Sonic & Mario

Chapter 7

Ghost Town

"Woooaaaah!"

Sonic was sliding down the pipe at an alarming speed. Sonic had no way to slow down, but then again, Sonic didn't want to. He was enjoying sliding down the pipe at a fast speed, and he wished it wouldn't end for awhile.

Despite his wish, the end of the pipe came into view, and Sonic flew out of the pipe and into a pool of water.

"Ah! Help me! Help me!" cried Sonic as he struggled in the pool of water.

Only to finally notice that he was only in a foot of water.

"Oh," Sonic said and quickly stood up in the shallow pool of water.

A bunch of eerie laughs suddenly filled the air right next to Sonic.

Sonic quickly turned around, but all that he was capable of seeing was darkness. Sonic waited for a while for the laughs to return, but when they didn't, Sonic stepped out of water and walked forward cautiously. It was dreadfully dark, and Sonic was unable to see what was in front of him. Sonic instinctively put his hands out in front of him to avoid colliding into an object in the dark.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

Sonic suddenly tripped over a metal object on the ground. Sonic fell down and banged his head into a large hard object.

"That really worked," Sonic said sarcastically, rubbing his sore hand with his hand.

The eerie laughs suddenly filled the air again.

Sonic quickly ignored his head and stood up to see what laughed at him. Instead, all that Sonic saw was pitch blackness.

"That's it! I need a light!" Sonic said angrily.

Sonic looked around eagerly for a source of light, but all that Sonic saw was darkness. Sonic sighed. How was he going to get out of this place and find the emeralds if he…

"Wait a second!" Sonic said excitedly.

Sonic immediately pulled out Tail's emerald tracker and pressed on of the buttons. A small light suddenly appeared before Sonic, allowing him to see what was in front of him.

The light rested on a large green pipe that stood in Sonic's way.

Sonic quickly turned around and saw a small pipe along the ground. That was what he must have tripped over, and he must have hit his head against the green pipe. No wonder why his head was aching!

Sonic quickly jumped on top of the pipe and looked around with his small flashlight. Thanks to the light, Sonic could see hundreds of pipes along the walls, the ceiling, and the ground. There was a lot of leakage coming out of the pipes, and many small pools of water formed along the cold stone ground. Sonic sighed at the sight. He had just escaped a desert wasteland only to end up in a sewer system.

"Welcome to Pipeline City!" said a loud eerie voice.

Shaken by the spooky voice, Sonic lost his balance and fell down into the large pipe.

"Whoa!" Sonic yelled as he quickly slid down the pipe at a quick speed. Sonic soon approached the end of the pipe and flew out of it head first. Luckily for Sonic, he landed in a large pool of water.

This time, however, the water was more than a foot deep in length.

Sonic quickly sank to the bottom of the pool. Just when he touched the bottom, however, a strong current dragged Sonic away from the spot he was at and brought his head up to the surface.

Sonic gasped as his head made it up to the surface and looked to see where the current was taking him. To his horror, Sonic saw a large waterfall in front of him. If Sonic fell down the waterfall, he would most likely be crushed by the hard rocks down at the bottom of it.

Sonic desperately looked for a something to grab onto, but he was in the middle of sewage river, and he couldn't swim to the bank of the river. As he approached the waterfall, Sonic saw a large pipe sticking in the ceiling. As soon as Sonic went over the waterfall, he quickly jumped up towards the large pipe and grabbed on to its rim. When he had a good hold of its rim, Sonic quickly went inside the pipe. The pipe was big enough to move around in, so Sonic quickly started to climb up the large pipe. When he saw the end of the pipe, Sonic quickened his pace, and soon enough, Sonic jumped out of the pipe and landed on the cold stony ground.

"That was close," Sonic said and brushed the water out of his spikes.

As soon as he was completely dry, Sonic pulled out the emerald tracker and turned on its light. All that Sonic saw around him was large green pipes. Nothing else was in the room Sonic was in.

"Great," Sonic said, not really happy that he was in another pipe maze.

"Beep!"

Sonic quickly looked down at the tracker's screen. A large red dot was blinking just south of his location. An emerald was here in the sewer!

