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Riding on the Winds of Fate
Tournament at Nimbus Land Saga
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Location: Somewhere in Desert Hill…
…
The sun is high above the sky as it just hit noon. Tanuki presses forward as an untimely desert gust blows against his black, nomadic desert outfit; he shields his sunglasses from any incoming sand. After about half an hour, the doogan runs into a band of five creatures, two Monty Moles, a Dry Dry Outpost Toad, a Bandit, and a creature much shorter than the Toad, wearing a white, desert robe, and a mask hiding his face.
"A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Sandstorm," begins Tanuki as he bows.
"Pleasure's mine, Westerly," he replies, removing his robe and mask. As the wind carries of his garb into the distance, Sandstorm is revealed to be Moustafa the Nomadimouse of Dry Dry Outpost.
"Jet Stream already filled me in with some intel. I have successfully finished my task and am ready for my next assignment."
Moustafa chuckles approvingly. "How's our group doing? I suppose they're fine?"
"Affirmative. The rescue was a success and the shark is in stable condition. A visit to a doctor will bring him back to normal."
"Before you let me in on your findings, there are some things to take care of. Excuse me…" Both Monty Moles stand in attention. "I need you both to destroy his old office. Plant as many bombs as possible. When it is clear of the desert regiment, detonate. We are erasing the old Tanuki and creating Chow-Chow."
Tanuki grimaces as the Monty Moles salute and then burrow into the ground, heading over to the ruins. "Is that name the best you could come up with?"
"That'll do for now." Moustafa clears his throat. "You two! Keep a look out for anyone; this meeting must remain a secret." And just like that, both the Toad and Bandit jet in opposite directions.
Once alone, Moustafa continues. "I have a story I recently uncovered in the Dry Dry Ruins. You were a former emissary for both the Same-Same and Ryu-Kuppa Kingdoms, right?"
"Yes."
"And as such, you're familiar with the legend of the sunken Doogan continent?"
Tanuki displays a stern look as he crosses his arms, tapping his right bicep furiously. "Of course I am! I'm from the southern hemisphere. I fail to see the relevance of this to my mission."
"I know that me mentioning any of this is odd, yet I found hieroglyphs depicting this story in a secret chamber beneath the pyramid near Dry Dry Outpost. Somehow, my ancestor became acquainted with creatures of the south. I take you've heard of the colossal Blooper responsible for sinking the entire Doogan Continent?"
Tanuki stops tapping, coldly replying, "It has a name that makes my hairs stand on ends: the Kalamarion." He shudders.
"Yes, Chow-Chow," continues Moustafa, annoying the doogan still, " This creature was said to be massive beyond belief, easily dwarfing the largest bloopers of the north, the Gooper Blooper, King Kalamari, and the Mega Blooper. I wonder if it was really possible to stop it."
Tanuki growls softly. "Do you have a point to this, Sandstorm?"
"Chow-Chow, the hieroglyphs on the wall warn about the possible rebirth of the creature that sunk an entire continent." Tanuki silently gasps as Moustafa continues. "Two books hold the key to achieving this. One is said to be in the basement library of Princess Peach's Castle, and the other is now a prize in the Nimbus Land and Gliztville tournament. As a safeguard, my ancestor wrote that, although he couldn't read their content, he took both books north with him and hid them, leaving this warning behind in case this problem could arise once more."
"So it is real…" Tanuki begins shaking instinctively, thinking about the possible rebirth of a monster that affected his ancestors. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Is it my ancestry warning me?"
"No need to apologize about your reactions." Tanuki begins breathing deeply and slowly as Moustafa continues. "I fear we may see its resurrection soon, and it's just a haunch, but I think this Master personage may be seeking this."
Tanuki, as he tries to tranquilize himself, removes his sunglasses, sternly glaring at Moustafa. "Sadly, I did not learn much about this person. Just who or what is he... Or she...? I hope it's not some abstract concept used to lead us astray from the real problem." He clears his throat. "What I did learn, however, was that the Fire Brothers who caught the shark pirate had also colluded with the Koopalings. Also, according to the wooden doll, he witnessed the destruction of Star Road when Lemmy Koopa and three other mysterious creatures invaded it, finding it necessary to return to our world in order to restore his and our worlds."
"Of course, I ran into him the other day. You know, Chow-Chow, we might as well say the Koopalings are working for this Master." Tanuki growls when he hears the ridiculous name again as Moustafa continues. "With that in mind, I do suspect that all seven Koopalings may be the ones behind the recent disappearances."
The doogan scoffs with a dollop of irony. "Morton Jr. is with Yoshi and his crew."
Moustafa grunts. "Right! I counted Bowser Jr. there too; forgot he's not a Koopaling. Speaking of which, what else did you learn from our heroes? I surmise that our little band is on its way to the tournament as we speak."
The doogan lets out a harsh sigh. "That's correct. Daisy's pilot picked them up as I left. Funny thing, we had different plans, but the Goomba casino owner rushed them quickly into the helicopter."
