The Crossover Saga
By Stoney (stoney107@yahoo.com)
Chapter 7
Darkstar
"Okay, let's review. We're stuck in Bowser's castle; the entire Koopa Troop is at our heels; Bowser himself could well be on his way here as we speak; and now we're wandering knee-deep in sewage. Did I miss anything?"
Peach grunted irritably. "Be quiet, Daisy. It was your idea to take the drainage tunnel in the first place." She shoved aside another nameless piece of junk floating in the stagnant water around them and continued to wade forward.
"Yeah, I know. It's just that you'd expect Bowser to have a cleaner sewer, ya know?" Daisy grumbled while scanning their surroundings in disgust.
Peach laughed mirthlessly. "Are you kidding? His two worst enemies are plumbers, for God's sake. I doubt he'd give them the satisfaction of clean pipes."
Daisy felt herself step on something squishy within the water and pulled her foot out of the muck to look at it. "Hmm. Good point."
The two princesses had found this wretched location for all the garbage in Bowser's castle waiting for them at the end of the drainage tunnel, much to their collective dismay. Currently they were travelling through it in the hopes of finding an exit, but their hopes were quickly being diminished the longer they stayed there. Peach was making an active effort to not think about what the ooze was doing to her clothes. Daisy, however, was hardly trying to conceal her feelings.
"Yecch! This is horrible!" Daisy complained as she picked at the grime that was covering her legs. Peach gritted her teeth and remained silent, although she was tempted to agree with her cousin. The garbage pit had to be at least half a mile long, with them at the far end. It could be hours before they got out of here at this rate, and she didn't think she could stand this place's smell for that long.
She clenched her fists. No matter, they'd keep going. If they gave up, she knew Bowser would try some other boneheaded way of getting her to like him. The idiotic Koopa wouldn't be able to take a hint if she hit him on the head with a mallet and read one to him! SHE-WAS-NOT-INTERESTED! You'd think that even someone as dense as him would get the message after this long, but nooo, he refused to give up on her. She couldn't tell him her feelings flat-out while she was stuck in his castle surrounded by his guards; that'd be suicide. But she absolutely, positively REFUSED to go along with whatever it was he wanted her to do. Arrgh, life was being so annoying to her lately!
"For once, I wish I could stay at home at least a month without something like this happening." Peach muttered under her breath.
"You and me both, cousin." Daisy agreed.
"Alive without breath;
as cold as death;
never thirsting, ever drinking;
clad in mail never clinking.
Drowns on dry land,
thinks an island
is a mountain;
thinks a fountain
is a puff of air.
So sleek, so fair!
What a joy to meet!
'tis but a wish
to catch a fish
so juicy-sweet!"
Bowser didn't know where the poem came from, or how it popped into his head, but he rather liked it. He mulled over the rhyming lines in his head, pondering their meaning. Oftentimes one could catch him in a thoughtful mood like this when there was something important on his mind. And indeed, there was definitely something very important for him to think about that day. The troops had not told him or Kamek about the princesses' escape yet, for the main reason that they were absolutely terrified of what he and the Magikoopa might do to them for punishment if they found out. Because of this, he still was under the impression that Princess Peach and Princess Daisy were all nice and cozy in their respective rooms.
No, his thoughts were on other things besides his Little Princess that day…
Ludwig's invention had been a success, as testified by the frozen figure encased within a block of ice which now adorned the far wall of his room. He smiled grimly as he gazed at the individual. It had formerly been one of Bowser's chief antagonists before he got fed up with it and used it as the test subject for Ludwig's cryogenic freezer. Now the Koopa King could sit and look at the slightly surprised expression on his vanquished enemy's face at any time he needed some sort of ego boost.
Bowser grinned sardonically and shook a fist in the direction of the ice block. "That's right, pal! You don't mess with ME and get away with it! Ha! See where all your fighting against me has gotten you! It would have been easier on both of us if you'd simply surrendered. After all, you knew you couldn't beat me."
He stood up from his 'thinking couch' and walked right up to the block, gazing hard at the figure inside. "Why did you try to fight me, then?" He continued. "I never planned on hurting you. Yet you deliberately helped that plumber -" he spat the word like it was something foul-tasting - "and ruined all my glorious plans, forcing me to retaliate against you.
"Had you simply cooperated, everything would be fine and you wouldn't currently be 'chilling out' in my office. What force possessed you to go against me? Against all odds, and without the experience to do anything more than simple mischief?" He paused, as if waiting for an answer. Of course none would be forthcoming, but he didn't really expect a response anyway. He studied the face of his prisoner. It still seemed to hold some trace of defiance in its expression. Bowser was secretly impressed that anyone could go through what this one had and still have spirit burning within them at the end. No wonder this person had escaped his capture for so long beforehand.
"You are such a pest, you know that?" He chuckled. "But now your days of pestilence are over! It is truly sweet irony that one of my greatest foes will now serve me as a wall ornament, forever! BWA-HAHAHA!"
Bowser finished his rant, blinked twice, then abruptly turned around to lumber back over to his thinking couch, turning his thoughts to other topics. The being in the ice block took no notice of him, continuing to simply stare straight ahead as it always had before.
Bowser sat back down on the 'couch', ignoring the protesting groan it made. Unless he was greatly mistaken, it was almost time for Kamek's report…
The sound of pattering footsteps grew loud outside his office. Ah, right on time!
Kamek burst into the room, breathing heavily from running all the way there. Bowser gave him a puzzled look as he noticed the absence of the Magikoopa's normal mode of transportation. "Where's your broomstick?"
"Garbage." Kamek panted. Bowser's expression clearly requested more information, so he continued.
"Some idiot Troopa accidentally threw out my broomstick with the rest of the garbage from my quarters." He elaborated bitterly. "It was tossed into the junk pit in the basement and hasn't been seen since. The troops are currently carving up a replacement, but meanwhile I have to walk everywhere."
Bowser nodded slowly, then got down to buisness. "Report."
Kamek stood up straight, as if attempting to pass a surprise inspection. "The operation is running smoothly, sir. We had a bit of trouble in the fifth sector when an unidentified intruder attempted to infiltrate the base, but now it's been taken care of. Other than that, there has been no trouble at all. I estimate that at this rate, we will reach completion in the next three to five days."
"Excellent!" Bowser boomed. "Things are working out better than I could have hoped! Continue work as normal, and keep me updated as to any progress."
Kamek bowed low. "Yes, your highness." Without another word he exited the room at a run.
Bowser gave a pleased sigh. The frozen figure on his wall caught his eye again, and he grinned at it evilly. "Just you wait. In a week, I will be more powerful than I ever have been before! Then I shall crush everything you hold dear underneath my heel!!" With that he burst into gleeful laughter that nearly shook the walls of the fortress.
"HALLLP! SOMEBODY!! AHHHH!!!"
The screams shattered the peaceful early-morning quiet into billions of pieces to be scattered and lost in the gentle breeze. Birds leaped away from their perches in the trees, scared off by the loud sounds. Within a small meadow in the forest, someone looked up angrily at the sound.
Two tiny humans in green clothing were running up out of the forest, screaming their heads off. She stood up and quieted them with a single motion. "Mido! Dore! What in the name of the Deku Tree are you doing?! You ruined my song!" Holding up the ocarina she had been playing moments before as testament to this, she glared at the two Kokiri standing before her. Mido was the self-proclaimed 'boss' of the Kokiri and bully to some of them; while Dore was the eldest of the Know-It-All Brothers. Both were well known for their pranks and practical jokes, and both now stood in front of her panting breathlessly.
The two were unable to speak due to loss of breath from yelling so much. Angrily she waited for them to recuperate, tapping one foot on the ground impatiently. "Well?"
"There's…a monster…in the woods!" Dore got out at last. "We…saw him!"
She rolled her eyes. "Right guys, and I'm a Gerudo. There's been no monsters in the Lost Woods since forever! Who do you think you're fooling?"
