I: Dino's Farewells
Back at Dinosaur Land, Birdo and Yoshi had long arrived at Chocolate Island, and had been seeing the sights that were around. Mainly, the fittingly chocolate-colored hills that could be seen in all directions. Surrounded by a blue ocean from a distance.
At this point, the dino couple had spent an extensive amount of time together and were planning to go their separate ways.
Yoshi first asked Birdo a question to make sure things would go smoothly.
"Do I...have a way back? Yeah...I have a magic potion."
Yoshi continued.
"It should go to the grassy place of Subcon yeah…"
Yoshi gave another response.
"Y-Yeah...I...think I'll...I'll be okay now Yoshi…"
Hearing this, though hesistanting a bit, Yoshi then asked one more question.
"My plans? Well...i'm probably going to head to the desert area of Subcon at sundown, that way I can watch the stars…"
Yoshi then put a word in.
"After? I...I don't really know…. But I will be seeing my…friend again...relatively soon... at least from what we've planned…. Now, that's enough about me, how about you?"
Yoshi then explained what it is that his plans were to Birdo.
"You're going to do more on Chocolate Island and then head back to Yoshi's Island? Sounds great..."
Birdo then took the magic potion she brought along for getting back and threw it on the ground. In the spot that she threw it appeared a red door, like that of what is typically seen for doors heading to subcon.
"See...see you some other time Yoshi...hopefully…" Birdo then said to Yoshi to close things off.
The two go in for a kiss with one another, but quickly find given their face shapes how awkward it is, and as such, settle with an air kiss.
The two dinos then finally, for real went their separate ways, Yoshi staying on Chocolate Island for the time being and Birdo heading back into Subcon.
Meanwhile, at Link's Whereabouts...
II: Ancient Discovery
Having opened the seal to the old triangle-shaped structure; Link was now, like any explorer would, exploring what it was that was inside.
The ceiling was pretty low, the walls were worn; and in general, it seemed that a lot of time had passed since anyone had last been inside.
"What's in here I wonder?" Link thought to himself. "Let's find out…"
Link began to investigate the pyramid, walking through slowly. Observing the surrounding walls to see if he could see much of interest.
As he was walking, he suddenly stepped on something and looked below to see what it was.
"A...pressure plate?" Link thought to himself. "What could this be fo-"
At that moment, a chamber on the walls suddenly opened; and out came what seemed to be a statue shaped like a Birdo or the sort; mounted on a stand.
The statue then suddenly out of the snout area shot Link with a fireball, which he quickly dodged. He then quickly dodged another fireball that came his way from the other side; given that from what it seemed, statues were summoned on either side after the trap's activation.
After avoidance of these statues, not commenting aloud on them, Link continued through the temple halls. While in here, given how things were structured, saw a pit ahead with several platforms a distance apart that could be stood on top of.
By looking into the pit below, Link saw some kind of sand of sorts shifting in place...quicksand.
"...there seems to still be a fair handful of traps here…" Link thought to himself.
As he thought this, he slowly made his way across the sand pits; careful not to fall in.
After conquering later halls of the pyramid, Link eventually hit a dead end.
Except, not exactly.
What he had found was a door; sealed shut and accompanied by a bunch of vibrantly colored square shape panels.
"What might this be?" Link wondered. "Some kind of puzzle?"
Link stepped on one of the panels, trying his curiosity. As a result of Link's experimentation, the panel made a sound. This sound almost sounded like...a note on a piano or something of the sort.
Link then tested some of the other panels; seeing that they all made musical sounds like the first one did. He then checked the door once again, and observed that it was still locked just as tightly as it was beforehand.
"There isn't much else I can do with this door at the moment it seems…" Link thought to himself, then looking around; not seeing any other paths leading further in.
"Looks like I'll have to head back and see if…" Link began to say, turning around to leave.
It was at this moment that Link then saw a kind of small blue light of sorts flickering in the distance behind him.
This sight intrigued Link; and as such, he decided he should investigate and see what the light was. As such, he walked his way over.
The light he realized was, in fact,; a wisp.
