Author's Notes: Hey guys! Just a little heads up- this chapter would be the first to feature my self-made generation of Mario monsters: the "Macabres"... Yeah, it's not very creative but, meh; I just want a simple name. They will antagonize the group and make constant appearances throughout the story.
By the way, this is also kinda Halloween-themed. The Macabres wouldn't have appeared yet if it weren't for that. But since October came so soon, here you have them!
And yes. We've been having more talk and less action chapters for too much. For the first time in 10 chapters, we're finally going to have a fight scene! I hope you all enjoy!
Please don't forget to leave a Review!
Chapter 11
"Dead Trees are Evil"
The group had left their camping spot only moments ago, and now they were heading towards Blubble Lake. They plan to pass through the Lake Plain Border and cut through Dimble Wood towards the beach. They figured that they needed to head to another island, seeing that there was nothing more than Bowser castle far to the northeast.
There were no nearby ports around the kingdom, so they took the closest natural port: Plack Beach.
Before Starlow, Mario, and Luigi met up with Scuro, the princess ordered that a boat be available for them on the beach. The princess said it was just a simple fishing boat, but big enough to support the group. She assigned the captain to bring them to their destination. He left earlier, long before the trio even snuck the Dark Star out.
The group decided to pick up the pace, knowing that the captain was waiting for them. They already wasted time resting up. They can't keep him waiting. It was the least they could do for the man.
Mario and Luigi were jogging through the edge of the lake. They approached a cliff face were they would find the entrance towards the Lake Border. Starlow and Scuro followed at the same pace.
"Where are all the monsters?" Luigi asked curiously. Indeed, they haven't encountered any monsters since their journey. Normally, they would have already encountered at least a dozen of Crawfuls, Mawful Moles, and Behoss. Yet they don't even seem to be around the lake anymore.
"They are hiding from dark power. I still have a minute amount of it... Just enough for me to float. Perhaps they sensed it on me." Scuro explained.
As they followed the edge of the cliff face, something caught Scuro's attention. It was a beaten, blue tower. To the Dark Star, it looked like a giant robot. Two, L-shaped towers served as the "arms". It had a white top that resembled a mustached person's face. It sported a propeller at it's highest point. "What is that?" Scuro asked, curious as to what the strange structure was.
"Oh, that? That's the Tower of Yiik. It's creator died already, so you can guess how old it is. Nobody knows much about it, though. It's best if we ignore it..." Starlow explained while they passed the imposing structure that shadowed them.
"It seems damaged... What happened to it?" Scuro asked after noticing the large cracks and dented metal on the tower.
"Bowser fought it years ago. Y'know... When you and Fawful were just a few days from destroying the world?" Starlow said the last sentence in disgust.
Scuro ignored it and kept asking more questions. His curiosity needed to be satisfied by more answers. "Who is Bowser?"
"The one you fought during the final battle. The big and brutish Koopa king?"
The Dark Star felt the need to finally stop asking after hearing about the brute.
...(Scuro's POV)...
We passed the border and proceeded to the forest. Again, there were no monsters in sight. It felt good, knowing that there wouldn't be much hindrance to our progress. I knew it was hard for the plumbers and star sprite to keep a close eye on me... As if I were to do anything. We didn't need to constantly fight off monsters for now. Yet it also felt odd... It felt lonely and lifeless without the many monsters and creatures that I know usually roam the forest.
The overgrowth was getting thicker by the minute as we trudged in deeper into the forest. It was shady here, but in a peaceful way. It felt tranquil and relaxing where the leaves rustled lullabies and the wind breezed gently.
I hear a peculiar scratching sound from above me. I look up, expecting a little creature gnawing or clawing on the wood it was perched on. There was nothing on the branches... Perhaps it was just the twigs brushing each other... I frown and snort before returning back to following the trio.
The shadows melted away into brightness as we entered a clearing.
