CHAPTER 23
Inside the castle, some enemy Koopa scouts have spotted the incoming Toad Army.
"They're coming!" a Koopa says.
"There's no time to waste!" says another.
"Fire at will!" declares their commander.
A volley of Koopa shells rain down from the top of the castle onto the Toad Army.
"Incoming Shells!" declares Peach looking up at the shells. "Brace yourselves!"
The group falls upon each other as the Koopas fire off their barrage of shells.
The first wave of shells hits the front line of the Toad Army.
"Graaaaah!" screams a Purple Toad. "I'm hit!"
"Stay strong soldier!" declares another as he throws his Bob-omb at the front gate! The Bob-omb explodes and crushes the front door!
"Siege Toads! Smash through the gates!" Peach orders.
Purple Toad Soldiers rush toward the entrance and start hacking through the broken wooden doors. The Mechanical Beast starts smashing at the Castle's Rough Exterior.
Link and Zelda lead their Yellow Toads to flank the left side of the castle. The Yellow Toads march in unison to smash through barricaded side entrances.
"Go forth and destroy!" says Zelda.
They continue to push through the door, which slowly starts to come apart.
"We've got a flank on the left side!" cries a Koopa scout.
"They're coming out from the right!" shouts another.
The Koopas fire Shells at the Yellow Toads, causing their numbers to drop as they get knocked out.
"Punch 'em out!" shouts the commander. A Koopa cadet nods as he pulls a lever.
A giant stone fist launches from behind the side doors and knocks some Yellow Toads over the edge into the Lava.
"These doors have been boobytrapped!" exclaims Zelda. "Link! Can you handle this?!"
Link raises his sword above his head, his Triforce of Courage glowing in his hand and slashes at the fists.
Zelda looks behind her and sees that the Purple Toads are holding their own against the Koopa army, though the Green Toads have not moved yet. They're just...observing.
Peach leads her Red Toads with Burnscar to flank the right side of the castle.
"Now!" Peach shouts. "Charge!"
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
Peach's Red Toads rush to the side doors, but are also launched away by the Stone Fist traps!
"Yaaaaahh!" The Toads scream.
"Those scallywags boobytrapped the palace!" declares Burnscar.
"They didn't expect us to charge in and smash through those doors!" Peach laughs.
The Toads return to their feet and start climbing the walls to reach the castle's upper levels.
"They're climbing the walls!" declares a Koopa Scout.
"Where are the Siege Toads?!" shouts another.
"They're still standing by!" a third replies. "Waiting for us to make some noise, so they can pounce!"
"Front gate is weakening! The Purple Toads have entered the main hallway! We need reinforcements!"
"Here come the Purple Toads again!" declares a Koopa Scout.
"Attack!" commands the Koopa Commander.
Koopa Troopers fire their shells at the Purple Toads and the Mechanical Beast. One hits Princess Azura, who falls off the beast. The beast stops moving, a lone Green Toad walks over to her and picks her up. Taking her back to the Green Toads.
"I knew you couldn't let me fall!" Azura says to the Green Toad as she smiles.
"No problem...Princess!" the Green Toad says.
The Purple Toads continue to fight the Koopas.
Naranjo has led his Orange Toads to the castle's rear. They fire grappling hooks onto the rooftops.
"Alright Men!" Naranjo yells. "Let's do this!"
Orange Toads begin scaling the walls and jumping onto the roof tops.
"Orange Toads have scaled the wall!" declares a Moblin looking up at them.
"Let's take them down!" shouts another.
The Moblins fire at the Orange Toads. They hit a few of the Orange Toads!
"That's enough of that!"
"We're surrounded! We need someone to ring the bell! Give the signal!" declares a Goomba.
"Don't worry, our secret agent knows what he needs to do!" declares a Paragoomba.
The Goombas look at the Paragoomba strangely as they turn to face the Orange Toads. The Orange Toads have parachuted into the battlegrounds.
"Get ready for a can of whooping!" says one of the Orange Toads as they charge at the Moblins.
Mario has led Luigi to the top of the Bell-Tower in the center of the Castle. Luigi is visibly out of breath, while Mario looks completely fine.
"Ok Bro" Luigi pants. "What's the plan?"
Mario doesn't respond, he just points for Luigi to look out the window at the front gate. He sees some Purple Toads fighting against the Koopa Troop and Moblins.
"Wow!" Luigi says. "They're really taking it to them! They're doing great, right bro-"
As Luigi turns to look back at his brother he is clobbered in the face by Mario's hammer.
"Hey!" Luigi says as he tries to shake off the cobwebs. "Come on man! What's wrong with you?"
Mario just looks back at him silently, only breaking his stone gaze to...laugh? It isn't his normal laugh either.
"Biological Relation: Successfully Fooled" states Mario in a cold tone of voice. He takes off his hat to reveal a set of circuitry where the top of his head should be. The circuitry glows as Mario's eyes roll back into his head. Steam erupts from Mario's face as it begins to lower. Revealing a mechanical apparatus where his face would normally be. This, along with the steam, convinces Luigi that this is no longer his older brother.
"Biological Flesh Bag! I am not the "older brother" you think I am! Your brother is long gone! I am the Mechanized Arsenal Robot Version 1.0! My name is M-A-R-1-0 and I have been programmed to assist Lord Bowser and Ganon!" states the Mechanical Monstrosity as it begins to ring the bell.
The bell sounds through-out the Castle.
"What is that?" Yashil asks, as Birdo still has prevented the Green Toads from moving.
"It's the signal that the Green Toads should attack" replies Birdo.
"Attack where?" Yashil asks.
"Right here!" says Birdo as she fires an Egg at Yashil's face, knocking him over.
The Green Toads charge at Yashil and the Green Toads start pummeling him.
"Stop!" screams Birdo. "Enough on him! Go attack the other Toads!"
The Green Toads all split up and begin attacking the other Toads.
"This is ridiculous!" screams Yashil. "Why are you doing this?!"
"Sorry, "Honey"," she says mockingly. "I just never actually loved you. I've been working with Bowser and Ganon all along!"
Birdo pulls out an Egg Cannon and continues to blast egg grenades at the Peach's troops.
"These are my friends!" screams Yashil. "You can't hurt them!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Birdo taunts. "I'm not going to hurt anyone! I'm going to destroy them!" She begins to cackle.
The Green Toads have taken control of the outside and have begun to assault the Red, Purple, and Yellow Toad soldiers. Peach, Burnscar, Link, Zelda, and Naranjo have all made it inside the castle.
"Luigi!" cries Peach. "Mario! Where are you?!" She yells searching each of the rooms.
In the Bell-Tower, M-A-R-1-0 is holding Luigi out the window by the throat. The drop looks to be several stories tall.
"Are you really going to kill your own brother?" Luigi asks.
M-A-R-1-0 opens his mouth wide revealing a large number of gears and pistons within.
"We were never brothers" says M-A-R-1-0 as he drops Luigi.
"NO!" screams Luigi as he falls from the tower.
Luigi's screams were the one sound that could drown out all the fighting. In the heat of battle, everyone stopped and looked up to see Luigi falling from the Bell-tower.
"Luigi!" yells Peach as she runs to the tower. Some moblins and Koopas try to get in her way, but she plows through them! Nothing can stop her as she goes to save him!
After feeling as time has slowed to the crawl of a baby just taking its first steps. Peach is able to reach the Bell-Tower...
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...just as Luigi hits the ground in a heap.