Chapter 52: Infiltrating Deep Dark
It was a few days before the heroes got the Good Egg Galaxy all organized. There was a lot of stuff going on, since people were opening up shops and stuff and building houses to stay in. The prison was torn down and thankfully, that left enough elbow room for everybody who had been imprisoned there. Luigi got the sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't ever be leaving the galaxy since they were so immersed in building a society there.
As a matter of fact, just hours before they left the galaxy, Danny told him that when a group of people got together in outer space in a galaxy, it was called a space colony, regardless of who lived there. Luigi wondered when that term had come around. And he went over a question in his head numerous times before they left. Could Bowser's reign actually be helping new communities form?
And he continued to think about that one thought as they now flew through space towards their next destination, which was a galaxy that Danny knew the name of; Deep Dark. There the prison was underwater. Luigi had no problem with that since he could hold his breath for quite a while, but when Danny mentioned the ghosts, Luigi almost jumped ten feet.
"G-g-ghosts!?" Luigi cried in panic, "Are you crazy?"
"No, as a matter of fact I'm not," said Danny, "Dad, you really need to get a grip on yourself. They're just ghosts for crying out loud!"
"But they… they…"
"Alright, enough of this," said E. Gadd as he turned around, "Do you want to find that Grand Star or not? Because I know that's why you're in this."
"Well… yes," said Luigi, "But…"
"Come on, they're just ghosts," said Danny. Before Luigi could continue the argument, E. Gadd shouted out.
"Oh, here we are!" he called, turning back to the monitor.
"Now let's stop fighting and see if we can't locate Bennet down there," said E. Gadd, "Go on you two! You can do it!" Before Luigi could respond, Danny pulled him out of the room and towards the outside of the starship.
The planetoid had been docked under the galaxy's main planetoid as they observed when they reached the outside. They were under what appeared to be a large basin. There was a metallic hole in the bottom to their right, but it was shut off.
"There," said Danny, pointing to the hole, "That's a shortcut into the base. This is one of Bowser's smaller prisons so it's not as heavily guarded." He pulled his rod from its sheath and aimed it at the hole. Then, he pressed one of the many buttons in its hidden compartment on the side and the point shot out, solidly piercing into the rock next to it.
"Let's go," said Danny. Again before Luigi could react, he pulled Luigi towards him and pressed the button again, this time pulling them towards the bottom of the giant basin. Danny began kicking the hole as they hung in space.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" asked Luigi, looking down nervously.
"Don't look down, and you'll be fine," said Danny, continuing to kick the metal as though that would make it open, "Trust me, it works." Luigi averted his gaze from downwards and then slapped himself in the face with his free hand in realization. He was the hero who was supposed to save this universe from Bowser! And he was afraid of heights and ghosts?
"Let me take a shot at this," said Luigi, now sounding more confident.
"It's about time," said Danny. Luigi charged a bit of electricity, assuming that this was mechanical as well and fired it at the metallic hole. Sure enough, it opened… and a huge fall of water began to pour out.
"Let's move!" Danny yelled. He swung into the fall of water and sheathed his staff as he did so. They both landed in the fall of water and began swimming upwards. Yes upwards. Luigi couldn't believe it was actually working. It was just hard to manage since the current was pushing against them and gravity was pulling them down. But they both made it inside in one piece, to find that the place inside was nearly drained by the time they had gotten in.
"Crud, that's not good," said Danny as the water receded.
"What isn't?" asked Luigi.
"The water's gone," said Danny, looking up, "We need it to get up there. And I predict a security alarm in three… two… one…" Right on cue, the alarm went off.
"Follow me," said Danny, "The enemies here are idiots." Luigi followed him around the corner of a rock wall and into a small cavernous hallway that led them to a smaller cavern than what they had been in. Unfortunately, this one was crawling with enemies, mainly Boos, as they looked in from behind a small stone.
"Darn it all!" Danny whispered, "There weren't this many last time… we'll just have to blast through! Do what you did in Flash Black!"
"I can't do that again!" Luigi said under his breath.
"Yes you can," said Danny, putting a hand on his father's shoulder, "I believe in you." Luigi was filled with confidence as he drew his staff, charging his energy into it and firing right into the center of the room. There was a huge blast of light and Danny and Luigi had to cover their eyes. When they opened them again, there were only a few enemies left, stunned and lying on the floor unconscious. Not one Boo remained.
"See?" said Danny, "You can destroy them. Why be afraid?" Luigi nodded and Danny led him around the central pillar of rock in the center of the cavern. Luigi disposed of the other enemies with his powers and returned to the center to find that Danny was climbing that rock.
"Up here I think," said Danny. Luigi began his climb as well, following Danny up the side of the pillar. They arrived at its top to be greeted by numerous Boos. Keeping his cool, Luigi created a bright spark of electricity and made them all vanish. They continued to the west, jumping to the next platform, which led to another rock hallway that led them to a large cavern with a pirate ship at its center.
"There!" Danny cried pointing at the pirate ship, "That's it!"
"Is that where the prisoners are held?" asked Luigi.
"Not quite," said Danny, "That's what tells us where the prisoners are held. The prison here is magical, and it warps around the galaxy continuously, but never leaves the galaxy." As they approached the pirate ship, Luigi began to wonder which Bowser used more; technology, or magic. He probably used both equally, but he couldn't help but wonder where he got all of it from. They boarded the pirate ship and Danny immediately checked the compass next to the steering wheel. Luigi walked over and the compass suddenly went haywire.
