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The sphinx statues exploded in a shower of stones and pebbles and were replaced with living sphinx creatures that were now reawakened after centuries of seemingly endless sleep. They were obviously not happy that Mario and Luigi were walking away with the second Crystal Star. Immediately they started spitting fireballs out of their mouths at a rapid rate. Luckily, with a quick surge of adrenaline in their bodies, the brothers were able to escape every fiery sphere that was being spit at them. However, there was no place to hide. The stairway leading the outside was blocked by a wall of fire and the brothers knew that they would get killed by the two sphinxes if they tried putting the flames out with ice flowers. The only way that it would be possible for them to escape was to face the creatures in a game of combat to the death.
"WATCH OUT!" Mario shouted to Luigi as a large fireball headed straight for him. Luigi jumped out of the way and started running to the other side of the room. Mario pulled out a couple of ice flowers and ran towards Luigi as he dodged incoming fire. The sphinxes' eyes glowed bright lava red as their anger became more intense. The brothers were immediately separated as each sphinx started charging at the brothers and chased them at very high speeds. Both Mario and Luigi had to jump out of the way to avoid getting pounded by the deadly beasts. They both landed next to each other and struggled to get back onto their feet.
"Here, take this." Mario said, handing him one of the ice flowers that were still in his hand. "I think their weakness is the cold."
"Are you sure?" Luigi asked.
"Dude, fire and ice neutralize ach other! How much more sure can I get?!" Mario replied in a frustrated as they listened to the footsteps of the sphinxes get closer to them. The brothers sprung up in action and immediately rubbed the ice flowers into their palms to gain ice power. Their clothes changed color and they immediately dodged the creatures they tried sprinting at them again with their quick. Mario made the first attack, throwing a standard ice ball directly into the one of the eyes of the first sphinx. The creature let out a slight whine as the cold ice started to neutralize the fire in its eye. Mario saw that the eye he hit had turned black. Luigi was being chased by the other creature, throwing ice balls at it while he ran. He kept missing at every shot he made.
"Mario! For crying out loud, this thing is after me! I can't hit him with any my attacks!" Luigi shouted from across the room. Mario was able to reply, for the sphinx he was fighting knocked him to the ground and was looming above him with one flaming red eye.
"HELP!" Luigi shouted.
"I can't!" Mario replied. "I'm trapped!"
Mario looked up at the sphinx and saw its mouth get brighter as it readied a fireball attack. Mario struggled to get away, but the creature's grip was too strong for him to even budge. With last bit of strength he had, Mario tried to free one of his arms as the sphinx prepared its final blow. Finally, Mario freed his right hand and managed to hit the sphinx in the other eye with an ice ball, ultimately blinding the creature.
"HA! Take that you jerk!" Mario said, freeing himself from the creature and getting back onto his feet. Now that the creature was lacking eyesight, Mario was able to destroy the creature with a few icy blows. The sphinx turned to stone and exploded into a scattering of stone fragments.
"AHHH!" Luigi screamed as he continued struggling with the other sphinx creature. Then, miraculously, Luigi was able to hit the sphinx in the right eye with an ice ball and was able to easily destroy the other eye with any icy attack.
"Finally!" Luigi uttered his own breath as the creature ran around the room aimlessly. Luigi then finished off the creature with a few more ice balls just before his power started to give away. When the creature was weakened, it let out a shrill cry as it turned to stone once and exploded in a shower of rock.
"Luigi! Hurry and help me put out these flames that are blocking the exit!" Mario shouted from across the room. As their power started to disappear, the brothers desperately used the last bit of power they had to put out the flames. AS soon as their power disappeared, the flames were still there, but they reduced enough for both Mario and Luigi to simply skip across. They jumped over the flames and started running up the stairway back to the central room of the pyramid and continued past until they made it back into the blistering sunlight outside, which seemed a lot worse than it did half and hour ago.
"We need to get out of Sarasaland as soon as possible!" Mario said as sweat started dripping down his face. "There isn't much time!"
"I think I know how we can get out of here quickly." Luigi said, pointing down to the two airships that Bowser and his troops had parked in the desert below. Mario looked at Luigi with a strange look."
"Are you kidding me?!" Mario said. "There's no way in Hell that you're going to make me learn how to operate one of those! I can't even operate a car without pissing other people off!"
"We have to at least try!" Luigi said. "Time's running against us now, and it's the only way we can get out of Sarasaland quickly! The only downside is that Bowser will be even more determined to take our heads than he is now."
"I guess you're right, Luigi." Mario said. "Let's go!"
Mario and Luigi found a smooth section of the pyramid and slid down to the ground below, avoiding the time-consuming process of climbing down the steps. They carefully entered Bowser's campsite and slowly made their way to one of the airships that were docked just beyond it. They climbed inside the wooden structure and found their way onto the control deck after passing by many crew members' quarters. The room was also lined with many small open windows, each bearing giant cannon weapons that were readily available for any kind of combat situation. As they continued searching the room, they focused their attention on the control interface located beneath the large front view window of the ship. Surprisingly, the only thing that seemed to stand out was the giant wheel. There were also many other buttons and various gauges used in showing the altitude of the ship and the amount of fuel in the ship, among other things. Mario and Luigi walked up to the giant steering wheel and starred at it blankly.
"One of these buttons has to start the ship." Mario said.
"How do you know that?" Luigi asked.
"That's just what I think!" Mario said. "Once again, you are asking me something that I don't have a simple answer to! Now please, help me find the damn ignition!"
"You don't have to be so rude!" Luigi shouted. "I know you're tired, I can understand how you feel! Just keep your hotheadedness to yourself for once!"
Mario wanted to blurt something out, but he managed to stay calm and only give Luigi a glare. He did not want to get into any more conflicts. Luigi simply glared back. Then, Mario found a large red button that was located to the right of the giant steering wheel.
