A/N: Okay this chapter took way too long to post. This is my fault: I have no excuse except for a lack of interest in this particular chapter. It's Mario centered, and I am not a huge fan of Mario. I'd like to claim that I was struck by a severe case of writer's block, but that would be a lie. The sad part is that I had every aspect of this chapter planned out in my mind; I just had to finally force myself to write it down. It took very little time to actually write this. I know. Sad.
Chapter Nine: Mushroom Kingdom Allies
Mario breathed in deeply; usually the smell of the air in the Mushroom Kingdom had a calming effect on him. Not today. There was too much to do. "All right group, we'll refresh and re-supply before we take on Bowser. The Mushroom Castle is probably only a day away on foot."
"All right Mario," Luigi said. "Lead the way."
The group traveled slowly across one of the Mushroom Kingdom's many plains. The brilliant blue sky seemed too happy after their devastating loss. Many of the Smashers could not feel lightened.
A unified cry of "Wapooooh!" split the air. Yoshi's head snapped up. "What was that?" Lucas asked, scared as usual.
"A herd of yoshis," Mario replied as Yoshi ran off toward his endangered kin. "Yoshi, wait!" the plumber exclaimed, but the dinosaur paid him no heed, only increasing his speed if anything. The exigency of his kin was too great.
"Come on," Mario muttered. "Let's go help Yoshi."
The group crested a hill and beheld a large herd of yoshi besieged by goombas. The menacing mushrooms were herding the yoshis into a disarrayed mob. Letting out a fierce battle cry, Yoshi charged down the hill. Mario and Luigi followed, fireballs in hand.
Yoshi charged forward, head butting one of the goombas. Mario and Luigi took down four with their fireballs. Ness used PK Fire on two while Lucas managed to hit one with PK Freeze.
"Great," Marioi muttered. "Seven down, twenty to go."
Donkey Kong leapt down, body-slamming one into the ground. Diddy Kong blasted two with his guns. Yoshi turned around and head butted another goomba. Three of the goombas teamed up on Yoshi. He cried out in pain.
"This is what we get for rushing headfirst into battle," Mario muttered, rushing to help his friend. He took care of two of the goombas, but the third knocked him back harshly. Mario recovered quickly and struck it down.
Finally they managed to defeat the last goomba. Yoshi scurried around the others of his kind to see if they were hurt badly. An older yoshi, obviously the leader, walked up to Yoshi. Yoshi began conversing with the Elder while everyone else waited patiently, not understanding anything that Yoshi or the Elder said. Yoshi finally scurried over to Mario.
"What did he say?" the plumber asked.
"He said that he was honored to meet the famous Mario and Luigi," Yoshi replied. "He also said that he was grateful that we saved his people. He said if there was anything he can do for us, we are welcome to ask."
"That's very generous of him," Mario replied, "but tell him that he doesn't have to…actually…" Mario looked at the group. "Anyone ever ridden a yoshi?"
--
Toadsworth stood on one of the top balconies of the Mushroom Castle, overlooking the Mushroom Kingdom. He was temporarily in charge while Princess Peach was off fighting in the Super Smash Bros. tournament. Everything looked so peaceful.
Looking over towards one of the fields, Toadsworth was surprised to a large cloud of dust approaching the Castle. As the dust neared, Toadsworth could see that it was caused by a stampeding herd of yoshi. The dinosaur-like creatures were barreling straight towards the Castle!
"Oh dear!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "Toad and Toadette, you have to stop the yoshi heading for the Castle. Hurry!"
"What!" the two toad guards exclaimed. Stopping a herd of stampeding yoshi could be likened to suicide.
"You don't have much time. Go!"
"Is he insane?" Toadette grumbled as the two ran outside. "He's got to be crazy. That's the only explanation."
"He just doesn't want the yoshi to damage anything," Toad replied.
"Well he's going to damage us," Toadette muttered.
As the two exited the Castle, running towards the yoshi, Toad suddenly stopped. "What are you doing?" Toadette asked. "We have to stop the stupid yoshi or else Toadsworth will fry us! We'll be trampled anyway."
