18
With their chests pounding wildly out of control, Mario and Luigi were quick to pull out two fire flowers from the rucksack. The Hammer Brother started to draw towards the brothers' hiding spot.
"I knew someone was following us!" Luigi said.
"I did too." Mario said.
The Hammer Brother laughed.
"I can hear you guys!" he said. "Don't think you can hide from me, because you can't! It is time you two to surrender to the evil Bowser once and for all!"
"And what if we don't?" Mario asked sarcastically.
"You will die." the Hammer Brother replied.
"I'm not convinced." Mario replied.
"Alright! Will this convince you?!"
The Hammer Brother wielded his hammer and threw towards the brothers and blasted through the large pillar they were hiding behind. The upper half of the tall structure began to collapse and the brothers were quick to jump out of the way before getting crushed by the heavy stone, which landed with a loud thud. They were now out in the open.
"There you guys are!" said the Hammer Brother. "Time to meet your fate!"
The brothers rubbed the flowers into their hands and activated their fire abilities. They each threw a fire ball at the enemy, but the amazed Hammer Brother managed to dodge it.
"What the hell did you just do?!" he said. "The flowers...!"
"What about them?!" Luigi asked.
"They're powerful!" said the Hammer Brother.
"Really? You just figured that out?!" Mario said, throwing another fireball at the deranged enemy. This time it hit and the Koopa fell to the ground unconscious with a third-degree burn on his chest. More footsteps were heard around the pillars of the temple and the brothers prepared for another wave of enemies to appear at any moment.
"I think we're surrounded!" Luigi whispered.
"THERE THEY ARE!" shouted another Hammer Brother from a nearby hiding spot. Almost instantaneously, a whole band of Hammer Koopas were running at the two brothers with their deadly weapons and the brothers were quick to start firing at them with fire.
"Mario! Look out!" Luigi shouted.
Mario turned around and ducked as a hammer barely missed his head.
"Luigi! Behind you!" Mario shouted back.
Luigi quickly turned around and slapped two Hammer Brothers to the ground with his bare fists. He went to go help his brother when another Koopa jumped on top of him and held him down to the ground like a metal clamp.
"Let...go...of...me!" Luigi said.
"I don't think I can do that." said the Hammer Brother. "You and your brother killed off Bowser's raid in Birachai. You honestly think I would let you go after you did something like that?! You're crazy!"
"Not...as...crazy...as...you!" Luigi replied.
"EAT THIS!" Mario shouted from behind the Hammer Brother. The enemy turned around and was greeted with huge blow to the head with a hammer. Luigi pushed the dead Koopa away and helped himself back onto his feet.
"Thanks, bro!" Luigi said.
"It's about time they got a tasted of their own medicine!" Mario said. "Come on! Let's go to the temple entrance!"
The two brothers started running towards the entrance, when they saw another small wave of Hammer Brothers emerge from behind the pillars.
"Mamma mia!" Mario shouted. "I don't have time for this!"
"Mario! The bag!" Luigi said. "Get a couple of ice flowers!"
"What?!" Mario said.
"JUST DO IT!" Luigi shouted.
Mario did as he said and gave one of the blue flowers to Luigi. When the powers were activated, they went after the oncoming the crowd of Koopas and started freezing them with deadly snowballs.
"Why don't you guys cool down for a change?!" Mario shouted as he performed a somersault over three Hammer Brothers and welded them together with icy wind. He took the hammer he used earlier and blew their bodies to shards to ensure they would never see the light of day again.
"Hang on, Luigi! I've got your back!" Mario shouted as he saw his brother struggle with the two last enemies.
"Your brother will die!" shouted on of the Hammer Brothers.
"Not if I can help it!" Mario said, blasting a current icy wind in their direction. They dodged it and left Luigi on the ground where they held him. Mario ran over and helped him up.
"I'll take care of one of them." Luigi said. "You take care of the other."
"Got it." Mario replied.
The two remaining Hammer Brothers did not appear to show any mercy as Mario and Luigi approached them angrily.
"What are you two going to do? Freeze us?!" one of them taunted.
"Oh, now you're definitely messing with a son of a bitch!" Mario said.
With their last bit of powerful energy, the brothers sent a freezing wave of ice at the two Hammer Brothers and instantly froze them in their place. Their unbalanced body positions caused them to fall to the ground and shatter and the brothers breathed a huge sigh of relief as their powers started to leave their bodies again. They were exhausted from the fight.
"You know," Luigi said, "I think I could get used to this."
"I think I'm already used to it!" Mario said. "Come on, let's go."
The brothers finished walking down the pillar "hall" and approached the towering temple building and the dark entrance. The building was made of the same stone as the giant pillars and looked as though they were cut by a laser. There were obvious signs of weathering from the elements and also fading inscriptions along the outside walls.
"This place is amazing." Luigi said.
"It sure is." Mario said. "This is history we're looking at here!"