It contrasted greatly with the lush forest behind us. Everything was dead and gray here. What used to be large and imposing trees were now white, withered, and twisted. Most of them were still upright, while some were reduced to a hollow stump. Their leaves, which were now on the ground, were gray and ashen in color. A large, black, and grotesque tree centered it all. It was cracked in half, perhaps when it dried and twisted.
"Dark power..." I state, recognizing it's effects on life.
"Yeah... We thought so too when we saw it happen. Everything just died." The green one said as he recalled his experience.
The red one approached the large tree at the center and stood in front of it. He rubbed the dead trunk and had a mournful expression on his face. "What are you doing?" I ask him.
"Huh? Oh yeah... This was me and Luigi's favorite tree. We would rest here on our way home and enjoy the forest charm. I'm just thanking it for everything... And saying goodbye."
I wanted to say how stupid it sounded. He is talking to a tree. Yes, trees are alive, but they are irresponsive. He even takes it as far as talking to a dead one. I wave it off, though, and leave him be. "I see..."
I hear a deep and low groan.
I ignore it, dismissing it as just one of the dead trees failing to stay upright for longer. A crack soon followed, supporting my assumption. What I didn't expect was the large tree that the red plumber grieved on glare menacingly at me. It's eyes glowed a harsh red nearly identical to mine.
"Woah!" The red plumber jumped back in surprise as the glare was redirected at him. This grabbed the attention of the star sprite and green plumber as they watched the commotion.
Multiple groans soon followed as the white dead trees around us shifted and turned to face us with black and unnerving eyes. Mario stumbled back to join us, knowing full well that this encounter needed strength in numbers.
We watched tensely as the branches shifted like arms. They proceeded to uproot themselves with said branch-arms, exposing the grotesque and soiled roots. The roots shifted and planted themselves on the ground, like an overgrown insect. The trees moved towards us with their arms held forward threateningly.
We were back to back now as we prepared for a fight. I faced the black tree that was once the plumbers' favorite. It was still uprooting itself, revealing its full size. It was at least twice as big as the other "killer" trees. The crack mended together, leaving a split that went from between its eyes to near the base of its trunk.
I roar defiantly, daring all who hear to battle.
The black tree pounded on the ground with its arms. It's split, which I guess served as the mouth, opened widely revealing multiple rows of teeth-like thorns. It bellowed and rumbled, accepting my challenge.
...(3rd POV)...
Mario and Luigi went into a fighting stance, ready to take on the slowly approaching mob. The trees paused momentarily when Scuro gave a challenging roar. They hissed back in reply, still intent on the two brothers before them. Scuro seemed to focus on the larger tree before him.
There were a few dozen trees encircling them, and they glared maliciously at them with haunting black eyes. The brothers were unnerved by this, but they still held their ground.
"Don't worry... We fought worse things than these, remember?" Mario reassured Luigi. But the green plumber wasn't sure if it was meant to comfort him or Mario was reassuring himself. Luigi muttered an 'ok' while still focusing on the mob of trees that were now a few meters away.
Starlow flew high above the field. She can't fight, but she could still help. She had an array of star powers, but they were not strong enough to use in battle. She could weaken the trees a little, and maybe help the Mario bros. and Scuro.
The large, black tree belowed. All the trees screeched and surged forward, claws bared.
A tree swiped where Luigi stood. The green plumber jumped and stomped on the tree's elbow, throwing it off balance and forcing it down. The force and momentum was enough to send it down to the ground with a heavy thud. Mario ducked between the roots of another tree that attempted to claw him. He equipped his hammer and swiped at the stubby roots. The strikes broke a few of its numerous feet making the tree lose its balance. It stumbled around before crashing into another tree.
Scuro sprung to the left just as the large and black arm swiped where he was mere seconds ago. But the tree was fast, recovering from its failed attack. Its hand was still on the ground when it dragged it towards the Dark Star. Scuro simply floated over it and dodged.