"Ah yes! Bago the paragoomba, that son of a… At least he's taking them to the right place, even if he has other motives in mind. But that's beside the point."
Tanuki chuckles. "The Koopaling Morton Jr., though... What I find peculiar about him is that…"
"Sir!" gasps the Bandit who had just returned, the nomadic Toad not far behind. "Warden Leroy is heading to the king's palace, and is close to here."
"Let's go," says Moustafa. "The Montys can catch up to us later at the outpost. Chow-Chow, tell me more. I feel I need to know more back story." Tanuki gives up in getting annoyed anymore as they resume their conversation while walking into the distance.
…
Location: On route to Nimbus Land…
…
It is also midday while our heroes travel to Nimbus Land. The doogan pilot manning Daisy's personal helicopter zips past the cloudy roof. Geno sits in the co-pilot's seat as everyone else except Bago sleeps in the back. Morton Jr. is mumbling something about Ludwig while releasing a silent fart. The smell wakens Yoshi, who gags and coughs violently. He drags himself across the helicopter's floor, into the cockpit. Geno looks down at the nauseated dinosaur, who'd let his body drop right at the entrance.
"Look what the Meowser dragged in," he chuckles.
"I regret everything," replies the dinosaur.
Bago waddles over to them. "Good, you're finally awake, my green friend."
"What is it?" the dinosaur rudely and lazily asks; he doesn't look up.
"On our way t' picking you guys up, I asked the pilot here about your little operation. I thought that was a lie, so I took the liberty t' call my good friend, the chancellor of Sarasaland." He smiles. "And what d' ya know? It was for realsies!"
"You sound too excited for a rescue mission," interjects Geno.
"Sorry 'bout that, doll face," continues Bago, causing Geno to grimace at the odd remark. "But given what Toadsworth told him, and later, he told me… That's why I'm excited!"
"Care to explain?" asks Yoshi, finally looking up at the shade-wearing paragoomba.
"As you know, other than the fair in Birabuto, I run my Desert Spade Casino, and I happen to have a Platinum membership at the Pianta Parlor in Rougeport."
"And your point?" Yoshi casually interrupts, still lying on the helicopter floor.
"Thought ya'd ask that. Ahem… Part of my fortune was won at the parlor, but I've never bet on anything sports related. Since we're going t' a fighting tournament, and seeing how ya guys made it out alive from an impossible situation, I thought I'd bet on ya guys and see if I got lucky."
The paragoomba with shades grins from ear to ear… even if he doesn't have any. Yoshi and Geno look at each other, then back at the casino owner.
"I get you want us to be successful," states Geno, "but I do hope this isn't a selfish voyage just to side track us. We still have our job to finish."
"About that," begins Bago, still as cheerful as ever, "according t' what Toadsworth told my good friend, there are some rare items being offered as prizes that will help you in your journey. But we need t' speed over there; registration ends tomorrow morning! The opening ceremony begins later on that night, along with some of the preliminaries."
"Ah, that makes sense now," replies Geno. "Sorry for doubting you."
"Oh, no need t' apologize, doll face," replies Bago, causing Geno to glare at the paragoomba. He whispers to himself, "I can already see myself raking in the dough."
"Regardless, hopefully speaking my mind here with you and Yosh, I may be able to clear out some things that are unsettling…" Geno clasps his hands in front of his mouth as he leans his elbows on his lap. "Who or what is the Master? I've already experienced what it's like to see the Koopa Troop decimated… To be fair, we didn't really know anything about Smithy until the Axem Rangers. What if we don't get to know anything concrete about the Master until we reach the Same-Same kingdom?"
"Same-Same?" asks Bago, when he suddenly beams with an idea. "You know, I happen to own my most expensive amusement park, located on the neighboring kingdom, Ryu-Kuppa. If I win big on my bets, I'll give you all a free pass once you head south."
"Ryu-Kuppa?" asks both Yoshi and Geno.
"Oh, right… It's a kingdom run by self-proclaimed dragon Koopas, kinda like the Koopalings and Bowser himself. I especially have great connections with a chill Koopa named Amadeus…"
Johnny, who was sleeping, wakes up subconsciously, almost biting and tearing at the folks in the back.
He angrily yells, "Ye bilge suckin' snake! Ye be walkin' the plank! Ye white wig be restin' in Davy Jones' locker…" He passes out again, confusing the woken members.
"Um…" Yoshi begins, "I vote for not mentioning this Amadeus guy again."
"I'll agree with you there," continues Geno, "We can't afford sudden outbursts."
"Sorry to interrupt your lovely conversation," begins Daisy's doogan pilot, "We are set to arrive to Nimbus Land this evening. Hopefully our business will conclude before next morning." The helicopter speeds through the clouds, nearing them to their final destination.
…
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Ooooh, lore from the southern hemisphere! What will this revelation mean for the future of our heroes? Sadly, Geno's and Tanuki's questions will remain unanswered for now. Next time: we meet a prince we all know.