Chapter 11
11A - Vs. Lava Piranha
The time is now 2:55 PM. Mario, Luigi, Watt, and Dr. Kolorado were well deep into Mt. Lavalava; potentially near the throat of the volcano. Having traversed the second lava pool with rocky platforms, the group found themselves next to a staircase leading one story further down.
"Dr. Kolorado, where does that staircase go?" Watt asked.
"My intuition tells me that we should go down the stairs and continue forward," Dr. Kolorado answered. "Perhaps the Volcanic Vase is inside a very small room."
Before the group went downstairs, Mario and Luigi spotted two Yellow Question Mark Blocks up against the wall in front.
"I think I know what's in those blocks," Mario said to himself. The Mario Bros hit the blocks from underneath, revealing two Ice Flowers.
"YES! ICE FLOWERS!" Mario exclaimed.
They immediately grabbed the powerups and crushed them with their fists. As a result, their caps and shirts turned cerulean while Mario's overalls turned red and Luigi's overalls turned green.
"This should make it easier to fight Lava Piranha," Luigi said before throwing an ice ball, which immediately melted into water due to the hot temperatures inside. "Water works too."
"How did you know there were Ice Flowers in here?" Dr. Kolorado asked.
"We didn't. It's always random chance when it comes to powerups," Mario replied. "I don't know how they even spawned in the first place."
"And we'll never know the answer," Luigi chimed in. "But that's beside the point. Let's show Lava Piranha what we got!"
Just as Mario and friends made their way downstairs, another Putrid Piranha popped up in front and loudly announced, "SUPER MARIO BROS. STILL APPROACHING! IDENTIFIED AS SEARCHING FOR STAR SPIRIT! CODE RED! REPORT TO BOSS! ALERT! ALERT!"
"That almost burst my eardrums," Mario said; everyone but Watt were covering their ears from the Putrid Piranha's voice.
"I know, right?" Luigi agreed as the group continued onward. "Is it just me, or do these Piranha Plants have computers built into them?"
Because Mario couldn't think of a good answer, all he did was shrug. Five minutes later, the group came across a medium-sized lava pool.
"Why are we stopping here?" Dr. Kolorado asked. "Shouldn't we-" Before he could ask his second question, the ground rumbled moderately and Lava Piranha with two Lava Buds on either side.
"BLECK HYUCK HYUCK YUCK! YOU MADE IT, SUPER MARIO BROS!" Lava Piranha exclaimed with a computerized voice. "YOU GUYS... BAD GUYS! BAD GUYS COME TO STEAL STAR SPIRIT! BAD GUYS WHO COME TO STEAL STAR SPIRITS GET HURT! WE DON'T LET IT HAPPEN! NO!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, we won't let you burn us down!" Dr. Kolorado retorted, walking a few steps ahead of Mario and Luigi.
"THINK AGAIN! WE GET THIS VOLCANO! VOLCANO IS OURS! GOOD DEAL! WE MAKE THINGS HOT FOR YOU! WE BEAT YOU, BAD GUYS!"
"Portalo! (Bring it!)" Mario yelled in Italian. The Lava Buds made the first move by spitting two Petit Piranhas each at Mario and Luigi. Because both were in their Ice forms, they were able to extinguish the Petit Piranhas with their ice balls.
"NOT FAIR! YOU CANNOT USE WATER OR ICE! FIGHT NORMALLY!" Lava Piranha said.
"Very well," Mario replied as he activated his Star Power Band's "Chill Out" power. An apparition of Muskular appeared above the Mario Bros. and raised his arms up, causing Lava Piranha and its Lava Buds to turn purple from their original red color.
"Thank you, Muskular!" Luigi thanked Muskular's ghost before turning to the Lava Buds. "Try spitting at us again!"
The Lava Buds didn't hesitate to try and spit the Petit Piranhas again, but all they did was spit a cloud of bluish white air.
"Oh, what's that? You feeling a bit under the weather?" Mario taunted the Lava Buds. Having been angered by Mario's quip, Lava Piranha inhaled deeply and lunged toward Mario with the intention of breathing fire at him. Instead, it blew the same cool cloud as the Lava Buds did. Not only did the cloud hit Mario, but it also hit Luigi, Dr. Kolorado, and Watt.
"Whew," Mario sighed with relief. "Thanks for cooling us down. You might as well serve as an air conditioner instead of a massive campfire." Mario proceeded to snap his fingers, prompting Watt to approach Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds. She then charged herself up and let out an electric shockwave that electrocuted Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds; they fell limp and collapsed back into the lava pool.
"That was fantastic!" Dr. Kolorado said with excitement. "I didn't even need to fight myself!"
"Great job, everyone!" Mario said before starting to high-five everyone. Suddenly, the ground rumbled again. "What the heck is going on...?"
After three seconds, Lava Piranha and its Lava Buds catapulted back out of the lava pool. This time, they were set on fire and Lava Piranha had its tongue stuck out.
"No!" Luigi and Mario cried. "Not again!"