The tree used its previous attack's momentum and clawed the ancient relic with its other hand. It was a successful hit, sending Scuro flying.
...(Scuro's POV)...
I destroyed cities and kingdoms without trouble. Enemies that dared to stand up to me met their obvious demise. Nothing is too hard for me to eliminate. Being challenged by a vegetable was insulting. It was even more when you get hit by one... and feel pain.
I grunt at the force of impact as the large hand swatted me. I was sent meters into the air before crashing back into the ground, dazed. I recover, though and make advantage of the situation. I used the distance between us, and proceeded to charge a beam at the black tree.
I focused my energy into a ball before me. A low hum emanated as the ball of energy grew. I glare at the black tree as it stomped forward slowly, as if thinking that it had all the time in the world. I concentrate harder, encouraging the ball to grow faster. I continue to glare at the tree until the ball of energy obstructed my view.
I release a powerful, purple and blue beam at the black tree. A loud hum sang as the released energy surged towards its target. I expected the tree to become nothing more than just a piece of dried bark. Instead, I was met by a tree giving me a triumphant smirk. The beam dissipated into shadow upon contact. My eyes grew wide at the late remembrance.
I mentally slap myself and curse under my breath. Why can I be so stupid sometimes? And why should it be so wrongly timed... I forgot that I do not have the dark power anymore...
Time seemed to slow down as the dark wooden hand grabbed me.
...(3rd POV)...
The large black tree saw Scuro's shock as an opportunity to grab the ancient relic. With the Dark Star in its grasp, it raised its hand before smashing it hard to the ground. Still unsatisfied, it dragged the dazed relic through the rocky soil before raising its hand and smashing him down again.
Luigi dodged a careless tree's swipe that ended up hitting another tree. The force of the blow was enough to split it in half. The careless tree grunted in surprise before earning a hard kick on the face from the green plumber.
It hurt Luigi's foot, much to his expectancy. It dazed the tree, though... It swayed, attempting to shake off the dizziness. Luigi took this as an opportunity to jump on it... only to get hit by another incoming tree.
The green plumber yelped when it swatted him. He sailed through the air until he hit the ground rather unfavorably. It didn't hurt compared to the other monsters, but the green plumber winced at the numbing sensation on his arm. He gathered himself together, just in time to see the tree attempting to tackle him. He sidestepped timely, grazing the thorny and bony tree by mere inches.
Mario held on to Starlow's foot as she flew him high into the air. Once he felt they were high enough, Mario let go of the star sprite and did midair somersaults. He stomped on a tree. The magnified force allowed the red plumber to pass through and hollow the tree out from the top.
Starlow saw the Dark Star get flung to a rock. It didn't seem to hurt Scuro, but she saw that he was disoriented. Before she could do anything about it, a black tree stomped hard on him, burying the ancient relic into the ground. The tree lifted its foot, revealing a dazed Dark Star soiled from being stepped on and rubbed on the ground.
"Scuro!" She called out, attempting to shake the Dark Star off his daze. It worked momentarily. Scuro shook of the dizziness from himself. He looked very pissed now as he began to shake himself off the hole, only to get stomped on again.
Starlow debated wether to help her unsteady acquaintance, if that's even what they were, or leave him to his own battle. But then, this needed teamwork, and the Dark Star was for now a part of her team. She shook off any doubts before coming to Scuro's aid.
...(Scuro's POV)...
I hear the star sprite call my name. It made me snap back into sense. I didn't recover fully enough, though, and get stomped on again.
It didn't hurt very much. I only feel dull aches every time the tree hits me. The only thing that hindered me was that every hit made my head ring. I get dazed and unfocused, and I don't have a chance to recover. I just need a little distraction so I could regain myself.
My wishes were answered when the star sprite yelled. For once, that mouth of hers was being helpful...
"Hey you! Over here you Bark Butt!"
The tree stopped pounding me and turned towards the source of the sound. I took this as a chance to recover and get back into battle. I screech loudly as I shoot up, before the tree could stomp on me again.