"It's...It's a wisp…" Link stated. "What are they trying to tell me?" he then said, seeing it was flying around him a bunch, clearly intent on his attention.
As he watched the spirit fly around, eventually; they flew upwards; as this specific spot of the pyramid was more open.
After creating a distance of around five meters from where Link stood; the wisp then began to fly around again; showing Link the way.
"Up there? But how-"
The wisp then showed Link a moving platform on which he could stand that was across the room.
"Hmm...that should do it I suppose."
Link made his way over to the platform. And once he set foot on it; it began to carry him up to where the wisp had shown. And as such, allowing him to reach the higher areas of the pyramid.
Link then saw another corridor ahead; which the wisp from before began to guide him through; wanting him to see something.
As Link followed, he looked at the walls around him, seeing a number of murals seeming to portray different events that took place.
One was what looked to be a group of dinos of some kind. If they were Yoshis, Rexes, Birdos, or another kind all together was unclear. They looked to be divided into groups, holding a number of different tools and weapons in hand such as spears, rods, and staffs.
Link found curiosity in what this meant to convey, but continued following the lead anyway. He saw more murals of a similar style along the walls showing different things as he continued.
Eventually, Link and the wisp hit another dead end. Torches on either side of it; unlit.
"Another dead end…. So...question...why did you lead me here?"
Answering Link's question, the wisp then started swirling around a specific area of the wall. Seemingly wanting Link to take a closer look.
Needing a source of light, Link took one of the unlit torches. He rubbed it hard against one of the pyramid's surfaces, and as such; had a light source now.
Using the lit torch to better see the wall, he saw what it was that the wisp was wanting to show to him.
There was a bunch of text on the wall; written in some kind of ancient, or secret language that he couldn't understand.
Upon further investigation, he found other intriguing details. There were more of the blue-tinted cracks in the walls; like there was outside the pyramid, and in the middle of the cracks...a spot for...your hand?
"Huh...what's this about?" Link thought, seeing this.
The wisp then began to point Link to the exact thing he had taken notice of. The hand shaped carving, five fingers.
"Put my hand on it, right?" Link asked.
The wisp gave Link the sign to do so; and as such, Link reached out his hand and placed it in the carving.
The cracks in the wall like before, began to glow. Which, while Link was intrigued, not as much as he was before as he had previously observed it right outside of the pyramid.
Suddenly, the foreign writings on the wall began to glow themselves. And like something out of a movie, shined in a blinding manner; in which of course covered his eyes.
Link eventually uncovered his eyes once he was confident the light was gone, and saw that the scenery around him had changed massively.
He was no longer in the dusty old pyramid walls from before. Instead, he was in some kind of lush, green forest of sorts.
"W-Where am I?" Link wondered.
He then decided to take a look at his hand and realized he was...transparent?
"What's this about?"
As he questioned his new location as well as conditions, he noticed a blue glow swirling around him.
It was the same wisp from before…
"Huh...you're still here…."
The wisp then began to fly around a specific group of bushes, guiding Link in said direction.
"You want me to see something over there? ...well...I guess..."
Link followed the wisp to and through the bushes and eventually saw a clearing.
In this clearing, there was a rather large group gathered. Or to be more accurate, several smaller groups creating one larger one gathered.
Based on what could be perceived, it was three different ones. One consisted of Yoshis, one of Rexes, and one of Birdos.
There were further details too however that seemed to distinguish them from normal members of their species; namely in the clothing they wore. The yoshis and rexes both wore robes, the two however being styled in a different manner from each other.
The Yoshis' ones were more wavy and layered in areas, while the Rexes' ones were more straightened, not really with layers on them. While the Birdos didn't wear robes, they all seemed to wear pendants and necklaces of some kind. Despite these differences in wear, one thing the three tribes seemed to have in common was that they all lacked the shoes that two of the three species were practically always seen with in modern day times.
Along with this, Link also noticed that an individual seemed to stick out among each tribe.
There was a Yoshi that wore a purple-black robe, but along with this, a pendant with some kind of symbol on it. this symbol being what seemed to be a circle with a good number of lines protruding from it in multiple directions; all surrounded by another hollow ring.