"It's no joke, Saria!" Mido burst in, a note of panic in his voice. "It used a red light to destroy one of the tall Redoaks that we were hiding behind! Come on, we'll show you!" He turned around and began running back the way he had come, beckoning to her all the way. Dore ran after him. Saria sighed, shook her head, and began to follow the two. "If this is another prank by you guys, I swear I'll have your hides for this…" She muttered under her breath.
The gang touched down in a bleak, desolate landscape. Dark gray clouds rolled overhead, barely letting enough sunlight through to see by. There were no landmarks to see for miles, save for some large rocks jutting up out of the ground here and there. The entire setting looked desolate and ruined.
Mario blinked and looked around himself. "What the-?"
"Aw swell," Kirby groaned, "We teleported straight into someone's dream!"
Mega Man cocked his head amusedly at the Dreamlander. Kirby was now in the form of a pink rabbit wearing a brown shirt and pants. He even had a set of long pink ears that bounced around whenever he moved. "Gee, Kirby, I think your new form is an improvement!" He joked.
Kirby looked at himself and groaned. "A RABBIT?!" He protested. "Of all the lame, ridiculous…"
"Hey, at least you're better off than me!" Another voice suddenly jutted in. It came from a short, squat creature standing next to them. Dressed in bulky metal armor, it had the face of a pig, with two tusks jutting up on either side of its snout. In its hands it carried a spear.
Mario blinked at the unfamiliar creature. "Who are you?"
The creature rewarded him with an irritated stare. "It's ME, you idiot! Pikachu!"
Mario blinked again, before it occurred to him that Pikachu probably had different vocal chords in this new form. "Oh. Whoops, sorry. I guess I've gotten a little too used to you speaking in Poke language."
The Pikachu-Moblin snorted. "That's okay."
Mario nodded and looked at himself. He was now a raccoon dressed in his normal blue overalls and red shirt. He even still had his red cap on his head. Suddenly he began laughing.
"What's so funny?" Kirby asked.
"Well, it's just that…on one of my adventures, I was able to use special leaves to grow raccoon ears and a tail. I guess that now I've simply completed the transformation!" He began laughing again. "And there's something else, too! Watch this!"
Mario began running away from the group at high speed. When he reached around twenty mph, he held his arms out to either side horizontally. Then something wholly remarkable happened.
Mario's tail began spinning around in a circle. Faster and faster it spun, until it wasn't much more than a blur. When this happened, Mario leaped skywards.
Kirby waited for Mario to fall back to the ground again. He didn't, however. In fact, he continued to rise higher into the air. The group gasped. Mario was using the tail exactly like a helicopter blade to produce lift, and was using it to fly.
Mario soared back to where his three companions were gazing awestruck at him and laughed at their expressions as he landed next to them. "I can only fly for short distances, mind, but it's still a cool effect. Don't you agree?"
"Heck yeah!" Kirby exclaimed. "You know, I can do something similar to that by sucking in a whole lot of air, but I don't think it'd work in this form…"
"Yeah, better not try it." Mega Man agreed. He was a humanoid wolf dressed in a plain blue shirt and matching shorts. Even his eyes were blue-colored. He sniffed at the air and licked his lips, then turned back to the group. "So…whose dream is this?"
Kirby shrugged. "Beats me. Although if the forms that you and Pikachu turned into are any indication, I'm guessing it's a Hylian."
"You mean like Link?" Mario blurted out. The other three gave him confused looks. "Nevermind." Mario muttered, embarrassed.
"How do you know about Link?" Kirby asked, surprised. Now it was Mario's turn to stare in confusion.
"You know him?"
"'Course I know him! He's the legendary Hero of Time, for Pete's sake!"
Pikachu and Mega Man were glancing back and forth between the two perplexedly. "Umm, did I miss something?" Pikachu asked quietly.
Mario waved away the conversation. "Just forget it." He peered around at the bleak landscape. "Geez, this place looks depressing. Where are we?"
"I think I know…" Kirby began slowly. "I think this is Dark Land. It's a kind of alternate-universe Hyrule where everything is the opposite of what it should be normally. Think of it like Hyrule's evil twin."
"What's a Hyrule?" Mega Man asked.
"Hyrule is a kingdom where a race of people called Hylians live." Mario explained. "I visited there before getting trapped in Dreamland." He surveyed their surroundings. "I admit, this does seem like Hyrule's opposite. In the Hyrule I saw, there were plants and living things everywhere. Here, there's…nothing."
Pikachu kicked at a small rock. "Nothing except stones."
The landscape began to shimmer and waver. "Ah, there we go. The person who's dreaming this is waking up now." Kirby nodded. The entire landscape seemed to become transparent, almost wraith-like. Then it vanished altogether.
Mario looked around himself. Things hadn't changed much. The ground was now colored jet-black, and the sky had an eerie blood-red tint to it. Other than that, it looked around the same as it had in the dream. "Umm...where exactly are we now?" He politely asked. He glaced at Kirby for an answer, but the Dreamlander didn't speak; he had turned a pale shade of white and was starting to tremble.
"Oh, no....no, not here..." He whimpered.
"What? What is it?" Mega Man asked the Pink Wonder urgently. "What's wrong? You seem scared out of your wits."
Kirby swallowed audibly. "This...this is the planet Darkstar, one of the most evil places in Dreamland. It's said that every single nightmare anyone's ever experienced originated from this place." He suddenly seized Mega Man by the arm. "Quick! You have to teleport us back out of here! NOW!"
Mega Man hesitated. "Umm, but you told me to teleport you guys to the source of Dreamland's problem..."
"Yeah, so wha……oh." Kirby understood. "This place is the source?"
Mega Man nodded slowly.
"Oh @#$%." Kirby cursed. "We're in trouble."
"Welcome to Kakariko Village, Luigi!" Link introduced the plumber with all the enthusiasm of a tour guide. "This place is one of the most peaceful settlements in Hyrule, and was one of the only places to have survived Ganon's evil in the past. We'll be able to find someone to help you and your brother here."
They stood within the stone arch that marked the entrance to the town, taking in its surreal beauty. Far above and beyond the village rooftops, Death Mountain stood within its ever-present ring of smoke. The giant windmill that stood as the central edifice of the village was framed beautifully against the reddish glow of sunset, its arms ever creaking around in their ceaseless circle. People walked to and fro, busying themselves with their own affairs and only pausing for a few moments at a time to stare at the unfamiliar green-clothed human standing next to Link.
Luigi took in the scene with relish. "It's beautiful…"
Link glanced around as well. "It is rather pretty, isn't it?" He agreed. After a couple moments of sightseeing he began to walk into the village and beckoned for Luigi to follow. Reluctantly the plumber tore his gaze away from the scene and did so.
"I know of a magic potion-maker that lives here. She might be able to assist you, and maybe even help Mario wake up." Link explained quietly. Luigi's hopes soared. "The trick is getting into her shop in order to see her. It's located behind a couple of the buildings and can only be entered through a back passage in one of them. Follow me, I'll take you there."
Link walked quickly over to a set of stairs that led up a hill to one part of the town. He went up them at a run, taking them two at a time. At the top he made a beeline for one of the buildings. Luigi followed with little difficulty, until he got to the top of the stairs. There he was suddenly accosted by a haggard man in green robes. "Sir! Sir, please, do you have anything you could sell to me? Perhaps some food? Or a Skulltula spider? Please!"
Luigi was rather unnerved by the man's desperate performance. Luckily, Link noticed his trouble and came to his rescue a moment later. "Stop it, Laftas. He has nothing for you to buy today." The man meekly let go of Luigi's sleeve and shrank back into the shadows from which he'd appeared, bowing his head submissively with the expression of a whipped dog. At that moment, Luigi felt a twinge of pity for this poor homeless soul. He stopped Link with a wave of his arm. "Hold on a second." He approached the poor shivering form in the corner. "Excuse me, Laftas."
