Interlude 7
At that time, Bowser and Kammy koopa arrived in Poshley heights.
"Now, where's that stupid Poshley sanctum?" asked Bowser. "A crystal star is there, right?"
"So they say your putridness." said Kammy koopa. "And look. There it is. Right behind you."
Bowser turned around and saw the Poshley sanctum.
"Finally. Now we're getting somewhere." said Bowser. "In we go."
He approached the door, but it was looked.
"Darn it!" he shouted and punched the doors. This caused the lock to break and the doors to open.
"Oh yes. There we go." said Bowser. "I' m awesome as always. I guess rage really pays."
Bowser and Kammy koopa entered the sanctum and saw a fake crystal star on the pedestal.
"This is it Haggy." said Bowser. "Finally."
He then picked up the crystal star.
"I finally have a crystal star in my hands." said Bowser
"Incredible lord Bowser." said Kammy koopa. "You are the absolutely best star-getting guy."
Suddenly, Pennington entered the sanctum and saw both of them.
"Wait. I have you now villains." said Pennington. "You are common thieves, aren't you? My eyes never deceive."
"Well fool, I'm not just a common thief." said Bowser. "I'm Bowser the remorseless king of evil and I take what I want. And I want this."
"B… Bowser… the… remorseless king… what was that last bit again?" said Pennington trembling with fear. "Well, Yes. As I... had deduced. Ahem." He regained his calmness and said:
"Well, know that this crystal star is in fact a red herring. An impostor."
"W... Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? A fake? aid Bowser in shock. He was so shocked he let go of the crystal star, it fell on the floor and broke in two pieces.
"But look at everything." said Kammy koopa. "The sanctum and the pedestal. It's so posh. If this is a fake, then where's the real one?"
"If you want to know, I gave the real one to Luigi." said Pennington. "Oh, ho hoho."
"You have got to be kidding" said Bowser. "You mean to tell me Luigi beat me here. Arghhhhhh. These Mario Bros. are the most annoying brothers of all time." He then started hitting his foot on the floor.
"The fact that we keep being outmaneuvered is disturbing" said Kammy koopa
Suddenly, a window broke and a paragoomba entered and landed on Pennington's head.
"Yes paragoomba. What is it?" asked Kammy koopa
"Now reporting sir. And ma'am. Sir and ma'am." said the paragoomba. "Mario has collected all seven crystal stars and he's headed for the thousand-year door."
"The thousand-year door? What the heck is that?" asked Bowser
"The thousand-year door." said Kammy koopa. "An unbelievably vast treasure is behind there."
"Argggggg. Then I'm going there too. Now! And I'll ruin Mario." said Bowser and left with Kammy koopa and the paragoomba.
"Will you? Well done Luigi." said Pennington. "Way to not fail. Yet."
Now let's go back to Mario and his friends who after defeating lord crump left the room, they fought him in.
"We finally have all crystal stars. Perfect." said Goombela
"Yes, but we still don't know where princess Peach is." said Mario
"We should back to Rogueport." said Koops
"Yeah. Maybe professor Frankly can help us." said Goombela
They started looking for a way back to Rogueport. However, all doors were now locked. They couldn't enter any room. Only one door as unlocked. They entered that room. It was the computer room.
"What is this?" asked Bobbery
"Where are we now?" asked Vivian
Then the lights turned on and TEC activated.
"You… are Mario… are you… not?" he said
"Yes. Who are you?" asked Mario
"It… is pleasant to meet you. I'm TEC. The… main computer… of this fortress. I have… something to… tell you. That is why… I brought you here."
Suddenly, TEC glitzed for a moment and then turned back to normal.
"Are you okay?" asked Goombela
"I… I'm so sorry. Most of my… data was e… erased and my main… power unit was… shut down. Now... running on backup power with... only cached memory trying to stay… operational. You know princess Peach isn't here anymore, do you not?"
"Yes, I know that." said Mario. "Can you tell me where she is?"
"Yes. You must… save her. Please. Peach is with Grodus in the palace of shadow."
"The palace of shadow?" said Mario
TEC glitzed again and this time for longer.
