Disclaimer: La, la, la...I don't want to repeat it, okay?
Note: In case you couldn't tell, Felix T. is named after Mendelssohn and Koobert is named after Schubert. Well, go Romantic...
Chapter 5
The next day, Toad and Yoshi headed for the airport together. They took Yoshi's kart all the way there.
Once they got there, they immediately headed for the ticket stall. A young Lakitu was there, hovering next to a few Toads and a Paratroopa.
"How do you do?" the Lakitu asked Toad and Yoshi.
"Good," Toad replied. "Anyway, we're ordering tickets to Tratsvilla. After May 8, please."
"How many?" the Lakitu asked on.
"Four seats, please, preferably all together, but I can accept blocks of two," Toad responded.
"Okay, then, which flight? There's a Cloud Valley Airlines flight to there on May 9, leaving at 5:00 PM and arriving at 8:00 PM. Or you can take the Kingdom Air one on May 10, leaving at 3:30 PM and arriving at 6:30 PM. Or you can try the Darkland Flights one also on May 9, leaving at 8:45 AM and arriving at 11:45 AM…"
"Any in the early afternoon on May 9?"
"Oh! There's the Kingdom Air flight on May 9, leaving at 2:35 PM and arriving 5:35 PM."
"I'll take it."
"Here's its seating plan so far. Please pick the seats you like."
Toad picked a whole row of seats that went straight across the airplane. It was, as usual, economy class.
"All right, that costs 30 multi-coins for a one-way flight. Taking one?"
Toad immediately handed over the multi-coins, as if he were answering with a "yes".
"All right, here's the one-way tickets," the Lakitu replied as he handed Toad four tickets. "Check in at 12:35 PM. Go through security at 2:05 PM at the latest. You've picked seats R1, R2, R3, and R4 in Economy Class."
Toad and Yoshi left with the tickets and walked back to Yoshi's kart.
"Okay, now what?" Yoshi asked when the two of them got home.
"I guess since we have time, I'd better find out how to get from Tratsvilla to Koopital. We only have to pick up the Lakitus the day after tomorrow."
"I'll find out, too," Yoshi replied.
The two of them scanned their books, flipped through their encyclopaedias, and searched with Mario and Luigi's computer. This took up the rest of their day, Finally, Toad decided to discuss his admittedly meagre findings with Yoshi.
"Those books and encyclopaedias had nothing, but at least the Triple-W Web had something," Toad conferred.
"Yeah, it did," Yoshi agreed. "The Shroom Sweeper search engine was so helpful!"
"I tried the Zipfire one and it didn't turn out too well," Toad remarked. "Anyway, from what I got from it, the most direct path from Tratsvilla to Koopital has a forest, grassland, and lava plain in its way. It's going to take a while to cross that, and we'll probably have to battle many times. And you?"
"I got lots," Yoshi responded gleefully. "As for the enemies in our most direct path, there are Embers, Dark Puffs, Crazee Dayzees, unfriendly Lakitus, Pale Piranhas, Fuzzies, Spinies, Spike Tops, Boldberries, Spinegalls, and much more! We'll have to research how to fight all of them."
"I wish Goombario or Goombella were here," Toad sighed.
"From what I heard, Goombario's 16th on Bowser's list," Yoshi commented. "Besides, I don't think even they know about most of the enemies on my list." He paused and continued. "Also, there are a few towns where we can rest and restock along the way. There's Roranville, Flowerton, and Darkital, in the order we'll probably be visiting them. Darkital's the biggest of them, but it's the most hostile to Mushroom Kingdom tourists like us. Anyway, we should bring some items with us. I'll bring some of my fruits, but what are you bringing?"
"Some various shrooms and a couple of Mushroom Bombs," Toad answered, then continued, "We'd better tell the Lakitus about our findings."
"Day after tomorrow or tomorrow?" Yoshi asked.
"I guess day after. Don't we only have to pick them up by then?"
"I guess so."
The next day, Toad and Yoshi packed up for their big trip with Lakilester and Lakilulu. Yoshi drove to his store, did his business, put up a "Closed Indefinitely" sign, and brought home some fruits from near his store. Toad rounded up his supplies, packed non-perishable food, and started researching the enemies on Yoshi's list.
When Yoshi came back, he researched too. Eventually, they both came up with a glut of information.
"Okay, so Spinegalls look like round green balls with spines and Boldberries look like bulbous blue berries, as far as I could get with Zipfire. What did you get?"
"I tried Shroom Sweeper and it was great!" Yoshi enthusiastically replied. "From what I got about fighting Spinegalls, those things are weak to others' spines. I guess a couple Spinies would work. As for Boldberries, those things are weak to spikes and high heights. We could drop them from a tree or something."
"The Lakitus would be very helpful," Toad remarked when he heard this.
"I also found battle strategies for a few more enemies," Yoshi continued. "For Lava Spiders, you send good supplies of ice at them. Impoids are very quick, but they go down with a First Strike. And as for Sun Orbs, covering them so they can't send out their light is very helpful."
"That's good, but what do those enemies look like?"
