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Mario was now wandering alone down the right cave, his heart pounding tremendously as he fearfully pressed onward. He wondered if his brother was still okay and wondered if Lord Crump was still after them. He also wondered if he had taken the shortest and safest cave route and hoped that Luigi was not getting killed or eaten alive. He did not want to admit it in front of him, but Mario still had his doubts about his brother, even after the time he had survived a night at a deadly haunted house a few years ago. But then again, he never really trusted in himself, because he thought that he would mess something up. In reality, Mario lacked self-confidence, and it was because he and his brother have been repeatedly forced to grow up too fast due to their indescribable trauma.
It was only after a short distance when Mario realized the walls of the cave were no longer natural. They were made of ancient stone bricks. He became puzzled.
"This is very odd." Mario said to himself. "Who in their right mind would go out of their way to build structures like this underground?"
He started to think about the legend from the book. It was true that the Shadow Queen had once wanted to shape the world to her desires he knew, but was this the result of such a feat? Mario figured that only Professor Frankly would know for sure. As he continued down the old railroad, he looked up and saw a wide gap in the path that was blacker than the blackest black he has ever seen. Mario was frustrated.
"I don't think this is going to work!" he said out loud. "I need to turn back."
As he turned around, he suddenly remembered Lord Crump. He looked back at the huge gap and knew that it was the only 'safe' way to go. He had to jump it, even if it pushed him beyond his limits. He looked again and became nervous and scared.
You have to do this. Mario thought. Think about Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. You and Luigi are their only hope.
Mario glanced across the gap and made up his mind when he suddenly heard footsteps coming his way. Mario started to panic.
"I know one of you guys is running around here somewhere!" Lord Crump's voice echoed. "Don't think you can fool me!"
Mario no longer had a choice. Standing at the edge of the gap, he backed up a few steps to get a good running start. Then, he sprinted and propelled himself across the deep abyss and grabbed the opposite ledge by chance. But Mario made the awful mistake of looking down and started to struggle in climbing back up. He thought that he was going to die. However, with the remaining strength that he had, Mario was able to pull himself up and make it to the other side. He looked back and saw Lord Crump's figure in the darkness as he approached. Mario quickly ran down the path and escaped being seen by the evil X-Naut leader.
"I'll get you, Mario!" Lord Crump's voice shouted behind him across the bottomless pit. "You will get what you deserve!"
As he continued downward, Mario noticed the path getting steeper and less rocky. It was right then that Mario lost his footing and began sliding downward into another chasm. As he slid, he hit a rough spot, causing him to tumble over his side until the ground suddenly flattened out. Mario got up and was surprised at what he saw next.
"Mamma mia!" Mario as he glanced ahead. The narrow 'cave' opened up into a larger cavern that was filled with water deep enough to only tread through. On the other side was another small dark passageway that did not look very inviting. The only way to get across was to tread the water, but it did not matter since he was already dripping wet. Mario stepped into the water and began traversing it with caution.
"It sure is dark and cold in here." he said to himself as he made it halfway through the water, which started reaching his upper arms and shoulders. Suddenly, Mario's foot became caught in something and a loud clicking sound echoed throughout the chamber. He looked around and suddenly saw huge needle-like darts shooting at him from both side walls. Mario quickly dove underneath the deeper water and swam to the other side where it was safe and immediately climbed out. He knew right away that he had activated a trap.
"That was too close!" he said to himself and breathing a huge sigh of relief. He continued through the new passage and sensed that something else was not the way it should be. He felt the ground beneath him shake and the floor started to crumble! Mario ran down the passage to escape to another cave passage with a low ceiling. Suddenly, a heavy door closed behind him and a large earthquake started to occur.
"I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Mario said, looking to the left where the cavern curved upwards. He started running up the passage when two large boulders came crashing down toward him! Mario screamed.
I'M GOING TO DIE! he thought to himself. THERE'S NO WAY OUT!
Mario was so scared that he wanted to cry, but he was unable to. He thought that this was the end of his hopeless journey to save the beloved princesses and thought Bowser was finally going to get his wish in taking over the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of the world. He was ready to give up.
How is my brother going to live on without me? Mario thought. He can't live without his brother!
Then, he saw a dim light of hope in the lower end of the cave. It was another cave passage! Wasting no time, Mario quickly ran down the huge rocky ramp to avoid the large boulders and jumped over a large pit filled with deadly spikes into the small steep cave. He slid and fell into a long artificial hallway made of bricks, but then screamed at the sight of two large spike walls working their way towards him from either end!