In the rex tribe was a rex; his body was maroon in color, they wore a blue robe, and a pendant with a different symbol, that; from Link's angle, he wasn't able to make out.
The birdo that stood out, though they didn't have any large differences from the other birdos. They were green in color; suggesting they were a fire breathing member of their species, wore a pendant like the others did, and seemed to be a bit larger than the others were too.
And from what Link could see, it looked that the three tribe "leaders" were in a smaller circle with one another; surrounding some kind of thing being used as a table.
And from what he could see between them, there seemed to be some kind of writing on it with several signatures at the bottom.
"Given our agreement, this day going forward; despite what differences we may have, our tribes shall stand united," the rex began to say. "Meaning, to keep things simple, what's yours is mine, be it, resources, land, knowledge, the like. And what's ours is ours too. Or, you know...however the saying goes..."
This got a bit of a laugh out of the tribal groups, before the conversation was continued with the birdo tribe leader keeping everyone on topic.
"Anyway, tribe," the birdo leader began. "Referring to all of you, the first thing we're wanting to focus on is building a settlement on the ground that we stand, understood?"
Though finding things a bit awkward given that the changes on the agreement had just come into effect, the tribes basically understood this.
"Alright, so, I'm pretty sure our blue dino acquaintance knows what it is we're building the settlements out of; and where we get the materials correct?" the green birdo continued.
"I would...and as we've had the time to familiarize with each other...call me Rhea."
"Well Rhea, as our agreement said, we've been provided useful tools by those funnel-mouthed dinos. After your tribe fulfills your end, it'll be our turn to fulfil our end of the deal," the rex tribe leader stated.
"Yes it will," Rhea replied. "Follow our lead," the dino lady said, turning around, leading the fellow tribes to the "resources" they agreed they'd guide them to.
"Huh...what's this about?" Link wondered. Curious of where they were headed, Link began to follow. But before he could get far, suddenly, the blinding light came back in, forcing Link to cover his eyes once more.
Once he could open them again, he found that the scenery that had surrounded him previously, the forest of trees, was gone. He was back in the walls of the ancient old pyramid, standing in the room; the same position as before the "vision" came in.
"What was that…. There were several tribes discussing some stuff...about resources, and the like…. But huh...i'm drawing a blank…."
Link easily found his way back out of the pyramid, but after doing so, wondered where he should go now.
"I already explored this place...and there's not a point in heading back…" Link thought. "Mosaic and his buddies are on vacation, the Marios and Toad aren't around...and Peach...she's...I...I hope she's okay…"
After thinking in this manner for a bit, eventually making his way out of the oasis, he just began to wander the desert plains, not having much else of interest he could think of partaking in at this given time.
III: Breaks, Up and Out
Meanwhile at the Mario Bros' whereabouts...
The Mario Bros both continued to plummet down to the dream-dimension grassland below, given Luigi's previous accident in the gateway to said place.
The brothers eventually hit the ground, in which Mario had a pretty steady landing, expecting the long drop. Luigi on the other hand landed on his bottom, clumsy as always.
"Mama-mia…" Luigi said. "Bad-a landing…"
"Well...that's-a why you gotta watch where you're-a leaning…" Mario replied. "Now, let's-a head this-a way; i'm pretty-a sure it's where the old-a base is," Mario then said, beginning to lead the way.
After traveling several miles through the familiar dreamland, passing by multiple sets of palm trees, vases, and such that they had grown to be familiar with in Subcon; soon enough, the worn down structure rested before the two brothers.
"Here it-a is…" Mario said.
"I…-a see…"
"Let's-a find that doorway now, come on Luigi," Mario then said, heading through the door and inside the building.
Giving a sigh, Luigi followed his brother into the ruined base.
As the duo transversed the base, as would be figured, Of course, given the place was 'abandoned', The once lively-halls were anything but that in present day time; In other words, completely barren; Not a single soul in sight.
"This place gives me the-a creeps...it's too-a quiet…"
"The sooner we-a find that door Luigi, the sooner we can-a be out-a here, don't-a worry," Mario said, staying close and putting a hand on his green-capped bro for comfort.
