Chapter 10: Brush with Death
"You did WHAT?"
"I- I blasted it, sire. Sent them six feet under... I- I thought it would help..."
"I told you to leave them to ME!" the King roared, backhanding the koopa, sending him flying back a few feet, "You idiot!"
The troopa stared wide eyed at Bowser, whom was spewing flames so close to his face that he could feel the heat on his beak. He tried to shuffle away, but was stopped short by King Koopa's massive paw, which grabbed him by the neck and lifted him from the floor.
Bowser held him close to his face, "Do you know what happens to failures?"
The koopa shuddered and shook his head slowly, still staring into the King's crimson eyes, which burned intensely back at him. Bowser's fingers closed around the troopa's neck, as he spoke in a low, threatening voice,
"Let's just say it'll be a short drop with a quick stop."
The troopa's face paled, and he fell from Bowser's grip.
"I'll enjoy your public execution," Bowser said simply, flashing a sharp- toothed grin. That would be the troopa's last painless memory.
Luigi scrambled up out of the rubble, panting heavily. Once he had managed to free himself from underneath on of the roof rafters, he stood up slowly, gasping for breath. He studied the damage that had been done by the bomb, and sighed heavily. It was gone, all gone. Everything they owned, everything they had. Not to mention the house itself. Its top floor had semi-collapsed, sending pieces of the roof on top of them, along with most of the top floor. One corner had remained intact, but there was a pile of boards leaning against it, keeping him from seeing what was behind it.
Then realisation socked him hard in the gut. Everyone else was still down there, underneath what was left of the Mario residence. He scurried around in a frenzied panic, trying to find any signs of life in the rubble. What if they were hurt?
What if they were dead?
He let out a strangled cry, and rushed to find something, anything. Anything that would reassure him. He tossed away boards, shingles, pipes, but found nothing. Nothing.
The tall man sank to his knees, clutching at the charred dirt beneath him, "Damn it..." he whimpered, shutting his eyes tightly.
They snapped open again when he heard the sound of some shifting boards, and a whine came from the pile of rubble. Luigi turned around, and rushed to where the noise had come from, tearing the boards away from his distressed friend.
"Mister Luigi," it croaked, "What happened?"
Luigi cringed, lifting the dinosaur from underneath the wreckage, "I don't know Yoshi, but it definitely wasn't good..." he said quietly.
"Oh no!" Yoshi cried, running out into the middle of the rubble, opening his arms wide, "Mario and Luigi's house is gone!"
"That's not all..." Luigi said, still frantically searching for anybody, and praying that they weren't dead, "Yoshi, you have to help me look. We have to get everyone out of here immediately. If you find anything, send for me!"
Yoshi nodded and began to push large bricks out of the way, searching through the remains of the Marios' house. He came upon a red and white cap, which he was sure belonged to Toad. Sure enough, the cap was on an unconscious Toad, whom was lying underneath several boards, which hadn't managed to hit his body, stopped by the one that had hit his head, and shielded his body. Yoshi licked a trickle of blood off the boy's face, wincing at the bitter taste, and called for Luigi, who rushed over to inspect Toad.
"He's alive. Try to wake him up. I've got to keep looking."
Luigi felt bad rushing away like that, but he had to find the others. He tossed various items away and came across Princess Daisy, who lay very still on the cold ground. Luigi's heart sunk so low he could have sworn it left his body and went into the dirt below him. He slowly crawled over to her, groping at her wrist and checking for a pulse. There was one. He sighed in relief and made an attempt to wake her, shaking her gently and calling her name.
Daisy's blue eyes slowly opened, and she gazed up at Luigi, "What...happened?" she whispered, gasping as she tried to sit up. She clutched at her side, which was bleeding slightly, but it wasn't too serious, she insisted. Luigi took her word for it, and tried to avoid worrying about her too much. He explained what had happened, and helped her up. She struggled to stay up, and was forced to lean on him for support, as they staggered over to where Yoshi stood over Toad, whom was awake and begging Yoshi to find the princess. Apparently, Yoshi had rescued a few others while Luigi was dealing with Daisy, for Toadette and Birdo sat amongst the wreckage, staring in shock at the destruction the koopa had caused.
Yoshi went with Toad's wishes, and set off in search of Princess Peach. He sniffed here and there (as Yoshis have an excellent sense of smell) trying to pick up the scent of the Princess. He found her underneath an upturned couch, trapped but unharmed. Both Yoshi and Luigi, whom were the most capable at the time being, flipped the couch over, and helped her out.
"Wow, you were very lucky, Princess," Yoshi said, leading her to where the others were seated, "You haven't been hurt at all!"
Daisy scowled at Peach. "Leave it to her to be unbelievably lucky," she growled, rolling her eyes and exhaling sharply, still clutching her side.
Peach ignored Daisy and sat down carefully between Toad and Toadette, eyeing each of them, "Where's Mario?" she gasped, looking up at Luigi.
Luigi's eyes darted around. Where was Mario? They'd searched nearly every part of the house, but they hadn't found Mario's body. Luigi shuddered. Mario's body. It made it sound like he was dead. No, Mario wasn't dead; He couldn't be dead.
"Come on, Yoshi. We still have to find Mario," Luigi said, trying to keep a serious and calm demeanor as he turned back to the remains of his house. Yoshi followed behind him, sniffing the air tirelessly, his shoes crunching on the shattered glass and powdered bricks. They came to the one corner of the house that remained intact, and Yoshi let out the breath he had been holding.
"He's there," Yoshi said quietly.
