breath20k
Five down, two to go.
LiamTheYoshi
I had to come up with just the right one-liner, so why not foreshadow attacking Cortez's heart? Since it's a Mario & Luigi fanfic, you gotta make at least one reference to the RPG series of the same name.
mariobroultimate
It was a misunderstanding from the start, so they just played along until they found the right time to tell Cortez about the Crystal Star. As for Pennington, you'll see when he first meets the Mario Bros.
Nataly Guardado
There are some villains who were meant to be evil for life, but not in Cortez's case. He was able to do a Heel-Face Turn after his defeat.
...
Chapter 40: The Heroic Four
*1,000 YEARS AGO*
A typical sunny day in a city flourished in peace and splendor. Its residents went about their businesses without a worry in the world.
Just then, the sky gradually turned from bright blue to purplish-black. The residents stopped in their tracks, questioning the peculiar sky color. It didn't look like an incoming rainstorm, nor was it even nighttime.
Silence grew over the town too.
Moments later, the ground started rumbling violently, causing everyone to scatter with fear. Whitish-purple lightning bolts cracked the sky amidst the ground slowly coming apart.
Out of nowhere, a large purple demon, whose face was blank, lowered from the sky. Its hands had spindly fingers and long ponytails hung from its head.
Some of the residents froze in place, seeing the demon above their heads. The rest continued to try and find somewhere to hide quick.
Then, the demon let out a piercing shriek followed by a vast purple explosion that engulfed everything.
Within seconds, the smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a giant hole where the town once was. No one survived the destruction.
...
How far down did the town go underground when the demon obliterated it? Very deep. Over time, one-fourth of the sunken town became home of the demon. The rest were simply abandoned ruins.
Wanting to become more powerful than before, the demon created seven star gems to hold the essence of the heavens. They would later become known as the Crystal Stars. To keep the Crystal Stars held from anybody, castles were built.
One of the castles, stationed near Petal Meadows, was guarded by one of the demon's two pet dragons, Hooktail. Hooktail's younger brother Gloomtail would guard the demon's home. Whenever out and about, the two dragons spread fear and sorrow over all. Even now, the mere mention of a dragon is enough to give some the terrors.
...
*TWO DAYS LATER*
"Despite people making fun of my face deformity, nothing will stop me from plowing through my enemies!"
That was what Warrior T. declared when fighting a group of Dark Wizzerds in front of his fellow villagers.
Warrior T., a special Toad hailing from Petal Meadows, was gifted with incredible strength and pure courage at birth, but was born with a facial deformation that caught everyone's attention. People poked fun at his appearance and outcasted him. But he didn't pay mind to the bullies and focused on the positive path of life.
But as Warrior T. fended off those Dark Wizzerds that came from the demon's lair, everyone in the village gave their respect to him.
...
"I've foreseen what's bound to happen. When those monsters stumble upon our land, we will oust them with our might."
Those were the words Goombonnie told her peers in Boggly Woods shortly after learning about the town's destruction.
Goombonnie, a part-time fortune teller, had the ability to predict when times were dark and came up with ideas to defend her residency.
Now, she will be put to the ultimate test.
...
Wielding a sword and shield; Konrad, a stalwart blue-shelled Koopa Troopa, traveled the world solo in hopes of banishing all kinds of evil.
For the past two days, the monsters that faced Konrad feared him greatly. That is until he fell for a trap put together by a posse of Dark Boos. Amongst the Dark Boos was a single white Boo, who faced a dilemma of whether to fight the good or rebel against the bad.
Through some conviction, Konrad melted the Boo's heart and the Boo set Konrad free.
"What is your name?" Konrad asked the Boo.
"I'm Boomille. I want to thank you for motivating me to become a hero."
"My pleasure. I highly recommend you team up with me on my mission. Trust me."
So, Boomille gave her trust, and the two vowed to have each other's backs forever.
...
"Say, Konrad, we need the Toad hero of Petal Meadows and the wise Goomba of Boggly Woods," Boomille said later on. "We cannot destroy this darkness by just ourselves."
"An excellent idea," Konrad agreed.
Using her magic, Boomille summoned Warrior T. and Goombonnie to join her and Konrad. After a brief meeting, Goombonnie named the newly formed team "The Heroic Four" and became the leader.
While setting off for the demon's lair, Goombonnie determined that the demon's power was greater than any could imagine. "It's the power of the Crystal Stars," she stated. "We should retrieve the stars and use them against the demon, otherwise known to victims as the Shadow Queen."
