CHAPTER 23: The Storm Approaches
Hailstorm stopped to rest on the only platform that was remotely safe - which, ironically, was on top of one of the flame turrets.
Luigi remained on his back, passed out from the action. It had been a long 5 minutes.
The duo started out like any pegasus-mounted plumber would; by flying over everything. However, the rate at which projectiles were launched, not to mention the narrow ever-changing passages as well as the massive stone Thwomps that liked to hide just around the corner for an ambush, made it extremely difficult to stay airborne. The two had to go their separate ways just to become smaller targets.
Luigi was definitely opposed to the idea at first, but all of his years of jumping and keeping up with Mario returned to him in an instant, and he was jumping from place to place almost as proficiently as Hailstorm was.
And then there were the Magikoopas. Those unpredictable shelless creeps who liked to teleport just out of reach, fire a shot, and poof again before either of them knew what was going on.
Luigi managed to dodge all of their shots, but Hailstorm was struck from his flank, crippling his wing. He nearly plunged into the lava, but Luigi managed to seize him by the tail just in time, hoist him onto the platform, and proceed to take out every last one of the evil magicians with a flurry of desperate fireballs.
Mr. Green Stache yelled like a barbarian as green fire clashed with red fire. The highly flammable Magikoopas were so startled, most of them dove off of their platforms and incinerated themselves in the lava. The others fled, likely to call for aid from the big guns.
Finally, all of the immediate threats had been taken care of. Hail carried the exhausted Luigi to safety, nursing his wing. They needed rest badly, but another, tougher wave could arrive at any moment.
'I have to stay on my guard...' thought Hail, trying to find a position that didn't cause him pain.
Applejack and Seraphina had a much different experience dealing with the Magikoopas. Sera was quicker on the blinking draw than the Koopas, being an Abra, but the sheer quantity of the spells that they fired was a tricky feat to handle on its own.
None of Sera's attacks could hit; being magicians, countering non-physical attacks was their forte. When they weren't teleporting out of the way, they were meeting the blasts head on with their own magic, canceling each other out. And none of them stayed in the same place long enough for Sera to get a Psychic lock on them.
Thus, Applejack's plan. Sera would use her superior blinking to get the both of them up close and personal, allowing the country filly to give them a solid buck, straight into the lava.
This maneuver continued on like clockwork, the two femme fatales systematically taking out the whole lot of the Koopa assault. They were too fast for even the other hazards of the room.
"Yee-haw! That's some mighty fine teamwork," complimented Applejack.
'You certainly know your way around a kick,' Sera returned the favor.
Something shiny caught the corner of the pony's eye. "Well... lookee here." It was a Magikoopa's wand, knocked clean out of the sucker's hands before taking his final dip in his master's hot tub. "Now, I don't know nothin' about any of that fancy magic, but I reckon this could come in handy..."
Just as Applejack retrieved the wand with her teeth, Sera blinked them both out of the way of a fire turret that had just slid into place.
"Oh... heh, thanks for that," AJ chuckled, staring at the turret. "...Hold on a sec. Hailstorm?"
Indeed, it was the very turret upon which the pegasus pony sought refuge. "Oh, hey Applejack. Fancy meeting you here. Ow."
"Y'all all right? I made sure to bring some of my Sparklin' Red Cider, if'n you need a tune-up." She produced a bottle of the healing apple drink and tossed it at Hail.
"Thanks," said Hail, catching it in his mouth and gulping it down. His wing straightened on its own and he was feeling better in no time.
"Ain't nothin', sugarcube."
There was a mutual silence. The three conscious heroes looked around awkwardly.
"Um..." Hail muttered. "Where do we go from here?"
"Beats me," Applejack responded. "I ain't seen no other way to go."
"It may be hidden," Sera informed them. "If any more minions show up, note the direction they come from."
"I think you mean WHEN they show up," warned Hail, indicating the arrival of several helmeted Koopas wielding hammers and boomerangs. "I guess hammers are in this season..." They leaped across platforms with ease, gunning for the intruders. They seemed to come from the area that Applejack and Seraphina were previously in.
No sooner than they had shown themselves than a hammer flew right past Luigi's head, the breeze knocking his hat off. The disturbance caused him to awaken immediately, and he instinctively snatched his hat in midair before even opening his eyes. Re-donning his hat, the first thing Luigi saw was the next wave of baddies coming straight for them. "Wah! Hammer bros!"
Applejack counter-charged while Hailstorm carefully pondered his first attack plan (either that or he was just frozen again). While Applejack closed the gap, Seraphina knocked the projectile hammers and boomerangs off-course with her Psychic, but every time they got within melee range, the Hammer Bros swiftly jumped onto the platform behind them and continued firing.
One of the hammers slipped past Sera's defenses and beaned her in the head, causing her to lose focus. Applejack was unprotected, and a boomerang socked her squarely in the snout. She was stunned, but her momentum kept her heading straight for the edge of the platform.