Sonic looked up from the screen and looked again at the pipes all around him. Sonic remembered that he had escaped the pyramid by going down a pipe and into the sewer system. Perhaps he could use the pipes to find the emerald!

Sonic ran over to one of the pipes in the ceiling and jumped into it, unaware that his every move was being watched by dozens of eyes.

Mario plopped out of his pipe and landed on his feet calmly onto the cold stony floor of the sewer. Once he landed, Mario carefully dusted off all the sand that was on his clothes and his hat. Once he was done with that, Mario went to look in front of him, but instead, all that Mario saw was darkness.

Mario took off his hat and scratched his head. Mario knew where he was at, but before, there was always a light to help guide people who fell into the sewers. Now, there was no light at all: just pitch blackness everywhere.

The darkness bothered Mario; it wasn't usual for the whole sewer to be dark. He had just checked the lights the other day before he started chasing the…

Mario's eyes suddenly grew big. The hedgehog! He lost track of the hedgehog!

Mario, disappointed over losing the powerful enemy, punched the wall hard with his fist.

A bit too hard, to be exact.

"Oh!" Mario yelled in his Italian accent. Mario quickly blew on his sore hand to ease the pain he had just caused it.

Suddenly, a bunch of eerie laughs filled the air.

Mario, despite the pain in his hand, stopped blowing and listened quietly. He could have sworn he had heard some laughs and not just any laughs.

The eerie laughs started up again; this time from behind. Mario quickly turned around and saw five Boo ghosts laughing at Mario in the dark. When they saw that they had been discovered, however, they quickly stopped laughing and disappeared in the darkness. Once again, just plain darkness was all that Mario could see.

Even after the Boo ghosts had disappeared, Mario still felt some uneasiness dwelling around him. Normally, the Boo ghosts (who were ruled by Big Boo) stayed in a haunted mansion on the other side of the Mushroom Kingdom, but now that there was no light in the sewer, they had moved in here.

And that meant trouble.

The Boo ghosts were a species unlike any other in the kingdom. Their whole purpose in life revolved around scaring innocent folks and even at times, killing those who were too foolish to leave their habitat. They were well organized in planning schemes, but if they came into contact with light or were faced by a serious person, they would quickly disappear. Of course, nothing could really kill them: they were ghosts, after all.

And that was what made them so difficult to handle.

Mario awoke from his thoughts when he noticed his body was moving without himself moving it. When Mario tried to stop, his body suddenly picked up speed. Not being able to see in the dark, Mario instinctively put his hands in front of him just in case his body rammed into a pipe.

Instead, however, Mario's body went over a ledge. Mario's body floated in the sky awhile, but when Mario saw the Boo ghost come out of his body, he fell down into a pool of sewage water.

The Boo ghost, along with a bunch of other ones, laughed as Mario quickly jumped out of the dirty water. Mario took his hat off his head and wrung it dry, but there was nothing he could do about his clothing. Mario just hoped he had a chance to clean up before he met the princess again.

Ignoring the Boos' laughs, Mario looked for a sign of light, but still he saw nothing but darkness. Mario sighed: he just had enough with this darkness.

Suddenly, Mario's body moved again.

"Oh no!" Mario said and tried to stop his body from moving. His body, however, did not obey Mario and suddenly flew up into the air and hit the ceiling.

"Oh!"

Mario's body then came flying back down to the hard ground. Mario put his hands in front of his face to protect it from the collusion.

Suddenly Mario's body arched in the air and flugged it self against a large pipe. Mario whimpered in pain as his body fell lifelessly on the floor.

The Boo came out of Mario's body and started laughing. The rest of the Boos joined in with their eerie laughter.

Mario, despite his whole body hurting, quickly got up and stared angrily at the Boos. When the Boos saw Mario staring at them, they stopped laughing and disappeared. Mario knew they would be back.

"I need a light," said Mario.

Suddenly, an idea came into Mario's head. Mario quickly formed a large flame in his hand, giving off enough light for Mario to see his surroundings.

Mario smiled as he held the flame in his hand.

"The human torch, eh," Mario said, remembering what the hedgehog had called him when they first met, "I guess I could live up to that name."

A bunch of eerie laughs came from behind Mario.