"But… backup... power… failing" he said. "Mario… there is… a teleporter in… the teleporter room. The x-nauts use it… to get to Rogueport from here. You and your friends… can do that too. The teleporter is in… sublevel 2. I will release the room lock. There's barely enough energy… to activate the teleporter. I will… cease of all functions to… activate it for you. It doesn't matter anyway."
"Why?" asked Flurrie
"This base is filled… with dangerous weapons. The x-nauts used them… for their evil plans. They must not… fall into the wrong hands again. I will… activate the self-destruction... protocol. The base and… everything in it will be gone… forever in five minutes."
"But… what will happen to you?" asked Koops
"When all power is gone, I will… cease to exist as an artificial consequence. But if it'll lave Peach, I will gladly do this. Because… before I met her, I knew nothing… of love. Save her Mario. and tell her…"
TEC paused as his last memories of Peach were lost.
"Thank you. For me."
"You got it TEC." said Bobby
TEC glitzed again and this time, he turned off and then a voice was heard.
"TEC system failure reported."
We have to save peach for TEC and for ourselves." said Mario
"Let's go." said Bobbery
They left the room and went to sublevel 2. There, they entered the teleportation device and left for Rogueport.
"Peach. Goodbye."
These were TEC's last words. Then a giant flash and a loud explosion indicated the x-naut base was no more.
Soon, Mario and his friends came out of another teleportation device inside a little room.
"Where are we?" asked Koops
Mario noticed a door with a key in the lock. He unlocked the door and they all came out. The found themselves in Rogueport sewers.
"We are beneath rogueport." said Bobbery
"So, the machine to the moon was here all along." said Ms. Mowz. "I wish we had known this before."
Suddenly, they heard a voice.
"Well, if it isn't Mario."
The looked around and saw professor Frankly.
"Over here son." he said
Mario and his friends approached him.
"Did you bring the crystal star from the moon?" asked professor Frankly
"Yes." said Mario. "It was in the x-naut fortress there."
"Really? So, I assume princess peach was there too."
"She was." said Flurrie. "Unfortunately, the x-naut boss took her and headed for the thousand-year door."
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" shouted professor Frankly. "Just a bit agon I smelled some rank air, so I went to the thousand-year door and saw a suspicious-looking guy with a cape go through the door with princess Peach."
"What?!" said Mario
"How could this be?" asked Bobbery
"Yeah. You said it could only open with all crystal stars." said Bobby
"Believe me, I am as shocked as you" said professor Frankly. "However, I'm pretty sure of it. I saw it with my own eyes. Something is not right. Princess Peach is in danger. We have to go to the thousand-year door and save her."
"Okay." said Mario
They all went to the thousand-year door. When they arrived, there was no one there.
"We're too late." said professor Frankly. "They aren't in the vicinity anymore. They must have found another way through the door."
"So, what do we do?" asked Koops
"There's only one thing we can do." said Mario and got on the pedestal.
"Yes Mario. It has all come down to this." said professor Frankly. "Hold aloft the final crystal star."
Mario did and all seven crystal stars came out of his pockets and shined. The diamond, the emerald, the gold, the ruby, the sapphire, the garnet and the crystal star were all united in front of the thousand-year door
"Mario, look! The door!" said Vivian
Indeed, the seven star-shaped holes on the door got a color. White, green, yellow, red, dark blue, orange and violet respectively. Then the door cracked and slowly opened.
"At long last, the entrance to the palace of shadow is open." said professor Frankly. "Mario, before princess peach falls victim to that fiend, before he takes over the world… save Peach and stop the cataclysm."
"We will." said Mario. "If anyone is scared, he can stay here."
"Not me." said goombela
"Me neither." said Koops
"Into the breach we go." said Flurrie
"We can do this Gonzales." said Bobby
"We won't leave you alone." said Vivian
"We made it all the way here together and we'll make it till the end." said Ms. Mowz
"We will never abandon you old boy" said Bobbery
"Very well, guys. Let's go." said Mario. He then entered the thousand-year door with his friends.
So, I'm done with interlude 7. Next will be the last chapter, chapter 8. Please write review to let me know what you think of my work.