Laftas' head sprang up at the summons, but the hope that burned in his eyes extinguished as he saw who it was. Luigi again felt that twinge, this time stronger than before. He slowly reached into a pocket of his overalls, fumbled around a bit, then pulled out a gleaming gold coin. The coin caught the rays of sunlight streaming down over the mountains in such a way that it appeared to be set on fire. Luigi held out the coin to the beggar, whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and dropped it to the ground at his feet. "There you go. Go buy yourself some food, or some new clothes. There's no need to give me any money for it," He hastily added as the man began to reach into his coat for some Rupees, "consider it a gift."
Laftas bowed down several times, joyful to the point of tears. "Thank you so much, sir. Your generosity is deeper than Zora's Fountain. I will never forget you or your kindness." With that Laftas quickly scooped up the gold coin and rushed off to one of the stores.
Link watched the whole proceeding with a happy smile. When Luigi turned back to see him after Laftas ran off, he grinned and gave the plumber a double thumbs-up. "You did a good thing, Luigi. I usually try to help Laftas too, by giving him donations and selling him food for lower prices than the stores charge. But that hunk of gold you just gave him will probably be enough to buy him a house, or better." He walked over to Luigi and gave him a praiseful pat on the shoulder. "Now come on. Let's go see this potion-maker and get your brother fixed up."
"Okay!" Luigi agreed. Link motioned him inside the store.
Luigi looked around. The store didn't look like someplace that could house a magic potion-maker. A long desk stood in front of him, behind which stood the store owner and several shelves stocked with supplies. A cash register stood off to the right, while to the left a tough, burly man stood guarding a passage that went behind the store. The owner saw him and was about to bark a greeting when he noticed Link enter.
"Hullo there Link! I take it you want to see Amora again, don't you?"
Link nodded. "Yeah, and my friend here would like to see her too." He replied, indicating Luigi.
The owner swept his gaze over Luigi for a couple moments, then finally nodded. "Agreed."
The burly man stepped away from the passage he was guarding, allowing the two entrance. Link stepped through without a word, but Luigi paused for the briefest of moments, eyeing the man's enormous watermelon-sized muscles with more than a slight touch of nervousness. The man looked back at him, and he quickly hurried along after Link at a run.
"What do you mean, 'we're in trouble'?" Mario asked worriedly. Kirby refused to respond, however. Mario looked at Mega Man, but he could offer no more information either.
"Pu chi cha kacha aka pi." Pikachu spoke quietly. (He means that this place is dangerous.) Mario jumped slightly; he'd almost forgotten that the little Pokemon was there.
Mega Man jerked his head up suddenly, seeming to look at something that the others couldn't see. Mario was pondering the idea of asking him what he was doing when he suddenly spoke up, "We've got incoming unidentified objects coming at us due east. I can see them on radar." Mega Man's eyes suddenly turned green. "Yeah, they're definitely some sort of lifeform. They're on infrared too." His eyes turned back to normal, and he looked at Kirby. The pink puffball seemed to be having trouble processing this information. He was staring straight ahead at nothing with wide eyes, completely ignorant of his surroundings.
Mario picked up Kirby and shook him slightly to snap him out of it. "Kirby, there's something alive coming toward us. Do you know what it is?"
Kirby's eyes grew even larger. He wiggled out of Mario's grip and dropped, feather-light, to the ground. "Quick, we have to get away from here! Come on!" He yelled, panicking.
"Why, why, what's going on?" Mario asked, confused. Pikachu's fur suddenly stood on end and the Pokemon ran over to hide behind Mario's legs. "Hey! What is it Pikachu?"
Pikachu was looking in the same direction that Mega Man had been. "Pikachu cha ku. Chipu ku paka kipu apaka…" (I don't know. There's something evil around here…)
"Hey, wait up Kirby!" Mega Man shouted. The Dreamlander had taken off running without waiting for the others to catch up. Mega Man began to run after him. "Wait for us!"
Pikachu bolted after Mega Man, and Mario followed behind. Many confused thoughts currently muddled the plumber's mind. There had to be something really evil here in order to scare Kirby that bad. During the short time that he had known the Pink Wonder, Mario had found him to have many different personality traits. But one thing Kirby didn't have was cowardlyness. He had always been rather brave, in fact. What was it, then, that was currently giving Kirby the heebie-jeebies?
Mario caught up to the others at the base of a high cliff. The wall was flat and smooth, impossible to climb. Kirby was looking in every direction at once, fear and panic in his eyes. Mega Man was attempting to calm him down enough to explain what was going on, with little success. Dimly Mario grew aware that if they were attacked from behind, they would be trapped against the cliff face. He cast a cautious glance over his shoulder, did a double take, then yelled out in surprise.
Standing a few feet away from him was a floating ball of black light. In the ball's center, an eye opened to regard him. The eye had a blood-red pupil. The thing didn't appear to have any appendages at all. He stared at the eye, and the eye stared back. Mario got the strangest feeling while he looked at the eye; a feeling of unexplainable, illogical fear. For some reason he suddenly wanted to run away, to hide, to get out from under that black orb's unswerving gaze. It held him frozen with fear, to the point where he couldn't move if he wanted to. He gasped and shuddered, every instinct screaming for him to run…
Kirby saw the eye and froze like Mario. "Dark Matter.." He whispered.
"Is that what that thing is?" Mega Man asked calmly. Nobody noticed him switch his right hand into Mega-Buster mode and quietly charge up. "Looks pretty ugly to me."
The eye switched its view from Mario to Mega Man at that point. It seemed to be studying him, for some reason. If he'd been human, he might have grimaced in horror. As it was, he merely continued to charge his Buster while it watched.
Full charge. Quicker than any organic creature could move, Mega Man whipped his cannon up to aim at Dark Matter and fired. Once again the comet-shaped fireball came bursting out to hit the creature dead-on in its eye. It gave a sudden pained squeal and evaporated on the spot.
Mega Man casually blew some smoke off the barrel of his Mega Buster. "Whatever that thing was, superheated plasma seems to work pretty well on it. I take it that it was an enemy?" He asked Kirby.
The round puffball heaved a huge sigh of relief and seemed to gain some of his courage back. "Thanks for doing that, Mega. Yeah, it was an enemy. It has some sort of special power that allows it to instill fear in people. It can also possess organisms. I think it was using its fear-effect on me just now so I wouldn't get in the way."
"It was using it on me, too." Mario nodded and repressed a shudder. He glanced over at Pikachu, and for the first time noticed that the little Pokemon had fainted from fright. He was lying on his back, all four legs sticking straight up into the air, not making a sound.
"Hey, Mega. How come you weren't affected by Dark Matter's fear-effect?" Kirby asked the robot curiously.
Mega Man shrugged, then said simply, "I'm a robot. Maybe it doesn't affect machines."
Kirby nodded. "Listen, that wasn't the last we'll see of Dark Matter. Heck, that was only one of his scouts. The real Dark Matter is made up of hundreds of those things, and will be coming pretty soon now. We have to get away from here to someplace better suited for battle, and now."
"Pa chu!" (Too late!) Pikachu yelled. He'd apparently woken back up, and was now staring at a line of black figures approaching them from the horizon. Kirby cursed.
"Wow, Kirby. I never thought you to be the profanic type!" Mega Man teased. He charged up his Mega Buster and released the shot towards the far-off line of Dark Matter. A flash of light and a sudden pained squeal indicated that he had hit one of them. "I say, bring it on. I could use a good challenge." After that he began to release a barrage of rapid-fire shots at the approaching Dark Matter army. The spray of plasma bullets rained down upon the black eyes like the first coming of the Apocalypse. Cries of pain and terror flooded through their ranks as their front lines evaporated from the assault. Kirby's confidence grew and began to conquer the fear-effect that the Dark Matter were using on him. He leaped to Mega Man's side and sucked up a nearby rock the size of a basketball. With a determined expression he spat it toward the decreasing Dark Matter forces at high speed.
