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Shards of Love: REDUX!
Shard III: Alliances
With the 'Big Three' alliance within reach, Peach and the Koopas must, at all costs, stop the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasalandian forces from reaching Jewelry Land and forming an alliance with King Fret.
Chapter XXIII
Jailbreak
Larry observes his surroundings. Neither a rocky wall nor barred gates greet him, but rather a lush lavender field much like the field he spotted leaving Dark Land. Being a fan of vegetation-condensed areas, he desires to run through the field, but he realizes his feet aren't touching the ground.
The youngest koopaling looks down in confusion. Is this a dream, or did he get sent to some strange reality?
Larry shrugs before reaching down and touching a flower, but he's also unable to grasp onto the plant. That confirms it; he doesn't know where he is, but he's not in the reality he's accustomed to.
"I don't get it… What does this me-"
As he questions his surroundings, a haboob-like gust of wind sweeps the field, the fine solid particles in the air consuming all visibility and much of the sunlight. The lavender Larry attempted to touch now shrivels away, replaced only by barrenness. Not long after, the dust consumes every straggling ray from the Sun, turning the already-bleak setting into one of complete darkness. In the total blindness, Larry pinpoints the faint cry of 'The prophecy has come!' in the howling wind.
As quick as the wind came, it dies down, resulting in the particles falling back down to earth. As the Sun's rays light up the scene, Larry notices the once-beautiful landscape now appears as a charred, ruinous wasteland.
-x-x-
Larry awakes with a start, perplexed by his dream. He appreciates gardens, but why would he dream of a lavender field being destroyed, especially when he requires more enlightenment on the current task at hand?
Brushing the concerns off, the youngest koopaling instead focuses on his surroundings. He's in a maximum-security prison somewhere within Peach's Castle, although he's unsure where. No guards patrol the room, but security cameras dot the corners and the ceiling.
He observes the less-impressive features of his cell: a hay-stuffed sack masquerading as a bed, a broom to clean his own cell, a latrine acting as his own relief station and some rubber gloves to also clean that, all caged in by a prison door with thick metal bars. He smells the dingy dungeon air; no doubt the prison's dealing with uncontrolled mold growth.
"Psst! Hey!"
Larry's taken aback by a character loitering in the one section of the room he failed to study. In a prison cell to his left appears a barred window into the adjoining cell, occupied by a shorter, old man donning swirly glasses and a dirtied lab coat.
"E. Gadd?!" Larry inquired, "No way! Aren't you on the enemy's side?"
"I was, youngster! I developed and improved many of the weapons they have, including the Ultra Scope," E. Gadd confessed, "But I thought I was helping a legit Mario, not a fake!"
"So, you helped destroy Dark Land…"
"Hey, it's not like we're exactly allies!" E. Gadd mentioned, "But I do wish we can start this over. I never knew my inventions would be used for evil."
"You still have a chance to right the wrong, old koot," Larry informed, "I just need your help."
Intrigued, E. Gadd stands up and strolls closer towards the window to Larry's cage. In response, Larry points to one of the many security cameras present in the room.
"Security cameras. I'm familiar with avoiding them, but I'm guessing you're familiar with knowing what they're made of. Can you tell me about their lenses?"
"Well… They're delicate."
Larry, anticipating a more in-depth answer, rolls his eyes. E. Gadd must've noticed the koopaling's disappointment, as he explained himself further.
"First off, they're closed-circuit, and while closed-circuit cameras are better for overall storage and lower energy use, if one of them gets removed, the entire system shuts down. Second, their lenses are made from fluorspar in order to produce high-resolution video."
Larry grins at the answer. Fluorspar; exactly what he wanted. He needs to obtain a security camera, not only to obtain the lens, but also to disable to system.
"We need to get a camera then. Any useful items over there?"
"I have, uhh… A brick, some electricians' tape they forgot to confiscate from me, a broom, a pipette from my lab that they also forgot about, a plate, a plastic cup and a tray from my last meal."
Smirk in place, Larry approaches E. Gadd's window, "I have an idea. Gimme the plate, then after, tape the tray onto your broom."