Hail waited not a moment longer. He rushed forward, dodging the rain of hammers like only a pegasus could, and dragged Applejack by the tail to stop her. Sera regained herself and blinked the pair onto the opposite side of the Hammer Bro squadron.
Confused, the Hammer Bros continued firing at Luigi and Hailstorm, who were untouchable. As they closed in, Sera shot a Shadow Ball from behind, taking out a few to the side as Applejack bounced off of the turtles' helmets, sending their hapless wearers lava-ward. The remaining bros, distracted by the surprise rear attack, were cleaned up by the tag-team of Luigi and Hail.
The latest threat neutralized, Hail laid down on the floor, catching his breath. Luigi, on the other hand, was not ready to rest just yet. "Over there!" he cried, pointing to an opening in the wall which was slowly closing.
Sera reacted quickly, teleporting herself and Applejack inside the passage. Hailstorm scrambled to his hooves again and made a break for it, and Luigi had to limbo so that the two of them would fit. They made it just in time.
The passage was wide, and could probably fit a group of five side-by-side. This was most likely where Bowser's minions were coming from, and there was a good chance it would lead directly to him.
Hail and Applejack exchanged glances and nodded, wasting no time in sprinting down the hall.
"So let me get this straight," said Astra, sitting among a large crowd that had gathered around Blah including Sonic and Tails. "By starting this... SBURB... we've more or less doomed every sentient race on this planet to extinction?"
"Yep."
"But we get to create a whole new universe in the process?"
"Indeed. Well, barring any unusual circumstances, of course."
"And everything that happens leading up to and including the outcome has already been decided by fate?"
"Exactly."
"What about the Jewels of Universe?" chimed in Tails. "You said that destroying those would fix the universe anyway... and presumably killing nobody in the process?"
"You know, I have no idea," Blah said with a shrug. "Maybe SBURB will find a weird way to mix in with the other mechanics of this universe and become only a part of the original quest... It has a tendency to adapt to the situation. Maybe nobody's going extinct, for example. Maybe we're creating 8 separate universes, then discarding this one."
"Well, you know a LOT more about this stuff than we do," Sonic surrendered. "But who all is playing? We can't ALL get into the game, can we...?"
"I've seen as many as 12 in one canon session," Blah explained. "But I can't see why there couldn't be more... unless fate won't allow it..." Blah looked over at Astra again. "How many people are on your chumroll, anyway?"
"Three, not counting myself," she answered.
"So there will be at least 5 players with me involved," Blah concluded. "And I have a hunch that Seraphina, and possibly Hailstorm, will end up playing as well... so that's 7. Kind of a weird number for SBURB... my guess is that there will be an eighth player that all of us have yet to meet."
"We've arrived at the crash site!" declared a voice before any other questions could be asked.
"All right!" Blah cried, standing up. "Let's check it out. This meteor might hold clues as to what this particular session entails."
Sonic, Tails, Astra, and Blah all crowded into (or onto) the Tornado for a quick trip to the surface. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but it took no more than a couple of minutes.
Upon landing, the gang was met with a horrid sight. There used to be a small, quaint town here, but almost every structure was damaged, punched through by the debris. There wasn't a soul around, all of them presumably evacuated before the meteor struck... well, except for the floating molten rock creatures swarming the remains of the meteor and personally seeing to the leveling of what remained of the town.
"Meteor Heads..." Blah identified, disdainfully. Whether the meteor appeared because of SBURB or because of the smashing of the Shadow Orb, Blah couldn't really be certain, as there were signs of both. Landing in a gap between two houses in a block large enough to fit another house, and yet no signs of said house being there, as well as the Meteor Heads characteristic of Terrarian meteors.
"All right, you guys take care of the Meteor Heads," Blah instructed, equipping his Nitemare Pickaxe, "I'll mine out the meteor and look for anything else that may be useful."
Astra took out her crescent scythe without hesitation. Sonic, a bit uncomfortable taking orders, curled up into a ball regardless and spun rapidly in place. Tails hopped back into his plane and activated the turrets. The hot-faced space rocks changed their priorities as they noticed new blood enter the environment, and they drew slowly nearer all at once.
The war was on. Sonic plowed into one Head from the ground, chipping it and ricocheting into another. Tails gunned them down left and right, each one taking a few hits. Astra slashed through several, but they were steadfast and hard to penetrate on the first swing. Regardless, they were easy to keep at bay as long as the defenders kept landing hits.
Meanwhile, Blah carefully picked away at the meteor, scooping each sizable chunk in his backpack. The rock was still hot, so touching it firsthand was out of the question. Thankfully, his pickaxe was able to keep him at a safe distance.
It was a cakewalk, but the Meteor Heads just kept on coming. At this rate, the heroes would tire before Blah even mined out half of the meteor.