Luigi nodded and tore away at the boards that were resting against the remaining wall. They were at a 60 degree angle to the wall, and could possibly have served as a shield against falling debris from above. Luigi hoped that it had. Then Mario would be alright, and they could all get out of there and to Sarasaland before anyone ended up dead. He squeezed between two boards, Yoshi followed, and they saw him.
Mario lay on the ground, in a huge, wet puddle. It was hard to see it in the darkness, but he was sure of what it was.
A Puddle? Luigi thought. Oh no...
He dashed over to Mario, whom was soaked in the wet liquid. Blood? Luigi closed his eyes to keep the tears from flowing from them. Mario was dead, wasn't he? Why else would he be lying motionless, in a puddle of something wet? "Oh, Mario..." he whimpered, hugging his brother close to him.
Yoshi stood far away, nearly bursting out crying, "Maaario!" he wailed, scampering over to Mario and Luigi. Upon reaching them , he tripped over something on the ground, earning him a face full of mud. He lay in the puddle of mud for a moment, his nose deep in the cold liquid..
It didn't smell like blood.
Ignoring the sobbing Luigi behind him, Yoshi sniffed the liquid again to make sure. No, it really didn't smell like blood. Then, Yoshi dared to stretch his tongue outward onto the liquid, tasting it. No, it didn't taste like blood either. It was actually like...water. He picked up the sound of rushing water nearby, and shifted his gaze to the huge water pipe above them, which rained water into them, covering them all in a wet liquid. Water. The -water- had soaked Mario!
Yoshi yelped in happiness, "Mister Luigi! Mario's not dead!"
"What?"
"It's water! Not blood!"
Luigi studied his brother again. No, it wasn't blood, now that he took a closer look. Through his adventuring in his early years, he'd suffered many a wound. He knew that blood was thick and warm, and most importantly, dark and red. Mario was soaked in water, a clear, runny liquid. Luigi's heart did a flip of joy when he caught Mario's pulse. He was only unconscious!
He hugged his brother closely, and lifted his body into his arms. Luigi's knees buckled underneath him, he wasn't too strong. But he was fast. And he carried Mario out of there in a flash, trailed by Yoshi, whom skipped alongside him; making comments about how strong Luigi must be to carry Mario.
Mario was set down in front of the reminder of the group, unconscious, as Luigi explained to them. They'd have to carry him along until he came around, because they couldn't afford to stay and wait.
There was only one pipe to Sarasaland, and it was located underground, Warp Zone 4904, Peach pointed out. They would have to find a pipe that lead to the Underworld, and make their way from there. Underworld, however, was crawling with monsters. Aside from the typical Goomba or Koopa Troopa, Piranha Plants and Buzzy Beetles roamed the cavernous Underworld, among other things. Piranha Plants were usually harmless; minding their own business, popping out of their pipes now and then, and the beetles would only patrol the corridors, and could be avoided or killed easily. It wouldn't be too difficult to make it past them to the Sarasaland pipe, right?
So, they set off in search of an Underworld pipe slowly, as an unconscious Mario, and an injured Princess (whom threateningly insisted it wasn't serious) slowed them down a considerable amount.
"Jeez, you'd think that with all the running around and saving princesses, Mario would've lost a few pounds..." Luigi muttered between clenched teeth. He'd been carrying Mario for over a half-hour, while they searched for a pipe to Underworld far enough from the Kingdom. They trekked through the forest, and were now in the middle of a grassy field, far from Toad Town and the Koopa Troopas.
"Oh, stop whining..." Daisy hissed, flinching whenever she spoke.
Peach glanced worriedly from one person to the next. They were all so tired...
"I think we should rest now. We've been going on for hours without sleep... Then we could go on easier, I think," she said, stopping.
"Thank the Stars..." Luigi mumbled, and set Mario on the ground, "On the bright side, I'm getting one hell of a workout," he chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, "But, I wonder... Why hasn't he woken up yet?"
"Dunno..." Toad said, "I hope he comes back soon, though. We'll really need him once we get to Underworld..."
Luigi nodded, watching the others sit down on the soft grass, exhausted, "You all get some rest now, I'll keep watch."
Each party member nodded, too tired to argue otherwise, and lay down on the grass, falling asleep nearly immediately. Only Birdo remained wide awake, staring at Luigi strangely. Irritated, Luigi snapped at her, "What?"
Birdo couldn't speak, and so she didn't answer. She wanted to say that she could keep watch instead, but speech was nearly impossible for her, and she attempted to communicate anyway. After a series of low honking noises, she tackled him to the ground, attempting to tell him to lie down and sleep. She must have gone about it the wrong way, because Luigi saw it as something else.
He yelped and threw Birdo off of him, "What are you trying to do, kill me?"
"She wants you to sleep..." Daisy's voice came from the left of him. She sat up in the grass, looking at Birdo, who was picking herself off the wet ground, and muttering in her own language.
Luigi turned to Daisy, raising an eyebrow, "How'd you get 'sleep' from attacking me?"
"She wants to take over watch instead of you. She says that you're tired and need rest. She was trying to get you to lie down..."
"How'd you know that?"
"Being a Princess, you have to know these things," she said matter-of- factly, smirking slightly, "to keep up public relations with other countries; you need to know what they're saying. That's why we're tutored on boring things day and night, in fact."
"Oh, I see..." Luigi said, turning back to Birdo, "Sorry about that, you really can take over if you want. I'd like that, in fact."
Birdo hopped up, nodding, and stood upright and at attention, watching out all around them for any sign of movement. And Luigi lay his head back down on the soft grass and immediately fell into a deep sleep. The Stars were watching over them carefully, protecting them from harm.