"Look," Toad said. "They don't seem to be running in any kind of disorder or chaos. They look like they're running in an organized fashion."
"So?"
"I don't think they're stampeding."
"Why else would a group of yoshi be running towards Mushroom Castle?"
"Well, I don't know…"
Toadette shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about." She ran ahead, cresting a small hill; her eyes widened in shock. "Toad, get up here! You were right. It's Mario! He's droving the yoshi. It's amazing."
Toad joined her on the hill. "Told you so," he said smugly. Toadette punched him in the face. She waved her arms over her head, jumping up and down. "Mario! Over here! Hey Mario."
Mario noticed her energetic flailing and veered off towards the two Mushroom guards. "What's up?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Toadette asked. "We weren't expecting you until later. Did you win the Tournament already? Man, you know how to make an entrance."
"Where's Princess Peach?" Toad asked, getting up off the ground. "Is she up there with the other yoshis?"
Mario shook his head. "No. Bowser kidnapped her. That's why we're back so early."
"But I thought you said that she couldn't be kidnapped when you guys were at those tournaments," Toadette interjected.
"A lot of things have happened between then and now," Mario replied. "I need to speak with Toadsworth."
"He's inside," Toadette replied.
Mario nodded and directed Yoshi towards the Castle entrance. Toadsworth came rushing out of the Castle. "Mario, it's so good to see you. I suppose that must have been you with the yoshis. I admit you nearly gave me a heart attack. I'm ashamed to say that I panicked and probably sent Toad and Toadette on a death trip."
"Now he realizes it," Toadette muttered. Toad glared at her as if to say shut-up.
"You've brought quite a curious group with you," Toadsworth commented. Lucas was on the ground, curled up in the fetal position. Ness was wide-eyed, exclaiming how riding a yoshi was awesome. Donkey Kong was panting; he had been too large to ride on a yoshi, so he had been forced to run the entire journey. Diddy Kong was leaping up and down excitedly. The Pokémon Trainer looked a littlke nauseous while Jigglypuff stared wide-eyed at everything. The Ice Climbers were jumping up and down excitedly. "But where is Princess Peach, pray tell?"
"She was kidnapped."
"Oh my goodness," Toadsworth exclaimed. "That is not good. Why, we must save her."
Mario put a hand on Toadsworth's shoulder. "That is precisely what we're here for, my friend. Do not worry; we'll rescue Peach. But first we'll need some rest at this castle."
"Oh, but of course," Toadsworth said. "I'll make sure you will have everything you need to rescue our beloved princess."
Mario nodded. He turned to the herd of yoshi. "I thank you for giving us a ride here. Your aid was most appreciated." Yoshi translated. The yoshis nodded and ran off into the distance. Mario turned to face his group. "All right everybody," he said, "follow me."
--
"So why are we needed in the throne room?" Mario asked as he and Luigi followed Toadsworth through the halls of the Castle.
"There is an important visitor I think the two of you would like to see," Toadsworth replied. He opened the door to the throne room. "I apologize for keeping you waiting, Princess Daisy of Sarasaland," Toadsworth said.
"Daisy!" Mario and Luigi exclaimed in unison, both shocked.
"Hello," she said. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon. Did something happen? Peach asked me to check on Toadsworth, so it sounded like you all were nowhere near to being finished. Where is she?"
"She was kidnapped by Bowser," Mario replied. "That's why we're back so early."
"Then I'm going to help you rescue her."
"What!"
"No offense, Daisy," Luigi said. "But this isn't going to be like a sports match or party game."
"I know that," Daisy responded heatedly. "I know it will be difficult, but I can help you. I know how to fight. Don't forget that I sometimes covered for Peach in Melee when she was desperately needed here in the Mushroom Kingdom. Besides, I'm sure you'll need all the help you can get."
"But-" Luigi started to protest.
"Alright, you can help us," Mario said. Luigi looked at him in shock. Mario turned to face his younger twin. "I'm not too keen on the idea either, but she's right. We do need all the help we can get."
