Chapter 23 – Showdown at Teehee Valley
Luigi did his best not to scream as he started his descent down to the ground, though his makeshift parachute did help in slowing down his descent. As he fell, Prince Peasley approached him on his flying beanbag.
"Excellent work, Mario Bro!" he congratulated. "Is the Beanstar and Princess Peach's voice safe?"
Luigi took out the items, which dropped right into Peasley's hands. If one thought that it would be smooth sailing from there, they would be wrong, for bad luck decided to strike Luigi right then and there, as a passing bird flew by and pecked at the parachute for whatever reason. The rope snapped, sending Luigi into freefall. Peasley tried to catch him, but it only resulted in him being sent off his beanbag.
Teehee Valley, Luigi's Predicted Landing Site
Mario was looking through a pair of binoculars in hopes for any sign of his brother, with Peach and Toadsworth right next to him.
"I wonder if Master Luigi will land here in splendid fashion…" the latter mumbled a he paced around.
"I just hope he's alright…" Mario muttered. He had to only guess that Luigi had boarded the Koopa Cruiser in order to take back the Beanstar and Peach's voice by himself, and was proven right when Peasley reported that he had seen Luigi skydive from the airborne vessel.
He continued looking around until he caught sight of something that was falling from the sky.
"Could that be him?" Toadsworth said once Mario informed him of what he saw.
Peach silently hoped that it was him also, for her voice was still gone.
Upon closer inspection, it was, in fact, Luigi who was falling from the sky. Mario continued to keep his eyes on him, but as he did so, he turned around to the left a little…and again…and again…
Finally, it was quite clear that the man in green had missed the mark entirely, and landed somewhere to the left of them, in an area that was unfortunately blocked off by large rocks.
Meanwhile, Peasley landed safely next to them using a cloth for his own parachute.
"What a perfect landing!" he chuckled. "Both the Beanstar and Princess Peach's voice made the trip just fine!"
Peasley handed over the small chest to Peach. As soon as she opened it, a cloud of pink smoke emerged from it and quickly shot inside her mouth.
"Ah, that's much better!" Peach sighed in relief at the return of her voice.
"Say…where's Luigi?" Peasley asked.
"HEEELLLPPP!" Luigi screamed from where he was. From his sounds growing gradually muffled, it appeared that he was sinking in the sand he landed in.
"Look at Luigi!" Peasley smirked. "Always showing off his Luigi dunk! Honestly! Mario! I'll leave his welfare up to you! You can handle it. I must return and move the Beanstar to a safer place!"
"Leave it to me!" Mario replied.
"I will see you later!" Peasley waved before leaving the desert.
"Master Mario…I must say, being here is unhealthy for the Princess as well." Toadsworth said. "We shall return to the castle ahead of you."
"Please take care of Luigi…" Peach said.
"Shall we go, Princess?" And with that, Toadsworth and Peach left as well.
"Welp, time to go find my brother." Mario mumbled to himself as he began trudging through the valley.
"Wh-What was that earthquake?!"
In a cavern underground lay Luigi, knocked unconscious after being unceremoniously spat out by the quicksand he was stuck in. Unknown to him, a shadow began to approach and loomed over him. Unfortunately, said shadow belonged to the infamous Popple.
"This…is that green guy." The Beanish thief noted. "Which means…that red guy should be around somewhere. Well, for now…" He turned to someone behind him. "Rookie! Tie this guy up!"
As Mario trudged through the western areas of Teehee Valley, he was faced with Elite Dry Bones and Elite Limbo Bros., which, as the names implied, much stronger versions of the kind of enemies they were, and Mario had to face them alone in his mission to find Luigi.
After about half an hour of searching, Mario reached the underground area via pipe. It only took a few rooms before Mario found Luigi, who was tied to a pillar.
Wasting no time, he used Firebrand to burn away the ropes and free his brother.
"Luigi!" Mario hugged him.
"Mario!" Luigi hugged him back.
Their happy reunion, however, was cut short by the sound of slow clapping coming from the shadows, and out of them stepped a very unwelcome figure.
"What an emotional reunion! Oh, WAH! My hankie is sopping wet with tears! Boo-stupid-hoo!" Popple said with a voice oozing with sarcasm. "You! Red! I've been waiting for you to arrive, see? Oh, yeah!"
"And what do you want?" Mario asked, irritated.
"I went and found me a rookie, hear? One that'll take you down for me, see?"
"Darling, what's all the ruckus?" a feminine-sounding voice asked.
Out of the shadows stepped out this new, so-called 'rookie': A pink dinosaur whose snout resembled a cannon and wore a bow at the back of her head.
"Wh-What?! Birdo?!" Mario gasped in shock.
"Oh, why must THEY be here?" Birdo crossed her arms in annoyance. "Why can't we be alone, darling, speaking the language of love?"
At this, Popple's mocking grin immediately fell. "Wh-Who are you calling 'darling'?!"
"Uh…that's some…unique relationship they have going on there." Luigi commented, clearly at a loss for words.