"Mega's right, you guys! We can beat them! Come on!" Kirby cheered. He began to suck up everything in the immediate vicinity besides the group members that he could use as a projectile. A hail of rocks of various sizes joined the superheated plasma in decimating Dark Matter. The remaining forces began to scatter in several directions, throwing off Mega Man and Kirby's aim. Mario stood behind the two, wondering what he could use. With a sudden inspiration he called upon the Fire Flower powers that he had permanently acquired. A glowing red fireball appeared in each of his hands. He yelled a triumphant war-cry and lobbed them both at the scattered Dark Matter. Wham! Two direct hits!
Pikachu suddenly screamed out in terror, but his cry was abruptly cut off. The gang paused their projectiles and turned to look at the Pokemon. Pikachu was currently getting to his feet, but something was wrong about him. An ominous black glow was emanating from his eyes. Kirby gasped. "Oh, crud! He's been possessed!"
The Dark Matter-possessed Pokemon grinned evilly at them. Electricity began to spark from its cheeks. Thunder rumbled overhead, its ominous presence aiding the almost-forgotten fear-effect.
Kirby got a sudden idea. "WHEEL!" He yelled. A flash of light surged around his body and left the Dark-Matter Pikachu squinting and blinking. The light faded, and Kirby once again stood there. He was now a brownish color, but Mario couldn't see any other differences. Mega Man did a small scan over Kirby's new form and the results astounded him; the Dreamlander's entire body composition had been changed to over 90% rubber!
Kirby grinned at the two and gave them a thumbs-up. Then he turned to the possessed Pikachu. "Release him NOW, Dark Matter!" He boldly commanded. The Pokemon merely shook off its fear and sent a bolt of electricity at Kirby. The Pink Wonder let the deadly current pass over his rubber body harmlessly, ignoring the gasp of shock coming from Mario's direction. The Pokemon grew puzzled. It shocked Kirby again. And again, without any results. Now the possessed Pikachu began to grow fearful. Kirby shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. You asked for it." He began spinning in place, and his body color changed from brown to black. A yellow star appeared on his side and began spinning with the rest of him. When he had fully transformed into an exact replica of a car tire, he released the 'brakes' and spun at high speed towards Pikachu. The Pokemon yelled and tried to get out of the way, but by then it was too late. Kirby slammed into him doing seventy-five miles per hour. Pikachu went flying, and landed around twenty meters away, skidding to a halt and leaving a large rut in the dirt.
"Hey guys! Look out!" Mega Man suddenly yelled. The other Dark Matter had been sneaking up on them during all of this. Mega Man once again went to work, spraying the dark orbs with plasma-fire. They evaporated in small puffs of smoke as the plasma hit them, but more were crawling out to face them by the second. Mario began to give the robot a hand with his red fireballs. Apparently Dark Matter liked the flaming projectiles as much as plasma; when one of them was hit with a fireball, it evaporated and left a small yellow coin lying behind in the dirt. Mega Man didn't notice this, but Mario sure did.
Meanwhile, Pikachu still hadn't gotten rid of the Dark Matter that was controlling him. As Kirby began to near it, it yelled out.
"PIKA!" (AGILITY!) In a sudden flash of light, the Possessed Pikachu was off and running, a cloud of dust in his wake. The remaining Dark Matter began to flee after him, dodging the last parting shots Mega Man sent after them as they raced away to be lost from sight. Finally Mega Man stopped firing and transformed his Mega-buster back into his hand. He shook his fist angrily in the direction Dark Matter had gone, but didn't say anything.
Mario began to walk over to Kirby to ask if he was all right. Even as he did so, another burst of light went over Kirby and faded to reveal the Dreamlander in his normal pink self again. Mario shrugged and instead began picking up and storing away all the coins left behind scattered on the ground.
Kirby walked over to stand next to Mega Man, looking at the point where Dark Matter had disappeared from sight. Eventually, Mario joined them, his pockets bulging slightly. "So what now?" He asked. "Do we go after them and rescue Pikachu, or do we investigate Dreamland's problem?"
Kirby winced, indecision tearing at him. "I don't know. We really need to help save Dreamland, but I don't want things to get fixed and for Pikachu to go back to Reality while he's possessed! Anything could happen!"
Mega Man confidently hefted up his Mega Buster. "Don't worry. Leave Pikachu to me-those things can't affect me emotionally, and my plasma shots seem to work pretty well against them. Here…" He pulled open a small panel in his chestplate and removed a walkie-talkie device. "I'll radio you guys when I'm through so you'll know it's safe to fix everything. In the meantime, you should find the problem's source a couple miles to the east of here. Go get it!"
Mario nodded and took the proffered walkie-talkie. He looked at Mega Man with an expression bordering on sadness. "Well, then I guess this is goodbye." He began. "Once we fix Dreamland, you'll go back to your reality and I'll go back to mine…"
Mega Man waved the sentiments off. "I know. I've only known ya for a short while, Mario, but it's been nice travelling with you. Maybe we'll meet again someday…after all, you never know when Dreamland might mess up again." He grinned.
Kirby groaned. "Aw man, don't say that!" He smiled. "It's been nice knowing you, Mega. Good luck rescuing Pikachu!"
"Thanks!" Mega Man opened a panel on his right wrist and pressed down on a button. "Rush! Come here!" He spoke into some sort of speaker. Almost immediately the red-armored canine beamed down beside them in a red flash of light. Mega Man looked at him and rubbed the dog under his chin affectionately. "Hey, boy! Ya ready to go for a ride? Huh?"
Rush began barking and jumping in place excitedly. Mega Man stood up and shouted a command. "RUSH JET!"
Immediately Rush undertook one of the most astounding transformations Mario had seen yet. The canine's feet and legs folded up until they were horizontal to the rest of its body. Thrusters folded out on its bottom and rear, allowing it to float in the air. In less than ten seconds, Rush had become a fully functional jet-propelled platform. Mega Man hopped onto the Rush Jet's back, gave Mario and Kirby a small smile and wave, and flew off in the direction Dark Matter had gone.
Mario and Kirby waved back, and watched until the tiny blue and red speck they knew to be their friend was lost from sight. Mario flicked on the walkie-talkie he was holding. "Testing, testing." He spoke into it. "Can you hear us there, Mega?"
"Loud and clear, guys!" Mega Man's voice came crackling through. "This thing has a pretty long range, so you should still be able to talk to me when I catch up with Dark Matter. In the meantime, you ought to stop just standing there and start moving!" His voice could still be heard carrying a faint note of teasing in it, even at that distance. Mario grinned.
"Okay, will do! C'mon, Kirby!" Both the Dreamlander and the Plumber began running east towards the problem's source, as the robot had indicated.
Luigi coughed and hacked until he felt like his lungs would burst. The strange fragrances and mists that clouded the interior of the Potion- Maker's shop had never really bothered Link before, but they were wrecking holy havoc on the plumber's sinuses. Luigi's eyes watered as he choked and sputtered. The smells were so strong…he couldn't breathe…
"Luigi, I'd like you to meet Madame Amora, the Potion-Maker of this village." Link introduced Luigi to the thin, shrivelled-looking woman that leered at them from behind the counter. Luigi couldn't help noticing through his blurred vision that Amora was missing quite a few teeth.
"Hello, welcome, welcome!" Amora cackled. "You have need of my potions? One drop cures all!"
"Yes. We'd like a potion for…" Luigi was suddenly overcome by a coughing fit.
"Hmmm. I think my new assistant ought to have a look at you, dearie!" Amora eyed Luigi intently. "You look rather sickly, do you not? Yes, I think he ought to give you a check-up. No extra charge, of course…" She suddenly called back into the depths of the store behind the counter. "Oh, Doctor! We've got another patient for you!"
"Well, who is it this time?" A strangely familiar voice asked. "I'm very busy, Amora. I think I've nearly figured out a viable cure for the common cold…" As the voice spoke, someone walked out of the store depths and around the counter to stand next to Luigi and Link.
Both the plumber's and Hylian's eyes bulged. Luigi gasped and sputtered in shock instead of from the fumes. The person standing before him was dressed in an immaculately white medical outfit, and a stethescope hung swinging 'round his neck. But to Luigi, there was no mistaking the face of the doctor that stood in front of him.
