Finished the next chapter!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 12: Thwomp Volcano

After the ride in the time portal, the heroes and Princess Peach were back at the present day in the castle. Soon, Peach was taken into her room with both Toadsworths, Baby Peach and Young Amy. The baby brothers, on the other hand, were having fun hopping on Peach's soft bed while the rest listened to the younger Toadsworth's speech:

"Oh, calamity! How DARE this fungus attach itself to our princess's beautiful face!"

"I daresay I'm rather curious as to how the mushroom has affixed itself as well…" the older Toadsworth replied.

"What a cruel jest this is. I get the chance to meet the adult princess and… CURSES!"

"I guess we'll just have to wait for it to rot and fall off." Young Sonic said. "The 'shroom, I mean, not her face."

"ARE YOU WELL, MY DEAR?" Young Toadsworth asked with worry.

Peach didn't say anything; she only made a small nod. But then, Baby Peach started to cry again.

"Oh, now you've done it, you trumpeting old elephant! The young miss is weeping again…" Toadsworth grumbled as he and his younger self went to Baby Peach.

"A princess here… A princess there… No rest for me, I fear." Young Toadsworth sweatdropped.

They both pushed the pink baby wagon out of the room.

"Hey, the important thing is that the princess is safe." Mario stated.

"Come, older Peach, why don't you lie down for a while?" Young Amy asked after she walked towards Peach and held her hand. Peach made a small nod again.

"Why am I seeing that this Peach is not Peach in my visions of the future?" Veronica thought while placing her finger under her chin. "Could that Peach really be fake?"

The heroes ended up exploring the sewers of the castle, where the kids meet up with an odd, cloaked person who sold badges by trading beans. Strangely enough, that cloaked person looked familiar and spoke in a dialogue that we've already seen before… He also mentioned the fury he had with four individuals in red, green, blue and yellow in the past. And even said that those individuals looked almost like our four kid heroes. Who could that person be…?

Once the heroes found both Toadsworths entertaining Baby Peach again, they teach the adult brothers two new moves that involves their toddler selves in the middle: the Baby Spin, where Mario and Luigi do their Spin Jump next to the babies, sending them into the air, spinning as they descend, and the Baby Cakes, where Mario and Luigi flatten the babies with the Bros Ball, allowing the disk-shaped toddlers to ride across air currents and fir into very thin passages.

After the learning is over, they made their way to the throne room to meet with E. Gadd as always. However, before they could go there, all of a sudden, earthquakes showed up.

"Eh? What was that?" Mario questioned.

A Toad rushed to where they are and panicked:

"T-TERRIBLE! H-HE'S B-BACK! ROYAL CHAMBERS!"

"Wait, 'he'? *gasp* oh no… Don't tell me…" Mario's eyes widened.

Everyone rushed back to Peach's room, and there…was none other than Bowser, who had just defeated Young Amy, now lying unconscious on the floor.

"GWAH HA HA HA!" Bowser laughed evilly. "This time, the princess will be MINE, you fools!"

"BOWSER!" all of the heroes yelled as they walked towards Bowser and glared at him.

"Huh? Mario, Sonic, Tails and that green wimp are here? What are the odds? I'll admit, you've handed me my shell before, but not this time!"

"Didn't you get it already? You always lose, no matter what! How can you be sure that today is your turn to shine?" Sonic asked in a sternly tone.

"Oh yeah! My horoscope said so! Today's the day I win it all!" Bowser smirked. "GWAH HA HA HA! I RULE!"

"Pffft, yeah, right…" Sonic rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, something began to come out of the Shroob Mushroom attached to Peach's face. It was an odd, Shroob Mushroom blob. To everyone's surprise, the blob flew right at Bowser's face! Even blinded by it, Bowser managed to pull off the blob and even ate it.

"Urgh…" Bowser gagged.

"Oh no…" Veronica's eyes widened. "QUICK! EVERYONE OUT!"

She quickly shoved both Sonics, both Tailses, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi out of the room before going along with them.