...
The Heroic Four have finally confronted the Shadow Queen, ready to stop her once and for all.
"Boomille and Warrior! Face the Shadow Queen yourselves!" Goombonnie called out. "Konrad, when she's stunned, it's your chance to seize the Crystal Stars!"
Using their combined forces, Boomille and Warrior T. created a gap in the Shadow Queen's defenses. It was then that Konrad snagged the Crystal Stars before Goombonnie provided the next instruction.
"Now we seal the Shadow Queen forever! All of us work together on this part!"
Joining together once more, the Heroic Four matched their strengths with the power of the Crystal Stars, hoping the plan would succeed.
To their surprise, the Shadow Queen let out a loud scream and was encased in a black cloud of smoke; the cloud sank toward the floor and started to clear up.
Suddenly, one of the Shadow Queen's arms burst through the transparent cloud and gripped the carpet. The Heroic Four held their breaths in shock.
"You will not leave this place unharmed!" the Shadow Queen's voice boomed. "Those seven Crystal Stars may be just enough to break the seal, but once you let go of the stars, you will suffer a slow and painful fate!"
With that, four ear-piercing white flashes sounded, blinding the Heroic Four briefly. Upon regaining their sights, they saw the black cloud completely gone.
Goombonnie knew a curse was put upon them. "It's already too late. We'll be sealed ourselves if we get rid of the Crystal Stars."
"But what are we going to do?!" Warrior T. cried.
"We can't let anyone break the Shadow Queen's seal. We must scatter the Crystal Stars in random places. Yes, we'll be gone by then, but is our fate worse than another person wreaking havoc?"
That question did it. Everyone had no choice but to agree with Goombonnie's next plan.
...
The first three Crystal Stars were placed in their respective locations, yet none of the Heroic Four suffered anything yet.
It got to the point where they had to split up to hide the remaining four stars. But before doing so, the Heroic Four made a map to all the stars, including those that were to be hidden.
And to prevent an evil force from misusing this map, they placed it in a box that could only be opened by the pure of heart.
...
Going back to Boggly Woods, Goombonnie hollowed out a giant tree for the tiny Punies to reside in safety. She named the tree "The Great Boggly Tree".
Before Goombonnie handed an emerald colored Crystal Star to the Punies, she spoke, "You must swear to protect the Crystal Star at all costs. It takes gratitude and willingness to do so."
Right as a Puni was given the Crystal Star, Goombonnie collapsed and slowly disappeared into thin air. A black chest simultaneously appeared deep within the sewers. Legend says Goombonnie's soul resides in the chest.
...
An abandoned steeple in endless twilight. Boomille believed that was the perfect location to place her ruby colored Crystal Star.
She too faded away after hiding it deep within the steeple. Her soul lives inside another black chest, one that a shopkeeper took for himself, not knowing what was really in it.
...
Arriving at a southern isle in the middle of the sea, Konrad took his sapphire colored Crystal Star and went inside a grotto to conceal it.
It wasn't long before a ghostly skeleton ambushed him.
"Who are you?!" Konrad shouted.
"¡Soy el rey pirata Cortez! (I am the pirate king Cortez!) That treasure is mine!"
Before Konrad could take his next move, Cortez stole the Crystal Star, ending his life. But Cortez did not realize the power of the star and lost it among his treasures.
For Konrad, his soul is now in another black chest. Where in the grotto is the chest? No one knows. At least at this moment.
...
Holding onto his diamond colored Crystal Star for his life, Warrior T. carried it with him everywhere he went. Eventually, he got so exhausted that he collapsed, but didn't die.
Luckily, a healer found Warrior T. and brought him back on his feet.
"Please, sir. You must take this star with you," Warrior T. begged. "An ally of mine said to keep it somewhere hidden for the good of the world."
"I cross my heart," the healer replied. "I will hide it in a secret place known to no one."
Right in front of the healer's eyes, he watched as Warrior T. passed away.
Warrior T.'s soul has been kept inside one more black chest, which somehow formulated in the same castle Hooktail guarded.
As for the healer, he managed to scale the castle undetected and place the Crystal Star in a dungeon cell.
...
After the Shadow Queen was sealed, many refused to come near that place of terror. But as the years passed, entire generations forgot and the penniless and the immoral began to congregate in this once-barren place.