"Mario?!"
By Stoney (stoney107@yahoo.com)
Chapter 7
Darkstar
"Okay, let's review. We're stuck in Bowser's castle; the entire Koopa Troop is at our heels; Bowser himself could well be on his way here as we speak; and now we're wandering knee-deep in sewage. Did I miss anything?"
Peach grunted irritably. "Be quiet, Daisy. It was your idea to take the drainage tunnel in the first place." She shoved aside another nameless piece of junk floating in the stagnant water around them and continued to wade forward.
"Yeah, I know. It's just that you'd expect Bowser to have a cleaner sewer, ya know?" Daisy grumbled while scanning their surroundings in disgust.
Peach laughed mirthlessly. "Are you kidding? His two worst enemies are plumbers, for God's sake. I doubt he'd give them the satisfaction of clean pipes."
Daisy felt herself step on something squishy within the water and pulled her foot out of the muck to look at it. "Hmm. Good point."
The two princesses had found this wretched location for all the garbage in Bowser's castle waiting for them at the end of the drainage tunnel, much to their collective dismay. Currently they were travelling through it in the hopes of finding an exit, but their hopes were quickly being diminished the longer they stayed there. Peach was making an active effort to not think about what the ooze was doing to her clothes. Daisy, however, was hardly trying to conceal her feelings.
"Yecch! This is horrible!" Daisy complained as she picked at the grime that was covering her legs. Peach gritted her teeth and remained silent, although she was tempted to agree with her cousin. The garbage pit had to be at least half a mile long, with them at the far end. It could be hours before they got out of here at this rate, and she didn't think she could stand this place's smell for that long.
She clenched her fists. No matter, they'd keep going. If they gave up, she knew Bowser would try some other boneheaded way of getting her to like him. The idiotic Koopa wouldn't be able to take a hint if she hit him on the head with a mallet and read one to him! SHE-WAS-NOT-INTERESTED! You'd think that even someone as dense as him would get the message after this long, but nooo, he refused to give up on her. She couldn't tell him her feelings flat-out while she was stuck in his castle surrounded by his guards; that'd be suicide. But she absolutely, positively REFUSED to go along with whatever it was he wanted her to do. Arrgh, life was being so annoying to her lately!
"For once, I wish I could stay at home at least a month without something like this happening." Peach muttered under her breath.
"You and me both, cousin." Daisy agreed.
"Alive without breath;
as cold as death;
never thirsting, ever drinking;
clad in mail never clinking.
Drowns on dry land,
thinks an island
is a mountain;
thinks a fountain
is a puff of air.
So sleek, so fair!
What a joy to meet!
'tis but a wish
to catch a fish
so juicy-sweet!"
Bowser didn't know where the poem came from, or how it popped into his head, but he rather liked it. He mulled over the rhyming lines in his head, pondering their meaning. Oftentimes one could catch him in a thoughtful mood like this when there was something important on his mind. And indeed, there was definitely something very important for him to think about that day. The troops had not told him or Kamek about the princesses' escape yet, for the main reason that they were absolutely terrified of what he and the Magikoopa might do to them for punishment if they found out. Because of this, he still was under the impression that Princess Peach and Princess Daisy were all nice and cozy in their respective rooms.
No, his thoughts were on other things besides his Little Princess that day…
Ludwig's invention had been a success, as testified by the frozen figure encased within a block of ice which now adorned the far wall of his room. He smiled grimly as he gazed at the individual. It had formerly been one of Bowser's chief antagonists before he got fed up with it and used it as the test subject for Ludwig's cryogenic freezer. Now the Koopa King could sit and look at the slightly surprised expression on his vanquished enemy's face at any time he needed some sort of ego boost.
Bowser grinned sardonically and shook a fist in the direction of the ice block. "That's right, pal! You don't mess with ME and get away with it! Ha! See where all your fighting against me has gotten you! It would have been easier on both of us if you'd simply surrendered. After all, you knew you couldn't beat me."
He stood up from his 'thinking couch' and walked right up to the block, gazing hard at the figure inside. "Why did you try to fight me, then?" He continued. "I never planned on hurting you. Yet you deliberately helped that plumber -" he spat the word like it was something foul-tasting - "and ruined all my glorious plans, forcing me to retaliate against you.
"Had you simply cooperated, everything would be fine and you wouldn't currently be 'chilling out' in my office. What force possessed you to go against me? Against all odds, and without the experience to do anything more than simple mischief?" He paused, as if waiting for an answer. Of course none would be forthcoming, but he didn't really expect a response anyway. He studied the face of his prisoner. It still seemed to hold some trace of defiance in its expression. Bowser was secretly impressed that anyone could go through what this one had and still have spirit burning within them at the end. No wonder this person had escaped his capture for so long beforehand.
"You are such a pest, you know that?" He chuckled. "But now your days of pestilence are over! It is truly sweet irony that one of my greatest foes will now serve me as a wall ornament, forever! BWA-HAHAHA!"
Bowser finished his rant, blinked twice, then abruptly turned around to lumber back over to his thinking couch, turning his thoughts to other topics. The being in the ice block took no notice of him, continuing to simply stare straight ahead as it always had before.
Bowser sat back down on the 'couch', ignoring the protesting groan it made. Unless he was greatly mistaken, it was almost time for Kamek's report…
The sound of pattering footsteps grew loud outside his office. Ah, right on time!
Kamek burst into the room, breathing heavily from running all the way there. Bowser gave him a puzzled look as he noticed the absence of the Magikoopa's normal mode of transportation. "Where's your broomstick?"
"Garbage." Kamek panted. Bowser's expression clearly requested more information, so he continued.
"Some idiot Troopa accidentally threw out my broomstick with the rest of the garbage from my quarters." He elaborated bitterly. "It was tossed into the junk pit in the basement and hasn't been seen since. The troops are currently carving up a replacement, but meanwhile I have to walk everywhere."
Bowser nodded slowly, then got down to buisness. "Report."
Kamek stood up straight, as if attempting to pass a surprise inspection. "The operation is running smoothly, sir. We had a bit of trouble in the fifth sector when an unidentified intruder attempted to infiltrate the base, but now it's been taken care of. Other than that, there has been no trouble at all. I estimate that at this rate, we will reach completion in the next three to five days."
"Excellent!" Bowser boomed. "Things are working out better than I could have hoped! Continue work as normal, and keep me updated as to any progress."
Kamek bowed low. "Yes, your highness." Without another word he exited the room at a run.
Bowser gave a pleased sigh. The frozen figure on his wall caught his eye again, and he grinned at it evilly. "Just you wait. In a week, I will be more powerful than I ever have been before! Then I shall crush everything you hold dear underneath my heel!!" With that he burst into gleeful laughter that nearly shook the walls of the fortress.
"HALLLP! SOMEBODY!! AHHHH!!!"
The screams shattered the peaceful early-morning quiet into billions of pieces to be scattered and lost in the gentle breeze. Birds leaped away from their perches in the trees, scared off by the loud sounds. Within a small meadow in the forest, someone looked up angrily at the sound.
Two tiny humans in green clothing were running up out of the forest, screaming their heads off. She stood up and quieted them with a single motion. "Mido! Dore! What in the name of the Deku Tree are you doing?! You ruined my song!" Holding up the ocarina she had been playing moments before as testament to this, she glared at the two Kokiri standing before her. Mido was the self-proclaimed 'boss' of the Kokiri and bully to some of them; while Dore was the eldest of the Know-It-All Brothers. Both were well known for their pranks and practical jokes, and both now stood in front of her panting breathlessly.
The two were unable to speak due to loss of breath from yelling so much. Angrily she waited for them to recuperate, tapping one foot on the ground impatiently. "Well?"
"There's…a monster…in the woods!" Dore got out at last. "We…saw him!"
She rolled her eyes. "Right guys, and I'm a Gerudo. There's been no monsters in the Lost Woods since forever! Who do you think you're fooling?"
