Author's Note: And now, the epic final battle! Also it just happens to be the second-to-last chapter to this ark. Yeah. Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 53: Smorg
Enter Pax:
"Good morning, day!" I yawned, waking up of my own accord. "I have a feeling today will be a nice and quiet day!"
I climbed out of bed and stretched, looking over to the top of the bunk bed. "Hey Leon, wanna grab some breakfast?"
I noticed that Leon wasn't there.
"…he must've already gone to eat," I said, leaving the room and heading to the diner cart. No one was there… not the chef, not Leon… no one.
"…starting to get a little eerie…" I said to myself, walking to Pennington's Room. I opened his closet to check and see if he was there. To my surprise, he wasn't.
"…okay, freak-out-meter is going up a few notches…" I said, backing out of the room and closing the door. I hurried through the other rooms in the train, every single one empty.
"…" I stopped in front of the girl's room, sighing. If no one's there, I can freak out totally. If the girls were in there, I can be relieved, but freak out because… yeah.
Eh. I was fourteen. I was willing to take my chances.
I threw the door open, ready to hear screams and get hit. To my dismay, neither happened. I opened my eyes to see the room was empty of everyone except…
"Vivian!" I sighed, running over and shaking her awake. "Thank God, I thought everyone up and vanished!"
"Huh… wha…?" Vivian blinked awake, then focused her eyes on me. Five seconds later, I had a hand-shaped slap mark across my cheek and Vivian was covering herself with the blanket, blushing.
"MARIO!" she said. "What are you doing in here?"
"Everyone on the train vanished and… OW!" I rubbed my face. "You slap hard!"
"You came in while I was sleeping!" Vivian replied.
"I don't see what the big deal is… You're a Nightmare, you literally have NOTHING to show!"
"It's the principal of… wait a second, you said everyone on the train's gone?" Vivian asked, stepping out of bed and putting her hat on.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Leon, the Chef, even Pennington."
"I wouldn't say gone…"
Vivian and I turned out heads to face Flurrie. She looked different, though. She held herself differently, her eyes looked different, and… there was a creepy black creature attached to her face.
"Holy crap!" I took a step back. "What the heck?"
"Join us…" Flurrie held out a hand as the black creatures we saw at Riverside Station started to come into the room. "Become one with Master Smorg. He lusts for more minds to capture."
"Smorg!" Vivian hit herself on the head. "Stupid! Of course, those black creatures were Smorg!"
"Okay, WHAT'S Smorg?" I asked.
"It's a group of black creatures, the ones we saw on the train station, that work with a Hive Mind," Vivian explained. "They attach themselves to people in a perversion of Nightmare Possession that strips the mind of free will and captures them to the main hive."
"I prefer my mind un-captured, thanks," I replied, summoning my sword. A Smorg jumped at me, and I sliced it out of the air. I couldn't catch another though, so it attached to the back of my head. I cried out, then… wait, the creature felt like it… was absorbed into me, and my Nightmare hand tingled.
"…what?" I took off my left glove and looked at the claw.
"Nightmare possession can't work on other Nightmares!" Vivian explained.
"Oh, so that's why we're the only ones un-captured by Smorg!" I nodded. "…wow, there's a lot of explaining going on right now, isn't there?"
"Yeah," Vivian nodded. "I'm just surprised that Smorg hasn't attacked us in the middle of a sentence yet."
"Oh give us a break," Flurrie said. "We may attack people while they're sleeping and take over their mind, but we're at least civilized!"
"So you humanly strip people of their free will?" I asked.
"Well when you put it that way…" Flurrie shrugged.
"Hey, could you hold still so I can kill that thing on your face now?" I asked, raising my sword. Flurrie jumped back in shock and quickly floated back toward the back of the train, the horde of Smorg following her.
"…you actually warned them ahead of time you were going to free her?" Vivian asked me.
"Hey, only Goombella's allowed to make comments about how I stupidly do-THOSE THINGS HAVE GOOMBELLA!" My mind suddenly shut down into a narrow one-track as I chased down the train after them.
"Mario, wait up!" Vivian shouted behind me, but right then, the only thing that mattered to me was getting Goombella back. I kicked open the door to the supply room, slashing through the horde that was in the room and hurrying into a hole in the ceiling. I jumped up from crate to crate to follow when my foot hit something soft.
"HEY!" I looked down to see Ms. Mowz rubbing her head.
"Oooh, it's you Mario," she said, her voice suddenly smoother. "Didn't mean to yell at you, hunky slice of cheese."
"…" I ignored her as I climbed through the ceiling.
"Who are you?" Vivian asked as she and Ms. Mowz climbed after me.
"I am the master thief, Ms. Mowz!" Ms. Mowz replied. The three of us were now running on top of the train, chasing down the Smorg horde to the other end.
"But… I don't get it, every other person on this train's been taken by Smorg, why aren't you?" asked Vivian.
