21st Century Yoshi presents
THE LIBERATED PAST Part Three: Fight And FlightBy Sk8er Grl
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mario, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, etc. I half-own Reggie and Herman. I fully own the dragon (if he had a name it would be Barney—but not because he is in any way related to Barney the purple dinosaur).
Hi everyone, it's me again, taking up your valuable time when you could be reading my story. I want to say that I'm sorry for how the last two chapters appeared aesthetically; I save my files as HTML and they look okay on my computer but when I upload them half the italicised words aren't italicised at all, and some of the centred words are left-justified. So, blame ff.net.
In this exciting chapter, we find out what happens to Mario in the fire. Luigi gets a chance at being the hero, and Herman is a bit sneaky…
Started: 23/10/02
*
Luigi sprinted toward the firehouse. His heart was racing. He felt the shot of adrenaline that comes with fear—no, with terror.
The flames and smoke were visible many streets away, and the sight that Luigi now came face-to-face with would have inspired fear in a fire hose.
Like most of the buildings in Toad Town, the firehouse was constructed mainly of wood. Bricks were hard to come by, because the clay needed to make them was not found in any area within many kilometres of Toad Town. Only the richer Toads could afford them, and Princess Peach of course.
Now the fire brigade clustered around the blazing building and attempted vainly to control the fire. The fire engine was still in the building, so the fire brigade Toads had only half their usual fire-fighting abilities.
Luigi took a deep breath and strode towards the building, sweating. He could feel the stares of the Toads. He gulped.
How does Mario do it? he wondered. Luigi was nervous; he felt like he was going to pass out.
He just walks into a situation without breaking a sweat and everyone thinks Wow, Mario, how cool is he? I must look like such an idiot.
Luigi approached the fire chief. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
The chief, who wore a fire helmet on top of his mushroom hat, looked up at Luigi. "You can't go in there," he said. "We would probably be able to get it under control, except the truck is in there. If the flames reach the petrol tank, you can say goodbye to this whole street!"
Luigi gulped again, but took off his hat and handed it to the chief. "What else is in there that you need, apart from the truck?"
"If someone could only turn on the overhead sprinklers," the chief replied. "They were only installed yesterday and they're supposed to be heat sensitive, but right now they still have to be activated manually… Wait!" he cried as Luigi turned and made for the building. "You can't go in there! There's nothing you can do!"
Luigi turned around. "Where is the switch for the sprinklers?"
The chief sagged. There was no time for arguing. "The wall opposite the entrance."
Luigi nodded, and put on the Invisible Cap. Immediately the chief lost sight of him, but if he looked hard in the place Luigi had been standing, he could just make out a faint green and blue blur.
Invisible Luigi walked into the flames, shutting his eyes and trying to hold his breath, but like the Metal Cap the Invisible Cap relieved its wearer of the need to breathe. When no sensation of being burned alive was felt, he opened his eyes.
He cast his gaze around and spotted the switch. He dashed over to it, then stopped in front of it.
Intense concentration was required to manipulate objects when you were Invisible. Luigi focused his mind, and carefully grasped the lever. Ghostly beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he slowly pulled it down.
Immediately, water began spraying from the ceiling. Luigi checked a few other rooms; they were all being watered. Clouds of smoke rose from the ground as the water put out the fire.
Luigi dashed through a solid wall into the garage where the fire truck was kept. Water was pouring from the ceiling in there as well. He whipped the Invisible Cap off of his head and climbed into the truck. There were no keys but that had never been a problem for either of the Mario brothers; Luigi hot-wired it and drove it out of the firehouse.
As he pulled out of the garage amid cheers from the fire fighters and the gathering crowd, Luigi saw a column of smoke rising from another part of town. It jolted him out of his happy relief of being out of the fire.
The chief clambered up to the drivers' side window. "You did it!" he exclaimed happily, his big grey moustache twitching excitedly, and handed back Luigi's hat.
"Toad's house is still burning!" Luigi exclaimed. "Mario might still be in there." The chief stopped grinning, and got into the truck, taking over the driving. He called to the rest of the fire fighters and they piled into the fire truck. The chief took off wildly and sped towards Toad's house.
As he screeched to a halt, Luigi was already leaping out of the truck, jamming the Invisible Cap back on. Ignoring surprised yells he ran towards Toad's house.
Mario and Luigi would have been twins, except for a mix-up with the stork involving Kamek the evil magi-koopa and Baby Bowser. If it hadn't been for Yoshi Luigi might never have been born. As it were, things were resolved eventually and Mario and Luigi were brothers, except that Luigi was a few years younger than Mario. But even so, they were twins at heart and could tell instinctively when the other was in danger. Now, Luigi didn't need to look at the crowd to know that Mario was not in it. He strode towards Toad's house without a trace of his previous fear. The only thing that mattered now was his brother's safety.
