Chapter 11: Battle in the Underworld

"Mario... Mario, wake up..."

The voice seemed so far away, so distant, yet soothing and relaxing. He remembered it vaguely, like something from a dream, but couldn't quite place it. Was it the voice of someone he knew? Someone he once knew, long ago? Or was it only his imagination?

"Wake up...please..."

There it was again. Who was calling him? Why did they want him to come back? He was free. Free of the worry, free of everything. Free of the pain. The memories, of what happened. He could barely remember it now, the burning castle, the suffering kingdom. It faded away into nothing, just like he had.

He wasn't a hero. He couldn't save them now, why bother going back?

"Please! Come back, Mario!"

Whoever was calling was getting desperate. Why? Why do they want him to go back to the pain again? Shouldn't they be happy? Happy that he was free. Maybe they should be free too? That would make them happy.

The darkness disappeared, and the light took over. The light. No, not the light. It meant he was going back. He didn't want to go back again, he was happy here.

"Mario! Wake up!"

"Please! Come back, Mario!"

Luigi and Peach stood over Mario, shaking him, and trying to get a response. Every time, they received nothing, and became more desperate, screaming his name and shaking him violently. But Mario remained the same, stone-still and emotionless. But they didn't give up, and made every effort to wake him again

Peach sighed, dropping to her knees and shaking his shoulder, "Come on, Mario..." she said, quieter than before, "We need you to help us..."

Mario was the best defense they had. Luigi's combat skills would do for now, but once they reached Underworld, they would need more. Mario also had the best knowledge of the pipes, having traveled them the world over.

Soon after, Mario stirred, and both Luigi and Peach let out a cry of delight and surprise. He opened his eyes, and shut them tightly again once the dawn light hit them. He groaned and sat up slowly, holding his head.

"Ugh, what happened?" he asked groggily, looking around at the battered, and tired group huddled around him.

"Koopa, that's what," Luigi said icily, "He sent a bomb, it seems. It blasted the house apart. It's a miracle we all made it out alive."

"Ah, I see. What-" Mario began, but was cut off by Peach, who wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close, rambling about how she thought he'd die. Mario's expression softened, and he held her close to him for a few minutes, before she pulled away, embarrassed.

"Sorry..." she whispered, standing up again, "Umm, are you okay?"

"Everything seems to work," Mario said, standing up and dusting himself off. He felt rather sore, but wasn't going to tell them that. They'd most likely fawn over him like some wounded puppy, which he definitely didn't want.

"Good. We're headed to Underworld to get to the Sarasaland pipe, Mario." Luigi explained, standing up as well, "We're just a little ways away from the nearest underground pipe in fact, and were about to leave, when we decided to try and wake you. now that we have, we'd better get going." he said, turning to leave, and motioning for the rest to follow him.

Mario grimaced, and followed behind them through the woods.

Eventually, they came across the pipe, which sat nestled between two trees, and was covered in vines. Yoshi removed them with one quick swipe of his tongue, and they each jumped down the pipe to Underworld.

The Wario brothers were lounging in their makeshift garage (which had previously been owned by a mushroom citizen. Wario and Waluigi 'took it off his hands' earlier in the day, and had managed to make themselves rather comfortable. Wario's car sat in the middle of the garage, surrounded by numerous Piranha Plants and Bob-Ombs.

Wario sat back in his chair, smirking, "We're livin' it up, Bro. A few weeks of this and we'll be off to Delfino in no time!" A wide grin spread across his face, as he flipped a coin and caught it.

Ignoring his brother, Waluigi sat crouched beside a Piranha Plant, dodging every snap it tried to make at his hands as he attempted to bandage its leaves, "Wario, why did you have to sick your Bob-Omb on this Plant, huh? It's a real pain in the ass to fix..." he growled, finally managing to hold it still and wrap the bandage around it, ignoring its pained squeals.

"Hey, if your Plants can't handle it, they shouldn't even be hangin' 'round here anyway!"