Mario quickly turned around and saw the Boo ghosts laughing at him. When they saw him staring at them with a large flame in his hand, however, they quickly turned invisible.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Mario and quickly threw his flame at the nearest Boo. The fireball went through the Boo's body, but it frightened the Boo enough to make it suddenly fly away into one of the walls. The other Boos quickly followed their scared pal and disappeared into the wall as well. Once again Mario was alone.

"Good," Mario said.

Mario quickly formed another large flame in his hand and walked along the stony path in the sewer. He wasn't sure where the hedgehog was, but most likely he would show himself again. All that Mario could do was to find the right pipe that led him to the hedgehog's location.

Sonic's head quickly came out of the large pipe he was in. Nope, no emerald here.

Sonic leapt out of the pipe and climbed into another large pipe next to the one he was in. Reaching the other end of it, Sonic poked his head out again to look for the glow of a chaos emerald. Instead, all that he saw was darkness.

Sonic jumped out of the pipe and landed on the cool ground. Though Sonic couldn't see anything, he knew there were just a lot of pipes in the room. That was he ever found: pipes, pipes, and more pipes!

Sonic took out the emerald tracker and looked at the screen. The dot remained where it was on the screen with the same gentle beeping. He wasn't getting closer to the emerald.

Sonic sighed and turned on the light, so he could see better. He had already looked through a dozen pipes and was not one step closer to the emerald then he was before. He was going in circles!

Frustrated, Sonic went to the nearest pipe and jumped. Instead of falling into the pipe, however, his body stopped in midair. Sonic's anger was quickly replaced with confusement as he saw his body floating above the pipe. Sonic tried to move his body, but his body stayed put to where it was at.

Growing impatient, Sonic once again tried to move his body and was successful. Sonic came closer to the pipe, but suddenly, his body jerked in midair and flew through the air at an alarming speed. Sonic tried to stop, but it was clear to him that he was now no longer in control of his body.

Sonic's body continued to fly through the sewer till he came to a large pipe sticking in the ceiling. Seeing the pipe, Sonic quickly put his hands out in front of him to protect his face.

Instead of ramming into the pipe, however, Sonic's body suddenly stopped in midair. To his surprise, Sonic saw a small ghost phasing out of his body and flew in front of his face.

"Bye, bye!" it said and waved it hands at Sonic.

At hearing that, Sonic fell out of the air and landed face first onto the cold stone floor. Sonic slowly got up off the floor and rubbed his head. His head was aching severely from the collision, and the rest of his body was bruised. Too weak to stand for long, Sonic's feet stumbled, and Sonic fell down to the cold floor. Sonic's eyes slowly closed together, and unaware of his surroundings, Sonic slowly fell asleep.

As Sonic slept peacefully on the floor, the small Boo ghost gave out a small shriek, which was then answered by some more shrieks. Dozens of Boo ghosts came out of the walls of the sewer and joined their small comrade who was floating above Sonic's still form. When they saw Sonic, the Boos laughed quietly and looked at one another, trying to figure out what to do with their unconscious victim. When they finally seemed to agree on something, one of the Boos phased into Sonic's body, lifted him off the ground, and made its way through the sewer's darkness. The other Boos followed close behind, laughing through the darkness as they carried their victim to the darkest part of the sewer.

Mario cautiously made his way down the pipe and landed softly onto the ground. With the fire flame still in his hand, Mario examined his surroundings for a clue of where he was at. To his disappointment, all that Mario saw was a large wall in front of him and behind him. There was nothing else in the room besides the pipe he had just come out of. It was a dead end.

Mario sighed out his disappointment. Although he knew the sewer more then he knew about his own hat, Mario just couldn't figure out where he was with just the little light he had in his hand. If he was going to find the hedgehog, he had to fix the lights to the sewer in order to find his way in it, but then again, Mario did not know what was wrong with the lights. He had seen many of them along his way and had checked them for any sign of damage. They were all in perfect condition, but they wouldn't turn back on. Something must be preventing them from turning back on.

And it sure didn't help Mario to have the all the lights off in the sewer. From what Mario could tell, he was lost in the sewer!