Luigi stepped through the door and peered through the tongues of fire. Mario was nowhere to be seen. He felt a surge of panic, but fought it back down and forced himself to go further into the house.
His focus landed on the smashed-in stairs. Luigi ran towards them and peered in among the rubble. Mario lay on the floor under a burnt piece of wood, unconscious from the smoke. Reggie lay a few feet away, also overcome by smoke inhalation.
Luigi took off the Invisible Cap, and saw the Metal Cap lying on the floor. He grabbed it and put it on, but it needed time to recharge its power. He put the Invisible Cap on Mario but it also had no effect. It had run out too.
With a surge of superhuman strength, he picked up both Mario and Reggie and slung them over his shoulders. Luigi turned awkwardly, coughing, and ran for the door. He dodged flames and leapt out of the way as yet another burning plank of wood fell from the roof. It landed in a shower of sparks as Luigi reached the apex of his leap, and then he landed and fell.
Luigi stood up, suddenly feeling drained and weary. But he forced himself to grab Mario and Reggie's collars, and dragged them through the doorway, out into the open.
The cheering hit him like a tsunami and Luigi had only a second to blink and try to figure out what was going on, when he was lifted from his feet by the crowd of villagers and bore away on a sea of variously coloured mushrooms.
Through clouds of exhaustion Luigi smiled, and by the time he had managed to stop crowd surfing, the fire fighters had almost put out the flames and Mario and Reggie had been revived and were running towards him.
"Mario! Are you alright?"
"Of course I am Luigi, you saved us both," Mario cried and hugged his brother.
Toad ran out of the crowd to hug Reggie and then they both said, "Luigi is a hero! Three cheers everyone!"
The crowd cheered again and Luigi blushed and scuffed the ground shyly. Mario grinned at him.
"I'm not a hero," he muttered. "Anyone would have done just the same thing—you do it all the time, Mario."
"Maybe, but you were the only one who did," replied Mario.
Luigi was about to argue, when something caught his mind. "There's something I don't understand," he said, his expression darkening. "Where did that thing that started these fires go?"
Mario's grin faded. "I have no idea. But something tells me we'd better find out soon."
~
Down in the Dark Dungeon, Bowser was having his own problems. He strained to hold the cell door closed, digging his feet into the ground and gritting his teeth, but the dragon was giving him a hard time.
It stampeded around in the cell, snorting wildly and breathing the occasional furious burst of flame. It reared up and rolled its eyes, looking like a spooked horse.
"Whooooooooooaaaaaaaahr! Whooooooor!!!"
The dragon had grown in the past months until it was larger than Bowser. Now it was not even full-grown, but already more than he could handle on his own.
"Don't just stand there!" Bowser roared. The torchlight was flickering crazily as a result of the dragon's wild thrashing, and the eerie, dancing light threw King Bowsers face into sharp relief. He looked so menacing that Herman jumped and ran over to help, along with an assortment of koopas and goombas. They strained against the cell door with Bowser while Herman slid home the bolts and locked it.
The dragon stopped rampaging and turned to face the bars. Its head scraped the ceiling. It puffed out its chest.
The dragon was a proud and regal looking beast. It stood tall on four clawed feet, and when its mighty wings where open they revealed themselves to be a dazzling green colour, and there were four vivid purple stripes on its back. It had a refined, vaguely equine head with two strong horns and a pair of sensitive ears. Two delicate, green, antennae-like appendages overhung its face and its eyes were sparkling orange and intelligent.
It was a shame to keep such a fine animal locked away, but Bowser could see that while the dark power was definitely gaining control, the dragon did not like it and often had these manic episodes where it became angry and upset, and confusedly tried to escape.
Now, the dragon faced the bars and spewed an enormous flame that engulfed most of the dungeon. The koopas, goombas and Herman dived for cover, while Bowser withdrew into his great spiked shell.
The bars glowed white hot, then cooled slowly to red heat, and eventually became their regular colour. Bowser climbed out of his shell and looked up cautiously. The dragon was narrowing its eyes with a calculating anger at the bars.
"Quick you fools!" he roared. "I want this dungeon reinforced; these bars plated over with the strongest, most heat-resistant metal alloy you can find! And I want it done before sunset!"
~
A month or two later…~
Mario and Luigi sat at one end of a long dining table with Peach. She had invited them over for a talk.
Peach was a little embarrassed about the table; her parents had bought it because it was traditional that royalty had really long tables. It was useful for big formal banquets but she felt silly using it when there were only three sitting at it.
"There have been more unexplained fires this month," Peach said worriedly, drinking her weak tea. Her voice echoed around the vast, empty dining hall.
"We heard," nodded Mario gravely, spooning a heap of sugar into his black tea. "Has anyone been hurt?"
Peach nodded sadly. "There have been a few casualties, and many near-fatalities." She took another sip of tea. "Does anybody have an idea as to what might be causing them?"