"I'm not sure," Ms. Mowz said. "It worked just fine earlier, so…"
"Oh, I get it!" Vivian nodded. "Once you've been taken over once, you can't be taken over again!"
"…that's kind of a stupid limitation!" Ms. Mowz said. "I mean, what if you have to disconnect, then-"
A loud noise interrupted them. We all stopped in front of Smorg, which formed into a huge ball of Smorg creatures. Out of them came Koops, Pennington, the guard, and Goombella, all of them connected to the Smorg.
"You three… you'll cause us some trouble if we don't take care of you now," Koops said.
"Once we finish you, we'll spread across the city at the next stop and infect everyone there!" Pennington laughed.
"…by the Lord, your voice is annoying," the guard said, glaring at Pennington.
"Yeah… you're right," Pennington nodded. "I think I won't use this one for speech."
"THANK YOU!" I said, throwing my arms into the air.
"…where was I?" Goombella asked. "Oh yes. Soon, the world will belong to us! And there's nothing you can do about it!"
"I can slice you to bits!" I growled, gripping the Crystal Sword tight.
"Mario, no!" Vivian held me back by the arm. "Trust me, I want to hurt this thing as much as you do, but we can't just slice the Smorg off them! The shock could kill them!"
"Then what are we SUPPOSED to do?" I snapped.
"They'll have to leave willingly!" Ms. Mowz said. "When I was under, I was able to remove it because the voice that took on the role as my Master told me to!"
"Fat chance of that happening!" Koops ran forward and threw a punch at Vivian. She ducked under, backing off.
"Koops, please!" Vivian begged. "Fight it! You're stronger than this thing!"
"Koops isn't here anymore, just Smorg!" Koops laughed cruelly, kicking Vivian's feet from under her.
"I'll show that thing-" started Ms. Mowz.
"NO!" I grabbed her by the tail. She squeaked, and though I couldn't see it then, she blushed too.
"We can't hurt them!" I said. "That won't affect Smorg at all, that'll just hurt our friends!"
"Hi-YEAH!" Goombella jumped through the air and Headbonked me. I grunted as I fell back on the train on my back.
Oh God, please… I thought, shutting my eyes. I need help… something… anything!
Flashback!
"Wow, you're pretty good kid!" Goompa said, dressed in a Pokémon Trainer's outfit as he put a Pokéball away. "What's your name?"
"What the… Goompa?" I asked, looking down at the Dragon suit I was wearing. "What's going on? This never happened!"
"Well I'm Goompa!" Goompa explained. "Flashbacks with me in them never make sense!"
"…wait, you just answered me logically?" I blinked in surprise. "But… you're crazy!"
"Normally, yes," Goompa nodded. "But this is a Flashback of events that never happened. Ergo, I am not quite as crazy as usual because that would never normally happen, and this flashback shows things that would never normally happen."
As if to prove this, a banana started to float nearby, baaing like a sheep.
"…whatever, do you think you could help me?" I asked. "I need help!"
"Yes you do, but I'll also give you advice," Goompa said, sitting on a chocolate log and offering a seat next to him.
"Hey!" I cried, but I sat next to him anyway. I peeled off a bit of the log and ate it.
"Mmm, good dark chocolate…" I muttered.
"You wanted advice?" Goompa reminded me.
"Hm?" I turned back to him. "Oh yeah. Well right now, outside this Flashback, I'm fighting a creature called Smorg."
"That's the thing that possesses people and has a major lust for more minds to take over, right?" Goompa asked.
"Yup," I nodded. "And see, that's the thing. It's possessed my friends, and I can't fight it because if I attack the Smorg, the shock could kill them. But if I attack my friends…"
I closed my eyes and shuddered.
"I could never do that," I said. "Not to Leon or Koops… or Bobbery or…"
"Goombella?" Goompa asked, smirking a little. I nodded.
"Well… I have an idea on what you could do, but you won't like it," Goompa sighed, looking up into the tie-died sky.
"I'll do ANYTHING at this point," I said. Goompa pulled a whistle that looked like a snail out of his pocket and handed it to me.
"If you blow on this, I'll come to help you in the future," Goompa said.
"…I'll have to deal with the crazy you?" I sighed.
"It's that or hurt your friends," Goompa said.
"That's low and you know it!" I snapped
"True… but you admit it's the only way?" Goompa asked. I glared for a moment, then sighed.
"Yeah, you're right," I said, pocketing the whistle. I turned to Goompa and smiled.
"You know… I kind of like you like this," I said. "You're not nearly as irritating."
"Don't get used to it," laughed Goompa. "Now open your eyes boy, you have some friends to save."
I nodded. "Thanks again, Goompa!"
End Flashback!
I opened my eyes, back on the train.
"MARIO!" Ms. Mowz pulled me out of the way in time to keep me from being blown up by Bobbery.
"This is NO time to be zoning out!" she said. "We're in crisis here!"
"…wait!" I stood up and reached into my pocket. Sure enough, I pulled out the same whistle from my flashback.