"I printed off pictures of them, as seen here. Too bad we don't have a colour printer."
"I hope black-and-white is good enough…"
They both looked at the labelled pictures. They stared at them for a long time to remember the images. After that, they took showers, brushed their teeth, and went to bed.
May 8 dawned, and Toad collected their tickets to the Nova Classical Masters concert. He checked the facts on it.
"It's at 2:30 PM," Toad said. "We still have time."
"Why not pick up the Lakitus first?" Yoshi suggested.
"Okay!" Toad cheerfully replied, and they drove their karts to the Sky High Tower. They were about to buy some visitor tickets when they saw Lakilester and Lakilulu in the main lobby.
"How was your time in Mushroom City?" Toad asked.
"Fine," Lakilester replied. "We went to the Arh T. Art Museum. I thought it would be boring, but it actually wasn't bad."
"I saw one of the Lil'Mak concerts," Lakilulu eagerly chirped.
"Now those are boring," Lakilester muttered, almost inaudibly. "Yes, I got dragged along," he grumbled to Toad and Yoshi.
"We got airplane tickets and did some research on where we're going," Yoshi said. "Our flight's on May 9 at 2:35 PM. And after we land in Tratsvilla, we have to go through a forest, a plain, and some lava fields to Koopital."
"Any enemies?" Lakilulu asked. "Hopefully, we won't die fighting them…"
"Unfortunately, lots," Yoshi answered. "You won't have heard of most of them, so I'll tell you about them later. There are also a few towns along the way, but the one closest to Koopital's the most hostile to guys like us."
"I'm not sure how much my cred will affect them," Lakilester though out loud.
"At any rate, that's the summary. We packed food and Toad here's packed some small Mushroom Bombs for offence. You need to pack anything?"
"I think the Spinies and Cloudsheep food will be enough," Lakilester answered.
"I think so, too," Lakilulu also responded.
"Good. We'll be seeing the concert in Bombastica by 2:30. That means we'll have to go about now, since it's fifty kilometres from here. You want to go with us?"
"Of course!" the two Lakitus replied, with Lakilester's reply sounding as if the answer was obvious.
"I know where the concert is," Toad said.
"Good. We're following Toad, okay?" Yoshi commanded.
The four of them went to Toad and Yoshi's karts, with the usual difficult buckling-up. Toad led the way, with Yoshi's green kart following close behind. Within an hour, they reached Bombastica, driving to the Fortress Estates parking lot.
"Good! We're here, and we're a bit early," Toad said, relieved.
"All right, where are we supposed to go?" Lakilester asked.
"The Azure Contest Hall's this way," Toad pointed, as the foursome looked at where Toad was pointing and followed his way.
They all arrived in the Azure Contest Hall, and a Bob-omb was at the ticket booth.
"Would you BOOM offer your BOOM tickets, please?" the Bob-omb said with a heavy accent.
"This guy must be from Fahr Outpost," Toad murmured as he gave the Bob-omb the four tickets.
"Thank BOOM you," the Bob-omb accepted as he handled the tickets. "You may BOOM proceed."
The quartet rushed into the open doors of the stage entrance, as a couple Cheep Cheeps and a Noki did the same. They managed to settle themselves down in their seats before the lights darkened, the doors closed, and the show began.
A bright-yellow-shelled Koopa Troopa entered the stage, which contained a grand piano, and spoke. "Ladies, gentlemen, and genderless," he announced, "I am Koobert, and I am here to perform ten choice pieces of this modern neoclassical era. The order will be as shown in your pamphlets."
"Good thing I picked up one," Toad whispered as he held up the pamphlet. "The sonata's eighth, everyone."
Koobert then seated himself and started to play Felix T.'s Finale in A minor. The audience (including a particularly impatient young Bob-omb) immediately quieted down as the notes spread throughout the hall.
After the finale, two minuet and trios, a theme and variations, two rondos, and a regular sonata-allegro, Koobert finally played the Sonata in A flat minor. As he played, Toad and Lakilulu frantically tried humming along, as the sonata had a fast tempo and a furious atmosphere.
"No wonder Bowser selected this one," Lakilester commented.
After the sonata-allegro ended, Toad (with his naturally keen hearing) noticed some other members of the audience humming the melody. "Looks like we aren't alone," he muttered to Yoshi.
One march and Ludwig von Koopa's Study in Rhythm later, Koobert was done, and the concert was over. As everyone left the concert hall, Toad noticed some Clubbas still humming the melody. Lakilulu was humming it, too.
"I think I can remember the sonata very well," Toad remarked.
"Good thing you can," Yoshi responded. "Lakilulu can't seem to remember it without humming the grating thing all the time…" His voice escalated as he went along.
"You might want to try it more quietly," Lakilester told Lakilulu. Apparently, he was also a bit annoyed with Lakilulu's humming, though he tried to hide that.
"At least that's done," Yoshi sighed, relieved that they had seen the concert and that Lakilulu had lowered her volume. "The flight's tomorrow, right?"
"Right," Toad confirmed.
"Well, onward forward!" Yoshi exclaimed as they headed back to Mushroom City.