't get away from me!" he yelled, throwing his arsenal of tools. Luigi tried to help by bashing the trees with his Ultra Hammer, but he was failing terribly and even once nearly hit himself.

"Pathetic…" a deep voice echoes among the trees. The gang turned to Meta Knight who shook his head- he didn't say anything. Tails glanced up to get a better look at the…thing they were pursuing, only to get hit with a branch.

"OW!"

He toppled out of his tree, being quickly caught by an impressive jump from Luigi. Luigi set Tails down, then sprung after their mysterious fiend. He would have used a Frozen North, but he was low on his CP and could only use Refresh Direction- which actually wasn't very helpful at this point. There was rush exiting the tree, going back underground again and going straight up the path rather than take a turn at a fork.

Tails chucked a rock at the ground, which didn't help much, and Luigi even tried Spin jump on it but the digging speed was rather impressive.

"Are we chasing an enemy of the forest or something?" Malon asked. "Cause this creature sure knows how to dig and climb!"

"What's next? Flying?" Blooey sneered. As if on cue, the thing burst back out of the ground and flew around a corner, nearly blocked off by boulders. Blooey moaned.

"This thing is fast too…"

"He is? Who?"

"Man, I told you-"

"Not Sonic fast, but it's pretty close!"

Tails looked thoughtful. "It's not that we can't see it, but it moves so quickly we can't focus on it long enough!"

For a brief second, the creature was actually running, but then it knocked down another tree and veering into some thicket. Everyone jerked to a stop (causing another massive pileup) and darted after the one being pursued.

"Hayzee? Can't you put it to sleep?" Luigi asked.

"Not at the rate its going!" Hayzee cried back. "This would make a great race scene-"

"Can it Hayzee. Another play outburst and I'll personally-"

"BLOOEY."

"SORRY! I can't help it! Luigi burned me to my very core!"

"This is NOT the place to bring that up again…"

"Guys? I think it's possible we lost its trail…" Meta Knight murmured.

"Isn't THAT just beautiful! We've lost our map, now that fink!"

Eventually, they ran into a sort of cleared off area, with trees surrounding the area in a circle. They all stopped to gain their breath, but the same thing ran through everyone's minds- where did it go?

"You know…maybe you should leave this little quest of yours to me. It's quite obvious you guys can't handle it…"

"What in the…the SKY is talking!" gasped Jerry.

"I don't know you who are, but it's in your best interest just to back off!" Meta Knight yelled, brandishing his sword. "Come out so we can teach you a lesson!"

"Lessee…me against a coward of a plumber, some girl, a masked guy who's too full of himself, bumbling partners, and Tails….uh, nah. Wouldn't want to beat you THAT badly."

Meta Knight and Malon were highly offended. "Me! Full of MYSELF?" "SOME GIRL?"

"Yeah, I said it…"

Luigi wasn't phased by the comment-he got it a lot- but Tails was mainly disturbed by the mere fact that whoever was yelling at them knew his name.

And within mere seconds, he even knew it was.

"Oh sweet Chaos please NO…"

"Again, at least give us the pleasure of see who we're simply not worthy enough to fight..," growled Meta Knight.

"I've really got nothing against you…I just figured that since I'm here against my will, I might as well fix up what you're doing wrong…"

"Please…whoever you are, come out…without pain, at least…" Luigi pleaded.

"Hmph!"

Suddenly, like a red rocket, their taunter had jumped right out of a tree a few yards away, then landed right in front of them, fist pounding into the ground, sending out a shockwave, and leaving a massive set of cracks in the ground. He stood up, folded his arms, then raised an eyebrow at Tails. Tails just gulped and muttered:

"Knuckles the Echidna."

*shot* yes, the last person is Knuckles...I know some of you wanted people like Ness, Pit, and Olimar, but I've had him planned ever since I started writing the plot for PLX a year ago. And I even said- "All of Luigi's team will be from the same worlds as Mario's". Well, not exactly like that, but pretty close. Anyway, if you really know Metroid- there's no other main character besides Samus and Ridley (how the heck would I weave HIM in anyway?). So, that rules out Samus' world. Then I've basically used up all the characters from Link and Kirby, so that leaves- yeah... Maybe its not a good a match up, but it what I chose. It all works out in the end, promise- and I've already written Knuckles into what little I have of SPMX, so yeah...

Oh yeah- if you haven't read the latest chapter of PMX2 or my profile, my internet's been down all week, including yesterday, but at least I'm able to post today! :D