"Why were they all running for?" Mario raised an eyebrow.

Then…

"YUUUUCK!" Bowser vomited out a purple mist that covered the entire room. Unfortunately, that mist was poisonous, so the brothers immediately started to feel sick and began to cough before collapsing on the ground. "Gotta go!" Bowser shouted as he grabbed Peach and ran off.

The heroes who were outside saw Bowser escaping with Princess Peach, and Sonic shouted to him:

"HALT!"

"Huh? Who goes there?" Bowser turned around, only to see Sonic Spin Dashing towards him.

"Return Princess Peach at once!" Sonic yelled.

However, Bowser jumped over him, avoiding his attack, but that also caused the floor under Bowser to crack, and he fell down along with Peach…into a Time Hole. The group went there and peeked down to where Bowser fell.

"There he goes…" Young Sonic sweatdropped.

"God dang it! We lost Peach again!" Sonic cursed.

"And Bowser has kidnapped her AGAIN…" Tails added.

"Hey, where's adult Mario and adult Luigi?" Young Tails asked.

"Uuuuugh…" they turned around and saw Mario and Luigi moaning in sickness as they came out of the room all woozy.

"Oh my! Are you okay?" Veronica asked in concern.

"Not very good…" Luigi groaned.

"Let me help you guys."

Veronica used her Reversing Time magic to reverse back to how Mario and Luigi's states were before they breathed in the poisonous mist. With that, both adult brothers were cured.

"Thanks, Veronica." Mario thanked.

"No problem. Now let's go after Bowser into that Time Hole."

They all nodded and went to the Time Hole and jumped in.

After traveling into the time portal, the heroes arrived at Thwomp Volcano; a currently inactive volcano in the northwest corner of the Mushroom Kingdom. There were many Thwomp head stones at the volcano's walls, grassy terrain and dark caves.

Sonic went over to the sign next to the entrance and read: "'Thwomp Volcano Trail. Beware of falling objects!' Is this where we are?"

"Maybe so." Veronica said. "I've heard that a Thwomp couple loves to watch volcano eruptions, and according to my visions, it seems like this volcano, used to be inactive for many years, is finally about to wake up, and this couple are about to gather in front of the volcano."

"Never knew that Thwomps have separated genders…" Mario pondered.

"How should we even know that in the first place, Mario? They all look exactly the same!" Luigi stated.

"Besides from blue and gray Thwomps, I'll have to agree with that."

"How about we just leave the talking for later? We've got a princess to save, you know." Sonic said impatiently, tapping his foot.

"Fine…" Mario and Luigi replied in unison.

They made their way forward, passing by the mountaineer Toads around the landscape, solving more puzzles with the two new abilities and fighting strange box-like enemies called Thwacks. Soon, they reached the very top of the volcano, where the air started to become humid.

"My god…can't it get ANY more humid out here?!" Young Sonic complained.

"Well, duh! We're at the very top of the volcano!" Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute, what's that over there?" Tails pointed to something shining on the ground.

Curious, Baby Mario walked closer to the shiny object, revealing to be a golden crown. The infant picked the crown and examined it, until a big smile showed up on his face:

"Hey! That's older Peach's crown!"

"That's correct!" Luigi nodded as Baby Mario puts the crown into his pocket.

"Travesty!" Stuffwell exclaimed. "If Princess Peach's crown is here…" he looked at the volcano. "Could it be that she and Bowser tumbled into the volcano?"

"Hm… That could be a possibil- *BOOM!* WHOA!"

Before Mario could finish his sentence, all of a sudden, a large magma geyser shot out from the volcano! The heroes flinched as pieces of Thwomp-shaped debris flew into the sky by the eruption.

"T-The volcano has erupted!" Young Tails panicked.

"And at the worst possible time!" Sonic added.

"My powers don't seem to work at this volcano! We have to find a way to stop the eruption!" Veronica warned.

"Then LET'S GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" Young Sonic shouted.

