Chapter 44 Piranha Panic

Now, Roy has seen a lot of piranha plants in his day. Every single one had features made it clear to him that he wasn't dealing with a pretty, perfect pansy. The ferocious maws with incredible jaws, and the teeth so sharp that they could be used as a sword or a dagger...those were the features of a piranha plant that filled Roy with fear.

But this? This piranha plant had those features magnified by a thousand. The teeth it possessed were long, pointy, and glistening white. They could pierce through the bone and turn into ground-up powder if given the opportunity. The mouth that the teeth made their home in was the size of the double door entryway to Bowser's Castle. Vines wrapped around the plant's head like veins, throbbing and pulsating. Vines, which had thorns that were just a a degree or two duller than the teeth decorating them, also wriggled around like tentacles that the piranha plant had free reign to use. It smiled, and goopy saliva slid down its front fangs, landing on the ground with a plop.

The society members ran. They had the babies huddled in their arms, practically tripping over their feet as they barreled away from this ferocious plant beast towering over their leader. Kamark put on a determined expression.

"You plant scum are the reason those moles have no burrows," he shouted. This greatly amused the piranha plant, as it lowered its head and wiggled in front of Kamark like a snake. Kamark gritted his teeth and gripped his wand. "Inciner…."

One of the vines shot forward. In a blink and miss moment, it coiled itself around Kamark's core. The magikoopa's face turned white as as sheet as he gasped for air. His wand dropped to the ground.

Roy gasped. "Kamark!" He looked over at Celia. "We have to do something!"

Celia turned toward Roy in frightened confusion. "What?"

Roy hoisted the bullet bill blaster over his shoulder, staring down the piranha plant. "Hey, Mulch Breath! I'm gonna turn you into fertilizer!"

With that, he fired black bullet bills straight at the vines. They sailed over at incredible speeds, much faster than any bullet bill had the right to fly. The piranha just whacked them away and sent them zipping right back toward their shooter. He dodged the bullets as they created explosions in the ground, causing dirt to fly up everywhere. He coughed the dust away before gasping at the sight that lay before him.

"Celia, look out!" Roy cried. He pushed her out of the way just before a bullet bill could turn her into bullet bits. An explosion occurred in the place where she had stood just seconds before. He looked over, his heart beating up a storm before he turned back toward Celia. He blushed as he realized he was lying on top of her in a very...awkward position. If it weren't for the fact that they were fighting a piranha plant, he probably would have appreciated the moment where she was facing him underneath. But as of right now, it was just uncomfortable.

So, Roy bounced up. This time, he decided to switch the setting on the blaster. He fired three red bullet bills, honing bullet bills, at the piranha plant's head. The piranha just stretched out its thorny vines and, to Roy's complete surprise, grabbed hold of the bullet bills! Roy gawked as the piranha squeezed them. Before long, it threw them straight back at him. The speeds at which it threw were too swift to dodge.

BOOM!

…

Celia gasped as she sat back up. "Roy!" She ran toward the purple shelled Koopaling's spot. She hoped that the explosion didn't...oh, if he was gone. If he was DEAD…

"ROY!" Celia screeched. She cleared the dust and smoke out of the way, and right in the center of the cloud was Roy, lying on the ground with his eyes shut. He had a nasty cut in his forehead, and the way his left arm was bending was just...wrong.

Not knowing what else to do, Celia shook him. "Roy! Roy wake up!' Tears sprung to her eyes when he didn't respond. "Roy, please!"

She looked up at the piranha, which was now pulling on Kamark's limbs like flipping putty. It spotted her and roared, causing meteors of spit to fly out of its mouth.

Celia jumped to her feet. The piranha still smiled like a loon and shot vines straight toward her. Miraculously, she managed to dodge. She watched as the piranha plant pulled its vines back. The motion made her think of a slithering snake.

Celia's heart pounded. She looked at the piranha plant, her mouth hanging open in terror. What could she do? She looked over at Kamark, who would be dead in seconds if he wasn't already. She looked over at Roy, still unconscious. Her heart leapt into her mouth. She couldn't lose him. He was...too important.

Tears sprung to Celia's eyes. She wiped them away as the piranha sent another vine towards her. She dodged, and as she did, something fell out of her pocket.

It was the fire flower.

Celia picked it up. This little orange and yellow blossom with beady black eyes...could it help her? Could she use it? Would it bring her salvation?

The piranha sent another vine toward her and successfully grabbed her ankle this time. It dragged her across the ground, causing her to yelp and nearly drop the power up.

I don't know if I can use it, but there's only one way to find out!

Quick as a flash of lightning, she gobbled the flower. She had trouble swallowing, both because she was travelling at great speeds and because it tasted of gasoline. But she managed to do so in the end. She didn't feel any different, but she did hear a sound echo in her ears. The power up activation noise.

Celia, not even able to fully appreciate the gravity of a power up activating for her, took in a deep breath and swung her hand in a swinging motion. The piranha screeched as a fireball made contact with its head, and in its shock, ended up dropping both Celia and Kamark. Celia rolled on the ground, and Kamark coughed and sputtered as the color returned to his face.

Celia stood up. She looked at the piranha plant, whose head throbbed like a sore thumb. She flung more fireballs at it, causing it to shriek. Kamark backed up toward her and aimed his wand.

"Incineration!" He yelled. A stream of purple fire shot out of his wand and enveloped the already smoking piranha. Not able to withstand the heat any longer, the piranha plant withered away. It's vines dropped uselessly to the ground as the body turned to ash.

Celia took a breath, her eyes focused on the smoking pile. They...they did it!

"Celia? That's your name, right?"

Celia nodded at Kamark. He nodded back, eyeing her clothes.

"Nice palette swap."

Celia looked down at her clothes and gasped. Her normally black hoodie had turned white, and her blue pants had turned red.

"Woah!" She exclaimed. "Is this because of the power up?"

"Mmhm." Kamark came up and gave her a hard slap on the cheek. A power up deactivation sound rang out as Celia held the place where she had been hit.

"OWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"It deactivated the power up," Kamark said matter of factly. "Don't want you burning down the hideout by accident." He made his way over to the still unconscious Roy. He put his ear to his chest and sighed in relief. "He's still alive. We need to work together to get him back to the hideout."

Celia nodded. She made her way over, and together, they lifted Roy up. As Kamark held onto one shoulder and Celia hung onto the other, she grunted. Even carrying half of his enormous body required a ton of effort.

"Where will we put him?" She grunted.

"In the sick bay, obviously."

Celia nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She and Kamark started making their way forward. Not even before they had taken five steps did Kamark say something.

"Celia?"

"Yeah?"

The tiniest traces of an impressed and thankful attitude appeared on Kamark's face. "Thank you."

Celia grunted and nodded. "Anytime."