The brothers continued to transverse the empty hallways, mainly just finding the same scenery throughout, the bricked walls, the vases, both grounded and floating, several loose sprouts still stuck in the ground, etc.
Eventually, Luigi picked up the discussion with a question.
"Hey...brother...how are we going to-a find the door when everywhere here looks the-a same?"
"...good-a question actually," Mario responded as he walked. "I remembered that we-a saw the door SOMEWHERE in-a here, but for exactly-a where…"
"Hmm?"
"I...I don't re-Ow!" Mario began, then running into something he didn't notice.
"Oh...you o-akay?" Luigi asked.
"Yeah, I'm-a fine…thanks for-a checking..." Mario responded, slowing down as he looked at what he ran into.
Luigi looked too and commented. "It's..it's an-a door…"
"It-a is...may as well see what's in-aside…" Mario added, in which the two then entered the room behind it.
On the inside the room was rather spacious, several platforms of green blocks along the walls of it. All these details however paled compared to details at the other side of the room, namely, a key, several phantos, and on the wall, a VERY large phanto mask, greenish-gray in color, the eyes shut off.
"It's an-a key...guarded by-a phantos…" Luigi commented.
"Yeah...it-a is…" Mario added, seemingly lost in thought in that moment.
"Huh, brother, what is-"
"Wait a minute, I just-a remembered something!"
"Wha...what did you remember?"
"When we-a found the-a door that went to Water Land, it was behind a locked-a door."
"Are...are you-a saying that to get that door again...we...we-a have to…"
"Yeah...I'd say-a so."
"Mama-mia...are you sure there's-a no other-a way we can-a do this...like...that you're not-a remembering wrong or-a something?"
"To be-a honest...I could-a be remembering it-a wrong, but I feel the fact that there's-a key here means somewhere in these-a halls is a door that's-a locked. And there's an-a possibility that behind that-a locked-a door is the warp we're-a looking for…"
"I...I suppose you're-a right…"
"And if it-a makes you feel any better, I'll hold the-a key and be-a careful of the phanto."
"Oh...thank you…. You sure you can-a handle it?"
"Yeah, for-a certain."
"Okay...I'll wait over near the-a door."
"...Alright," Mario said, then making his way across the room to the key.
As Mario continued along the room however, Luigi looked ahead and upward; thinking he saw something.
Except that this something he saw didn't seem clear to view but...seemed to be becoming more and more clear by the moment…
Eventually, what it was that was in the air became so clear that he could make it out.
It was a shy-guy...a shy-guy ghost...they still had the features of a shy-guy, such as the mask and a body shape resembling their normal looks, but they lacked legs; and behind them instead was a trail ending in a "tail" of sorts.
"M-Mario…" Luigi said quietly, but not loud enough for Mario to hear.
After he said this, he began to notice that, around the room, more were appearing; loads more...soon enough, there was about...ten...twenty...no...most likely thirty of the masked ghosts in the air, and many of them seemed to be facing Mario's direction.
By now, Mario, not seeing the ghost guys, had made it to the pedestal in which the key rested on, and was just now beginning to reach for it.
"Mario!" Luigi then shouted.
Grabbing the key in his hands, ready to run anticipating the phantos, Mario turned around.
"Luigi, what's-a…" Mario asked, then seeing what it was that Luigi was shouting about. "The-a...problem…"
At this moment, the eyes of the large phanto on the wall began to glow red off and on, and one of the phantos that had been previously stationary on the wall began to move.
The Shy-Ghosts atm, kind of like what boos would do, were covering their eyes given Mario looked their way. But realizing what chaos was about to ensue, Mario quickly rushed past them, escaping pursuit of the phanto as well.
"Run-a for it Luigi!" Mario quickly told his brother as he ran by him and out of the room.
Listening to the advice of his brother, Luigi quickly followed, making haste out of the room as well and in a panic.
As the brothers hustled, more things stood in the way to confuse and throw off their path in small, spherical, shock-inducing creatures. These things being Sparks.
As if the Phanto chasing the two and the large hoard of Shy-Ghosts wasn't enough to throw the two off, multiple sparks, swiftly scaling along the walls, ceiling, and floors, hindered the plumbers' paths as well.