"It's no joke, Saria!" Mido burst in, a note of panic in his voice. "It used a red light to destroy one of the tall Redoaks that we were hiding behind! Come on, we'll show you!" He turned around and began running back the way he had come, beckoning to her all the way. Dore ran after him. Saria sighed, shook her head, and began to follow the two. "If this is another prank by you guys, I swear I'll have your hides for this…" She muttered under her breath.
The gang touched down in a bleak, desolate landscape. Dark gray clouds rolled overhead, barely letting enough sunlight through to see by. There were no landmarks to see for miles, save for some large rocks jutting up out of the ground here and there. The entire setting looked desolate and ruined.
Mario blinked and looked around himself. "What the-?"
"Aw swell," Kirby groaned, "We teleported straight into someone's dream!"
Mega Man cocked his head amusedly at the Dreamlander. Kirby was now in the form of a pink rabbit wearing a brown shirt and pants. He even had a set of long pink ears that bounced around whenever he moved. "Gee, Kirby, I think your new form is an improvement!" He joked.
Kirby looked at himself and groaned. "A RABBIT?!" He protested. "Of all the lame, ridiculous…"
"Hey, at least you're better off than me!" Another voice suddenly jutted in. It came from a short, squat creature standing next to them. Dressed in bulky metal armor, it had the face of a pig, with two tusks jutting up on either side of its snout. In its hands it carried a spear.
Mario blinked at the unfamiliar creature. "Who are you?"
The creature rewarded him with an irritated stare. "It's ME, you idiot! Pikachu!"
Mario blinked again, before it occurred to him that Pikachu probably had different vocal chords in this new form. "Oh. Whoops, sorry. I guess I've gotten a little too used to you speaking in Poke language."
The Pikachu-Moblin snorted. "That's okay."
Mario nodded and looked at himself. He was now a raccoon dressed in his normal blue overalls and red shirt. He even still had his red cap on his head. Suddenly he began laughing.
"What's so funny?" Kirby asked.
"Well, it's just that…on one of my adventures, I was able to use special leaves to grow raccoon ears and a tail. I guess that now I've simply completed the transformation!" He began laughing again. "And there's something else, too! Watch this!"
Mario began running away from the group at high speed. When he reached around twenty mph, he held his arms out to either side horizontally. Then something wholly remarkable happened.
Mario's tail began spinning around in a circle. Faster and faster it spun, until it wasn't much more than a blur. When this happened, Mario leaped skywards.
Kirby waited for Mario to fall back to the ground again. He didn't, however. In fact, he continued to rise higher into the air. The group gasped. Mario was using the tail exactly like a helicopter blade to produce lift, and was using it to fly.
Mario soared back to where his three companions were gazing awestruck at him and laughed at their expressions as he landed next to them. "I can only fly for short distances, mind, but it's still a cool effect. Don't you agree?"
"Heck yeah!" Kirby exclaimed. "You know, I can do something similar to that by sucking in a whole lot of air, but I don't think it'd work in this form…"
"Yeah, better not try it." Mega Man agreed. He was a humanoid wolf dressed in a plain blue shirt and matching shorts. Even his eyes were blue-colored. He sniffed at the air and licked his lips, then turned back to the group. "So…whose dream is this?"
Kirby shrugged. "Beats me. Although if the forms that you and Pikachu turned into are any indication, I'm guessing it's a Hylian."
"You mean like Link?" Mario blurted out. The other three gave him confused looks. "Nevermind." Mario muttered, embarrassed.
"How do you know about Link?" Kirby asked, surprised. Now it was Mario's turn to stare in confusion.
"You know him?"
"'Course I know him! He's the legendary Hero of Time, for Pete's sake!"
Pikachu and Mega Man were glancing back and forth between the two perplexedly. "Umm, did I miss something?" Pikachu asked quietly.
Mario waved away the conversation. "Just forget it." He peered around at the bleak landscape. "Geez, this place looks depressing. Where are we?"
"I think I know…" Kirby began slowly. "I think this is Dark Land. It's a kind of alternate-universe Hyrule where everything is the opposite of what it should be normally. Think of it like Hyrule's evil twin."
"What's a Hyrule?" Mega Man asked.
"Hyrule is a kingdom where a race of people called Hylians live." Mario explained. "I visited there before getting trapped in Dreamland." He surveyed their surroundings. "I admit, this does seem like Hyrule's opposite. In the Hyrule I saw, there were plants and living things everywhere. Here, there's…nothing."
Pikachu kicked at a small rock. "Nothing except stones."
The landscape began to shimmer and waver. "Ah, there we go. The person who's dreaming this is waking up now." Kirby nodded. The entire landscape seemed to become transparent, almost wraith-like. Then it vanished altogether.
Mario looked around himself. Things hadn't changed much. The ground was now colored jet-black, and the sky had an eerie blood-red tint to it. Other than that, it looked around the same as it had in the dream. "Umm...where exactly are we now?" He politely asked. He glaced at Kirby for an answer, but the Dreamlander didn't speak; he had turned a pale shade of white and was starting to tremble.
"Oh, no....no, not here..." He whimpered.
"What? What is it?" Mega Man asked the Pink Wonder urgently. "What's wrong? You seem scared out of your wits."
Kirby swallowed audibly. "This...this is the planet Darkstar, one of the most evil places in Dreamland. It's said that every single nightmare anyone's ever experienced originated from this place." He suddenly seized Mega Man by the arm. "Quick! You have to teleport us back out of here! NOW!"
Mega Man hesitated. "Umm, but you told me to teleport you guys to the source of Dreamland's problem..."
"Yeah, so wha……oh." Kirby understood. "This place is the source?"
Mega Man nodded slowly.
"Oh @#$%." Kirby cursed. "We're in trouble."
"Welcome to Kakariko Village, Luigi!" Link introduced the plumber with all the enthusiasm of a tour guide. "This place is one of the most peaceful settlements in Hyrule, and was one of the only places to have survived Ganon's evil in the past. We'll be able to find someone to help you and your brother here."
They stood within the stone arch that marked the entrance to the town, taking in its surreal beauty. Far above and beyond the village rooftops, Death Mountain stood within its ever-present ring of smoke. The giant windmill that stood as the central edifice of the village was framed beautifully against the reddish glow of sunset, its arms ever creaking around in their ceaseless circle. People walked to and fro, busying themselves with their own affairs and only pausing for a few moments at a time to stare at the unfamiliar green-clothed human standing next to Link.
Luigi took in the scene with relish. "It's beautiful…"
Link glanced around as well. "It is rather pretty, isn't it?" He agreed. After a couple moments of sightseeing he began to walk into the village and beckoned for Luigi to follow. Reluctantly the plumber tore his gaze away from the scene and did so.
"I know of a magic potion-maker that lives here. She might be able to assist you, and maybe even help Mario wake up." Link explained quietly. Luigi's hopes soared. "The trick is getting into her shop in order to see her. It's located behind a couple of the buildings and can only be entered through a back passage in one of them. Follow me, I'll take you there."
Link walked quickly over to a set of stairs that led up a hill to one part of the town. He went up them at a run, taking them two at a time. At the top he made a beeline for one of the buildings. Luigi followed with little difficulty, until he got to the top of the stairs. There he was suddenly accosted by a haggard man in green robes. "Sir! Sir, please, do you have anything you could sell to me? Perhaps some food? Or a Skulltula spider? Please!"
Luigi was rather unnerved by the man's desperate performance. Luckily, Link noticed his trouble and came to his rescue a moment later. "Stop it, Laftas. He has nothing for you to buy today." The man meekly let go of Luigi's sleeve and shrank back into the shadows from which he'd appeared, bowing his head submissively with the expression of a whipped dog. At that moment, Luigi felt a twinge of pity for this poor homeless soul. He stopped Link with a wave of his arm. "Hold on a second." He approached the poor shivering form in the corner. "Excuse me, Laftas."
