Ch3
Mario fell headlong into a dark chute. Upon arrival at the end, he sailed into the air and landed hard on his rear. "Ooff!" Suddenly, the chute from which he came closed up, and Mario was surrounded by stone walls. The dimly lit room was square. He rubbed his backside, and, frowning, asked himself. "What the heck?"
Again, his question was answered. "Ah, my little plumber! You finally arrived to your room. Can I get you anything? Daiquiri? Peanuts?" Bowser laughed cruely.
"Why am I here, Koopa? And where's Peach, and Luigi?"
"Why, this is your little room of horrors, Mario."
"Hah. What, you think you can show me a scary movie, and then I'll be all 'traumatized'? Ooh, I'm real scared now!" Mario said sarcastically. "Come on, what's this really about?"
"What if I were to tell you I knew your deepest fear?"
Mario snorted. "Fat chance. What is there to be afraid of?"
"Oh, I don't know. Could it be, ummm ..…..heights?" Bowser said as he snickered to himself.
Mario stood rigid. "Ummm, no, it's not. Whatever..…gave you that idea?"
"Stop pretending, plumber! You and I know your scared stiff of heights. Or should I say…scared to death!" At that moment, Mario heard something like the grinding of gears, and the middle of the floor suddenly opened in a long straight line….right where Mario stood.
"Whoa!" Mario gained his footing and backed up. The crack widened, until it reached 5 feet across. Mario had only 6 feet left on each side of the room. He crept carefully to the edge of the line and cautiously looked down. The bottom, if there was one, seemed to go on for miles. Mario gasped and backed up against the wall. He shut his eyes tight and told himself, "This is a nightmare, Mario. It's not….real."
Bowser spoke sinisterly. "Of course, Mario. It's all just a nightmare. But it is…real." Bowser laughed, louder and louder, as the plumber backed against the wall, bewildered.
~
Not far off, Peach was getting the same treatment. She too had landed in a room that was square, with not much light. After looking at her surroundings, she yelled indignantly.
"Why am I here, you stupid over-grown reptile?! This isn't one of your bribes to get me to marry you, is it?"
"Aww…Peach, you mustn't talk so," replied Bowser in mock sadness. "It hurts my feelings, and it makes my little friends angry…"
"What little friends?" asked Peach carefully.
"You shall see, my dear. Now, to answer your question. This is your room of horror---"
"Room of horror??" Peach cut him off. "I thought you said this was a Fun House!"
Most people, being wise, would assume that any Fun House is a room of horror…
Peach spoke again. "And where's Mario and Luigi?"
"Mario and Luigi? I thought you didn't care about those 'idiot plumbers'," growled Bowser as Peach hung her head. "They're getting theirs."
"Their what?" asked Peach fearfully. "And what am I getting?"
"This!" answered Bowser loudly. And with that, the lights went out.
Peach jumped and suppressed a small cry. It was pitch black and she couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Bowser's voice frightened her more.
"Your afraid of the dark, aren't you Peach?" She could only nod, a motion that couldn't be seen. She found her voice and asked shakily, "What about your .…little friends?"
He didn't respond. The Princess stood there, alone in the dark. She set out to blindly find the wall, thinking how much of a stupid jerk Bowser was, when she felt something like a tingle on her arm. She jumped and brushed the feeling away, only to find the same reaction on her leg. She cried out and fiercely hit at her leg. Soon she was covered, with this creepy, tingly, feeling…
"Spiders!!" she shrieked. She screamed and struggled to get them off, hitting her face, her dress, her arms, wherever she felt their dreaded touch. "Make them stop! Please---pleas--pl---," she sobbed, cutting herself off. She fell into the walls, bouncing off them as she continuing to swat arachnids. "I'll….do…gasp….anything!!"
No one answered her screams. No one heard her cries. She was so nervous and so scared, she grew light-headed.
She thought she would faint from her struggle. Bowser finally spoke, menacingly.
"Anything, eh?" Peach nodded in response, too tired to speak.
"I can't hear you!" roared Bowser.
"Yes!" Peach answered weakly, trying to remain on both her feet. Immediately the lights came on, and she squinted to see hundreds of spiders crawl off and away from her, exiting through a small hole in the floor. She collapsed on the ground, trying to steady her breathing and calm herself.
"Anything…" Bowser repeated. "Very well. We shall be married tomorrow, the Mushroom Kingdom will finally be mine, and those plumbers will be out of my way…terminally!" At this point, Peach didn't care. She hardly heard him. She sobbed and fought for composure. She could have sworn that tingly feeling was still there…
~
Luigi strolled through the empty halls, looking for a door, and looking at himself in the mirrors.
"Hey, that's kind of funny," he said to himself as his posture was bent up all crooked. He giggled to himself as his head and feet were larger than the rest of him. "Ha ha! This one's rich!!" He doubled over laughing, pointing at his reflection. Glancing at it again, he straightened up and frowned. "Oh wait, that's just me." He looked around to make sure no one saw his embarrassing mistake. He continued his walk through the freakish halls, when he saw a door not far ahead.
"Hey," he thought aloud. "Hey!" He ran for the door, but stopped somewhere close, and leaned on the mirror next to it. He shut his eyes, turned his head the other way, and stuck his hand in front of the opening. Nothing happened. Satisfied, he smiled and turned sharply into it.
"OW!" He smacked his head and fell backwards. Luigi lay on the ground, holding his head, and looked behind him and saw another door. His last endeavor had been a reflection. Grumbling to himself, he got up and staggered into the real door. But Luigi wasn't thinking, and….
[What do you mean, not thinking?? And I thought you left!!]
I meant nothing, good sir.
[Yeah, that's what I thought!]
My, that's quite a bump you have there---
[Beat it, moron! Make with the story already....]
….and the door shut loudly behind him. He raced towards it, pushing with all his might. Giving up, he leaned on the strong metal wall, holding his head. "Man, I should have thought to stick something in there. Anyone would know it would shut behind me---"
"Anyone except an 'aqua-phobic freak!'" Bowser said loudly. His laughter echoed through the room. Luigi ran to the center of the room and yelled, "For your information, buddy, I am not afraid of water in the least! I just can't swim! And what do you want with me?" Bowser didn't answer. It was then that Luigi saw where he was.
His eyes widened with sheer terror as he backed up against the wall. He struggled furiously with the door, which had no handle. He kicked and beat at it madly. He took something out of his pocket: a wrench. He cried out and fumbled with his tool, beating the door with it.
"Help!!" he shouted with fear. "Somebody!! Please help me!!" He kept trying to open the door, but it held fast.
Some minutes later, he threw his wrench across the chamber and sat on the cold metal floor, exhausted. He looked at the room again. It was empty, and covered, wall to wall with strong metal. It was about 10x12 feet…..too close perhaps for Luigi. The ceiling was very high, maybe 50 feet, and there was an opening at the top. It was much too high for anyone to reach. The height of the ceiling only added to the sense of the walls being too close, looking as if they were about to come crashing down. Luigi felt that it was hard to breath. He closed his eyes and tried to think clearly.
"How did Koopa know I'm claustrophobic?" he thought to himself in horror.
~
A/N: Ok, that part with Peach even grossed ME out. Tell me what ya'll think so far.