"I'll stay here and watch over the mountain!" Veronica called out as the boys ran off.

They ran and ran until they came upon a familiar-looking lab at the Far East side of the summit.

"That lab's shape looks familiar!" Tails pointed out. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yep. Let's hurry and get inside!" Luigi said as they entered the lab.

As soon as they walked in, they saw a younger version of Professor E. Gadd! He was busy doing some notes.

"Hmm… Ahh…" he spoke. "Hmm…"

"It's the professor! I mean, the younger professor!" Tails exclaimed. He then runs to Young E. Gadd and called out: "HEY! PROFESSOR! We've got a volcano in eruption!"

However, Young E. Gadd just walks away, ignoring Tails.

"Hmm… Ahh…" he spoke again, still doing notes.

"E. GADD! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!" Luigi called out louder than Tails, but the professor ignored him as well. Even the kids called out too, but were also ignored.

"Hmm…" Young E. Gadd spoke, doing more notes.

"Jeez! How can this guy be so focused on his notes?" Young Sonic argued.

"You know what? I've had enough!" Baby Mario growled as he jumped in front of Young E. Gadd and pulled out his hammer, which actually caught the professor's attention as he shifted his look to the baby about to hit him and yelled in shock:

"YOWZER!"

"Are you going to listen to us?!"

"Fine! Fine! Just put that hammer down, will ya?"

"Alright." Baby Mario puts away his hammer. Young E. Gadd then calms down and spoke:

"Oh, criminy, I have guests! I was so caught up in my research I didn't notice you."

"That's some excuse…" Young Sonic thought while rolling his eyes.

"The name's Elvin Gadd. I'm studying the Thwomps and history of this here mountain." Young E. Gadd continued. "How'd all these stony fellers get here and why're they so darn angry about everything? That ancient mystery's the only thing that gets my brain all a-percolating…"

"Wow, who knew that the professor was studying the Thwomps before later on moving to Boo Woods?" Luigi thought with a surprised look. "I probably didn't remember that because I was too young…"

"Anyhoo, I'm studying the dirt and rocks and everything else about this fine peak." Young E. Gadd took out his clipboard where his notes were. "I'm a bit slim on snacks and amenities, but feel free to stay as long as you like, OK, boys?"

"THERE IS NO TIME FOR THAT! WE HAVE A SERIOUS TROUBLE OUTSIDE!" Sonic yelled as all of the boys were panicking.

"What's got you fellers so riled? You're shaking the darn floor!" Young E. Gadd asked.

"The volcano is blowing up!" Baby Luigi answered.

"Heh heh heh! Riiiiiiiiight." Young E. Gadd chuckled.

*BOOM!*

"YOOOOOWZER!" Young E. Gadd flinched when the volcano let out a second explosion.

"WE TOLD YOU!" Young Sonic yelled.

"And that's the second explosion!" Tails warned.

"What? It just blew its top a few moments ago?" Young E. Gadd questioned. "Why didn't you say so?! What were you waiting for?"

"We tried to warn you from the beginning! But you were way too focused on your researches!" Luigi told him.

Just then, a Thwomp debris fell on top of a bookcase, followed up by another one landing on the table and three more falling on the machine at the back, damaging it, and a code red alarm beeped.

"WE'RE UNDER FIRE, BOYS! All my experiment results are gonna be destroyed!" Young E. Gadd panicked.

Another Thwomp debris fell on a desk and a huge one fell on another type of machine, setting it aflame.

"Oh, criminy! That fiery Thwomp is gonna explode! We gotta put that thing out before my whole place goes up!" Young E. Gadd warned.

Baby Mario then saw some water running down a faucet at the left corner of the room. That gave him an idea and called out Baby Luigi: "Bro! Over here!"

"Where are you taking me?" Baby Luigi asked as he follows Baby Mario.

"See this water? Let's use our pumping technique!"

"Oh yeah, right! Let's do this!"