Daisy's face brightened. "Thank you Mario," she said, turning to face Luigi. "Don't worry Wigi, I'll be fine."
Luigi turned a bright shade of red. Mario snickered. "Wigi?" he asked.
"Shut-up," Luigi replied. "I'm sure Peach has created some adorable pet name for you."
"When do you plan on leaving for Bowser's Castle?" Daisy asked, interrupting the brothers before they could get in a full-fledged argument.
"We plan on leaving first thing tomorrow if at all possible," Mario replied. "Hopefully it won't take too long to get the necessary supplies for the trip."
"All right," Daisy said. "Don't worry; I won't sleep in."
"Well have Jigglypuff wake you if-" Mario started to say. "Never mind. Jigglypuff doesn't wake people up; she puts them to sleep. We'll send Toadette to wake you up if you oversleep."
Daisy grimaced. "She'll wake the whole castle up."
"True," Luigi said. "Hopefully we won't have to use her."
"Don't worry Wigi; I can take care of myself."
Mario snickered as Luigi blushed. "You are never going to live this down," Mario whispered to his brother quietly.
"Well don't just stand there," Daisy said. "Introduce me to your other companions. I'm sure I'll have met some of them, but I'd still like to reacquaint myself with them."
"Okay," Mario said. "Follow us."
--
"Okay," Daisy said. "I know you three (Yoshi, DK, and Diddy Kong); I remember you four (Jigglypuff, Ness, and the Ice Climbers); and I don't know you two (Lucas and Red.)"
"Why don't we just go around and introduce everyone even if you already know who Daisy is," Luigi said.
"Well she already knows Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong fairly well," Mario interjected.
"I'm Ness," the baseball-capped boy said.
"I'm Jigglypuff," the pink Pokémon said.
"I'm Red, the Pokémon Trainer."
"I'm Lucas."
"And I'm Daisy. I'm Peach's best friend and I sometimes cover for her in the Super Smash Brothers tournaments if there's a crisis in the Mushroom Kingdom…or Toadsworth has a panic attack."
"Which can happen quite often," Mario muttered.
"So when are we going to rescue Princess Peach?" Toad asked.
"We're leaving first thing tomorrow. You're staying here."
"What!" Toadette exclaimed. "We can help you."
"Yes," Mario said, "but we need you two to stay here and watch the Castle."
"Why can't we help you rescue Peach? It's our job her," Toad said.
"I understand why you want to help," Mario said, "but we need capable people to stay behind and help Toadsworth look after the Castle. You two are those capable people."
"Mario's showing how much faith he has in you two by putting you in charge of the Castle's defenses," Daisy said. "We need someone to make sure we have a Castle to come home to."
"Alright," Toad mumbled reluctantly. "We'll do it."
"Thank you," Mario replied. "I know you won't let us down."
--
Toadette sighed as she paced back and forth on the castle's walls. Not only was she not allowed to go help rescue Princess Peach, she was stuck in this boring castle above all things. She should have just stayed at her hotel instead of accepting Peach's offer to help out at the Castle. It was much more interesting there.
The young toad turned her eyes to the horizon, almost bored to tears. Her eyes widened as she saw a dark cloud heading towards the castle – except that it was not a cloud. It was a large army of robots! At its head was Bowser and a fat man in a red jacket with an orange mustache. That was the guy on Sonic's team at the Olympics! (A/N: Yes, more references to Mario and Sonic Olympics. Was Toadette even there?)
"Toad!" Toadette yelled, her voice could be heard all over the Castle. Her fellow mushroom guard hurried up to see what the problem was. His eyes widened when he saw the oncoming army. "Holy Mushrooms, is that Bowser and Eggman?"
"No moron, it's just two people who look like Bowser and Eggman. Of course it's them!" (A/N: Yes, Toadette has a little bit of an attitude problem.)
"What are they doing here?"
"What does it look like they're doing here? They're here to conquer the Castle!" (A/N: Scratch that; she has a HUGE attitude problem.)
"What will we do? We do not have an army that big."