Waluigi rolled his eyes and stood up again, being very careful to kick a Bob-Omb into Wario's chair, sending it toppling over onto the ground, "C'mon, We'd better get going. Koopa wants us down there in an hour..." he said, grabbing a few pots of plants and struggling against them a bit before finally shoving them into a crate and loading it into Wario's car.

Righting himself and growling, Wario shoved a few disabled Bob-Ombs into a crate as well. He muttered something before stuffing it into the car as well, and hopping into the driver's seat, "Well, we'd better get goin' Eh?" he said, starting the car, "C'mon, let's get outta here. King Bowser's got a job for us to do!"

"Hey you!"

Both Wario and Waluigi turned to Bowser Junior, whom stood in the doorway, sneering at them, "Yeah, what do you want shrimp?" Waluigi asked, glaring at the pint-sized koopa that was keeping them from doing their job.

"I want you to take me with you!"

"Why the hell would we do that?" Wario laughed, elbowing his brother in the ribs, "Hear that, he wants to come with us!"

"Yes, I heard, you idiot, not shut up!" Waluigi snapped, and turned back to the small koopa, "Why?"

"Well, I wanna get that Mario too, you know. And I bet you'd need me."

"Ah, no. Why would we need YOU. We've got enough stuff here..." Waluigi said.

"What about this-" Junior said, smiling. He reached back into his shell and pulled out a golden scepter. This particular scepter belonged to Kamek, the chief Magikoopa, and had been stolen from him while Kamek remained blissfully unaware.

Both the Wario brothers' jaws dropped. not because of the power of the scepter, but the fact that it was -gold- They could bring the little brat along, dump him off somewhere in the Underworld and steal the scepter, and possibly hock it off for a hefty amount of coins. They nodded, agreeing to letting Junior join them in their mission, "Fine, you can come. But screw us up, and you're Koopa meat."

Junior laughed and hopped in the backseat, and strapped himself in between the two crates, trying his best to ignore the outraged snapping of the Piranha Plants and the threatening ticking of the Bob-Ombs.

The Underworld was wet and dark, truly dismal. And the smell didn't help much either. They sloshed through the tunnels in search of Warp Zone 4904, and were growing tired of doing so. It had been 2 hours with no success, and they had been forced to stop several times on Toad or Toadette's account, because they fatigued easily. The tunnels consisted of cold, wet, blue stones and were darker than Forever Forest had been.

"It should be around somewhere..." Mario muttered to himself. It had been a long time since he had traveled to Sarasaland, let alone by Warp Zone. In fact, he hadn't been through the Underworld in ages, it seemed, and he had forgotten how it was laid out. So, they kept going in circles, it seemed.

"Mario, I thought you knew where we were going..." Toad whined, trudging alongside him, growing tired once again.

"I did... but it's been a while..." Mario said, not really listening to Toad's whining, or what he was saying. He just kept looking at the different corridors and soiled signposts that were laid out here and there. He stopped for a minute, looking at a seemingly familiar pathway.

He dug around for any sign of where it might lead, and found a dirty, half broken sign that read 'Warp Zone 4904' on it in bold letters. He smiled triumphantly and straightened up again, turning to show his companions his find, "Look guys, I think we're on the right track."

"Good. Too bad you're not going to make it there..." came a voice from above them, and Mario had to crane his neck to view whoever had spoken.

On a ledge high above them, Waluigi stood, laughing. He held a small potted Piranha Plant, which snapped irritably in his hand. He eyed each of them threateningly, and leapt down to where they were standing. And Wario and Junior stepped out of the shadows from behind him, wielding a Bob- Omb and Kamek's scepter.

"So... Look who's come all the way down here... Too bad they won't be goin' back up..." Wario said, tossing his Bob-Omb into the air and catching it again, laughing.

"Oh yeah! We're gonna KILL you!" Junior laughed, pointing the scepter straight at Mario's chest.

Mario stood in front of the others protectively, "Do you really think you have a chance against ALL of us?"

