Luigi snaps his neck away, feeling the heat from a fireball too close to his face. Back sommersaulting away, he avoids another. Smiling, Mario leaps into the air after him. Landing on a ledge, Luigi fires off two of his own, forcing Mario to twist his body away from them. Spying the opening he had been looking for, Luigi races forward and hits Mario with a jumping upper cut, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Mario sommersaults out of it and lands in a squatting position. Looking up, he watches as Luigi taunts him.
"Player One Defeated," calls out a computerized voice. Soon, the room dims and a low hum signifies that the simulation is ending.
"I guess I'm buying, again," Mario comments, as Luigi sommersaults down to his level.
"Let's hit the pizza buffet then," he tells him, throwing his arm around his brother's shoulders. Both men are naked save for a pair of spandex shorts. The two exit the room. Several years ago, after the final defeat of Koopa, and the first Smash Brother's Tournament, Ness had developed this special training room to keep their bodies in shape. It definitely came in handy during the attack on the Mushroom Kingdom by a powerful alien known simply as Omni. The two men, especially now, bear only small similarities to their video game counterparts. Unlike their counterparts, each of the men possess physiques that would make any athlete jealous. Their physical strength is unparalleled on their planet and the two of them actual have distinguishing personalities and appearances. Luigi is clean shaven and his hair is slightly longer than his older brother, who opted to keep his trademark whiskers.
Mario comments on inviting Ness as they pass the princess's room. Noticing a crack in her door, Luigi takes a peak then stops. Taking his arm from Mario's shoulder, he stares wide eyed at the beautiful monarch clad only in a towel. Mario scratches his head and decides to take a peak as well. His reaction is very similiar to that of his brother's.
Oblivious to the two men watching her, she passes the comb through her lengthy blonde hair. A soft rock tune plays in the background. The faint scent of her perfume reaches Luigi's nose and he motions for Mario to leave. Mario smiles and heads towards Ness's lab. Ah, to be in love, he tells himself.
After a few more moments of watching, he stretches his arms and pops his joints. Taking a deep breath, he enters her sanctuary.
"You look beautiful," he tells her from the doorway. Looking up, Daisy smiles.
"Thank you. Come sit with me." She pats the bed next to her. He sits down next to her. She places her head on his shoulder. "Weegie," addressing him by the nickname he had acquired when they discovered he could rap, "will you stay here with me tonight?'
"You don't need to ask me twice." She sighs and Luigi lifts her chin up so that her eyes are level with his.
"I just want you to know that being in love with you is the best feeling I've ever known." She's getting all emotional again, Luigi thinks to himself.
"What's wrong?" he asks her, sensing something wrong. Having spent so much time with her in recent months, he could tell something was amiss.
"I don't know," she tells him, leaning forward, "I sense some kind of imbalance that may adversely affect our world.. So I'll feel much better if you stayed in my room tonight." She presses her lips to his and then slips her tongue into his mouth as if using them to illustrate her plea. Luigi begins caressing her thigh and wraps his arm around her waist. Leaning forward as she leans back, Luigi removes her towel and begins kissing her neck. Daisy moans softly as the last wonderments of her uneasiness disappear in a blissful haze.
Mario and Ness wait outside in the customized van that they purchased with the winnings from the third Smash Brothers Tournament. The tournaments had become wildly popular, and plans for the sixth extravaganza were already being mapped out. Both are dressed casually, Mario in a red t-shirt with black jeans and mid top sneakers, and Ness dressed similarly with a white T-shirt instead.
"What's taking him so long?" the seventeen year old genius inquires, starting small fires with his psycho kinetic powers in the field. Ness causes the fires to circle one another, then disappear completely. Leaning back in the driver's seat, Mario looks out the window as Luigi, now wearing a green t-shirt and similar lower body attire, kisses the Princess good bye. She is now wearing a long t-shirt.
"It's about time," Mario calls out, as Luigi jogs over to the van and takes a seat in the back. Daisy waves to them and reenters the castle after they pull off.