Seeing there was nothing else to do but to go back, Mario went over to the pipe when he suddenly heard an eerie laugh coming from behind him. Recognizing the laugh, Mario quickly duck just when a Boo ghost tried to phase into him. Mario then punched the ghost from behind sending it crashing into the wall. Recovering from Mario's blow, the Boo quickly phased into the wall to escape Mario's fireball. Seeing it disappeared, Mario quickly ran up to the wall and put his ear against it.

From the other side of the wall, Mario could hear the eerie laughs of many Boo ghosts, and one giant laugh that stood out of all the other ones. Mario recognized the giant laugh: Big Boo, the ruler of the Boo ghosts.

Mario stepped back from the wall and pulled out his vanishing cap. Mario put the cap on his head, and his whole body soon turned invisible and phasable. Mario then blew out his fire flame and walked through the wall that separated him from Big Boo.

Once he made it through the wall onto the other side, Mario noticed that the room he had just entered was much darker than anywhere else in the sewer. Dozens of Boo ghosts, not noticing Mario, flew playfully across the room, laughing the whole time. There were no sign of a pipe anywhere in the room, but it was better than a dead end.

Mario slowly walked across the room. The Boos, even if they were paying attention, could not see Mario and continued on with their silly games. Mario gave a small grin: so this was what it felt like to be invisible to everybody else. Now the Boos will know how it fells to not know the presence of a stranger.

Enjoying the feeling of being invisible, Mario crossed the room and came up to another wall. Mario, not discouraged at all by the road block, walked through the wall and into another room filled with even more Boos than the other one. Still, Mario was quiet enough to sneak past them and phased through the next wall into the next room.

This room, unlike the other ones Mario had just passed through, had no Boos anywhere in sight. It was very dark in the room; dark enough to stop Mario in his tracks. Mario couldn't see anything, not even the wall he had just came through. He needed a light if he was to go on.

Making sure there were no Boos in sight, Mario slowly formed a large flame in his hands, giving off enough light for Mario to see the room he was in. To his surprise, Mario was able to see a large pipe sticking out of the ceiling at the other side of the room. Forgetting about the Boos in the other room, Mario ran along the stony floor to the pipe. It wouldn't be long now before he would catch up with the hedgehog.

Suddenly, Mario's cap came off of Mario's head. Mario's body immediately became visible again. Seeing his body change, Mario stopped running and looked down at the ground for his vanishing cap. Instead of seeing it on the floor, however, Mario saw his cap floating in the air.

"Okay! Now give it back!" ordered Mario and went to grab his cap.

A loud eerie laugh came from the Mario's cap. Surprised by the loud laugh, Mario jumped and fell down to the stony ground. A large shadowy figure phased out of Mario's cap, dropping the cap right at Mario's feet. Mario quickly picked it up and stared in awe as the shadowy figure turned visible, revealing a large Boo ghost in front of him. Mario recognized the ghost: Big Boo.

Big Boo let out another loud laugh as Mario got up off the ground. Mario put away his vanishing cap and stared up at Big Boo, hoping to intimidate the big bully.

Unlike the other Boo ghosts that disappeared when Mario stared at them, Big Boo was unaffected by Mario's stare.

"Unlike my brothers, I do not cower away when being confronted," Big Boo said in an eerie voice and let out another of his loud laughs.

Mario, however, did not break his stare.

"What are you and your kind doing down here in the sewer? You are only allowed to live in the haunted house on the other side of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Big Boo just laughed at Mario's remark.

"Commands just go through us like everything else does. We only lived in the haunted house because it was the only dark place that provided us shelter from the sunlight." Big Boo said, "But now, the Boos can live anywhere we like in the Mushroom Kingdom."

Mario listened to Big Boo's reply but was not satisfied with it.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"Oh, I believe I just did!" laughed Big Boo, "Thanks to our magic rock, we can now go anywhere that we please."

Mario's eyes grew big.

"Magic rock?"

Big Boo laughed at Mario's reply.

"Yes, we had just found a magic rock the other day at the haunted house. With its power, we have turned your sewer into a major ghost town!"

Mario stared surprisingly at Big Boo.

"So that's why all the lights are off!" Mario said, "There is nothing wrong with them at all. You used your magic rock to make it dark down here all the time!"