Luigi put down his white tea. "A lot of the townspeople say they've seen a flying reptile that breathes the fire." He gave her a meaningful look. "They won't be told otherwise."
Peach sighed. "I know. I cannot go on trying to deny it. Do you know what it is?"
Mario nodded to Luigi, who produced a heavy, leather-bound old book. He opened it and blew some dust off the page.
"There is a passage in here that fits the descriptions we're getting perfectly." Peach noted the name embossed in gold on the spine. Dragonlore.
Luigi began to read aloud.
"The dragon be-eth an fearsome beast, having the wings of a bat, the body of a lizard, the head of a horse, the tail of a demon and a belly full of fire. It hath no vice nor weakness, its scales an impenetrable fortress, so hard they be. Yet considereth not the dragon a foe; for be it not an untameable beast but an wise and gentle creature of noble bearing."
Luigi closed the ancient book with a snap.
"Where did you find this book?" Peach asked.
"It was in your own library," Luigi replied. "I searched for hours in there."
Peach looked embarrassed and twisted her hands in her lap. "Well, I don't often go down there, I—"
"Don't worry about it," said Mario quickly. "I wouldn't have the patience to look all the way through that library either."
"I feel rather guilty really, my ancestors always worked so hard on that library—oh, I'm sorry, I do digress don't I?" Peach became serious again. "What I cannot understand is why, if dragons are gentle and do not usually bother people, this one has suddenly appeared and begun to attack our villages?"
"What I would rather know is, why is there suddenly a dragon attacking us when they have been extinct for so long?" replied Luigi.
In the silence that followed, Mario's mind raced. Just the thought of dragons made him jumpy, yet Luigi and Peach had accepted it already and were trying to discuss it rationally.
How does Luigi do it, Mario wondered. He gets faced with a problem so he accepts that something is wrong and tries to find out about it. All I do is rush in like a fool and hope things turn out for the best. I'm not a hero; I'm just lucky. I must look like an idiot, he thought.
~
Herman sneaked downstairs cautiously, peering over his shoulder nervously in case Bowser were to miss him.
He tripped and fell down the last few steps, the flaming torch he was holding rolling away. Herman held his breath; but luckily the torch didn't go out. He sighed with relief and picked himself up. He grabbed the torch and continued along his way.
He shivered; the dungeons were damp and cold. And empty.
Herman could only remember one time when he had felt more alone—his time in the Dark Dungeon. He shuddered; the memories would haunt him to the day he died. He still woke up screaming sometimes.
Occasionally he would wake up screaming, and then scream more when he realised he hadn't been asleep…
Herman reached the Dark Dungeon. The cell where the dragon was kept had been plated over with plates of a strong metal alloy, leaving only a small gap through which the wretched creature peered out mournfully.
It heard Herman coming and leapt up to the bars, straining against them so hard Herman was afraid it would injure itself. The dragon began to snort and moan. Herman shushed it hurriedly and threw some food through a gap. He heard heavy footsteps as the dragon chased it down and ate it half-heartedly.
Herman put the torch in a bracket on the wall and rubbed his forehead. He knew he was evil (no-one could have spent that long in the Dark Dungeon and not be, he thought bitterly). Bowser made sure he knew. He made sure that not a moment went past when Herman was not reminded that his would was now as irreparably black as any of Bowser's minions; nearly as bad as Bowser himself.
But no matter how resignedly black-hearted he was, Herman was hell-bent on doing one thing that he thought was right. Just looking at the poor dragon; angry, upset, mixed-up and confused as it was made Herman feel strangely like crying, but he had long ago conditioned himself to doing anything but. There was only one thing he could do that would possibly let out these feelings now.
Herman took a ring of keys from under his jacket and slid them into the lock on the cell door. He slid back the bolts one by one, and then gently turned the key.
At the tiny sound of the click, the dragon's ears shot up. It stood up quickly and lunged at the door, which swung open with such a force that it hit Herman and he was thrown across the dungeon.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Finished: 24/10/02
Oh boy, another cliffhanger! And wow, am I ever writing this fast!
Now, one kind person mentioned to me that there was an error in my writing: the things I call para-koopas should allegedly be called para-troopers. Well, I think that yes, they originally may have had that name. I can't check my Super Mario All Stars instruction book because my sisters ruined it, but I will go and check some end credits on my trusty Super NES later. But as far as I remember, if you refer back to my source Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Level One, World Two, the level is named "Visit Koopa and Para-Koopa". So, whatever you want to call it, I still say that the winged koopas are called para-koopas.
Anywho. Notice that still I haven't said what species Herman is? Oh, the suspense must be killing you! And what did y'all think of the "I must look like such and idiot" thought sequences? I thought that was kinda cool. And also, about the Dragonlore section—it didn't sound to cheesy or corny did it? I wanted a sort of medieval feel.
Anyway, goodnight everyone, and please review, otherwise how will you answer my questions?