"Tails, how much longer until we reach the Mushroom Kingdom?" Knuckles inquires as he enters the cockpit. Taking a seat next to the teen fox, he stares out into the recesses of space.
"Another couple of hours," he replies without looking back. It has been nearly thirty four hours since Sonic fell victim to the sinister parasite that is attacking his body. After the old man modified a space craft, Tails and Knuckles embarked on their mission to retrieve the star that would save their friend. Space craft was an understatement. The massive expanse serving as their transportation resembled more space station that interplanetary transport.
Neither speaks as the Mushroom Kingdom's Solar System appears on the monitor. Both are fully aware of what they need to do.
Luigi finishes of the last slice to his fourth pizza as Mario does the same with his fifth. Ness watches in amazement as the Mario Brothers devour their meal. Ness himself is only on the first slice of his second pizza and is already beginning to feel full.
"So what do you think bro?" inquires Luigi, starting on his fifth pizza.
"Well, this place is notorious for strange happenings. Maybe Ness can do some kind of scan to find anything abnormal." He looks over at the young man as he washes the pizza down with a glass of fruit punch.
"Sure, I'll get on that when I return to the lab." Mario downs his fruit punch and pulls out some coins. Tossing them on the table, he stands up.
"Let's get going. I got first patrol and Latuki's taking me on that cloud of his." Luigi finishes off his drink and tosses a few coins on the table as well.
"Ness, you and Mario go ahead. I'm gonna take a walk."
"Okay," Ness responds, standing up as well. "We'll see you later then?"
"Sure," Luigi says, turning to leave. "I'll be back in a few hours."
"Is that it?" Knuckles asks, pointing at the dark spot on the scanning monitor.
"Yep," Tails answers, buckling his seat belt. "Strap yourself in." Knuckles does as he says and soon the spacecraft is entering the atmosphere.
Mario performs a series of one handed hand springs. Switching hands, he repeats with his left. After the last hand spring, he begins doing one handed push ups.
"Mario!" yells Ness, rushing up to him. Pushing himself up, Mario lands on his feet and wipes the perspiration from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"What's up?" he asks the frantic teen.
"Check this out." He pulls out his pocket computer and shows him what he found.
"A ship from the Sega system?"
"Yes. It landed about five minutes ago in this area. But that's not all, there seems to be two other vessels nearby." Ness points to the circled area indicating the ship's position as well as the positions of the other two vessels.
"Let's check out the Sega one first." Mario turns around and the two head for the van.
"That won't be necessary," comes a voice from behind them. Turning around, they discover the origin of the voice. To their surprise, its Knuckles and Tails.
"What brings you two here?" Mario asks, folding his arms across his chest. He has no quarrel with Tails, but Knuckles always made him uncomfortable. He flinches involuntarily at the memory of being raked across the jaw by his pointy fists several years ago.
"Sonic's in trouble," Tails states bluntly.
"What happened?" Mario inquires, dropping his arms to the side.
"Some type of parasite is attacking him and we need one of your stars to heal him."
"Sure, anything for an old friend. I'll just go get one from Toad."
"Thanks, we really appreciate it," Tails says, looking more relieved then when he arrived.
"Think nothing of it. We'll take care of this." Just as the words leave his mouth, a thin, but long ditch appears in front of them. Looking up, Knuckles spots four black blurs in the skies.
"What the hell?" Knuckles yells, leaping away from the next blast. Tails can make out faint details in the four beings as they circle high above them. Diving toward the ground, the four heroes leap away as they impact with the ground, causing deep craters in the ground.
"What are they?" Mario inquires, blocking the onslaught of punches one of the figures is throwing at him.
"No idea," Knuckles answers, blurring behind the figure he is fighting and delivering a stiff front kick to its back. Tails and his figure fight high above the castle, exchanging blocked punches and kicks.
"Think they could be from one of the other ships?" Mario ask, grabbing his opponent by the feet and swinging him into the distance.
"P.K. Thunder!" yells Ness, launching his figure into the air and into the one Tails is fighting. "All indications point to yes."