"Is this the ignition key?" Mario asked as we starred at it.
"Why don't you press the button and find out?" Luigi asked.
Mario pressed the button and two Bullet Bills shots from the front of the airship and struck Bowser's campsite in a giant fiery explosion.
"Oh, shit! This isn't good!" Luigi said. "Quick! Try another button!"
"What the hell was that noise?!" Bowser said him and his troops continued down the dark tunnels underneath the oasis. "Did you hear that?!"
"Yes we did, sir." said one of the troops. "It sounded like a couple of Bullet Bill missiles!"
"WE NEED TO TURN BACK!" Bowser shouted. "QUICK! EVERYONE BACK THE WAY WE CAME! I HAVE A FEELING IT'S THOSE DAMNED MARIO BROTHERS!"
"Hurry!" Luigi shouted.
"I'm trying!" Mario shouted as he continued pressing buttons. "Why can't you help me out Luigi?!"
"I don't to press anything that will do us any harm!" Luigi replied.
"Oh, quit being such a chicken!" Mario yelled. "Get over here and help me!"
Finally, Mario pressed a button which activated the ships powerful wind propellers and the ship slowly began to raise itself the ground.
"Yes!" Mario shouted. "Now, we just have to figure out how to maneuver this thing!"
"This is going to be a real challenge!" Luigi shouted as the propellers became louder. "The sails have to be aligned in such a way that we can fly higher into the sky."
"I think I know how to do this!" Mario replied as he pressed another button that he thought would change the direction of the ship to make it soar higher. Instead, the going started to get rough as the ship soared lower and started skidding along the ground hard.
"I think you meant to press the button above that one!" Luigi said, pressing the corresponding button. Finally, the brothers found themselves soaring through the air and increasing their altitude. Mario turned the wheel to the right and, sure enough, the airship started turning right to the south as the direction of the sails corresponded with Mario's wheel command.
"This is much easier than I thought it would be!" Mario said to Luigi who was starring out the window.
"Does this thing go any faster?" Luigi asked.
"I would imagine." Mario said as he searched for an acceleration control. Luigi took over the wheel and continued guiding the airship over the desert. Suddenly, Luigi spotted Bowser and his troops emerging from the cave next to the oasis they explored earlier.
"Uh, Mario..." Luigi said. "I see Bowser and his troops below us." They don't look so happy!"
"Let them be unhappy!" Mario said. "Why don't you go over to one of those cannons and give them a good shot while I turn this sucker around!"
"IT'S THEM!" Bowser shouted as he watched the airship approach from above.
"The Mario Brothers are stealing one of our ships, master!" one of the troops shouted. "What are we going to do?!"
The ship approached closely and appeared to be turning around. The side of the ship was now visible and Bowser saw Luigi poking his head out of one of the cannon windows, waving the second Crystal Star in a mocking manner.
"We got the second star!" Luigi shouted to Bowser. "See ya later suckers!"
Bowser growled in disgust as Luigi's head retreated back inside the airship. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard as an explosive cannon projectile was shot directly at them.
"LOOK OUT!" Bowser shouted as him his troops immediately jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by the oncoming threat. The cannon exploded upon contact, creating a large fiery explosion that sent part of the oasis up into flames. Bowser got up and saw the airship take off in the other direction at an accelerated rate.
"FUCK!" Bowser shouted his face now red from intense anger. "ANOTHER STAR IS GONE! I HAVE NOBODY TO BLAME BUT MYSELF! I KNEW I SHOULD'VE KEPT KAMEK HERE IN THE DESERT!"
"That was so awesome!" Mario shouted as he guided the airship away from the pyramid sight. "I'm glad that little adventure is over!"
"Yes, me too!" Luigi said, letting out a huge yawn. "We now have two of the seven Crystal Stars and Bowser still has zero!"
"Let's try and keep it that way!" Mario replied as he continued guiding the airship away from the pyramids. Luigi went over to one of the smaller windows and watched as the pyramids shrank the airship continued moving north.
"Where to next?" Luigi asked. "Do you know?"
"I do, actually." Mario said. "The last time we looked at the book, I noticed that one of the Crystal Stars is hidden somewhere to the north of the Mushroom Kingdom. I haven't looked at the coordinates yet, but I can say that it's going to be a lot cooler where we're going!"
"Do you want me to read them out to you?" Luigi said.
"No, I got it." Mario said. "Why don't you go rest for a while? You're probably very tired from all that running around we've done."
"Aren't you tired?" Luigi asked. "You did as mush running around as me!"
"We'll take shifts." Mario said. "I'll control the ship for a few hours and then you can control it for a few hours. I'll guide us in the direction of the coordinates and then from there, it'll be a straight flight."
"Sounds good to me." Luigi said.
The airship continued north over the desert and the brothers were now on their way to their new destination just north of the Mushroom Kingdom. It would only be a matter of hours before they would arrive...
END OF VOLUME 2
At last, Mario and Luigi know the whole truth about Bowser's evil plan. Not only are they subject to a time limit triggered by the planetary alignment, but they are also aware that the powers of the seven Crystal Stars will be reactivated once the alignment occurs. The brothers have a little less than two weeks to find the rest of the Crystal Stars, defeat Bowser and save the world from the evil darkness, and rescue Pauline, Peach, and Daisy wherever they might be. Yikes! Will the brothers prevail and meet their seemingly impossible deadline? Since this is a prequel to the Super Mario series, I think we all know the answer to that question :)
This is the end of volume 2! Be on the lookout for volume 3. I will hopefully start the first chapter soon and have it posted. There will be plenty of surprises in store for this next segment, so I hope you're ready! But for now, I will see all of you soon! Happy reading :)
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