"Step back dad," said Danny, putting his hand up to stop Luigi, "I think it's reacting to your electrical energy." Luigi stepped back but the compass continued to spin out of whack.
"What's going on?" Danny asked to the air.
"What do you mean what's…" Luigi was interrupted by the sound of cackling behind him. He quickly spun around to see a ghostly figure that appeared to be a Magikoopa in purple robes.
"So… you're the ones hmm…" said the Magikoopa in a slurred voice, "The ones interfering with Bowser's reign? There are just so many of you I just don't know how to remember you all. Fortunately for me, I won't have to worry about you much longer." She suddenly flung a ball of fire from her ghostly wand at Luigi. Luigi rolled out of the way and fireball hit the deck and began rolling around.
"Not bad," said the Magikoopa, "You remind me of Mario. He did manage to kill me twenty years ago. I've been long dead since then."
"Be careful dad," said Danny, "She's a manipulator."
"Dad hmm…" said the Magikoopa, "So… you must be Luigi aren't you?" Danny smacked himself in the face. Luigi fired a blast of electricity at her from his hands but it passed right through.
"I thought so," said the Magikoopa, "Perhaps Bowser will give me my life back if I turn you in. Everyone thinks you're dead you know."
"So I've heard," said Luigi through gritted teeth, reaching slowly for his staff.
"Oh, let's not get naughty now," said the Magikoopa. She waved her wand and Thurius's staff suddenly came out of the sheath on its own and landed on the ground nearby. Luigi felt a sudden wave of weakness. He felt as though he was at the same strength he was ten years before, before his training. He tried to run for his staff but the Magikoopa stopped him with magic.
"It will take a lot more than that to defeat the mighty Kamella!" she cackled. Before Danny could make a move, she waved her wand again and he found himself stuck in place. Both of them were immobile now.
"You two are so much alike," said Kamella gleefully, "Both so reckless when you're not afraid." Luigi couldn't fight Kamella's magic. He felt weaker than when he had the staff in his grasp. So this was what had happened in the void. The staff granted him strength, enough to overcome the age that was overtaking him. He had spent so long in the void that he hadn't realized how much he had grown older. According to his biological years, he was forty one.
He had to reach his staff, but he could clearly see that he had no chance. Kamella was charging another fireball. It would incinerate both of them likely and that would be the end of it. They would have been outsmarted by a Magikoopa. But they weren't. For at that moment they heard an extremely loud, "YEEEEE-HAAAAWWW!"
E. Gadd suddenly swung from the ceiling with James on his back screaming. Kamella turned in surprise as E. Gadd pulled out a device and flashed an enormous light on her. She screamed and Luigi felt his mobility return to him. He grabbed his staff and saw that Danny was gesturing to him and then to his own rod. Luigi understood what he wanted. He let loose a small jolt of electricity into Danny's rod and Danny pressed another button on its side, causing another beam of light to flash onto Kamella.
"One more dad!" Danny called. Luigi nodded and pointed his rod at Kamella. Then he focused on the lightning flash technique, in which the center and the left side emitted an extremely bright light on the target. It worked. Kamella had vanished by the time they were done.
E. Gadd dropped down onto the deck.
"Woo-hoo!" he cried, "I haven't had that much fun in a long time!"
"That was awesome!" James cried gleefully, "Can we look for Mommy and Daddy and Janet now?"
"Yeah, but how did you know we were in trouble?" asked Danny.
"We didn't," said E. Gadd, "You guys had been gone for a while so I decided I'd join the party!"
"I guess my identity will remain secret for a little while longer," said Luigi, "Let's get to looking for the prison here."
"Oh right," said Danny. He returned to the compass and after a few minutes he looked up and said, "It's right under us." The four of them approached the deck of the ship and looked into the water. Sure enough, down below was a small complex of buildings, hidden underneath the ship.
"Come on," said Danny, sheathing his rod and jumping into the lake in order to swim down.
"You go on ahead," said E. Gadd, "I'll catch up with this little guy."
"I wanna go!" James cried.
"You will young one," said E. Gadd, "You will." And with that, Luigi jumped into the water.
He swam down through the doors and up into an airtight room, where Danny was already freeing prisoners.
"I knew I should have taken care of her the first time," Danny was mumbling to himself as he shorted out the lock on the last cage in the hallway. This prison appeared to house mainly Monty Moles. There were a few Toads here and there, but mostly Monties. They continued on through the prison, freeing the few prisoners there were, until they reached the last one. When Danny pushed open the doors, he gasped.
"I knew these doors weren't here before!" he cried, "I just knew it!" He ran into the room. Luigi dashed into the room after him and his heart skipped a beat.
"What in the name of Thurius are you three doing here?" he asked in shock.
A/N: I again apologize for long waits. School is seriously stressing me out. Well anyways, Luigi, Danny, E. Gadd, and James have successfully infiltrated Bowser Deep Dark prison... after recieving some grief from the witty Kamella. And now Luigi and Danny have come across three apparently familiar people. Who could they be? Are they James's family? Or are they others? And if they aren't James's family, where are they?
Deep Dark was a galaxy in the original Super Mario Galaxy. One of my personal favorites for the Boo in a Box mission. Kamella was a boss in this galaxy, but now she is dead from being defeated three times in the original, and now a fourth in this story. Thank you for those who have waited patiently for chapters to be updated. It's hard for me to have huge gaps in between chapters as well, since I want to write but can't because I have more important things to do.
I do not own Mario. All characters, ideas, and places belong to Nintendo.