Eventually, at a breaking point, the two bros, without even realizing it amidst their panic, ran off in opposite directions.
Luigi found a door leading somewhere else. This very door in fact lead him away from the base, nowhere near it...out of subcon entirely.
Mario on the other hand, like had been his hunch beforehand discovered a door which required a key. Without even thinking, the italian threw the key into the lock and opened the door, rushing his way out of the base and jumping off onto solid dirt...the door was on an elevated spot on the base.
"Whew...that was a close-a one, ay brother?" Mario said, then looking to his side and realizing that Luigi wasn't with him. "B-brother?
Mario then looked around for awhile, having realized that due to the door being elevated, he couldn't reach it now and wanted to see if he could find another way in.
However, he found none.
"I...I hope he's-a fine but...it looks-a like we're going to have to part-a ways…" Mario eventually concluded, realizing he had no way to reach him now. "And now that i'm-a thinking about it, I feel like the-a door was actually right outside of the-a base, not directly in…. S-See you-a later brother...t-take care of your-a self," Mario then said, trying to shake off having to leave Luigi behind for the second time, this time seemingly for good as he left the rundown base behind.
As he wandered, he began to think to himself.
"Okay, so...the-a door should be somewhere around-a here...right?" Mario thought to himself.
As he looked around the relatively open field of palm trees on the hill in which he stood, he noticed that on the downward slope of the hill, what seemed to him to be a large red...bow, or such was panning into view.
"Do I recognize...that-a bow…it looks-a kinda...familiar..."
As the bow continued to pan in, soon enough, he saw the wearer of the bow. One pink Birdo.
She looked somewhat down at the moment, but looked up as she walked up the hill, and noticed the plumber, snapping her out of her mood.
"W-Wait...is...that...Is that umm...Mario? Like...the Mario?" Birdo thought to herself, seeing this.
"Hold on...I...I've seen that-a Birdo before," Mario realized. "Hey-a you, you're...that-a Birdo aren't you?"
"O-Oh! It is you, and...yeah, I...I am…" Birdo answered.
"You've been to alot of my-a parties as well as kart races during competitions we've-a had, right?"
"Oh...yeah, I have...often because...Yoshi went to them and…you know."
"Wait...and weren't you around to help us out in that circumstance of us trying to stop Peach's voice from being stolen?"
"...Y-Yeah...my language...was literally explosive for awhile after that I kinda remember…"
"Didn't you also help this-a...Popple guy for some-a reason at one-a point?"
"Y-Yeah...but...I don't talk about that…"
"To change the-a subject a bit, were you by any-a chance just on a date with-a Yoshi?
"Yeah...I-I was…"
"Well...did you-a guys enjoy it?"
"I'd….I'd say so…"
"That's-a good. But anyway, I gotta be on my-a way now, the Princess was captured..."
"Again huh...can't she catch a break from that?"
"Guess-a not…"
"Well...good luck, I'll...I'll be going now…"
"...O-akay...see you-a another time."
"Goodbye…"
With Birdo's last comment, the two departed from their brief acquaintance with one another, with Birdo walking by and leaving.
After scouting the surrounding area for a bit, there he saw it. There were several grassy footholds submerged partially within a pond, and on top of one of these footholdings was a door.
"I think that's the-a door…. Well, here we-a go..." Mario said, then sprinting towards the door.
Meanwhile, at Peach's whereabouts, aka, Dark Land...
The Koopa Troop had long since arrived at Bowser's Castle within Dark Land. Peach had been locked upon in the dungeons, the Koopalings and Jr. were doing work around the castle; while Kamek, and their boss, Bowser, aka King Koopa, were in the middle of a discussion on what their next move would be.
"Alright your evilness, so what sho-"
"Please...call me boss," Bowser interrupted.
"Er...er, alright so umm, boss," Kamek continued. "Now that we've got the princess in the dungeon, what's the move now?"
"I think you'd know," Bowser responded, then tapping a single claw-nail on the yellow-tinted shard on his pendant.