"And that's not all." said Big Boo, "As soon as we figure out how to do it; my brothers and I will use that magic rock to bring eternal darkness to the Mushroom Kingdom."

"What?"

"Oh yes, Mario! You can say goodbye to your sun because it will soon be gone forever!"

Big Boo broke out with another of his laughs while Mario stared angrily up at him.

"Not unless I stop you from doing it!"

Big Boo stopped laughing and looked down at Mario.

"You? Stopping me? I like me a challenge!" said Big Boo, and saying that, he charged at Mario.

Mario quickly jumped over Big Boo and punched him from behind. Big Boo tumbled a bit in the air but then regained his balance and stared down at Mario.

"You forget, Mario, that in pure darkness I am at my most powerful form!" he said and charged at Mario.

Mario dropped down to the ground just as Big Boo passed above him. Getting off the ground, Mario threw a couple of fireballs at Big Boo, hoping to do some damage. Big Boo saw the fireballs and caught them in his mouth. Mario watched in interest as Big Boo moved the fireballs back and forth in his mouth till they came together.

Mario then realized what he had just done.

"Mamma Mea!"

Big Boo opened his big mouth and blew out a large flame of fire at Mario. Mario quickly jumped out of the way and looked at Big Boo. Big Boo let out another of his eerie laughs and charged at Mario. Seeing Big Boo charging again, Mario also charged at Big Boo.

The duel had begun.

"Oh, my head."

Sonic put his hand on his aching head to help calm it down. His eyes slowly opened up.

To see a Boo ghost right in front of his face!

"BOOOOO!"

"Ah!" Sonic screamed and instinctively backed away from the scary figure.

Only to trip over a floating crowbar in the air.

Sonic fell down to the ground, only to be suddenly lifted up into the air and thrown against a wall.

Sonic slowly fell down to the ground, his whole body now aching in pain. A bunch of eerie laughs filled the air as Sonic tried to stand up again.

"Hello?" Sonic said, hoping that someone would answer.

Instead, the laughs only increased in volume.

Sonic stood straight up and bended his back to make sure it was alright. At the sudden movement, the bones in Sonic's back cracked.

The laughs increased even more.

Sonic's eyes quickly peered into the darkness, but he failed to see anything. He needed some light.

Sonic went to grab the emerald tracker, only to discover it was missing. Sonic tried his best to look into the darkness to find his missing tracker. Luckily, Sonic could see it on the floor.

Sonic went to grab it when it suddenly jumped up into the air. Startled, Sonic jumped back from it. As Sonic moved away from it, the tracker suddenly flung itself at Sonic. Sonic ducked as the tracker passed by him, but the tracker then stopped in midair and fell on top of Sonic's aching head.

"Ouch! What's wrong with me?" Sonic said as he rubbed his sore head.

The eerie laughs increased again in volume.

Hearing the laughs, Sonic quickly took the tracker off his head, turned on the light, and shined it into the eyes of a dozen Boo ghosts. Having the lights shine on them, the Boos quickly disappeared. Sonic began to relax.

"BEEEEEEPP!"

Sonic looked down at the tracker's screen. The dot was flashing wildly, and the beeping quickened its pace. Sonic smiled at the result: he was close to the emerald.

Sonic shined the light around the room he was in, expecting a lot of pipes to be in his way. To his surprise, Sonic saw that there was not a pipe in sight; it was one big room. Sonic grinned; now it was easier to find the chaos emerald!

Sonic quickly dashed across the room until he came to a stone wall. A lot of eerie laughs were heard on the other side of the wall. Sonic looked at the tracker's screen; the dot was really flashing.

"Well, I hope they don't mind me crashing their party!" Sonic laughed and immediately spun into a tight ball and broke through the wall. The Boos stopped laughing and scattered when Sonic returned to his normal stance and looked at the tracker. Yep, he was getting closer.

Sonic then realized that the Boos were all staring at him, their humor now gone out of them and pure anger that replaced it. The Boos approached Sonic quickly.

"I guess they did mind me crashing their party," Sonic said and quickly dashed away from the Boos across the room. The Boos, enraged at the hedgehog for interrupting their party, followed after him.