E. Gadd gives Larry a thumbs-up before pulling out a roll of electricians' tape from his lab coat pocket. He places the center of the tray onto the broom handle and fuses them with five layers of tape.
"The fluorspar from the camera lens will mix with the sulfuric acid found in the camera's battery, and if we have added energy, it'll produce hydrofluoric acid, which we can then use to melt the bars."
"And that should work!" E. Gadd praised, "Because the only metals completely immune to hydrofluoric acid are-"
"Platinum and gold," Larry nodded, recalling the dozens of times Ludwig and Iggy taught him about corrosive acids, "And we know these obviously aren't from platinum or gold."
"Nor from silver, nickel and copper, which also show immunity, up to a point," the old scientist continued, "And from the rust on here, these bars are iron-based. Iron's weak to corrosive materials, especially when the iron's rusted."
"Yes," Larry nods as he scopes the scene, determining which camera will be the most ideal to snatch. Spotting one on the ceiling about a few meters away from E. Gadd, the youngest koopaling commands E. Gadd to lift the tray towards the camera.
"This one?" the old man guides the tray-taped broom until the tray rests underneath the camera, "Like this?"
"Perfect. Just hold it still now."
As E. Gadd holds the broom steady, Larry takes his broom and rams it into the camera. Now dislodged from its resting place, the camera falls, landing on the tray with a thud.
"Yabba yabba, great work!" E. Gadd cheers as he pulls the tray towards his cell, grabs the camera then brings the tray back in, "Are you able to continue? I confess, my chemistry knowledge isn't as honed as my inventing and mechanical engineering."
"Sure. Just separate the battery and the lens from the rest of it."
E. Gadd places the camera on the tray and gingerly removes the lens before removing a cartridge housing the battery. With care, the old professor hands the two items to Larry through the barred window.
The two ingredients in hand, Larry covers the hole in his latrine with the plate, then sets the lens on it before picking up the battery and forcing the cap off. He pours the acid onto the lens and disposes of the battery casing. Now, all they need is heat to combine the two.
The koopaling smirks; being a dragon-koopa, he shouldn't have any problems providing fire.
Larry takes a deep breath then lets out a strong exhale. Confusion written on his face, Larry breathes in and out again. Meanwhile, E. Gadd stares at Larry, concerned with the developing behaviour.
"You okay, youngster? You sick?"
Larry does one last breath before managing to exhale a sigh.
"No. I…" the youngest koopaling sighs again, "I can't breathe fire. All my other siblings can, but not me. They all were able to when they were like 9. I'm 13 and I still can't."
E. Gadd looks down, feeling a seed of sorrow for the koopaling. Of course, any other time, he'd be ecstatic to witness a koopa unable to breathe fire, but currently when fire's the difference between life and death, E. Gadd understands Larry's wanting to portray himself as a hero.
"Okay, a secret for you," Larry admitted, "I just hate feeling inadequate or useless because I'm the youngest, or because I never knew Mom. My siblings always gave me a hard time stating that I'm useless because of my age. That's one reason I took up spying."
"Well," E. Gadd giggled, "The spying you do quite well at, and the Mushroom Kingdom knows that."
"Yeah? I purposely sent myself here, and I can't even get out because of my stupid limitations. How great of a spy am I now?" Larry challenged, "I'm talking to myself here. This is maybe the first time I ever went to the Mushroom Kingdom with no solid plan because of... The happenings. It's too strange to me."
"Don't worry, youngster! Your ability will come!" E. Gadd consoled, resulting in Larry nodding his head, although still down, "We will also burst out of here, as I have a Plan B. Remember when all those laptops and phones were catching on fire?"
"Oh yeah!" Larry perks up, familiar with battery short-circuiting. Many times, Ludwig's inventions exploded due to mistakes with the batteries such as using a lithium-ion battery instead of an alkaline battery, "But this battery I destroyed is lead-acid, and even if it combusts, we still need the acid in it."