"Yes, definitely." Luigi said. "Hey, Mario. Do you think finding the keys will be difficult?"
"Based on what we've already been through, there's no question in my mind that anything we do is going to be difficult, especially with that big fat-ass dictator running loose trying to kill us."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT?!" said a deep voice from behind the brothers.
Mario and Luigi's hearts sank as they turned around and saw the scariest being to ever roam the world.
"Bowser!" They both said in unison. The King of Koopas simply gave out an evil laugh.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Mario Brothers! We meet again."
"Unfortunately." Mario said. Bowser just laughed.
"You two look just about as dumb as when I raided your home and took the princesses away from you. Who was the strange dark-haired lady that was with you earlier this evening?"
"Nobody you'd be interested in!" Luigi said.
"Oh really? Then how come she was helping you two escape from Birachai?! I assume that she was the reason you two were able to escape before I was able to slit your throats!"
"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH BULLSHIT!" Mario shouted. "Where are the princesses?!"
"Where's my Crystal Star?!" Bowser said. "You have it with you, don't you?!"
"Yes, and there's no reason why we should give it to you!" Luigi said. "We don't want to see you or anyone else like you take into their hands and use it for their own mindless destruction!"
"Well, if that's how you to put it..." Bowser began. "Tell you what...if you give me that star, I'll tell you where the princesses are."
"We're not taking any negotiations from an evil dictator who plans on destroying the world!" Mario said.
"Neither would someone else that confronted me a while back." Bowser replied. "I think you might be familiar with this person."
"I don't think you know what you're talking about you shithead!" Luigi said. "Just tell us where Princess Peach and Princess Daisy are and no one will get hurt!"
"BULLSHIT!" Bowser shouted, breathing large flames at the two brothers. Luckily, they were able to dodge them. "YOU KNOW I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD YOU ARE SAYING! BESIDES, HOW CAN I BELIEVE YOU TWO WHEN CLEARLY YOU GUYS HATE MY GUTS?!"
"Well, of course we hate your guts!" Mario said. "Why else would we be trying to steal the Crystal Stars from you?!"
Bowser paused.
"Which reminds me...You know your little friend that helped you two out of Birachai. Yeah, I captured her too!"
"WHAT?! YOU DIDN'T!" Mario said.
"Oh, but I did." Bowser said. "She'll be taken under my custody with the princesses. Since you two have been eluding me for far too long, it is time for you two to realize that there are consequences for your actions..."
Bowser suddenly breathed fire at the two brothers again, who were now standing in the entrance of the temple. They dodged the flames again.
"YOU HAVE THE REST OF THIS WEEK AND NEXT WEEK TO FIND THE PRINCESSES AND YOUR FRIEND! IF YOU DON'T FIND THEM IN TIME, THEY WILL DIE!"
"NOOOO!" Luigi yelled.
Bowser gave out his evil laugh once again and then pounded the ground, causing an earthquake to occur. The brothers felt the ground beneath them rumble as large stone bricks started raining from the ceiling. Mario and Luigi dodged every single stone, but found themselves trapped inside the temple as the bricks blocked the entrance. When the earthquake ended, Mario and Luigi heard another evil laugh coming from outside.
"YOU BASTARD!" Luigi shouted.
"Better luck next time, bitches!" Bowser said as he left the temple entrance. "Time's ticking away as we speak..."
The brothers were trapped in the dark of the temple and Bowser was outside making his way out of the temple leaving them for dead. Mario tried pulling the blocks out of the way, but they were too heavy, even for him to move.
"This can't be happening!" Mario said. "We're trapped!"
"You think I don't know that already!" Luigi cried as tears rolled down his face. "I'm frustrated enough already to know that the princesses' lives are in danger! What are we going to do?!"
"I don't know." Mario said. "All I can say is that we can't give up just yet."
Mario took a fire flower from the rucksack and gained its powers. He formed a fire ball in his hand and illuminated the dark hallway.
"This hall seems to go on forever." Mario said. "I think it goes underground to the sacred worshipping room."
"That's probably all it leads to." Luigi sobbed.
"Wait!" Mario said. "I think I see a light!"
"What?"
Hey, everyone! I am back from the grave! Since it has been a while, I figured that making a longer chapter would be nice for change, so that's what I did.
Mario and Luigi have survived another fight against Bowser's allies and reached the entrance to the ancient temple. However, it was there that they encounter Bowser himself, who attempts to strike a deal with the brothers regarding who gets to possess the diamond Crystal Star. The brothers obviously refuse to give it up, but they are given strict deadline of less than two weeks to find the princesses, after which they would be murdered by Bowser. Now, the brothers are sealed inside the ancient temple which there seems to be no escape route, until Mario sees a mysterious glow at the end of the small tunnel. What could it be?
I hope that everyone out there has had a great holiday! I should be updating at my regular pace now, so keep your eyes open and I'll see you when the next chapter comes around, as always. See ya! :)
saturn95