Here we go, into the hillside cave! How will our young little friend fare in the dark, and dangerous cave? Will FLUDD prove useful? Let's find out!

Review Responses

nintendoscript15: I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far! I took the concept of Aqua saving the other three protagonists by finding keys from Super Mario 64 DS (which I also made a fanfic on) where Yoshi did the same thing. And yeah, that's definitely a strange voice to imagine FLUDD speaking in. I guess it might be because of the SMG4 video "Stupid Mario Sunshine" in which FLUDD sounded a lot like GLaDOS from the Portal series. If not then… I guess you think GLaDOS sounds a lot more like an actual robot than FLUDD does, which I pretty much agree on. Anyways, thank you for another review!


Out of the "M" symbol, Aqua came back out triumphantly.

Aqua: Phew!

Peach came over and embraced her little sister in a hug.

Peach: Oh Aqua! Welcome back! I was so worried about you! This vacation's just been a whirlwind of bizarre events, huh?

Aqua: So far… yeah. It has.

Peach: And now, the boat to the hotel isn't even running!

Aqua: What?! Then where are we gonna sleep?

Peach: I don't know, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Toadsworth: It might be hard though. Cause this island seems to be the victim of a bad turn of fate!

Peach: You think?

Toadsworth: Oh my, yes…

Toad: I saw it with my own eyes! The man who took your sister was using a brush to draw graffiti! I saw it!

Toadette: We all saw it, Toad! Tell us something we don't know.

Toad: Sorry… just trying to be useful.

Toadette: Well you're not doing a very good job at it.

Peach: Have you found the keys to the others' cells yet?

Aqua: *sigh* No…

Peach: Oh… well I'm sure they're out there somewhere. You'll find them soon enough!

Aqua: I hope I do…

FLUUD: ...D.E.B.S. ALERT...Isle Delfino Police are investigating a possible connection between recent graffiti incidents and the loss of contact with Bianco Hills and Ricco Harbor…

Aqua: Ricco Harbor?

FLUDD: That is a location in which we have not and cannot explore yet. For now, we should head back to Bianco Hills. For there are still problems occurring there.

Aqua: So, we have to go back in there?

FLUDD: Affirmative.

Aqua: Alright, bye Peach! I'll see you later!

Peach: Alright Aqua. Be safe, okay?

Aqua nodded and went back into the M. Once again dissolving into particles.

Bianco Hills

Aqua spawning at the same spot she did last time.

Aqua: So where to now? We already beat that ugly plant thing.

FLUDD: We must go look for the criminals. They are still causing mayhem somewhere. Move out!

Walking along the water pathway once again, Aqua swam in the river and when she got to the other side, she saw a mud covered pianta trying to wash the icky goop off of him.

FLUDD: Why not give him a bath?

Aqua understood what he meant and sprayed the goop off the Pianta. Once he was all squeaky clean, he jumped for joy!

Pianta: You saved me! Thanks a bundle!

Aqua: You're welcome, mister!

FLUDD: Though you could've just jumped in the river to clean yourself off. It's right there!

Aqua: Don't be rude, FLUDD!

FLUDD: It's just common sense.

Pianta: Say, in return for saving me, have you ever heard of the Hillside Cave?

Aqua: Uh… no.

Pianta: You can see it over there, right?

The pianta pointed a large hand over in an unknown direction.

Looking in the direction of the hand, the child and robot duo could see a cave build into the side of a hill, hence its name. There were ropes and platforms leading towards said cave, so it looked like they had to go there.

Aqua: Cool!

Pianta: A guy came out all covered in goop and ran under the bridge, I wonder if something bad was after him…How disturbing.

Aqua started to tremble in fear.

Aqua: A-are there m-m-monsters in there?!

Pianta: Could be. I haven't been in there, so I don't know.

FLUDD: How do we get there?

Pianta: There are some platforms and ropes up there. I think that's the only way you're going to get to the Hillside Cave over there,

Aqua: Do you think I can do that FLUDD?

FLUDD: You successfully performed the long jump last time we were here. So you must have a larger arsenal of moves you can master as well.

Aqua: Alright. Thank you mister!

Pianta: Oh, you're very welcome, young lad!

The Pianta smiled feeling happy to help, but then frowned when he got a better look at Aqua.

Pianta: You do look familiar, however…

Aqua nervously laughed and ran away before the pianta could look any further. She reached the tightropes.

Aqua: Well, here goes. *gulp*

FLUDD: Even if you fall, the water will be there to catch you and you can try again. So don't get too nervous.

She nodded and started slowly walking the tightrope. She'd seen a few cartoons where characters had to walk a tightrope, so she somewhat knew how to do it. She did fall off a few times, but learned from her mistakes, soon making it across.

Aqua: Wow! I did it!

FLUDD: There is still more.

The next tightrope had an electric spinning seashell with spikes moving along it. It made this weird, low pitched chirping noise that sounded like a hermit crab.