"Wrong, my dear pupil. You see, I told a little fib about shutting down the systems if a camera's removed," E. Gadd admitted, "That battery's only a back-up to the main battery. But, in my defense, my fib is partially true, in which the signals cannot reach the central computer without all primary batteries up and functioning. They aren't coordinated when that happens. Instead, the video's only stored in the camera itself."
"… I'll only forgive you, old man, if you provide something useful with that explanation."
"Yes, yes," E. Gadd replied before chipping off another cartridge and handing it to an annoyed Larry, "This is a lithium-ion battery. If we short-circuit this, it'll catch on fire and produce enough heat to cause a reaction between the sulfuric acid and the fluorspar."
"And what's the best way to short-circuit this without any machines?" Larry questioned.
"Simple. The separator between the lithium cobalt oxide and the graphite needs to dissipate. Put a nail through it to accomplish that. Here's a screw from the camera, and here's the brick I have."
Larry shrugs before taking the screw and the brick from E. Gadd. He places the battery on the counter by his latrine before hovering the screw over its center and hammering it into the device. As the screw pierces the battery, dark smoke emits from the battery before the koopaling feels the produced heat.
"Now, young one, just place that battery by the plate, or under it, and we'll be good to go!"
Larry places the sputtering battery under the plate; within seconds, flames burst from the latrine and surrounds the plate. The plate's contents sizzle before they combine, forming a clear liquid.
"That's a new definition for blowing up the toilet..." Larry expressed as he wipes the developing sweat from his forehead, "So, the acid's made. Do you have anything I can use to scoop it up?"
"I have one of my pipettes. It's from one of the hardy plastics, so the acid shouldn't corrode it," E. Gadd replied as he digs the device from his lab coat and hands it to Larry, "While I did say I didn't have much chemistry experience, that doesn't mean I don't do it."
"Right," Larry stated before placing the pipette's tip into the acid and sucks up about two milliliters of it. Careful not to spill any on his scales, the youngest koopaling taps the pipette on the latrine, resulting in excess hydrofluoric acid sinking into the latrine and corrupting the metal on its way down. Larry carries the pipette towards the lock mechanism on his prison cell door and squirts some acid into the keyhole, and the rest onto each hinge. From the mechanism, Larry hears a sizzling noise coming from the reaction, "Now we just need to wait a few minutes."
"Stellar, Young'un!" E. Gadd applauded before requesting, "Give this old man some, please."
The youngest koopaling nods before scooping another 2 milliliters of acid for E. Gadd, flings the excess into the latrine, and hands it to him. The old scientist accepts the pipette before also squirting the acid into his keyhole and the two hinges.
Meanwhile, the noise within Larry's lock mechanism quiets down. The koopaling smirks; the acid's done its job, and now he must do his. He backs up from the gate and towards his latrine before making a dash towards the cell door and kicks it down. To his relief, the door flies off its unattached hinge from the force and crashes just feet from the opposing wall.
"Bingo!" E. Gadd cheered before he kicks down his cell door, albeit in a much lighter fashion. Despite the smaller force, the door smashes into the floor and the scientist hops over the gate.
"We need to get out of here and see what's happening!" Larry rushed as the duo sprint towards the prison's exit, only to be greeted by a password-based lock.
"We just hit a snag... Do we need to acid this too?"
"Maybe," Larry replied as he awakens the machine and hits the PASSWORD button.
"Say the password, now," the machine replied as its screen flashes yellow.
"Uhh... Mario Rules?"
"Invalid password. Try again," the machine teased the koopaling's guess as its screen flashes red.
E. Gadd gives Larry a questioning look while the youngest koopaling scratches his head, pondering. In his thoughts, he recalls the earlier dream of the strange lavender field turning into darkness. Albeit insignificant, Larry also recalls the words whispered to him. Could this be something of use?
Larry shrugs; he might as well attempt to use that phrase as the password. He presses the PASSWORD button again and the machine starts flashing yellow.
"Say the password, now," the machine repeated.
"The Prophecy Has Come!" Larry voiced.
The machine's screen flashes green as it replies, "Password approved!" Larry grins as he opens the door while E. Gadd gives him a shocked expression.