Baby Mario drinks the water from the faucet, becoming Pump Baby Mario, and walks to the flaming Thwomp debris, with Baby Luigi following behind. Once they were close enough, Baby Luigi smashed Baby Mario with his hammer to make him spit out as many water as possible. Thankfully, there was enough water in Baby Mario to make the fire douse out.

Young E. Gadd, who watched this whole event, walked next to the baby brothers and pondered:

"Wait! Water… Water goes splash… Splashing douses fire… Something… I feel something percolating in my brain!"

Then, the whole scene froze for a second, and back at the present day, the older E. Gadd also felt something in his mind:

"Yowzer! My memories… Why, the memories of my youth have been… They've been rearranged! Wha-What's this, now? Can it be… That's IT!"

Then, the scene shows both E. Gadds' brains: the younger E. Gadd's brain showed the Pump Baby Mario technique in action, and that memory somehow flew into the older E. Gadd's brain. With that, this memory materialized into some sort of gushing machine with a similar appearance to F.L.U.U.D.

The scene shifts back to the past, where everyone fled the burned down lab.

"Thanks for playing firemen, fellers, but it looks like this lab's done for." Young E. Gadd said. "Don't you sweat it, though. I hear there's an affordable lab at the edge of the Boo Woods. I think I'll relocate there for a time. I have a hankering to do some paranormal research."

"Oh, great… So this is where it began indeed…" Luigi muttered. He then looked at his younger self. "Have fun with that."

"Uh…what?" Baby Luigi tilted his head in confusion.

"You'll see when you get older."

"Now listen, boys, it's dangerous for all of you to stay here." Young E. Gadd told. "I have an inkling I'll be seeing you again soon, though… 'Bye!" he then left.

"Believe us, E. Gadd, you'll see us soon indeed!" Tails smiled.

Then, Stuffwell came out and told everyone:

"Guys! I'm receiving a message from the future Professor E. Gadd!"

Stuffwell opened up by himself and a green screen monitor showed up as with an antenna. E. Gadd's voice came out from the monitor:

"Can you hear me, fellers? I've just completed the most marvelous invention!"

"A new invention?" Tails' eyes widened.

"Yep, this incredible machine will put a stop to any volcanic eruption, no matter how great."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" all of the boys shouted in surprise.

"Hold up! Just where did you get the inspiration to do it?" Sonic asked.

"The inspiration just came out of nowhere, as all great ones do. I call it the Hydrogush 4000! As the name should tell you, it has horsepower to spare. You're dying to see it, huh?"

"You bet!" the boys exclaimed in unison.

"OK! I'll send you a little sample flood through the time hole. Hang on, fellers!"

Back at the present, E. Gadd was loading the Hydrogush 4000 with water. Once he was done, he prepares to activate it by the push of a button.

"If you just tap here…" he spoke to himself as he pushes the button. Then, the Hydrogush 4000 let out a rumble and water began to flow from its long rubber tube. The tube led to the Time Hole and gushed the water into it like a waterfall.

Eventually, back at the past, the water came out of the Time Hole as a gigantic geyser, rising up towards the volcano. The water washed down the lava and the eruption stopped. Soon, a random cloud came by and blew away the smoke.

Veronica, who was still below the volcano, watched amazed:

"Wow… They actually did it…"

Back with the boys…

"Yippee! It worked!" Baby Mario cheered.

"Heh! Awe inspiring, wasn't it? Well, show-and-tell's over. I just wanted to show off. Talk to you fellers later!" the call ends.

"The paradoxicated implications are REALLY profound, but at least we can enter the crater." Stuffwell said and jumps back into Mario's pocket.

The boys made their way up again, where they met up with Veronica.

"Good job for dousing out the lava. Now, let's head to the crater." She told.

To be continued…

I did a great job adding a lot of references and still kept the humor the story should have. Also, I have no idea how did Peach's crown came back to the real one's head if the heroes still had it with them.

With the volcano's eruption no more, nothing is going to stop our heroes from heading into the crater! ...Right? Until the next chapter! Please review.