"N-now is not the time to be doing this, see?" Popple whispered before turning back to the Mario Bros. "This uh…dame passed my audition perfectly, see? She's my all-new, bigger and better rookie, Birdo!"
"Darling…" Birdo said. "Don't call me Birdo…call me Birdie!"
Once again, Popple switched from smug to irritated. "I don't care about names, see?" he turned back to Mario and Luigi. "I'll show you! Ya hear? You'll all be bamboozled, see? With my rookie's new power…you'll see what I mean!"
"Yes, the power of love!" Birdo added.
"Sorry, but your power of love is no match for the power of our brotherly love!" Mario retorted.
At this, Popple became infuriated. "AARGH! QUIET! Stop freaking me out! I don't care what kind of power it is! Any kind will do! I will destroy you, see? DESTROY YOUUUUUU!" he glared at Mario. "Yeah, here comes destruction, ya couple of knuckleheads!"
Mario and Luigi geared up once again for what was hopefully the last time they'll have to face this guy.
Popple started it off by trying to steal another of Mario's items, but he saw it coming a mile away and repelled him with his Hammer. Mario countered with the Swing Bros. attack to hit Popple.
Luigi followed it up by using Cyclone Bros. and smacking both Popple and Birdo several times before landing one especially nasty hit on the former.
Birdo noticed how her 'darling' was quite dazed after that attack, and so rushed over to him.
"I will protect you!" she declared, shortly before vacuuming him into her snout.
"St-stop it! STOP IT!" Popple screamed to no avail as Birdo's suction was too strong. The latter then shot out four large eggs onto the battlefield.
"Okay, Popple's definitely in one of those," Mario noted, "but what do the wrong ones contain…?"
His question was immediately answered when he attacked a random egg, only for a Bob-omb to come out charging; Mario managed to dodge it.
Birdo then went and tried to suck in Mario into her snout as well, but he whacked her away with the Hammer just before she could.
Meanwhile, Luigi attacked the next egg, which turned out to have Popple inside this time. The angered thief smashed the remaining eggs and returned to his side of the battlefield.
Popple then took out his loot bag and once again began tossing various items (most of them harmful) to the Mario Bros., forcing them to dodge things like Bob-ombs and Poison Mushrooms.
Once the attack was over, Mario and Luigi tried to get some momentum back in the battle with some Super Fire Bros. and Super Thunder Bros. attacks. Popple went for another tackle, which hit Luigi, but didn't do much damage. Birdo fired more eggs that exploded when they landed, but her target, Mario, dodged most, if not all of them.
"Alright, let's try Swing Bros. again!" Mario panted as he planned Popple's takedown. But as he tossed Luigi, Popple slapped the green plumber into the air.
"Hold on!" Mario exclaimed as he jumped to catch him. The two brothers landed back on Popple, and in the spur of the moment, both began spinning on him like a drill, damaging the thief even more. They eventually backed off after a few seconds to catch their breath.
"Wh-what was that?" Luigi wondered.
"Let's try that again." Mario suggested before avoiding another attack from Popple.
So they replicated the attack again, and dealt even more damage that time.
"I think we just invented 'Super Swing Bros.'." Mario noted when they landed after the attack.
"My turn." Luigi said as he prepared a Cyclone Bros. attack. They took turns hitting their opponents, but as soon as they stopped spinning, an idea entered Luigi's head as he raised his Hammer and smacked Popple with it, which finally knocked him out of the battle.
"I suppose we could call that 'Super Cyclone Bros.'." Luigi chuckled.
"You may have defeated my darling, but that's as far as you go!" Birdo huffed as she became more aggressive, firing more of her eggs everywhere at a faster rate. However, Mario and Luigi avoided the majority of the attack, and despite her last stand, she soon fell after another round of their newly-learned attacks.
"All right!" Mario cheered at their victory.
Popple was the first of the enemy duo to get up, hacking and coughing.
"Y-you! Look at you! Pathetic! You're useless, see?" the Shadow Thief berated his partner. "You…You're fired!"
Even Mario and Luigi winced at this. Popple hadn't been that harsh with Bowser, and if they were being honest, Birdo had fought well.
Birdo herself was in tears. "Are…are you saying that was all my fault?!" her face contorted to one of anger. "Ooh…shocking! SHOCKING, I say!"
With a mighty swing of her tail, she sent her self-proclaimed ex-boyfriend flying out of the underground cavern, leaving a large hole in the ceiling.
"Clearly, this is a test for me." Birdo mumbled. "Yes, the powers-that-be want me to go out on my own. Once I overcome many hardships, I shall be one step closer to superstardom!" She then took her leave, but not before yelling at the Mario Bros. "I CAN'T believe I lost to YOU!"
"Well, hopefully we'll see that guy NEVER again." Luigi muttered, referring to Popple.
"Whatever." Mario shrugged. "Come on, let's head back."
Destruction.
Destruction everywhere.