"What is that?" Ms. Mowz asked.
"Hopefully the thing that'll save all our butts," I said, putting it to my lips. "Here goes!"
I blew as hard as I could on the whistle.
"ALL ABOOOOOOARD!" a voice shouted from the whistle as it exploded. Music started to play as I heard a second train ride up in the distance.
"What… have I done?" I asked, knowing what was about to happen. Suddenly, the train zoomed next to ours and Goompa came out of the top, a neon sign saying "applause" over him.
"Thanks for the ride, Ozzy!" he said as he jumped to our train. "Sorry about those mental wounds not healing! I'm sure that makes life a shame."
"GOIN' OFF THE RAILS ON THE CRAZY TRAIN!" A fist came out of the window, giving Goompa a thumbs up as the train flew into the air and vanished.
"Hi everyone!" Goompa waved with a foot. "Who called me?"
Everyone pointed at me.
"Well congratulations!" Goompa was now wearing a tuxedo and speaking into a microphone, standing next to me. "You won our new Coconut shells!"
A string fell from the sky and Goompa pulled it. Coconut shells suddenly fell from the sky, landing on Smorg.
"AH!" the individual creatures screamed in pain.
"Grr… you'll PAY for that!" Goombella ran after him.
"Hey, I remember you!" Goompa said cheerfully. "Have you met my grandson?"
"Huh…?" Goombario was suddenly there, looking around in confusion. "How did I get here?"
"Magic!" Goompa giggled. "Waterslide time!"
Goompa shoved Goombario off the edge of the train, and the ground splashed like water, making him disappear.
"Grah!" Koops ran forward, punching Goompa in the face. There was the sound of a squeaky toy being squeezed, and Goompa's face caved in.
"Nice shot!" Goompa said as his face filled up again. "My turn!"
He jumped back, the air around where his fist would be catching on fire.
"Goompa… PAWNCH!"
Koops was hit and flew into the air. A string of Smorg worked like a tether and made him fly back, hitting the ground and falling unconscious.
"Does anyone like music?" Goompa asked.
"Well actually-" started the Train Guard.
"Listen as I play my Green Tambourine!" Goompa summoned an Orange Drum and started to play it like a guitar. Music Notes flew out and grew wings, buzzing around us.
"Hey, let go!" Ms. Mowz was carried into the air by them.
"Okay!" the Music Notes said, dropping her onto Vivian.
"Ow!" both said.
"Heeeeeey, that's a giant Smorg!" Goompa said to me. "It has the power to crush the world under it with its mind controlling powers! I'm gonna poke it with a stick!"
A giant log suddenly slammed into Smorg, knocking it all around and revealing all the people that were under its control.
"Who's happy?" asked Goompa.
"Well-" started Bobbery.
"I'll TEACH you to be happy!" shouted Goompa. "I'll teach your Grandmother to SUCK EGGS!"
Eggs rained from the sky and Goompa ran across them, turning into a circle that bounced on the ground and turned into a smiley face. The face was part of a stickman who was shaking my hand, then pointed at a meteorite. On the Meteorite was a Table Tennis game between Ms. Mowz and Vivian, Smorg being the ball. It hit the table, which was now a trampoline, launching it into the sky, the individual people flying off and floating in zero gravity. A bright sun bounced in and drew in some gravity, making it turn on a disco ball and-
"THAT'S IT, I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" screamed Smorg. He disconnected from every single person and fell in a heap on the train, gasping for breath.
"Ow… wha… where am I?" Goombella looked around, blinking.
"Stand back!" I ran past the confused people and jumped through the air, stabbing my sword down into the mass ball of Smorg. It screamed, energy flowing through every individual creature. There was an explosion of light, and a floating ball of dark energy was there in the air. It flew into my hand, giving me that familiar shuddering sensation.
"WOO!" I shook my head. "I love that feeling!"
"Hey… uh, how did we get here?" Koops rubbed his head. "…Vivian? Are you okay?"
Vivian didn't answer, she just threw her arms around Koops and hugged him.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" I turned to Goompa. "Thanks, Goompa. We couldn't have done this without you."
"Does this mean I get to be a part of your team?" Goompa asked eagerly. In answer to this, I picked him up and threw him off the edge of the train.
"AND DON'T COME BACK!" I screamed at him. I turned around to see everyone stare at me in shock.
"What?" I asked. "Oh don't worry about him, he'll be fine. C'mon, let's go back into the train before we fall off."
"Seriously Mario, what just happened?" Goombella asked.
"Don't worry, it'll all come back to you in an hour or so," Ms. Mowz said, walking to the hole back into the train.
"…what's that FLOOZY doing here?" Goombella asked. I couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"I'll tell you all about it in the train," I promised her, holding an arm around where her shoulders would be as I walked with her back into the train.
Author's Note: That enough Goompa for ya? Anyway, this ark's wrappin' up Friday, so until then, this is Pax the Dreamer, signing out!