"How'd you know the password?" the scientist gasped at the smiling koopa.
"Uhh, let's just say it's a long story," Larry replied before peeking into the pink-themed hallway, "Now follow my lead. We need to see what's up with everything, and we can't be caught. Our first goal's meeting with the real Mario."
The northern portion of Pipe Land lay in ruins as the Mushroom Kingdom's armies retreat from the section, either towards Desert Land or to Dark Land. The small town's streets, once bustling with shopping, gossiping toads now only host soldiers fighting for their allegiance. The beautiful architecture's reduced to crumbled buildings, their elegant-colored walls now dotted with blood. Smoke rises from the destruction, but the wind prevents it from obscuring Lemmy's sight on the Mushroom Kingdom's forces.
The army's within a mile from the Pipe Maze's northern entrance, but he's unsure of what lies within the labyrinth. To be fair, he doesn't even know how the complex structure operates.
Lemmy nods as he listens to his latest updates: the Koopa Troop cut the supply line between oil-rich Desert Land and the troops in Dark Land. Also, Pipe Land's king, King Pipeus, demands peace to return to the Land. If Lemmy can get Pipe Land to join its cause, the Land will be under the Koopa Troop's concrete control, whether directly or by proxy.
"Okay, I have a new plan," the small koopaling explained, "You know how Pipe Land's fragmented, right?"
"Duh," Wendy replied.
"Well... We're doing fine so far, but we haven't captured the Pipe Maze yet," Lemmy continued, "And I was thinking of asking Pipeus for an alliance."
"King Pipeus?" this time, Iggy responds from his portable doomship hospital, "Doesn't sound like the best idea. He's very anti-Koopa."
"He's also anti-Mario," Lemmy pointed out, "It's been, what? A week? And Pipe Land's already tired of Mario's rule. Many are openly rebelling, especially in the cities."
"Well... That's totally a sign we want," Wendy nodded, "Especially if the countryside's rebelling also."
"Not sure. I haven't received reports on the less populated areas since they're so spread apart," Lemmy added, "But he might want a deal. It was Mario, not us, that started the war here, so there's that."
"Pipe Land won't survive without oil, and Desert Land, who exports the most oil to Pipe Land, loves Mario," Wendy said, "Pipe Land's economy literally depends on Desert Land."
"We can always offer some from Dark Land," Iggy suggested, "I believe it's... About 6.85 percent of all the oil reserves in the Mushroom Continent is in Dark Land."
"Uhh, right, but we don't have control of Dark Land anymore," Lemmy notes down the statistic, "Ice Land's government's also reluctant in following Mario. They have the second largest oil reserves too, they just hate drilling for it. Something about the environment and glaciers."
"They only do about 1.6 million barrels a day, so that maaaaaay not help Pipeus," Iggy shrugged.
"True, but-" Lemmy rebutted, but he notices commotion involving his troops, the Mushroom Fleet and the Pipe Land Forces, "We're being attacked! IGGY! Are you there?!"
"Y-yeah I am, Lem!" the koopaling panicked, "I was just barely talking to you!"
"Tell Kammy to meet up with Pipeus!" Lemmy commanded, "Me and Wendy need to stay here and command!"
"Roger!"
Lemmy nods before switching the frequency to his ground commanders, "Alpha-9, Delta-5, flank them from the east!"
"Got it," a bold, feminine voice greets Lemmy, "And the magikoopas activated their healing auras!"
"Good," Lemmy confirmed as his serious expression deepens, "Updates from the ground, Pom Pom? Alpha-9 doing fine?"
"We're making strides towards the Maze before we flank from the east. The Mushroomers are losing steam, but we need more supplies."
"I can send some down," Lemmy offered, "Whatcha need?"
"More bullet bills, for one, and maybe a few banzai bills," Pom Pom counted the inventory from her imagination, "We need more microgoombas and super scopes also."
"Noted. I'll get one of the supply drones to you," Lemmy confirmed, "But for now, focus on the Mushroom Army and avoid the Pipelandians, unless they attack you first. We're trying to get a pact going with the Pipelandians."