"MAMMA MIA!" Mario screamed as he frantically searched for another way out of the seemingly relentless 'trap curse'. He tripped over an old skeleton and saw a small hallway branching from the very middle of the hallway. But there was one problem: it was too high!
OH SHIT! NOT AGAIN! Mario thought. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!
But he did not give up easily this time. Hanging from the ceiling were the dead roots of a dead piranha plant, and Mario knew that they could be used for rope-swinging. He decided to put his gymnastics to the test, but he had to hurry. The spike walls were only twenty feet apart from each other and were now closing in on each other!
Mario quickly performed a spectacular wall jump (something that he had never before managed to accomplish!) and grabbed the unstable plant roots. He then pushed himself forward and back to gain momentum as he aimed for the small hallway. Watching the spike walls, Mario held his breath as he made a huge jump across the 'death hall' and landed safely inside the small alcove right before he was stabbed to death. The spikes inside the other room finally crashed into each other and Mario felt safe again...for now. He continued down the hall and was surprised by three large retractable knife blades that sliced in and out of the wall!
"They just didn't want to make this easy!" Mario complained. Luckily, they were low enough to where he was able to jump over them, like hurtles back at his gymnasium. Even so, Mario wasted no time in getting through the trapped hallway. He jumped over the large blades, one after another, in just five seconds without getting cut or sliced to death. But Mario was unable to stop, for the next hallway had even more spike walls coming at him from either side! There was another passageway at the end and he had to reach it before the walls closed in on him.
Mario dashed across the hall and screamed as part of the floor crumbled, revealing a pit of spikes! Mario quickly did a running jump across the pit and started sprinting towards the exit as the spike walls started to get dangerously close to him. As soon as he was clear of the spikes, he screamed as another wall of spikes came zipping towards him at incredible speed! However, Mario missed it and had the worse luck of falling through a small hole into another room, where a slower-moving spike wall had him cornered! He was now trapped.
"DAMN IT!" Mario cried. "I'M DONE FOR! NO MORE MUSHROOM KINGDOM! NO MORE OPTIONS!"
As Mario sat and waited for his death, he started thinking of all the incredible challenges that him and his brother have gone through. He thought of all the good times they shared together and all of the things they have done for each other to keep themselves safe. He also thought of the princesses and wondered if they were even still alive, or if Bowser killed them. Either way, Mario knew that he had no chance to save them now. It was the end.
As the spikes drew closer to him, he closed his eyes and waiting for the lethal spikes to penetrate his fragile flesh and started to cry. But suddenly, something amazing happened.
"What the hell is happening?!" Mario said as another earthquake rocked the underground caverns. Suddenly, Mario fell through the floor and landed on a pile of rubble inside another small cave. The earthquake stopped and Mario got back onto his feet as the spikes above him finally crashed into the above wall. His heart started to calm down as the roaring cave silence once again returned. Mario smiled and laughed, knowing that he was safe once more.
I wonder what the people back at the gym would think of this if they saw it! Mario thought as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He decided that it would be best to rest for a few minutes before he continued, so he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. After he regained his energy, Mario continued down the dark tunnel and resumed the search for the Crystal Star with the mindset that nothing will stop him or his brother from reaching their goal.
But where is Luigi?
Whew! Mario makes it out alive after almost being stabbed to death a few times by spikes, sliced by large knives, crushed by large boulders, and even killed by large needle-like darts! Looks like the gymnastics really paid off! But this is only the beginning of the many dangers the brothers will have to face throughout their journey...
For those of you who may be very familiar with the old Tomb Raider games, you might or might not already know where the trap ideas in this chapter came from. If not, I'll explain it to you right now. This chapter was actually based off the first level of Tomb Raider 2, when Lara Croft was in search of the Dagger of Xian underneath the Great Wall of China. She encountered all the traps mentioned above before reaching the entrance to the Temple of Xian. But after realizing that the door was missing its 'handle' (called the Talion), her search led her to the hideout of a cult leader named Marco Bartolli in Venice, Italy...I would tell the whole story, but I don't want to spoil it :)
So, is Mario really getting closer to the Crystal Star? Or is he going the wrong direction? Is Luigi going to be reunited with his brother? Is Lord Crump still a major threat? These and other questions will be answered in future chapters. I'll be hard at work with the next chapter this weekend, so keep your eyes open :)
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