The black tree still focused on the star sprite who was hovering just out of its reach. Apparently, they had low attention span, because the tree now seemed to forget me. I took this as a chance to plan an attack. Keeping in mind that I do not have the dark power anymore, I considered ramming into the trees or using the environment to my advantage. It seemed easy enough, but without the dark power I was slower, less attentive, and overall less powerful. It didn't matter much for now, though. I am still fully capable of decimating undead and creepy vegetables.
I ram into the tree's back while it still faced the star sprite. It yelped in surprise as I connected. My attack managed to form a crack on the tree, but it wasn't very effective. It only made it angry as it swung around with arms stretched out in order to catch me. I learned my lesson and I simply flew higher out of its reach.
I attempt to hurl myself back down, using gravity to magnify my power. The tree stopped spinning and looked up to face me. It roared in pain as I smash in a portion of its face and wound its left eye. It stumbled around howling in pain as it tried to comfort its damaged eye. It pounded its arms, recovering fast, and glowered fiercely at me with its single eye.
It surged forward, much faster than its previous pace. With claws and thorny teeth bared it trampled through. I huff at its stupidity and simply fly away out of its reach. The tree tried to stop and turn around to face me by digging its roots into the ground, but inertia worked against it. It's momentum careened the tree to its side before crashing down with a mighty thud.
I attack immediately, not wanting to let the tree recover. It attempted to push itself up again. I hit it, sending it back to the ground. The crack on its back grew, revealing a shadowy haze inside the hollow trunk. I ignored it for now, and hit it again.
It screeched for help, the other trees immediately coming to its aid. I floated higher so they couldn't reach me. I could not just tackle them every time they appear before me. It also hurt my head with every hit. I needed to recover a little...
I see the red and green plumbers fighting off a few trees. They were fully capable, but they also had their limits. They would tire soon and the trees would have the upper hand.
The star sprite flew towards me. "Hey! Shouldn't you help them?" She asked me. I look at her questioningly. "You need to help!" She repeated.
"I don't see you helping, star sprite." I stated simply.
"I gave you time to recover! At least return the favor!" She argued back.
I return my gaze to the two plumbers. They were already tiring out, and I noticed their attacks were getting slower. It'll only be an amount of time before the trees best them.
As if it weren't hard enough for them, the black tree now has its full attention to the two brothers. It seemed to forget me and instead trudged towards them. The other trees that had come to its aid followed.
A tree swiped at the green plumber as he jumped. It hit him squarely in the chest and he fell hard to the ground. He clutched his chest as he stared up fearfully at the tree before him.
"Luigi!" The red plumber called out to his brother. A tree saw this as an opportunity to grab him and fling him hard to the ground. This left the red plumber dazed before he fell unconscious. It grabbed him again and flung him high into the air. Before the plumber could reach the ground, the tree swung at him, sending the plumber to his brother's side.
The green plumber attempted to wake his brother up. The red plumber stirred and groaned before glaring up dizzily at the trees before him. The black tree now shadowed the two plumbers as it stood intimidatingly before them. It raised its hand intending to smash the brothers.
...(3rd POV)...
Scuro couldn't help himself from surging into the tree's raised arm. It roared both in surprise and pain as its arm tore off. Splinters flew as the dismembered branch fell to the ground.
Scuro hovered protectively over the two worn brothers. He growled at the trees, warning them to keep their distance. The black tree that was the center and the obvious leader, roared in reply. In translation, they didn't care.
Scuro fumed and his eyes glowed brighter. He screeched a loud cry before tackling the black tree. It sidestepped and instead, Scuro hit a few trees behind it. The unfortunate trees developed cracks and once they fell, they broke apart and splintered.
Scuro spun around and attempted to tackle the black tree again. It side stepped and grabbed its dismembered arm before throwing it in Scuro's way. The Dark Star simply dodged it, barely grazing the thorny wood.