"All right! It's my turn now!" Dr. Kolorado declared. "Here I go!" He charged at Lava Piranha, only for one of the Lava Buds to spit a Petit Piranha at him. The impact caused Dr. Kolorado to be knocked back down the way the group came.
"DOC!" Luigi screamed, having seen him fly backwards.
"NO MORE PLAYING GAMES!" Lava Piranha announced. "YOU DIE NOW!"
"No! YOU die now!" Mario yelled with anger. "You seriously injured my friend!"
Mario and Luigi proceeded to bombard Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds with numerous ice balls, which melted into water, but that was enough to knock them out and turn them blue violet.
"Watt! Hurry before they set themselves on fire again!" Mario ordered Watt. She did her same attack again, but she charged herself up more, causing the shockwave to grow bigger than before. In fact, the shockwave barely hit Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds on time as they were a millisecond away from setting themselves on fire again.
Watt fell in front of Mario's feet, feeling dizzy from her stronger attack. At the same time, Lava Piranha and its Lava Buds fell limp and collapsed into the lava pool again. Mario and Luigi immediately kneeled next to Watt.
"Are you okay, Watt?" Luigi asked with concern.
"Kind of... My head is spinning right now..." Watt replied with a weak voice.
"Did I miss anything?" Mario and Luigi turned to see Dr. Kolorado hurrying toward them.
"You did! We froze Lava Piranha!" Mario answered. "How hurt are you?"
"I think I bruised my back from that first landing. I was so close to falling into this lava pool back there, but I made it."
"Good for you," Mario said. Dr. Kolorado immediately took off toward a cave up ahead. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"There's nothing between us and the vase, eh? Let's go!" Before Dr. Kolorado resumed running, a glowing white orb rose from the blocks and stopped in front of Mario, Luigi, and Watt.
"Get ready, bro," Mario told Luigi. Four seconds later, the orb blew up and imploded to reveal Misstar trapped in a playing card. Luigi didn't hesitate to grab the card and stood still, anticipating the familiar light beam to send the group out of the volcano. However, nothing happened, and the card faded away before Misstar appeared in front.
"Huh? Why are we still here?" Mario wondered out loud.
Before Misstar could answer Mario's question, the whole volcano began rumbling even more than when Lava Piranha was fighting the group. What made it worse was that the ground began to break apart, causing lava to start spreading everywhere. Mario let out a few strong swears, having been startled by the ground splitting up.
"Mario! Luigi! Follow me! We must hurry!" Misstar exclaimed before moving toward the cave. Mario, Luigi, and Watt immediately ran with Misstar and came across Dr. Kolorado standing next to a staircase in the next room.
"What's the matter, old boys?" Dr. Kolorado asked casually; he was oblivious to the volcano going critical.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER?! THIS DAMN VOLCANO'S GONNA BLOW!" Mario yelled. Misstar hovered next to the wall in front and looked at a giant crack near the floor. At the same time, Dr. Kolorado eyeballed Misstar and walked up to examine her.
"Aha! More treasure! Wait... Hold on... It's... Oh! A starfish!"
"What?! How dare you call me a starfish!" Misstar scolded Dr. Kolorado. "No one disrespects-" Suddenly, lava began to seep into the room, prompting Mario and Luigi to hurry up the stairs. Dr. Kolorado hasn't noticed the lava just yet.
"Come on! Don't be so anxious!" Dr. Kolorado said. "This rumbling's-" He stopped mid-sentence because he finally noticed the lava slowly rising. "AAHH! Lava! It's coming near!"
"Yeah, no shtuff!" Mario shouted.
"Mario! Luigi! This volcano is gonna erupt any time now! I feel a slight wind coming from this cracked wall... There could be a room beyond," Misstar instructed the Mario Bros. She was looking through the crack at the same time Dr. Kolorado was freaking out at the lava. "Can you blow up this wall?"
Mario wasted no time and quickly released Bombette for her to blow up the crack before sending her back into his Partner Companion Band and swapping her with Watt.
"Now hurry!" Misstar exclaimed. "The lava is getting higher!" As soon as Mario, Luigi, Watt, and Misstar hurried into the next room, they saw Dr. Kolorado hopping in front of a tall rock pedestal with a treasure chest on top.
"Yes! There it is!" Dr. Kolorado shouted with excitement. "The Volcanic Vase! It's so close...!" He tried his best to reach for the chest to no avail. "By the Stars, I'll risk my life for that treasure!"
Suddenly, Misstar picked up Dr. Kolorado before grabbing Mario, Luigi, and Watt. Just before everyone began to soar up Mt. Lavalava's throat, they passed within inches of the chest. Lucky for Dr. Kolorado, he managed to grab the chest.
"All right! My vase! We did it!" Dr. Kolorado cheered. But Mario, Luigi, and Watt screamed with fear as everyone went higher and faster out of the volcano. They then busted through the caldera and out into the sky. Due to the force of the caldera breaking, the chest slipped out of Dr. Kolorado's hands and flew due north of Yoshi's Village into an isolated area of Jade Jungle; he didn't even know the chest was gone.