"Oh yeah, finding more of those pieces...that would have been my move too...but I thought I should, maybe...check."
"You bet, so now let's discuss that," Bowser continued.
"Okay...so from what I've read your wick-umm, I mean boss; the other pieces of this...I think it was a compass from what I've read, are spread out across the Mushroom Kingdom."
"Mhmm...go on…"
"And each of the pieces seem to have their own unique colors and properties as well as powers that they bestow upon the holder of them."
"Sounds perfect."
"In regards to what powers they give...err, while I don't know, based on what color the one you're wearing is, I'd say...that's the mind shard…"
"As we've already figured out."
"Yeah...boss, it's crazy to think what you can do with that thing…"
"When my minions are being lazy, well, I'll just make them do their tasks with this little trinket here. Hahaha."
"Y-yeah…"
"I could even make the Princess do anything I say...even…-"
"King Dad! King Dad!" a voice interrupted.
"Ah! it's Jr." Kamek said, knowing who's voice it was.
"Oh! Hello there my son, what'd you want to tell me?"
"King dad...wait until you see what I just found digging through junk!" Jr said, having rushed into the throne room; holding his hands behind his back, hiding what he found.
"What'd you find?" Bowser asked the smaller koopa.
"Check it out!" Jr responded, finally revealing the concealed object.
This object was none other than what seemed to be a straight tool with a long, yellow handle. On one side of this handle was a metal guard, in the middle a Bowser. Jr printed emblem. And finally, most notably, at the top, a large clump of bristles decorated in some kind of colorful liquid of sorts. This very thing was a large paintbrush. Not just any paintbrush, but the Magic Paintbrush.
"It's...It's...Isn't that the thing that wacky scientist gave you?" Kamek questioned.
"Yep," Jr. responded.
"And the thing you framed that annoying, obnoxious red plumber for in that one instance way back?" Bowser added.
"You bet it is King Dad, sure gonna have a lot of fun with this thing next time I see those plumbers and their loser friends!" Jr. replied.
"Sounds like this should be an easy victory for us," Bowser said with cockiness.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that...Boss," Kamek continued. "Remember th-"
Before Kamek could finish however, Bowser began to just give him a glare.
"O-Okay...to get back on topic sir," Kamek started, trying to ignore what happened. "What do you think should be our plan to track down the other pieces of this compass?"
"Argh, I don't know," Bowser responded.
"Well...if this thing King Dad is wearing is the part of a compass, shouldn't we have a frame to guide us to those other shiny pieces?"
"There is a frame...that we don't have Jr.," Kamek explained.
"Oh…" Jr. replied.
Bowser, Jr. and Kamek thought for a bit about how to go about it, continuing discussion further. Eventually, an idea came to Kamek.
"Mmm, I have an idea," Kamek said.
"Well, what are you waiting for? spit it out!" Bowser demanded.
Within the dungeons of Bowser's Castle was locked up for the clique-eth time, one prisoner. Princess Peach Toadstool, who was contemplating several things.
"Oh my, oh my...here we go again...just waiting around for the Marios to show up and come to my rescue...again…" Peach thought to herself, sitting around within her cell.
After sitting around for extended periods of time, she eventually came to a realization.
"Wait a minute...I don't need to sit around waiting for those two to show up...I should try to find a way to break out myself…"
Peach started by looking at the bars of the cell.
"Maybe I can pry them open?" She thought. "Nah...that's not my style... and I'm not strong enough to do that…"
Peach investigated her holding place further, and noticed something peculiar in one of the neighboring cells.
This thing was none other than a key, lying face up on the floor, and fortunate enough, it was an arm's length away from Peach's cage.
"Huh...I could make an easy key pun here, but think I should just take the key," Peach said. "Looks like Bowser's still his moronic self, leaving something like that there."
Peach reached through the bars of the cell for the key, grabbing it easily and then quietly opening it; seeing that the guards at this given moment seemed to be dozing off.
Seeing this, the princess snuck past them. And leading out of the dungeon, saw a hallway branching to the left and to the right.
