Chapter 2: The Party
Mario, as usual, was having a great time. He had just rolled the dice, advanced, and found a hidden block with a star!
"Hee hee! I got it!" he shouted tauntingly.
"Yeah, yeah, geta on with ita." Luigi grumbled. "Givea me the dice."
Peach came up from behind them out of her castle. "Stop your arguing, it's just a game!"
DK and Yoshi nodded their agreement, crossing their fingers and hoping that Luigi wouldn't pass Toad…
"Whew! One space short of Toad! No star for you!" DK sighed in relief. Yoshi grinned and took the dice.
As Mario, Luigi, DK, and Yoshi continued their game of Mario Party, Bowser reached the edge of the field outside of the castle.
"I hope this is open enough…" he muttered to himself, pressing a button on his device. No luck. There were too many trees in the way, including, of course, the one he was hiding behind. Bowser growled and tried to figure out how to evade the four gamers.
The four heroes were all pressing buttons like crazy, trying to collect the most coins in the mini-game. Peach was sitting idly behind them, staring at the screen.
Bowser stared at them for a moment, then realized this was the perfect time to cross the field over to the open area. He ran as quietly as he could, but Yoshi noticed. Pointing and making Yoshi noises, he alerted the others of Bowser-or at least he tried to.
"No waya, Yoshi! You'rea not distracting us froma this mini-game! Justa because you'rea losing…" Mario smiled braggingly.
Yoshi groaned and finished the game as quickly as he could. Then, he pointed to the field, where the uninvited guest was just about to leave.
"BOWSER?" Mario and Luigi gasped in unison. DK gasped and grunted, forgetting his recent English lessons.
Bowser had just reached the field. As far as he knew, the brothers hadn't seen him yet, so he pressed a button on his device. The device started glowing bright blue, and then fired off a ray that became a circle, that became a portal.
"Destination: Hyrule." An electronic voice emanated from the device as Bowser prepared to step into it. Mario and Luigi gasped as they watched Bowser escape into the portal.
"Let'sa go, guys! We havea to stopa him!" Mario called, and Luigi, DK, and Yoshi followed toward the portal.
Bowser was just about to put his other leg through the portal when he heard the unmistakable Italian accent behind him. No! They saw me! He quickly put his other leg in and ran away as fast as he could, not wanting to spend time closing the portal. Mario and Luigi came up behind him, and beckoned to DK and Yoshi to enter the portal.
"What? But where are we going?" DK protested.
"I'ma not sure…but Hyrule…thata sounds familiar…" Luigi replied.
Yoshi interrupted their conversation by pointing to the portal, which was closing slowly but surely.
"But what abouta our gamea?" Mario asked, smiling.
"Oh, shut up, Mario." Luigi retorted. He wasn't smiling. Mario always wins that game. It's his party, after all. But
it's not fair!
Yoshi sighed and jumped through the portal.
"Yoshi-what the-" DK stuck his head through the portal. "Yoshi?"
Luigi grinned, and kicked DK's back. The large monkey tumbled through the portal, to the other side.
"That wasn'ta nice." Mario grinned.
"Well, aftera you…" Luigi smiled evilly.
"Oh, no, Ia insist." Mario lauged. "Youa first."
"No, you!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!"
Peach, who had woken up from her nap when she heard Bowser's name, advanced quietly over to the arguing plumbers and pushed them both into the portal simultaneously.
"Sheesh!" she smiled to herself. "Those two sure argue a lot." Then, she grew serious. "I hope those four are all right. Bowser wouldn't go to another world if he didn't have a reason." She stared into the portal as it closed swiftly, without leaving a trace of its existence. "Good luck…"