"Got it," Pom Pom nodded, "While we wait for our microgoombas, can we get a distraction?"
"Paragoombas incoming."
Lemmy's pushes his Paragoomba button, resulting in the creatures pouring out from his doomship and into the Mushroom Kingdom's army below. The small koopaling grins as the Mushroom Kingdom's soldiers swat at the paragoombas with their swords. Not only do they miss, but some even slice or stab their fellow soldiers. With Kammy, Pom Pom and his paragoombas, perhaps this takeover will be easier than he anticipated, but Lemmy still feels this event will only be an appetizer compared to what the future holds.
Thought in mind, he glances at a control panel to the right of the paragoomba button on his dashboard. Jitters overcome him as he reads the "Emergency Arsenal" warning below the panel, knowing full-well the consequences and the mass casualties he'll cause. The environments, livelihoods and families he'll destroy. The koopaling sighs; it's his last resort, but something deep down tells him he'll need to settle towards that option down the road.
Even if fighting against the Mushroomers, he hopes he's wrong. He hopes the battle can stay conventional, but he'd rather kill thousands of Mushroomers through action than kill thousands of his own troops from inaction.
Lemmy abhors the mission. He knew he wouldn't be himself. He couldn't be himself; too many lives depend on him stowing his typical care-free, easy-going and peace-loving personality, and instead depend on a fearless, ferocious façade.
"Well... Looks like you two had a long night!"
Peach opens her groggy eyes; even in the dank cave, she notices Daisy and Luigi smirking at her. She responds with confusion before realizing her situation: she's still laying her head on Bowser's thigh.
"Ahh!" Peach yelped as she sits up and inhales. She then focuses her stare from the two humans to the now-waking koopa. Peach doesn't regret her behavior last night, but she's also not quite open to Luigi and Daisy knowing about their sudden relationship.
"Uh-huh! Get up, sleepy birds! It's time to get out of this cave!" the Sarasalandian princess clapped her gloved hands near Bowser's face, causing the koopa to open his eyes and groan. Peach looks towards Bowser and gives him a small grin.
"Not the kind of alarm you're used to, right?"
"Tell me about it..." Bowser grumbled before he stands up, stomps towards the fire's remains and ignites one of the spare torches. He gives the torch to Luigi before hoisting the sack over his shoulder.
"You two go along! Peach and I have urgent business to settle!" Daisy exclaimed.
Peach blushes as she watches Luigi light another spare torch, hands it to Daisy and continues down the cave with Bowser. She assumes she knows what Daisy wants to talk to her about, else she wouldn't have shooed Luigi or Bowser away.
"Is this... About..." Peach voiced as she brushes off her dress.
"It is indeed! I know you two had... Weird vibes together, but with this morning, I can finally confirm it now!" Daisy exclaimed, "But let's follow the boys so we don't worry them."
"Umm..." Peach hesitated as she and Daisy walk down the cave path side-by-side, "Fine... Daisy, I... I do have feelings for Bowser."
Curious on how her friend will respond, Peach looks at Daisy, whose ear-to-ear grin's now visible from the torch's light.
"REALLY?!" Daisy shouted in glee, resulting in the two males turning towards her.
"Shhh!" Peach shushed as she covers Daisy's mouth with her glove, "They'll hear us!"
"Okay, sorry!" Daisy lowered her voice to a near-whisper, "So... Gimme the scoop!"
"Well," Peach blushes once again, "I met his family, I heard more of his family's history, and I heard the true reason why he kidnapped me-"
"Which is?!" Daisy interrupted, her wide eyes indicating the curiosity exploding within her.
"He wants me as an example of benevolence, and that he reminds me of his late wife."
Daisy's eyes widen at Peach's claim, "Wait. BOWSER wants benevolence?!"
Peach shrugged, "Surprised me too."
Daisy remains silent after the revelation, instead focusing on crossing another miniature stream carving a small canyon throughout the cave's floor. Peach gets behind Daisy and places her hands and feet in the same grooves the Sarasalandian princess used. Once Peach sees a smoother path and the males far ahead, she approaches Daisy's side.