Tails lands to catch his breath as Mario sets his opponent on fire with an uppercut. Knuckles spin dashes and slams his opponent through a tree. The four heroes huddle up to one another as the figures stand back to their feet.
"This is just great. Any suggestions?" Mario looks at the other three for answers. Their faces show they are just as open to suggestions as he is. An idea formulates in Knuckle's mind and he winks at Tails. Suddenly, Tails and Knuckles disappear from sight. Mario and Ness look around attempting to find their whereabouts. Suddenly, the four figures fall forward and the pair reappear.
"Now, hit them with everything you've got!" Knuckles yells.
Summoning up his full power, Ness's eyes begin glowing an intense white. "P.K. Fire!" he yells, surrounding the four figures in a wall of psycho kinetic flames. As this is going on, flames begin covering Mario's body.
"Smash Ender!" he yells, calling upon the power of his special technique he perfected for the tournament. A fireball the size of a large boulder fires from his body. Upon impact, the figures dissolve into nothingness. The smoke clears and four dark spots mark where their opponents once stood.
"That was tough," Mario, says, wiping the perspiration from his face. "Now let's get the star and try to figure out what just happened." Mario, Knuckles, and Tails turn to leave as Ness performs a bio scan.
"Guys, they're not dead!" Ness yells, just as one of them kicks him in the face. Mario turns just in time to receive a right cross to the jaw that sends him sprawling backwards.
"Oh great, that was my strongest attack. Now what?" Just then they hear a voice in the distance.
"Get out of the way!" All four do as told. "I summon the powers of Shiva." Suddenly, the sky darkens and a beautiful blue skinned female appears in the sky. Blowing a kiss towards the four dark entities, they are suddenly encased in a block of ice.
"What the hell?" Mario inquires, scratching his head. Suddenly his answer taps him on the shoulder. Turning around, he looks into the face of their rescuer. "Cloud?" he asks.
"Zackary Strife, actually," the young man responds, sheathing what had to be Cloud's Ultima Sword.
"So, you're Cloud and Aeris's kid," Knuckles says, walking over to them. "You favor your father a lot. Too bad, your mother was a lot cuter." Tails giggles and Zack runs his hand through his spiky blonde hair.
"So you must be the third ship," Ness concludes. "Were you following them?"
"Yep. They had just attacked my dad and I was following them and wound up here. But that's only four of them, where's their leader?"
"No idea," Mario answers. "How much more dangerous is he than these four?"
"About two times at least. Mario, are you the strongest here?"
"Up until two weeks ago. Luigi surpassed me during a training session."
"Then that's where the leader must be. Where is he?"
"Ness?" Mario inquires.
"Already on it." Ness attempts to connect telepathically to Luigi. "He's hurt, bad."
"Zack, go to the castle and fill in the princess. Knuckles, you and I are going to get that star. Tails, you and Ness go get Weeg. Let's go!" The four do as told and are soon going in their separate directions.
Luigi sits with his back against what was once a wall of concrete. Most of his bones are crushed, and blood oozes out of his mouth and nose. Blood trickles down his forehead and his left eye is sealed shut. "At least I'm better off than you," he tells his opponent. The dark figure lies lifeless next to the remnants of a tree. His entire lower body is burnt beyond recognition, courtesy of the Weegie Bomb. If Luigi is not mistaken, all of his bones, if it has any, are crushed. His head begins throbbing. Must be Ness. I'm over here.
Tails touchdowns and Ness jumps off his back. "Damn," is all the young man can say at the sight of Luigi. "Is he dead?"
"I hope so or I wasted a perfectly good afternoon," comes an unlikely response from the fallen plumber. Tails stands him up and finds that Luigi's legs are shattered. "Oooh, you're pretty, what's your name?" he inquires of the fox.
"Let's get him back to the castle. The blood loss is probably affecting his perception. And let's take him back too. You can handle the load, right?"
"Sure. Just put him on my right shoulder, I'll put Luigi on the left, and you climb back onto my back."
