The Hills Have Eyes (But Only in Grass Land)
Chapter 1-2: Day of the Dead
Mario and Iggy both lie unconscious on the floor of the room they were knocked out in. The two are tied together, and the figure of Cackletta stands over them with a needle in hand. She injects its contents into Mario's neck. "Eyahahahahaha..." she laughs sinisterly, watching with glee as the purple liquid within the vile enters the plumber. She does not do the same to Iggy, curiously.
-The Shack-
Mario awakes to see that he is still where he was before, the Bean and Ganadors both nowhere in sight. He shakes a bit to wake up the Koopa he is tied to.
"Iggy, what were you saying earlier?"
"Huh?" Iggy asks as he yawns before answering, "Right. I was told I was hired to find a cure for this serum. I did, but as it turns out-" Iggy suddenly stops where a Ganador holding an axe enters the room, staring down at both.
"Move!" Mario shouts to the Koopa. Both Iggy and Mario stretch out the ropes as far as possible, causing the Ganador to accidently cut them free rather than kill them. The Ganador rushes at Mario, who does a backflip and in the process kicks the mutant into the bureau, shattering both the bureau and the mutant. As Mario is about to shoot the moss, Iggy stops him.
"Don't worry about it. In its present state, it can only survive on its own for a short time anyway." Iggy then turns and runs out of the building, shouting back, "Sorry I have to go, but there's something very important I need to get."
Mario sighs and starts to take pursuit of the middle-child of the Koopalings, but stops when, while passing by a window, he sees a boy standing outside motioning for him to come around. The boy has purple eyes and discolored limbs, obviously the same boy as from before. Mario, for lack of a better plan at the moment, goes around, going to the boy who is now leaning off a stone wall.
"So, what can I interest you in now?" the boy asks, sounding just like the boy from before and confirming what is pretty obvious anyway.
"What new things do you have?"
"Just two," the boy replies, "But it's a nice one. A Laser Gun, guaranteed to fire faster than that clunky thing you're using now. Not nearly as strong though. Good price, just 350 coins."
"And the other one?"
"I'm not sure you'd like it, but it's something that'll hit hard and fast. A Flower Launcher- a device specifically meant to be used to take down a bunch of targets in one shot. Can only be used once though. Price is 4,000 coins."
"Alright, alright. Give me the Laser Gun." Mario digs out the money and hands it to the boy and is given the small futuristic pistol in return. Mario stuffs it away and then walks off.
"I'll try to have more next time we meet," the boy shouts to him, then looks to see that he's accidently attached himself to the wall.
"Hey!" the boy shouts, though Mario is too far away to hear him, "Can you help me get down from here? Come on!"
-The Underground-
Mario walks through the sewers underneath the village, having gotten there via a warp pipe he had managed to find upon returning to the village. Judging by how long the pipe was and the way the water was flowing, Mario assumes this sewer is leading him to area just outside of the village. What could be there is hard to say.
The plumber eventually reaches a louder leading up to a small ledge. He climbs up this ladder, and there sees a door. But it's not just any door; this door has a strange blue ball on it with a small encryption of a symbol carved into the wall above the door. The ball itself has a similar design on it, but is upside down. Mario, figuring this out easily, rolls the ball a bit to make it face the same way as the design, and the door promptly opens.
-The Chief's House-
Mario walks inside, arriving in what appears to be a small bedroom. A large bed is lying in the corner of the room, and there are also numerous other things: a shelf, paintings, books, and a dresser. Mario, not being able to think of much else to do, opens a drawer on the dresser and sees nothing lying in it but a golden key with a label tied around it, the word on the label being, "Church."
"I'm betting this opens the door they entered earlier..." the plumber mumbles before noticing something lying on the bed. After stuffing the key in the case with his hammer and two guns, he walks over and grabs what it is: a note that appears to have been drafted up but not officially typed yet.
"Alert Order
Recently a man from the Mushroom Kingdom has been spotted wondering around looking into our goals. Do not let this man come in contact with the prisoner- the results could prove to be disastrous. For those who have not yet been informed, the prisoner is being kept inside an old house just outside the main street of the village. We will transfer the prisoner to another more secure location in the valley when we are properly prepared. For now, do whatever it takes to keep the man from the Mushroom Kingdom away from the prisoner.
We're not sure how the Mushroom Kingdom found out about our plans; we thought we had done an adequate job using Koopa as a scapegoat. It may be that there is someone else involved here, a third party of sorts. If you see any suspicious activity, report it immediately.
-Chief Bitor Esmendez"
Not seeing anything else in the room that could be of any concern, Mario folds the letter up and puts it with his other supplies, then walks out of the room. He finds himself a hallway, a well-watched hallway at that, with a staircase leading to the ground level of the house. He begins to hear footsteps but sees no one coming. Mario spins around only to be grabbed by the throat by the chief of the village, who begins to squeeze the very life out of the plumber before suddenly letting go when his left arm, the arm he is choking with, begins to pulse as though it is a warning bell of some sort. Esmendez drops the plumber to the floor, then begins to speak.
"You're one of us it seems. Good. Just stay out of our way for now, or you may find yourself dead before you can achieve the blessing." And with that, the chief walks into the bedroom and slams the door shut behind him. Mario gasps for air for a few seconds, then stands up and calls Toadsworth.
"Toadsworth, it's me. I just had a run-in with the leader of the village. He could have killed me but... he didn't. I also found a document that implies that he is behind Peach's kidnapping, but I don't have anything solid."
"I say, this is starting to sound like quite a mystery we've got on our hands. If you find out the Princess's location, get there as quickly as you are able."
"Alright." Both hang up, and Mario immediately decides to look into the room and spy to see if he can see anything. He cracks the door open, only to see the face of the chief staring right back at him. Mario gets grabbed by the throat, once again being choked though this time the chief shows no signs of caring about his survival. Just as Mario's vision begins to grow foggy, he sees a pink figure outside the window (though he can't make out who it is). Something flies in from the figure, hitting the chief in the back and causing him to drop Mario.
Esmendez turns and charges at the figure, who immediately shoots upward and sends the chief hurtling out the window. Mario drags himself to the window and sees that the chief is alive and well, but is now walking off toward the village oddly.
End of Chapter 1-2