"So..." Daisy broke her silence, "What do you think you're gonna do, girl? You both know you're from enemy kingdoms."
"That's the main thing I fear about getting in a relationship with him. My parents disappeared and Mario arrested me. Because of that, the toads are suspicious of me. They probably think I'm a traitor, and a public relationship with Bowser would only make things worse," Peach lowers her head and sighs, "I wish the toads knew what I know now of Bowser. He's misguided, but he does terrible things out of good intent. Not that I support those moves, but he isn't some evil tyrant like what we claim in the Mushroom Kingdom."
"You were the same way just weeks ago though," Daisy consoled, "And you were kidnapped, what... At least 10 other times by him?"
"I got to actually know him this time. It just feels right, but our environment just makes everything more confusing. Fate sucks," Peach sighed.
"It does," Daisy nodded, "But let's focus on getting our kingdoms back, first of all. I'm sure the toads will forgive you being with Bowser if you free them from Mario."
"I hope you're right."
"Of course I'm right! It's the Daisy way!" Daisy exclaimed, her typical personality now overwhelming her avicidal character present just moments ago, "Now let's get to the others!"
Alarms blare throughout a doomship's cockpit, garnishing the frightened passengers' distressed screams with affirmed dread. Coupled with a falling sensation, the airship twists in circles; the resulting centripetal acceleration flings unsecured objects towards the plastered walls. The ship's magikoopas perform futile measures to recapture the ship back under the pilot's control, but their magic proves insufficient with respect to the massive aircraft's momentum.
At the wheel, Morton huffs, desperate to calm himself down with deep breaths, but the smoldering ship's fatiguing fumes overtake the cockpit's fresh air and disorients the prince. He helplessly watches the wheel spin from the doomship's haywire actions as shouts emit from the PA system. He tries focusing more on the PA and recognizes the voices from the system coming from both Ludwig and Roy. Morton wants to respond to their helpless cries, but the continuing fumes prevent Morton from executing his actions with intact judgment. Staring at the alarms' flashing red lights and the dashboard's blinking cautions remains his only capability.
Amid the panic, the large koopaling zones out from the perilous setting to his earliest memories. He watches his younger self, carried over the shoulder by Clawdia, enter Bowser's Castle for the first time, followed by his desire to be around her love; she was the only person to care for him. Morton smirks as his younger self groans at a pink-shelled koopa—one he despised at the time—appearing out of nowhere and performing a similar ritual with Clawdia. The scene's time fast forwards to Clawdia's funeral, where Morton observes the same pink-shelled koopa comforting the grey-shelled koopaling's younger self. Due to his age when Clawdia passed on, Morton never grasped the sense of protection and perseverance present in the pink koopaling's eyes—even his shades couldn't hide the dedication. His other older siblings' demeanors showed similar desires at the funeral; from that day on, Morton felt like he belonged in the family.
Morton snaps out of his memories as his ship crashes into the ocean and the doomship's ceiling collapses onto him. As water fills the doomship's cabin, so too does fear well up within the koopaling's eyes: being a desert-minded koopa, he can't swim, and he feels his body lock up as the water rushes in. Panicking, the koopa tries paddling towards a pile of the doomship's flotsam and grabs hold of the debris with both arms, but the ocean's waves prevent the koopaling from keeping his head above the water.
His inhalations transition from air to water as a wave detaches him from the debris. Panicking from his lack of air, Morton claws at the water, but every move he pulled only drags him deeper underwater. As his body fails to obey his mind's commands, Morton begins to feel himself fading from his surroundings. He enters another realm, but not before he feels his presence hoisted out of the water.
NOTES: Another one done, and yet another dream. What's the purpose of them?! I guess we'll see!
By the way, the chemistry displayed here shouldn't be tried at home! Mainly because that experiment won't work in real life. ;)
Anyway, thank you for all the support I've received so far! Next weekend I'll be gone for work-related travels the next few weeks, so I doubt I'll update anything until late June or July. I'll be back then!