This place soon became a populous harbor, the town of Rogueport. Other tales have it that the underground city held a legendary treasure. But no one was unaware that the Shadow Queen slept beneath them still.
...
*1,000 YEARS LATER*
In an unknown location, a group of X-Nauts gathered in Grodus's throne room for a staff meeting.
Before Grodus could kick off the meeting, the doors swung open.
"Freeze right there!" Grodus shouted at who entered the throne room. It was a purple figure wearing a blue and white witch hat.
"No need to despair, sir," the figure stated, not minding the X-Nauts preparing to throw her out.
"Tell us your name!"
"Is my name more important than why I'm here?"
Grodus thought it over. "That's a good point."
"Now, have you ever heard of the demon known as the Shadow Queen?" the figure asked.
"No."
"Allow me to give you some insight."
The figure told Grodus the whole story of the Shadow Queen up to when the Heroic Four hid the Crystal Stars. Even the X-Nauts were intrigued by the story.
"There's a lot of evildoers that say they want to conquer the world," the figure said. "And I, Beldam, must ask you if you ever thought of such a wish."
"Not before today," Grodus said. "But it's a huge responsibility, right?"
"It is at first glance," Beldam answered. "But why conquer the world, you ask? First, think about what's wrong with it from your perspective."
"The way I see the current world..." Grodus wondered out loud. "There's too much happiness and carefreeness. No strict order at all."
"Of course there's no strict order. Everyone gets to do what they want. You want to see them do what you want?"
"Yeah. But destroying a single town isn't enough to conquer the world," Grodus said.
"That's where the Shadow Queen comes in," Beldam agreed. "Starting today, you and your fellow soldiers must go and find all seven Crystal Stars to break the Shadow Queen's seal. From there, she'll destroy everything on the planet so you can rebuild from the ground up. A dark world where laws enforce strict order on everybody. Show them that there's no happiness in life. They will be your servants to work to live; not for their own good."
"However, in order to properly reform the world your way..." Beldam continued. "...a pure maiden is needed as a host for the Shadow Queen. She needs to be in control at all times. And this maiden must get ahold of that chest with the map in it. When that chest is found, hand it to me and I'll find whoever has the pure and noble heart to open it. The rest is yours."
"I like that," Grodus chuckled. "Perfect plan."
"You tell me what to do next after I find her," Beldam said. "I have some company with me for good measure."
"All right. I trust you on this. But I'm telling you, don't screw me over. I was this close to ousting you when you came in."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir Grodus!" a voice called from out of nowhere.
"Yes! Speak!" Grodus looked around to see where the voice came from.
"Are you listening to me?"
Seeing Grodus trying to find the voice, Beldam became concerned. "Sir, is something the matter?"
"Shut up! Not now!" Grodus ordered Beldam. "Whoever's in here, talk!"
"Buh! Buh!"
"What does that mean?" Grodus asked, not knowing what the voice was talking about.
"BUHHUHHUHHUH!"
...
Grodus screamed and fell backward, having been jolted awake.
"Hey! You're awake now! Took you forever!"
Grodus stood back up and saw Lord Crump on the TV screen.
"You! How dare you interrupt the most important dream of my life?!" Grodus demanded.
"What was it about?" Lord Crump questioned.
"Shut up and tell me what's going on!"
"But how can I talk when I'm supposed to shut up?"
"That's not what I meant, idiot!" Grodus yelled.
"Okay! Okay! Just hear me out." Lord Crump cleared his throat. "Look... I blew it again. I'm sorry."
Grodus looked down at the floor, annoyed that Lord Crump failed him again. "Oh, you sicken me..."
"We thought we had the guys cornered, but-"
"STOP! TALKING!" Grodus shouted. "I don't like hearing your voice, or even your verbal tic! Just stand by until my next order! And think of this as your last chance! Understand?!"
"Ooh... Overwhelmed by the adrenaline rush, huh?"
"LEAVE!" Grodus shut off the TV screen and threw the remote across the throne room.
Simultaneously, an X-Naut entered the throne room. He most likely heard Grodus yelling from afar.
"Sir Grodus, are you okay?"
"It's nothing," Grodus replied, taking a deep breath. "While you're here, I need you to tell the Shadow Sirens to attack Mario and Luigi again. And tell them not to fail this time."
"You got it, sir," the X-Naut said before leaving the throne room.