After everyone is settled, Tails levitates from the ground and takes off at less than half his full speed. Although the trip only lasts a few minutes, it is considerably longer than the first. Awaiting them in the courtyard are Zack, Mario, and Knuckles.
"Give him to me," Zack instructs. Tails hands the limp body off to him. Retrieving a gem from his gauntlet, he places it against Luigi's head. A bright light illuminates his entire body and Luigi begins to open his left eye.
"Healing Materia," Mario remarks with a smile.
"Never leave home without it," Zack retorts. Luigi stands and holds his head.
"How do you feel bro?"
"Like I have a hang-over without having had the pleasure of getting drunk first. Otherwise fine. We need to get some of those here."
"I'm glad to see that you're okay," Daisy calls from the doorway. Luigi walks over to her.
"You know it takes more than some horrifying new evil to take me out." He kisses her softly on the lips.
"I told you I felt something wrong."
"Never doubted you for a minute Princess."
"Well, where do we go from here?" Knuckles asks and everyone turns their attention to Mario. Scratching his head, Mario sits down on one of the benches.
"First thing first. We know Toad has left the planet."
"We do?" Tails asks.
"Yes, but he left a trunk of goodies for us. His message said he was off to help an old friend. I don't know who, but we can't worry about that now. Everyone but Ness and Princess are going into space with me. Ness, I need you to contact the Pokemon World and tell them to set up defense points along the entrance to our solar system. Princess I need you to get the word out that we may be attacked again. Everyone else, we'll go into space tomorrow morning. Our first stop is Mobius. After we heal Sonic, we're off to Zack's world and try to find any clues. So I suggest everyone get to bed now."
They all nod and Daisy shows the guests to the guest rooms. The sun begins its nightly descent as the group breaks off to their quarters.
Ness runs a final diagnostic on the creature Luigi fought and soon drifts off to sleep. Down the hall from him, Knuckles is performing one fingered push ups as Tails makes him self comfortable in one of the twin beds. Picking up a pillow, he hits Knuckles with it.
"Go to sleep," he tells him, rolling over. Knuckles smiles as the young fox falls off to sleep. Don't worry buddy, we're on our way.
Luigi lies naked in bed with the Princess, his arm wrapped securely around her waist. Kissing her on the back of her neck, his mind drifts off to what they will be doing in mere hours. Soon he too falls asleep.
Zack stares at the ceiling as his thoughts drift towards his distant home. Soon, father and mother, I will return and we will fight this new enemy together. His thoughts on that subject are silenced as they are replaced by images of him taking satisfaction in relieving someone of their head.
Mario stares into the bathroom window. The headaches are getting worse, he tells himself, swallowing the pain killer to dull the throbbing. A month ago, after a walk with Saundra, one of the few dark skinned mushroom people on the planet, he felt something similar to a mosquito bite. Being allergic to the insect that bit him, he simply assumed the head aches were linked to that. But now he is not so sure. I'll worry about that tomorrow, he says, walking out of the bathroom and into his room. He soon joins his team in slumber and awaits tomorrow.
The sun peaks its luminesce glow over the horizon as Mario and Zack load the last of the supplies into the cargo bay of Knuckles and Tails' ship. Zack's ship is already inside, due to its small size. Ness and Tails go over the last minute preparations as Luigi continues to comfort the Princess. After several more minutes, Mario signals for them and everyone gathers.
"It's time. Everybody ready?'
"Yes," they say in unison. Ness stands back with Daisy as the others board the ship. After initiating the launch sequence, everyone buckles in. Moments later, they take off vertically and exit the atmosphere. As the distance between them and the planet increases, Luigi unbuckles his seat belt and floats over to one of the windows.
"Good bye my love. I promise to return."
END OF EPISODE THREE
The tension mounts. Don't lie, it's getting good, isn't it. If you like the story so far, read on. If not, go to hell. (I mean that in the nicest way possible :) )
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE
Toad arrives on the the home planet of the Clay Fighters and meets up with an old aquaitance. Elsewhere, Shadow and Samus end up fighting for their lives when a misunderstanding turns violent.