"Jeez, how many of these guys can one comet carry?" Sonic asked before homing in on another cluster.
"Too many," Blah answered, stopping to take a break from swinging that pickaxe. Terraria characters must have an infinite reserve of stamina to be able to swing for minutes on end...
The gunfire from the Tornado turned into a rapid series of clicks. "Uh oh," Tails cried. "I'm out of ammo..."
"Try this on for size," Blah said as he pulled out his demonite crossbow and quiver, tossing them up to Tails. The fox caught the items hesitantly, eventually lifting out of his airplane with his tails a-spinning and getting to work.
There was a persistent pinging from Astra's pockets. She finished dispatching the nearest Meteor Head and quickly checked her phone.
- demigodHunter [DH] began trolling starfaringPioneer [SP] at 19:18 -
DH: =YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED, HUMAN.=
DH: =MY KIND WILL RISE ABOVE ALL AND CLAIM OUR RIGHTFUL POSITION AS THE DOMINANT SPECIES OF ALL UNIVERSES.=
DH: =SURRENDER OR DIE A MISERABLE, AGONIZING DEATH IN THE NAME OF THE INEXORABLE ONE!=
- demigodHunter [DH] ceased trolling starfaringPioneer [SP] at 19:18 -
The unknown pesterer disappeared into the aether of the internet before Astra even had a chance to respond. She put her phone away, considering passing it off as some bored yokel looking for a cheap laugh... until she heard the roaring.
Everyone stopped in their tracks. They heard it too; it was the combined roar of many beings, almost like a war cry.
The setting sun was blotted out by many large winged figures rapidly approaching the ruined village. They were much bigger than any bird, pegasus pony, or any other flying creature they had previously encountered... except one.
The silhouette was unfamiliar to most of the heroes. Blah, on the other hand, had a pretty good guess as to what was attacking them.
"Dragons ahoy!" Blah shouted, stuffing the remainder of his ore into his pack and making a break for the Tornado.
There was no time to ask questions. Tails headed back for the plane without a second thought, as did Astra a few seconds later. Sonic finished off the last of a particular wave of Meteor Heads before taking up the rear. Tails started up the engines, and lifted off just as Sonic hopped onto the wing.
By the time the foursome returned to Angel Island, the army of dragons were halfway to the city. About two thirds of them split from the main group to pursue the island. Blah estimated that at the rate that they moved, the invaders would be able to catch up in a few minutes' time. Blah decided to take advantage of that time by prepping the island's defense force.
"Ok, so," Blah started, somewhat panicked, as soon as he had the echidnas' attention, "there's a huge dragon army out to kill us all for some as of yet unknown reason. Stay together, brace yourselves, stall them if you can't defeat them, and above all, protect the Master Emerald!" The echidnas nodded and promptly gathered their arms, standing ready all around the island. Sonic stretched his legs, and Tails reloaded his borrowed crossbow.
Blah turned to Astra. "Now would be a good time to contact Knuckles, and any other reinforcements..."
She took out her phone again and quickly dialed up a number. Blah would have stuck around to listen to her half of the conversation, but then he remembered he had a few errands of his own. He dashed off to his half-built castle and approached the furnace with his Meteorite ores.
A quick smelt later, and Blah only counted 16 meteorite bars... which wasn't nearly enough for anything useful. He slammed his fist on the anvil as the roars picked up again. The fighting was imminent, and Blah would still have to resort to using his slow Breaker...
Unless... He checked his backpack and uncovered his Quartz Lance for the first time in a while. 'I have enough smithing experience,' he thought, 'time to put my improvisation skills to good use.'
He applied the bars to the lance, remembering another recipe that costed slightly different materials... Quartz is a kind of gem, after all, and he had the added bonus of not having to shape the bars from scratch. When he finished, he had a slimmer, longer purplish lance with a bright cyan glow reminiscent of an iconic sci-fi weapon.
He jabbed the air with his new Phaselance a few times to get the feel of it. 'Now we're talking!' Blah celebrated in his head, picturing a scaly beast on the end of his weapon. It was lighter than its solid quartz counterpart, had a longer reach, and due to the otherworldly energy from the meteorite, the perpetually hot laser tip would have a much easier time penetrating things.
Double-checking his armor and retrieving his shield, Blah rushed back outside just in time to see the advancing army. He noticed the dragons in question were a bit smaller than the average adult dragon; they were only about 9 feet tall, but that was still pretty big for army fodder. They were also numerous.
"Uh," Tails wavered, "It looks like these dragons outnumber us by at least 3 to 1..."
"Never tell me the odds," Blah quoted, standing his ground as the first of the soldiers touched down. "Or... the numbers. You get the idea."
It just occurred to me that I haven't really explained exactly how one pilots Angel Island. To be honest, I have no clue. Just pretend the pilot is just kinda spinning the Master Emerald like a steering wheel.