"I have one Crystal Star in my hands... And Mario and Luigi have five," Grodus murmured. "I must take some measures."
...
Meanwhile, Peach stepped inside TEC's office, having been summoned yet again.
I wonder what it is this time, Peach thought. "TEC, what's up?"
"I must request that you do something a bit more dangerous this time," TEC stated.
"Dangerous?"
"I would like you to sneak into Sir Grodus's room and look for a data disk."
"A data disk? What for?" Peach asked.
"Although I can view all data on the network... I am unable to access the data of computers that are not linked to the network," TEC explained. "Sir Grodus has information that even I am unable to view. But I must know it. I must know that information."
"But how will I get in there? Will I be disguised again?"
"Not this time. No one other than Sir Grodus can enter his room. When Sir Grodus is elsewhere, there are guards outside the room that permit no entry. But there is a way. You will be fine if you act according to my instructions. I must tell you; I do not want to make you do such a dangerous thing, but now I have no one to ask but you."
"I don't mind, TEC. Really. Ask me anything," Peach reassured TEC.
"First, take the radio before you go."
The compartment beneath TEC's keyboard opened, prompting Peach to take the walkie-talkie.
"As you did earlier, take the elevator to your right."
Peach left TEC's office and found the same elevator she took a few days ago. Just before the elevator started going up, Peach put on the earpiece.
The elevator went up two levels before opening up.
"You will first go in the opposite direction of Sir Grodus's room," TEC said. "Exit the elevator and enter the room with the green lamp lit above it."
Peach exited the elevator and made a right, looking to make sure no guards were around. She passed by two doors with red lamps above and another elevator.
Finally, Peach found a door with a green lamp in front of the second elevator.
"There it is," Peach said. The door was unlocked, allowing her to go inside.
The room Peach entered was a small laboratory. There were four colored potions on a desk in front.
"Now I will have you concoct a potion that will make you transparent," TEC said.
"You mean...a potion that makes me...invisible?" Peach wondered.
"Yes. You will enter Sir Grodus's room by becoming completely invisible."
"Okay. How do I make the potion?"
"You must first set all of the potions on the desk in the Concoctionator," TEC instructed Peach. "It is that machine in the back, but even I do not know which potion to set where. There should be a memo left in this room by the X-Naut researchers. Please use it as a reference and set the potions in the machine."
"I'm on it," Peach replied. She looked at a machine behind the desk with four slots. There was a yellow note taped on the right end of the machine.
Peach read the note silently so no one could hear her, "Place the blue potion next to the red potion. Do not place the red potion on the far right. Place the orange potion between the blue potion and the green potion. Place two potions between the green potion and the red potion."
She leaned against the machine and stared at the potions, thinking of the order she should put them in.
So, from left to right, it's... Red...blue...orange...and green...
Peach took one potion at a time and set them in the order she came up with.
"Okay. I think I got the order down. Now what?" Peach asked TEC.
"Cue the button on the control panel located on the left side of the room," TEC said.
Peach walked to a conveyor belt on the left side of the laboratory and pressed the red button on the front end of the belt. The slots each potion were placed in closed up.
The machine started up, elevating a beaker onto the belt. Then, the slots each potion were placed in were closed.
The beaker rode the belt toward the Concoctionator and stopped before entering the machine itself.
"Please press the button where the beaker stops to dispense each potion," TEC said.
The beaker rolled into the Concoctionator and stopped above where the red potion was placed.
Peach approached the left slot and pressed the red button beneath it, dispensing the red potion in the beaker.
As the beaker moved right into the remaining three slots, Peach dispensed the other three potions into it. By now, the mixture was bright yellow.
Finally, the beaker stopped in a small heating chamber next to the right slot.
"I will heat the mixed potion in the beaker for 30 seconds. You will hear a ding when it is done," TEC said.
A red light turned on in the heating chamber, showing that the potion was being warmed up.
Peach waited until a ding sounded from the Concoctionator.
"By my calculations, it should be finished," TEC told Peach.
"And do I just drink it?" Peach asked.
"You must drink all of it for the potion to work."
The heating chamber opened, allowing Peach to take the potion. She took a whiff of the potion first.
"Not bad. It smells like lemon juice," Peach remarked. She gulped the whole potion within a few seconds. Before she could say how the potion tasted, her head disappeared, making it look like her crown was floating in the air.
"Did it work?" Peach asked.