"Then the two of you must go and alert Mario of Bowser's attack," Toadsworth said, walking up behind them. "You can escape now while it's still relatively calm around here."
"We can't just abandon you," Toad protested. Although he had not originally wanted to stay at the Castle, he could not just abandon his post. "Mario's counting on us to protect this Castle."
"I don't think Mario anticipated an attack this big," Toadsworth replied. "If you two don't warn him, he may end up walking into a trap when he returns. We'll fight back against Bowser and Eggman while you two go to alert him of what's happening."
"Alright," Toadette said, grabbing Toad's arm. "We'll go tell Mario." She began dragging her counterpart down the halls of the Castle. "He freaks out about a couple of yoshi, but he's fine when an entire army shows up," she muttered.
"Could you find anything else to gripe about?" Toad asked. Toadette started to open her mouth to answer. "I was asked a rhetorical question."
"Don't ask questions that I could take all day to answer," Toadette replied. She let go of Toad when they reached the garage. "We'll use my go-kart to find Mario."
"Why yours? And who put you in charge?"
"Because my go-kart is faster than yours, and it has a full tank of gas. And I did." Toadette jerked Toad onto her go-kart and started it up. "Mario here we come!" She stepped on the gas and floored it.
--
Mario looked at the towering, gothic spires of Bowser's Castle. (A/N: I realize that's probably not an accurate description. Oh well.) Soon they would confront the Koopa King in order to save Peach. Mario was filled with worry over how his girlfriend was faring.
Daisy glanced over her shoulder. "What's that?" she asked, indicating the large column of dust rapidly approaching them.
"What on earth?" the plumber asked, squinting as he tried to make out the form rapidly approaching them. A light go-kart zoomed past them, almost taking out Popo. The Ice Climber cried out in shock.
"Toadette, you missed them!" a shrill voice cried out.
The go-kart made a sharp, U-turn at super-high speeds, nearly careening out of control. It came to an abrupt halt, almost running over Nana (who was helping Popo up.)
"Toadette!" Luigi exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I know you said to watch the Castle," Toadette replied. "But Toad and I have an important message."
"Toad?" Everyone looked on the other side of the go-kart where Toad was on the ground – wide eyed in the fetal position.
"Bowser and Eggman are attacking the Castle!" Toadette said.
"What?" Mario asked. "Wait. Eggman? As in fat guy in a red coat with a ridiculously large orange moustache Eggman?"
"Yes! I know you said that we had to guard the Castle, but Toadsworth told us to come and tell you about Bowser and Eggman. They had a huge army – like thousands and thousands of robots. Don't even get me started about the goombas and koopas and paratroopas and…"
Mario held up his hand for Toadette to stop talking. "This is not good. We cannot let Bowser take the Mushroom Castle."
"It sounds like he'll take it no matter what happens," Ness commented dryly.
"Bowser and Eggman must have planned for you to leave and try to rescue Peach," Daisy said. "They'll probably expect you to try and heroically save Mushroom Castle."
"But if Bowser is attacking Peach's Castle," Donkey Kong said, "who's guarding his castle?"
"Maybe we can still rescue Peach before we try and reclaim her castle," Diddy Kong finished.
All eyes looked at Mario expectantly. He sighed; sometimes being Nintendo's mascot meant that everyone expected him to make all the decisions. "Alright," Mario said. "We go to rescue Peach before moving to retake the Castle. We'll need her to rally the people of the Mushroom Kingdom when we launch our attack against Bowser. If he holds her hostage, the people might not put up as much resistance."
Everyone nodded.
"Hey Mario," a deep voice said.
Mario turned around, staring in shock at the five newcomers before him. "Hello. I wasn't expecting you all. Why are you here?"
A/N: Yes! It's done. It took way too long, but here is chapter 9. I hope you all enjoy. (Cliffhanger yet again…I'm evil.) I promise it will not take two months for my next chapter to be posted (although I'm starting softball soon so…) Anyways, I hope you enjoy my story. Please forgive my discrepancies between using "yoshi" and "yoshis" as the plural form of yoshi. I'm too lazy to look up what the official term is.) Please R & R.