Careful not to be seen, Peach took a look to the left hall; and then to the right of the hall; and from what she could tell, hunch told her that the hall on the left would lead her out. At first, she played things in a stealthy manner; but eventually, she made it to a large open area of the castle and realized it didn't matter what she did here, and as such, just made a run for it.
"So it looks like it's settled, I'll send an order out to all of our troops across the kingdom to search everywhere for these pieces! The vastest of plains! The highest of hills! The deepest of caves! The darkest of seas! Everywhere!" Bowser exclaimed, repeating the pitched plan.
"That is correct boss," Kamek affirmed.
"Sounds like a good plan," Bowser responded. "Glad I thought of it."
"You mean when I tho-"
"Your wickedness! Your wickedness!" a voice broke out, catching Bowser, Kamek and Jr.'s attention.
The voice came from a Koopatrol, who had frantically rushed to the throne room of his authority.
"That's Boss for you, underling!" Bowser responded. "...now tell me, what's the ruckus?"
"T-The, T-The...Princess…"
"What about her?"
"S-She's...not in the dungeon...she...she seemed to...b...break out…"
Hearing this, the Koopa King stormed off his throne and grabbed the smaller, armor-suited turtle by the neck.
"Then what are you waiting for?! Go get her!" Bowser roared, then dropped the soldier back on the ground.
"O-On it...Boss…" the Koopatrol responded, then heading back out of the throne room to pursue the escaped monarch.
Rushing through halls, jumping platforms, outrunning the Koopa Troop, Peach continued to run as fast as her legs could carry her with a fair amount of difficulty.
Though it was tough to do so, she eventually saw the exit straight ahead...across a drawbridge going straight over a pool of lava…
Peach quickly took a peak behind her as she continued to run, seeing that the large assembly of Koopatrols, Dry Bones, Goombas, Koopa-Troopas, etc. weren't far off from her.
Peach realized that she had to lose them and buy time someway or another.
It is then that the idea hit her on what it is she should do.
As she continued to run, she pulled out her trusty fry pan that she kept on her for use as a weapon and looked to the side of the drawbridge, looking for the draw. She quickly spotted it.
Upon seeing this, Peach hurled the cooking tool at the draw as hard as she could. The impact of the thrown object did exactly what she had intended to. The draw began to spin around a bunch rapidly, bringing up the drawbridge.
"This is cutting it close...but I need to buy more time…." Peach thought aloud, then proceeding to the next move, being that she jumped the drawbridge as it pulled up.
The stone bridge on the other side wasn't too far, and with the use of her dress, she is able to slowly glide down to it, having a relatively safe landing.
"This will only buy me a few seconds...but it may be just long enough to lose them…" Peach thought, continuing to rush away from the dark stronghold and into the volcanic wasteland.
All around was more of the same brown, bare soil; leafless trees, lava pools, pipes, and floating question blocks.
Realizing that it wasn't going to be long at all before the Koopa Troop showed up, intent on recapturing her, Peach quickly hid from view behind a warp pipe.
The squad of troops had pursued the escaped princess to the dark wastelands; and all began looking around for her, with none of them seeing her.
From afar, she noticed one of the troops talking with the others; and based on the lip reading, the assumption the troops made is that she went somewhere else further away from the castle, and all left the area; looking deeper into the plains of dark land.
"It...seems like I've lost them," Peach stated, going out of her hiding place, then examining the pipe she hid behind. She compared this pipe to the other pipes in the area, all of which were red.
The pipe she had been hiding behind however, was yellow.
"Interesting...does this imply I'll warp somewhere different all together?" Peach wondered. "I'm trying to escape here...may as well figure that out now."
Peach, wasting no more time, dived down feet first into the yellow warp pipe, completely unbeknownst to where it'd take her.
Meanwhile from afar, in the army of troops sent to retrieve Peach by Bowser...
"I feel a disturbance in the retrieval mission…" One of the Dry Bones said.
"The dino pair brought a close to their date...the green tunic'd explorer uncovered compelling information...the italian brothers had been separated from one another; and the kingdom's monarch, which an evil turtle tyrant had been holding captive; made a break for it, and succeeded. Where will this tale lead for our crew next? Time will reveal the answer to that question."
To Be Continued...