"Are you kidding? None of them can fight!" Waluigi laughed, gesturing to the others who stood behind Mario, "You're out numbered, really, not us."

Mario was taken aback. Waluigi really was right. They couldn't really fight, save for Luigi. Toad might too, considering he had taken on the koopas earlier. But Birdo and Yoshi didn't have any eggs, Daisy was injured, Peach wouldn't fight anyway, and Toadette...he wasn't sure about Toadette at all.

Mario stood fast, frozen in a fighter's stance. He didn't even notice when the others stepped forward beside him as well, until Wario began to laugh at them, "Lookit that, they all want to fight! What d'ya say we give 'em all we got?"

"With pleasure..." Junior giggled, and shot a beam of light in Yoshi's direction.

Then, their battle began.

Yoshi narrowly dodged Junior's attack, and jumped out of its path. Birdo and He rushed forward at such a speed that once they each made impact with the koopa's body, Junior was sent off his feet and flying into the wall, the scepter flying out of his hands. Princess Peach snatched the sceptre off the ground and turned in on Junior. She hoped desperately that she wouldn't have to use it, though. She didn't want to hurt a child, even if it were Bowser's.

Wario was facing off with Mario. He grinned widely and tossed the Bob-Omb in Mario's direction, where it exploded upon impact with the ground. Mario was sent back a few feet from the explosion. He hadn't received the brunt of the blast, only a slight shockwave, and was soon back on his feet and rushing towards Wario at an incredible speed.

Mario thrust his hand upward, where it connected with Wario's wide chin, sending him reeling backward onto his back with a more than audible thud, and left a sizeable Wario-shaped dent in the stone of the floor. Wario scrambled to get up and reach for another Bob-Omb, but Mario's foot pressing down on his neck stopped him where he was, afraid to move. He then grunted when both Toad and Toadette held him arms down to keep him from reaching for another bomb.

Waluigi was too preoccupied to aide his brother, as Luigi was pummeling him with his fists in a blind rage. Waluigi was just hit, blow after blow, he was too shocked to do anything. But Luigi got tired after a while, and Waluigi took this time to act.

He pulled the Plant out, thrusting it toward Luigi's arm, where it sank its fangs into his soft flesh. Luigi cried out in pain and tried to shake it off, but the Plant's jaws were locked around the plumber's arm, and wouldn't let go of it. Waluigi smirked triumphantly, "What's the matter? Don't like plants?"

Luigi winced, trying to block out the pain and keep himself from looking at the Plant clamped down on his arm, and the blood he was sure was pouring from it.

Waluigi laughed, delighted to see his enemy in such pain. He was so caught up in it, he never noticed Daisy approaching him from behind, wielding a pipe she had picked up off the ground. She swung it hard against his arm, causing him to drop the Plant, and sending Luigi to the ground, with the Plant still struggling to tear his arm off.

"You!" Waluigi snarled, lunging at her, grabbing her wrist and causing her to drop the pipe. He thrust her against the wall, pinning her there with both his arms. She gasped out, trying to twist her way out of his grip, but he held her tightly still, glaring at her. Her blue eyes met his and his hold loosened slightly. He couldn't let go of her and risk another attack from her, nor could he hurt her; he wouldn't. So he pushed her away from him again, hoping he could finish with Luigi before having to deal with her again.

But his plan didn't work out too well, because when he turned around, he learned that Luigi had managed to pry his Plant off him arm, and soon Waluigi found it attached to his own. He cried out and tried to pry it off again, but it only sank its teeth deeper into his thin arm with every move he tried against it.

"What's the matter? Don't like plants?" Luigi hissed through clenched teeth, clutching at his arm, which bled critically, but he still managed a weak smile at Waluigi, who desperately slapped at the Plant's head.

With Junior downed and his weapon turned on him, Wario pinned to the ground, and Waluigi desperately trying to shake his own Plant off his arm, Mario's party had won.

"Now," Mario began, pressing his heel on Wario's throat, "What are you doing here?"