This was the state of the Beanbean Castle Town that Mario and Luigi walked into, instead of the usual lively capital the surrounded Beanbean Castle. Its current state eerily mirrored the first time Mario and Luigi arrived there.
"The skies are raining destruction!" A Beanish man screamed at the Mario Bros. "It's the end of everything! The town will be destroyed! We all gotta take refuge! You should, too!"
"The castle!" Mario realized as soon as he snapped out of his shock. "We gotta check if everyone is alright!"
As soon as Mario and Luigi entered the castle foyer, Lady Lima immediately went out to meet them.
"Oh, Mario Bros.! This is our most desperate hour!" she pleaded. "The end of the Beanbean Kingdom may be at hand!"
Queen Bean was there as well. "Bowser's Castle has unleashed an assault of the Beanbean Kingdom from the skies overhead!"
High above Beanbean Castle, Bowser's airborne castle hovered menacingly, with Bowletta overseeing the destruction of the town below.
"Forget the Beanstar! I'll just destroy that pathetic little castle, and take over what's left by force!" she let out her signature maniacal laugh. "OPEN FIRE! DESTROY EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!"
At her command, the castle's cannons continued shooting Bullet Bills at the castle and the surrounding area, sending the citizens below into a frenzied panic.
Inside the castle, everyone was forced to take cover as pieces of the ceiling fell and threatened to crush them.
"This is Bowletta's doing!" Lima exclaimed. "We're utterly defenseless against an attack from the sky!"
"Wait-the Beanstar!" Mario said. "Can't we use it to wish the castle away?"
"I'm afraid that's no longer possible." Peasley said as he entered the room. "We did try, but a stray Bullet Bill knocked out Princess Peach before she could wake the Beanstar."
"Is-is she alright?" Mario stuttered.
"She is currently recovering in Little Fungitown, along with the others we evacuated." Mario sighed in relief at this.
"But still…if we don't do something about Bowser's Castle, our poor kingdom may not survive…" Queen Bean pointed out.
Mario was filled with resolve. "Leave it to us. We will go to Bowser's Castle and defeat Bowletta once and for all."
"Right!" Luigi added.
Queen Bean was instantly convinced by their words. "I, for one, feel very reassured knowing the Mario Bros. are going up to that horrible castle!"
But Peasley shook his head. "No. This is our kingdom's problem. We cannot impose upon them any more than we have."
"While that certainly may be true-"
"Farewell." He interrupted his mother before abruptly departing, no doubt to take on the castle by himself.
"Oh…my son…whatever are you doing?" Queen Bean looked down in sadness. "You mustn't go to Bowser's Castle all alone…"
Lima had to remind her of more important things in hand. "Your Highness…can we not think of a countermeasure ourselves?"
"Of course. Let us do just that. Cowering here will get us nothing." Queen Bean nodded before heading back to the throne room.
Lima followed suit, but turned back to the Mario Bros. one last time. "Uh, this is just a thought, but isn't there someone who can fly anywhere in out kingdom? If I were younger, I would cling to his legs and chase after the prince myself…"
"Someone who could fly, huh?" Mario sipped a Hoohoo Blend. "I know that was some sort of hint, but what could it mean?"
Luigi thought the same thing as he sipped his own drink. Currently, both Mario Bros. had taken refuge in Starbeans Café, which was apparently the least damaged building in town.
"Eh? Is that you, Mario Bros.?"
Both of them looked over to see none other than the Hammerhead Bros. sitting at a nearby table.
"Oh? What are you guys doing here?" Luigi asked.
"Well, we came to town for supplies, but then it started raining the apocalypse everywhere! So we decided to get in here for shelter." Mallet answered.
"Y'know, we really gotta thank you guys for all you've done for us." Sledge said.
"What do you mean?"
"If it weren't for you guys, we would've went out of business back in Hoohoo Village! And with you carrying our Hammers around, we made a lot of moolah and managed to move all the way here! So yeah, thanks for everythin'!"
"It was no big deal." Mario said. "We couldn't have gotten that far without meeting you guys in Hoohoo…Village." Right then and there, it clicked in Mario's mind. "Luigi! I've got it! I know who could help!"
Luigi didn't have time to respond as Mario dragged him out of the café.
"What was that all about?" Sledge wondered.
"I have no idea."
"What?! Bowser's Castle is attacking the Beanbean Kingdom?!" Blablanadon exclaimed. "And Prince Peasley is in there?"
"That's about right." Mario said. He and Luigi had used the warp pipes to get to Hoohoo Village in record time, all to ask for Blablanadon's help.
"This is no small matter…" the pterosaur muttered. "No. Not small. Not small at all! Okay, grab on to me! We're going to Bowser's Castle!"
"Alright! Thank you, Blablanadon!" Mario nodded before he and Luigi grabbed into his talons, as the airborne dinosaur began their flight to Bowser's Castle.
To be continued...
AN: Just made a few changes here and there, such as justifying why they didn't use the Beanstar to just wish Bowletta away or something. Also added an extra scene so the Mario Bros. will know to look for Blablanadon.
Anyway, see you next time.