A tree thought it was wise to grab the moving Dark Star. It only managed to rip its arm off and anger the ancient relic. The tree splintered when Scuro redirected his attack towards it.
Mario and Luigi watched the scene in awe. They couldn't believe that the Dark Star, one of their deadliest enemies and powerful ancient relic, just saved them. Starlow meanwhile had an approving look at the ancient relic's deed as he fought off the trees. But they couldn't just watch the ancient relic do everything... The two brothers regained themselves as Starlow helped them up.
"We can't let him do all the work..." Mario muttered as he stared at the raging battle. They nodded in agreement. "Let's go!"
The trees didn't seem to notice them anymore. They were more focused on the Dark Star, who they now thought as the bigger threat. Mario saw this as an opportunity to catch them off guard.
"Hey Scuro!" Mario yelled, calling the ancient relic's attention but not enough to distract him. Somehow, the Dark Star knew his plan as he swooped down. Mario grabbed before climbing on top of him. Scuro flew back up, hitting another tree in the process.
Starlow and Luigi, who held on to the star sprite's foot, caught up and flew beside them. They stared down at the trees. Some part of them wanted to flee and forget about the battle. Another wanted to stay and show these trees who's boss.
There were about 6 trees left. To Mario, this was going to be easy picking. The only real trouble they had was with the leader, the black tree. It was smarter, bigger, stronger, and faster than the white ones...
"We're going to have to destroy the black tree... It's their leader. It's bark isn't very strong, but it's thick at its trunk. We're going to have to break it..." Mario spoke up.
"What exactly do you have in mind, plumber?" Scuro asked the plumber on top of him.
"We're going to have to work together in this though..." Mario stated. He had doubts that the ancient relic would disagree and instead, stick to his own plans. The ancient relic went quiet. Mario didn't know if that meant a 'yes' or a 'no'. Mario was answered when the Dark Star dove down, abruptly ending his thoughts.
"Woah! What are you doing?!" Mario yelled as he held on for life.
"Teamwork." He simply stated.
Mario saw that the black tree was their target. As it went closer and closer by the second, Mario invented a move where he would push the Dark Star into his target.
Once they were close enough, Mario leapt shortly and delivered a strong kick into the Dark Star's back side. This sent the ancient relic speeding through the mob of trees and into the leader. Some of the trees dodged while the 2 slower ones got decimated.
The black tree sidestepped and only got grazed. It howled in pain as one of its branches tore off. It turned around to face the hurling Dark Star, expecting another attack.
Scuro tried to turn around. However, the momentum was too strong and he sped onwards. But Starlow and Luigi raced towards him in a dive. Scuro shot back towards the mob when Luigi kicked him back the same way Mario did.
This time, it hit 3 trees that were unaware of the attack. The tree sidestepped again, dodging the attack completely.
This left the black tree to stare at its fallen companions. They were nothing more than ashen splinters and broken logs that lay on the ground. It bellowed defiantly, not wanting to admit defeat. It turned around to glare at its enemies.
It was just in time for Mario to kick the Dark Star back as hard as he can. The wind whistled as Scuro rocketed towards his target in all his dark glory. The ancient relic gave a loud roar of his own, assured that victory was theirs. The black tree screeched with a wide eye as the artifact came hurtling towards its face.
A loud snap echoed throughout the forest as the Dark Star bursted through the tree's head. Splinters flew everywhere as the tree lost its top. With a prolonged groan, the tree began to fall. A loud crash soon followed when the tree finally hit the ground, dead.
Yeah, it's not the best way to end this chapter... Sorry! Chapter 12 is going to be a fast one, so expect it within two days or so! I can't make promises, though. So if it's late, it's not entirely my fault for keeping you waiting. I just said to expect it, not that it would actually be ready at the time.
Anyway, the Macabre Trees aren't really smart, are they? More things will be explained in the next chapter. Tell me what you think!