Aqua: What is that?

FLUDD: That's a wire trap. They are glowing sparks that travel along tightropes. Highly dangerous! You must jump over them.

The girl, feeling confident with FLUDD on her side, didn't hesitate to jump over them. After that was over, a REAL challenge for her started, as the hill to the hillside cave was VERY steep!

Aqua: So… FLUDD, how do I get through this?

FLUDD: This next move of Mario's I shall teach you may be a bit harder to master. The Triple Jump! You must jump while running, and when you hit the ground, jump again to gain more height, and then jump a third time to reach maximum height. Such height should be enough to reach the cave. You think you can do it?

Aqua: Sounds hard… I guess I'll try.

The first few attempts would end with her falling flat on her face, hitting her head, or tripping over, but soon successfully made it.

Aqua: Yeah! Let's do this!

She started to walk towards the cave, but after noticing how dark it is, she stopped and trembled. Aqua never liked the darkness. She'd always have a bright night light in her royal bedroom to feel nice and safe.

Aqua: Do I have to go in there?

FLUDD: If you want to save your friends, and the island, yes.

Aqua: It's kinda dark in there! Do you have a flashlight or anything?

FLUDD: I was not programmed with a flashlight. Sorry.

Aqua trembled even more.

FLUDD: Just don't be afraid. You have me by your side. Know that you are not alone.

Nodding, Aqua walked inside, ready to face the darkness, only to shortly after, be greeted by a seemingly endless white void. There was absolutely nothing here as Aqua fell down into the nothingness. And the dear child was nervously shaking.

Aqua: Where are we?

Before FLUDD could say something, a pink blur zoomed behind them and Aqua felt something come off her back.

Aqua: FLUDD?

She put her hands on her back to try and feel FLUDD, but there was NOTHING there! Aqua started to panic now!

Aqua: FLUDD?! FLUDD?! WHERE ARE YOU?!

?: HEHEHE!

Aqua turned in the direction of the high pitched evil laugh to see a pink child that looked just like her holding FLUDD in her clutches. She instantly got angered by the sight of her.

Aqua: YOU! You're the reason why everyone on this island hates me! Give FLUDD back right now!

The strange girl just winked at her mockingly and disappeared into the whiteness with FLUDD.

AQUA: FLUUUUUUUUUUUDD!

Aqua let out that scream which echoed around the void with tears in her eyes and blacked out.


When she slowly opened her eyes, she let out a relieved gasp, hoping it was just a nightmare of a possible worse-case scenario. But then she looked around…

No…

She wasn't in Bianco Hills… she didn't even think this was a part of Isle Delfino. She appeared to be in some sort of otherworldly dimension with a night sky filled with stars. However, the sky also had these chalk-like drawings on it, like clouds, planes, train tracks, and trains.

Aqua: What is this place?

?: Hehehe! Welcome Princess Aquamarine! You're not on Isle Delfino anymore! You're in OUR dimension now! Let's just call it a secret level.

The person was off screen, but Aqua could tell it was the same person who took FLUDD.

Aqua: What did you do with FLUDD?!

?: Oh, you mean that water pump? I didn't do anything to it. But I can guarantee that YOU'LL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN!

Aqua: I'd you don't give him back I'll-!

?: You'll what? Without that pump, you're NOTHING! But since you love that thing so much, I'll give you a deal. Get the Shine Sprite at the end of this obstacle course I created, and I'll give you your water pump back. Not like you can, though! Your precious Mario is in jail, and isn't here to save you! So, you can either just fall off and get a GAME OVER, or just sit there crying and bawling in here forever. I don't care which one, but either way you'll be out of our way! HAHAHA!

The voice faded away. Aqua stood there trembling now that FLUDD wasn't here to help her. Looking down into the abyss, there doesn't seem to be a bottom at all. Just nothingness. Inside her head, she heard Mario.

Mario: Come on Aqua! You can do it! Don't lose faith in yourself!

Aqua: My friends are counting on me!

The first obstacle was a group of wooden blocks moving back a fourth. They weren't too bad, but the movement made Aqua feel uneasy. Next was another group of blocks. But these were much smaller and we're moving in all sorts of directions. This part taught Aqua about patience, as she had to wait for the perfect time to jump. Third obstacle was a long stretched path with these large cubes spinning around attempting to knock off anyone who dares to cross. Again, patience was used here. Finally, the last part was two spinning star platforms that were easy to get over. Aqua claimed her prize at the end: A beautiful SHINE SPRITE!

SHINE!

Aqua: Alright!

?: Grr! Alright! You can have your stupid water device back! For now, at least! But just to let you know, this is FAR from over!


When FLUDD gets taken away in the game, you feel almost helpless. So when that happens, you just gotta play the old fashioned way, without guidance. It's a nice test of skill. Also, the catchy music! Can't get enough of that!