The Hills Have Eyes (But Only in Grass Land)
Chapter 2-1: King Kong
The Lakeside Cabin
Mario awakens to find himself lying on the floor of the cabin, his vision no longer as it was and now back to normal. The plumber pulls himself off the ground, then walks out of the cabin and looks up at the night sky... night sky? Had he really been out that long? Deciding it best to hurry and find Peach, Mario rushes back to the speedboat and takes off, heading back to the church.
The Fortress
Mario walks into the fortress he had had to pass through on his way to the lake, and inside sees 30 to 40 Ganadors, all staring at that giant door. They all are split between holding two chains, seemingly trying to rip the door off.
"El Kong está listo."
"Somos la última resistencia."
"Martin probablemente no terminará Un Lugar ni TEA3 cualquiera."
The door suddenly does come off, prompting Mario to draw his Super Scope when he sees a 16-foot-tall purple Chained Kong. The beast promptly takes care of every single one of the Ganadors, swatting them left and right, stepping on some, and kicking the rest. Soon, all but Mario and the Shrookong are dead.
The creature lets out a piercing shriek before rushing forward in an attempt to run Mario down, though the plumber manages to roll out of the way. Mario takes the opportunity to shoot the beast twice, then gets back on the defensive. This time, the creature smacks the ground, causing a small tremor that sends Mario toppling over backwards. As the creature lumbers forward and looks ready to finish the fight, both Mario and Shrookong hear a voice.
"Hey, come over here ya dirty ape!"
Mario and the Kong both turn to see the Goomba Mario helped out earlier, much to Mario's relief. The gorilla turns its attention to the Goomba, rushing forward but ultimately missing. Mario fires three more rounds into the Shrookong's back, which causes the creature to fall to one knee while moaning. Mario then looks and sees a small purple creature emerging from the Shrookong's back, and, though it looks a bit familiar but with some differences, he fails to recognize it and instead jumps on the creature's back and begins firing away at the purple being.
After about a minute of nonstop firing, Shrookong begins to rise once more, causing Mario to fall off and the purple creature to reenter the Kong's back. Mario and the Goomba both begin to run as Shrookong charges, once again missing the two and colliding shoulder-first into a wall. Mario fires the Super Scope three times, then throws that down and gets out his Super Sniper. He takes the opportunity to shoot one shot from it directly at the spot where the purple creature in hiding, causing the beast to once again fall over and the creature to emerge. Mario takes out his hammer and thrusts down the Super Sniper, then jumps on the Shrookong's back and finishes the purple creature. This causes the Shrookong to fall to its stomach.
"Thanks for the help..." Mario says while panting before picking up his things and putting them away.
"Any time!" the Goomba answers as he runs off again. Mario then sees a small bag on the Shrookong's side open up, and out from it falls a ton of coins. Mario scoops those up and tosses them in his wallet, then is on his way.
The Church
"Toadsworth, sorry I haven't contacted in a while. I've just entered the church," Mario says as he looks around the large building, not seeing a soul.
"Haven't contacted? Master Mario, you just called an hour and a half ago, remember?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You said you were going to take a rest in some cabin. I guess you must have thought that was in a dream. Either way, hurry and find the princess!"
"Gotcha." Mario hangs up, then begins to wander around the church. In a corner he finds a ladder leading to a balcony up above the first floor. Naturally Mario climbs up, and then, seeing no other way across, swings across the chandelier to the other side of the balcony. Once he does that, he finds a door just up ahead with a padlock on it, a key taped to the wall next to it.
"I bet this is it," he whispers as he pulls it off then unlocks the door. He steps inside to find Princess Peach lying on the ground in a ball, terrified.
"Not again!" she shouts, then looks up just long enough to see that it's not a Ganador at all, but Mario. She leaps up, elated, and hugs his neck before pulling off.
"Mario! I knew you'd come!" After exchanging greetings and explanations of what they know about what's going on (very little) they both rush out of the small room and down the ladder. They walk into the main hall, ready to leave, and see that Cackletta is standing there with three Ganadors all armed with crossbows.
"Eyahahaha! I see you managed to survive the Shrookong, huh? I guess I underestimated you!" the bean-witch taunts.
"What are you up to?" Mario asks, anxious to find out what exactly is going on.
"Simple, Mario, simple. I was going to give Peach back in a few days, right after everything's ready. Then, she'll hand over the Mushroom Kingdom to me, and from there I will conquer the world!"
"Why would I give the Mushroom Kingdom to you?" Peach wonders, wishing to hurry up and get out of here.
"Simple, princess. My minions and I have injected both of you with a handy little specimen that mutates whatever it touches! Seems like its effects change depending on the creature; with a Koopa you get Ganadors, with a Cheep-Cheep you get a Mass Bass, and with a Chained Kong you get a Shrookong. With a human it just creates an obedient servant except for the whole thing about dying after two weeks, but who cares? Eyahaha!"
"What is this creature?" Mario questions sternly, wanting to know what it is.
"The term my group uses is Fungus shrookus but I think you may know them better as the Shroobs."
"Shroobs? How?" Peach asks. "I thought Mario and Luigi killed them all!"
"Why should I tell you? If I did, you could stop me... but that's not a worry right now, is it? Ganadors, kill Mario. Let the Princess live. She'll be useless to us dead." All three Ganadors launch arrows, with Mario grabbing Peach and running out of the way at the last second. The two jump through a glass window leading down to another section of the church.
End of Chapter 2-1