Laftas' head sprang up at the summons, but the hope that burned in his eyes extinguished as he saw who it was. Luigi again felt that twinge, this time stronger than before. He slowly reached into a pocket of his overalls, fumbled around a bit, then pulled out a gleaming gold coin. The coin caught the rays of sunlight streaming down over the mountains in such a way that it appeared to be set on fire. Luigi held out the coin to the beggar, whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and dropped it to the ground at his feet. "There you go. Go buy yourself some food, or some new clothes. There's no need to give me any money for it," He hastily added as the man began to reach into his coat for some Rupees, "consider it a gift."
Laftas bowed down several times, joyful to the point of tears. "Thank you so much, sir. Your generosity is deeper than Zora's Fountain. I will never forget you or your kindness." With that Laftas quickly scooped up the gold coin and rushed off to one of the stores.
Link watched the whole proceeding with a happy smile. When Luigi turned back to see him after Laftas ran off, he grinned and gave the plumber a double thumbs-up. "You did a good thing, Luigi. I usually try to help Laftas too, by giving him donations and selling him food for lower prices than the stores charge. But that hunk of gold you just gave him will probably be enough to buy him a house, or better." He walked over to Luigi and gave him a praiseful pat on the shoulder. "Now come on. Let's go see this potion-maker and get your brother fixed up."
"Okay!" Luigi agreed. Link motioned him inside the store.
Luigi looked around. The store didn't look like someplace that could house a magic potion-maker. A long desk stood in front of him, behind which stood the store owner and several shelves stocked with supplies. A cash register stood off to the right, while to the left a tough, burly man stood guarding a passage that went behind the store. The owner saw him and was about to bark a greeting when he noticed Link enter.
"Hullo there Link! I take it you want to see Amora again, don't you?"
Link nodded. "Yeah, and my friend here would like to see her too." He replied, indicating Luigi.
The owner swept his gaze over Luigi for a couple moments, then finally nodded. "Agreed."
The burly man stepped away from the passage he was guarding, allowing the two entrance. Link stepped through without a word, but Luigi paused for the briefest of moments, eyeing the man's enormous watermelon-sized muscles with more than a slight touch of nervousness. The man looked back at him, and he quickly hurried along after Link at a run.
"What do you mean, 'we're in trouble'?" Mario asked worriedly. Kirby refused to respond, however. Mario looked at Mega Man, but he could offer no more information either.
"Pu chi cha kacha aka pi." Pikachu spoke quietly. (He means that this place is dangerous.) Mario jumped slightly; he'd almost forgotten that the little Pokemon was there.
Mega Man jerked his head up suddenly, seeming to look at something that the others couldn't see. Mario was pondering the idea of asking him what he was doing when he suddenly spoke up, "We've got incoming unidentified objects coming at us due east. I can see them on radar." Mega Man's eyes suddenly turned green. "Yeah, they're definitely some sort of lifeform. They're on infrared too." His eyes turned back to normal, and he looked at Kirby. The pink puffball seemed to be having trouble processing this information. He was staring straight ahead at nothing with wide eyes, completely ignorant of his surroundings.
Mario picked up Kirby and shook him slightly to snap him out of it. "Kirby, there's something alive coming toward us. Do you know what it is?"
Kirby's eyes grew even larger. He wiggled out of Mario's grip and dropped, feather-light, to the ground. "Quick, we have to get away from here! Come on!" He yelled, panicking.
"Why, why, what's going on?" Mario asked, confused. Pikachu's fur suddenly stood on end and the Pokemon ran over to hide behind Mario's legs. "Hey! What is it Pikachu?"
Pikachu was looking in the same direction that Mega Man had been. "Pikachu cha ku. Chipu ku paka kipu apaka…" (I don't know. There's something evil around here…)
"Hey, wait up Kirby!" Mega Man shouted. The Dreamlander had taken off running without waiting for the others to catch up. Mega Man began to run after him. "Wait for us!"
Pikachu bolted after Mega Man, and Mario followed behind. Many confused thoughts currently muddled the plumber's mind. There had to be something really evil here in order to scare Kirby that bad. During the short time that he had known the Pink Wonder, Mario had found him to have many different personality traits. But one thing Kirby didn't have was cowardlyness. He had always been rather brave, in fact. What was it, then, that was currently giving Kirby the heebie-jeebies?
Mario caught up to the others at the base of a high cliff. The wall was flat and smooth, impossible to climb. Kirby was looking in every direction at once, fear and panic in his eyes. Mega Man was attempting to calm him down enough to explain what was going on, with little success. Dimly Mario grew aware that if they were attacked from behind, they would be trapped against the cliff face. He cast a cautious glance over his shoulder, did a double take, then yelled out in surprise.
Standing a few feet away from him was a floating ball of black light. In the ball's center, an eye opened to regard him. The eye had a blood-red pupil. The thing didn't appear to have any appendages at all. He stared at the eye, and the eye stared back. Mario got the strangest feeling while he looked at the eye; a feeling of unexplainable, illogical fear. For some reason he suddenly wanted to run away, to hide, to get out from under that black orb's unswerving gaze. It held him frozen with fear, to the point where he couldn't move if he wanted to. He gasped and shuddered, every instinct screaming for him to run…
Kirby saw the eye and froze like Mario. "Dark Matter.." He whispered.
"Is that what that thing is?" Mega Man asked calmly. Nobody noticed him switch his right hand into Mega-Buster mode and quietly charge up. "Looks pretty ugly to me."
The eye switched its view from Mario to Mega Man at that point. It seemed to be studying him, for some reason. If he'd been human, he might have grimaced in horror. As it was, he merely continued to charge his Buster while it watched.
Full charge. Quicker than any organic creature could move, Mega Man whipped his cannon up to aim at Dark Matter and fired. Once again the comet-shaped fireball came bursting out to hit the creature dead-on in its eye. It gave a sudden pained squeal and evaporated on the spot.
Mega Man casually blew some smoke off the barrel of his Mega Buster. "Whatever that thing was, superheated plasma seems to work pretty well on it. I take it that it was an enemy?" He asked Kirby.
The round puffball heaved a huge sigh of relief and seemed to gain some of his courage back. "Thanks for doing that, Mega. Yeah, it was an enemy. It has some sort of special power that allows it to instill fear in people. It can also possess organisms. I think it was using its fear-effect on me just now so I wouldn't get in the way."
"It was using it on me, too." Mario nodded and repressed a shudder. He glanced over at Pikachu, and for the first time noticed that the little Pokemon had fainted from fright. He was lying on his back, all four legs sticking straight up into the air, not making a sound.
"Hey, Mega. How come you weren't affected by Dark Matter's fear-effect?" Kirby asked the robot curiously.
Mega Man shrugged, then said simply, "I'm a robot. Maybe it doesn't affect machines."
Kirby nodded. "Listen, that wasn't the last we'll see of Dark Matter. Heck, that was only one of his scouts. The real Dark Matter is made up of hundreds of those things, and will be coming pretty soon now. We have to get away from here to someplace better suited for battle, and now."
"Pa chu!" (Too late!) Pikachu yelled. He'd apparently woken back up, and was now staring at a line of black figures approaching them from the horizon. Kirby cursed.
"Wow, Kirby. I never thought you to be the profanic type!" Mega Man teased. He charged up his Mega Buster and released the shot towards the far-off line of Dark Matter. A flash of light and a sudden pained squeal indicated that he had hit one of them. "I say, bring it on. I could use a good challenge." After that he began to release a barrage of rapid-fire shots at the approaching Dark Matter army. The spray of plasma bullets rained down upon the black eyes like the first coming of the Apocalypse. Cries of pain and terror flooded through their ranks as their front lines evaporated from the assault. Kirby's confidence grew and began to conquer the fear-effect that the Dark Matter were using on him. He leaped to Mega Man's side and sucked up a nearby rock the size of a basketball. With a determined expression he spat it toward the decreasing Dark Matter forces at high speed.