"Yes. I see that you successfully became transparent. Well done," TEC praised Peach. "But... I must ask you to take off your dress. Even the-"
"NO!" Peach screamed. "THAT'S-"
"Keep it down, Princess Peach. You do not want the guards hearing you."
"But I can't do that!" Peach exclaimed in a lower tone of voice. "What if it wears off early?!"
"I cannot answer your question," TEC replied. "Whatever happens, you must execute your task quickly."
"I don't want to do this..." Peach muttered. She reluctantly doffed her entire outfit and set it on the potion desk.
"When you go into Sir Grodus's room, first locate the disk with the recorded data," TEC instructed Peach. "With the disk in hand, insert it into the personal computer and connect to the network. When you are finished with that, please come back to this room."
"Okay. Wish me luck." Peach took off the earpiece and set it and the walkie-talkie on the desk too.
...
Outside the laboratory, an X-Naut approached its door.
"What was that screaming?" the X-Naut asked. "It sounded like someone got hurt."
Just then, the laboratory doors opened, but no one was inside. The door shut a few seconds later.
"Okay... That was creepy. Why did the lab door open by itself?" The X-Naut looked up and down the hall. "Must've been a malfunction or something."
What the X-Naut didn't know was that Peach exited the laboratory and was already on her way to Grodus's throne room.
...
As Peach walked toward the throne room, she saw three more X-Nauts patrolling the hall. She froze in place.
Are they gonna go through me or not?
Peach resumed walking but at a slow pace. Despite knowing things can go through her since she's invisible, she was worried that the X-Nauts could bump into her as if she was in plain sight.
So, Peach walked out of the way of each X-Naut before reaching the throne room.
Nobody was inside the throne room. Not even Grodus was present. Peach breathed a sigh of relief.
Now where?
Peach noticed a door behind Grodus's station and approached it. The door opened by itself.
The next room was enclosed in a giant Cheep Cheep aquarium. There was a small office desk and tall chair at the back of the room. A high-tech PC was stationed on the desk too.
I think this is Grodus's office. But where is the disk?
Peach gazed around the office and found a book cabinet to the left of the desk. There was a small bin on the middle shelf.
Rummaging through the bin, Peach found a white floppy disk on the bottom.
Okay. Now I just need to get the data from the disk.
Peach sat in the chair and inserted the disk into the computer tower. The monitor turned on and displayed random code lines. Then, a message box read, "Connect to transfer network?"
Peach selected "Yes" and the message box switched to a loading bar.
Please hurry up... Peach prayed, hoping the potion would last long enough for her to get the data and go.
It only took half a minute for the data to be collected; a confirmation box read, "Data transferred."
Peach wasted no time and ejected the disk before placing it in the bin.
Back to the lab.
Peach rushed out of the office and throne room straight to the laboratory.
Just as she entered the laboratory, Peach quickly put her outfit back on in time; she reappeared right as she was putting her crown on her head.
"Oh God..." Peach sat against the Concoctionator to catch her breath. "I don't want to know what would've happened if I reappeared on the way back to the lab."
Peach turned off the walkie-talkie and made a beeline to TEC's office undetected.
"Did you get the data?" Peach asked TEC.
"Yes, I did," TEC answered. "I am still analyzing it. The data is very heavily encrypted. But if my prediction is correct..."
"Then what?"
"No. I cannot afford any mistakes or assumptions. I will let you know when my analysis is complete and I have deciphered the data," TEC said. "Until then, you can send a message with the communicator."
Peach placed the walkie-talkie and earpiece in the compartment below TEC's keyboard and typed a group text to Mario and Luigi.
"The message has been sent," TEC stated. "We are done for now. Please go back to your room. And thank you for your help."
"You're welcome," Peach replied. She casually exited TEC's office.
"Princess Peach... I will protect you..." TEC said.
...
Meanwhile, just as Mario and friends left Keelhaul Key back to Rogueport, Beldam and Marilyn searched Rogueport for Vivian.
"Where are you, bitch?" Beldam angrily asked. "I told you to stay until we came back from our siesta!"
Just then, Marilyn saw a white sheet fly past her. "Guh!"
"What is it, Marilyn?"
Marilyn pointed to the sheet, which stopped in front of the Inn.
"It's just a sheet! Why does it matter?" Beldam asked.
"Guhhh..." Marilyn replied.
"You think it's a person?" Beldam stared at the sheet, which was now shaped like a small man with a blue party hat on top.