"Mega's right, you guys! We can beat them! Come on!" Kirby cheered. He began to suck up everything in the immediate vicinity besides the group members that he could use as a projectile. A hail of rocks of various sizes joined the superheated plasma in decimating Dark Matter. The remaining forces began to scatter in several directions, throwing off Mega Man and Kirby's aim. Mario stood behind the two, wondering what he could use. With a sudden inspiration he called upon the Fire Flower powers that he had permanently acquired. A glowing red fireball appeared in each of his hands. He yelled a triumphant war-cry and lobbed them both at the scattered Dark Matter. Wham! Two direct hits!
Pikachu suddenly screamed out in terror, but his cry was abruptly cut off. The gang paused their projectiles and turned to look at the Pokemon. Pikachu was currently getting to his feet, but something was wrong about him. An ominous black glow was emanating from his eyes. Kirby gasped. "Oh, crud! He's been possessed!"
The Dark Matter-possessed Pokemon grinned evilly at them. Electricity began to spark from its cheeks. Thunder rumbled overhead, its ominous presence aiding the almost-forgotten fear-effect.
Kirby got a sudden idea. "WHEEL!" He yelled. A flash of light surged around his body and left the Dark-Matter Pikachu squinting and blinking. The light faded, and Kirby once again stood there. He was now a brownish color, but Mario couldn't see any other differences. Mega Man did a small scan over Kirby's new form and the results astounded him; the Dreamlander's entire body composition had been changed to over 90% rubber!
Kirby grinned at the two and gave them a thumbs-up. Then he turned to the possessed Pikachu. "Release him NOW, Dark Matter!" He boldly commanded. The Pokemon merely shook off its fear and sent a bolt of electricity at Kirby. The Pink Wonder let the deadly current pass over his rubber body harmlessly, ignoring the gasp of shock coming from Mario's direction. The Pokemon grew puzzled. It shocked Kirby again. And again, without any results. Now the possessed Pikachu began to grow fearful. Kirby shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. You asked for it." He began spinning in place, and his body color changed from brown to black. A yellow star appeared on his side and began spinning with the rest of him. When he had fully transformed into an exact replica of a car tire, he released the 'brakes' and spun at high speed towards Pikachu. The Pokemon yelled and tried to get out of the way, but by then it was too late. Kirby slammed into him doing seventy-five miles per hour. Pikachu went flying, and landed around twenty meters away, skidding to a halt and leaving a large rut in the dirt.
"Hey guys! Look out!" Mega Man suddenly yelled. The other Dark Matter had been sneaking up on them during all of this. Mega Man once again went to work, spraying the dark orbs with plasma-fire. They evaporated in small puffs of smoke as the plasma hit them, but more were crawling out to face them by the second. Mario began to give the robot a hand with his red fireballs. Apparently Dark Matter liked the flaming projectiles as much as plasma; when one of them was hit with a fireball, it evaporated and left a small yellow coin lying behind in the dirt. Mega Man didn't notice this, but Mario sure did.
Meanwhile, Pikachu still hadn't gotten rid of the Dark Matter that was controlling him. As Kirby began to near it, it yelled out.
"PIKA!" (AGILITY!) In a sudden flash of light, the Possessed Pikachu was off and running, a cloud of dust in his wake. The remaining Dark Matter began to flee after him, dodging the last parting shots Mega Man sent after them as they raced away to be lost from sight. Finally Mega Man stopped firing and transformed his Mega-buster back into his hand. He shook his fist angrily in the direction Dark Matter had gone, but didn't say anything.
Mario began to walk over to Kirby to ask if he was all right. Even as he did so, another burst of light went over Kirby and faded to reveal the Dreamlander in his normal pink self again. Mario shrugged and instead began picking up and storing away all the coins left behind scattered on the ground.
Kirby walked over to stand next to Mega Man, looking at the point where Dark Matter had disappeared from sight. Eventually, Mario joined them, his pockets bulging slightly. "So what now?" He asked. "Do we go after them and rescue Pikachu, or do we investigate Dreamland's problem?"
Kirby winced, indecision tearing at him. "I don't know. We really need to help save Dreamland, but I don't want things to get fixed and for Pikachu to go back to Reality while he's possessed! Anything could happen!"
Mega Man confidently hefted up his Mega Buster. "Don't worry. Leave Pikachu to me-those things can't affect me emotionally, and my plasma shots seem to work pretty well against them. Here…" He pulled open a small panel in his chestplate and removed a walkie-talkie device. "I'll radio you guys when I'm through so you'll know it's safe to fix everything. In the meantime, you should find the problem's source a couple miles to the east of here. Go get it!"
Mario nodded and took the proffered walkie-talkie. He looked at Mega Man with an expression bordering on sadness. "Well, then I guess this is goodbye." He began. "Once we fix Dreamland, you'll go back to your reality and I'll go back to mine…"
Mega Man waved the sentiments off. "I know. I've only known ya for a short while, Mario, but it's been nice travelling with you. Maybe we'll meet again someday…after all, you never know when Dreamland might mess up again." He grinned.
Kirby groaned. "Aw man, don't say that!" He smiled. "It's been nice knowing you, Mega. Good luck rescuing Pikachu!"
"Thanks!" Mega Man opened a panel on his right wrist and pressed down on a button. "Rush! Come here!" He spoke into some sort of speaker. Almost immediately the red-armored canine beamed down beside them in a red flash of light. Mega Man looked at him and rubbed the dog under his chin affectionately. "Hey, boy! Ya ready to go for a ride? Huh?"
Rush began barking and jumping in place excitedly. Mega Man stood up and shouted a command. "RUSH JET!"
Immediately Rush undertook one of the most astounding transformations Mario had seen yet. The canine's feet and legs folded up until they were horizontal to the rest of its body. Thrusters folded out on its bottom and rear, allowing it to float in the air. In less than ten seconds, Rush had become a fully functional jet-propelled platform. Mega Man hopped onto the Rush Jet's back, gave Mario and Kirby a small smile and wave, and flew off in the direction Dark Matter had gone.
Mario and Kirby waved back, and watched until the tiny blue and red speck they knew to be their friend was lost from sight. Mario flicked on the walkie-talkie he was holding. "Testing, testing." He spoke into it. "Can you hear us there, Mega?"
"Loud and clear, guys!" Mega Man's voice came crackling through. "This thing has a pretty long range, so you should still be able to talk to me when I catch up with Dark Matter. In the meantime, you ought to stop just standing there and start moving!" His voice could still be heard carrying a faint note of teasing in it, even at that distance. Mario grinned.
"Okay, will do! C'mon, Kirby!" Both the Dreamlander and the Plumber began running east towards the problem's source, as the robot had indicated.
Luigi coughed and hacked until he felt like his lungs would burst. The strange fragrances and mists that clouded the interior of the Potion- Maker's shop had never really bothered Link before, but they were wrecking holy havoc on the plumber's sinuses. Luigi's eyes watered as he choked and sputtered. The smells were so strong…he couldn't breathe…
"Luigi, I'd like you to meet Madame Amora, the Potion-Maker of this village." Link introduced Luigi to the thin, shrivelled-looking woman that leered at them from behind the counter. Luigi couldn't help noticing through his blurred vision that Amora was missing quite a few teeth.
"Hello, welcome, welcome!" Amora cackled. "You have need of my potions? One drop cures all!"
"Yes. We'd like a potion for…" Luigi was suddenly overcome by a coughing fit.
"Hmmm. I think my new assistant ought to have a look at you, dearie!" Amora eyed Luigi intently. "You look rather sickly, do you not? Yes, I think he ought to give you a check-up. No extra charge, of course…" She suddenly called back into the depths of the store behind the counter. "Oh, Doctor! We've got another patient for you!"
"Well, who is it this time?" A strangely familiar voice asked. "I'm very busy, Amora. I think I've nearly figured out a viable cure for the common cold…" As the voice spoke, someone walked out of the store depths and around the counter to stand next to Luigi and Link.
Both the plumber's and Hylian's eyes bulged. Luigi gasped and sputtered in shock instead of from the fumes. The person standing before him was dressed in an immaculately white medical outfit, and a stethescope hung swinging 'round his neck. But to Luigi, there was no mistaking the face of the doctor that stood in front of him.
"Mario?!"