Mario quickly jumped over the charging Boo king and kicked him hard from behind. Big Boo immediately crashed to the floor. Mario landed softly behind him, grabbed his tail, and swung around and around the room. Big Boo yelled in horror as Mario suddenly let him go, sending him into the wall. Big Boo shook his big head and approached Mario but did not attack.

"You think you are capable of killing a ghost?" asked Big Boo.

"Anything is possible," replied Mario.

"Well, it looks like I got to tell you that ghosts don't die!" yelled Big Boo and charged at Mario.

Mario jumped to avoid Big Boo's charge, but unfortunately, Big Boo was waiting for him. Big Boo immediately changed the course of his charge and phased into Mario's body. Now inside his opponent's body, Big Boo pounded Mario's body against the ceiling and against the floor. Then Big Boo jerked Mario's body in midair and sent him against the wall. Mario slowly fell down to the ground as Big Boo phased out of him. Seeing his opponent on the ground, Big Boo gave out another of his loud laughs.

"Not even the great Mario can stop us for we are the Boos!" Big Boo laughed.

Mario slowly got up to his feet but simply fell down again. Big Boo had flung him hard against the wall, and his whole body ached from it. Mario couldn't stand up to face Big Boo.

Big Boo saw how weak Mario was and charged at him saying, "Goodbye Mario!"

Sonic dodged the angry Boos as he made his way across the room, his eyes still glued to the tracker's screen. He was getting closer, he could just feel it!

Sonic eyes left the screen just in time to see a bunch of Boos blocking Sonic's way. Sonic stopped and waited for the Boos to attack, but to his surprise they didn't move from their spot. They watched Sonic with their big eyes, but they remained where they were; as if they were guarding something.

Sonic shined the tracker's light past the Boo blockade and onto a light blue glowing rock: the chaos emerald. The Boos were guarding the chaos emerald.

Determined to get the chaos emerald, Sonic charged the blockade. The Boos, seeing Sonic charging them, charged at Sonic, waiting to phase into him and destroy him from the inside.

Unfortunately, the Boos underestimated Sonic's speed for the last time.

Sonic came up to the Boos and quickly leaped over them. From behind, Sonic quickly turned into a ball and rammed into the Boos. Unprepared for the quick attack, the Boos fell down to the floor in pain, leaving Sonic as the only one standing.

Seeing his adversaries on the ground, Sonic quickly grabbed the chaos emerald. Upon doing that, the emerald glowed even brighter, creating a blinding bright light. Sonic covered his eyes till the bright light disappeared. When he reopened his eyes, Sonic noticed that the room was no longer dark anymore. A bunch of lights hanging along the walls turned on, giving off plenty of light.

Sonic turned around and to his surprise, he saw the Boos disappearing in the shadows of the lights. Once again, Sonic was alone.

Sonic put the emerald away and looked around for a way out of this crazy place. To his delight, Sonic saw a large pipe sticking out of the ceiling.

"Time to get back to the surface," Sonic said and jumped up into the pipe and began climbing up it. He could already see a bright light at the other end of the pipe. Soon he will be out of this cold sewer and back onto the sunny surface.

As Big Boo quickly approached the wounded Mario, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of his face. Big Boo yelled in pain and fell to the ground while Mario, who seemed to be recovering from the light, slowly stood up in the light. His aching body stopped aching and felt renewed in strength. Mario was now ready to battle again.

The bright light quickly disappeared and was replaced with a duller light. Mario looked at the wall and to his surprise, saw the lights working again. The sewer was returning to normal.

Mario looked down at the injured Boo king. Big Boo was slowly but surely disappearing into the light's shadow.

"Someone had stolen our magic rock! Now we can no longer survive here! No! Ghosts can't die! Ghosts can't die!"

Big Boo kept repeating the Boo phrase over and over again as he fully disappeared out of sight. He was finally defeated.

Mario stood where he was for a moment, but when nothing happened; he slowly turned away and approached the pipe in the ceiling. When he came to the pipe, Mario stopped and looked around at the sewer again. Everything was restored back to normal, and that was the way Mario wanted it back at the surface. He had to quickly find the hedgehog and destroy it if he was to bring peace once again to the land. It was his duty.

Having nothing else to think about, Mario slowly crawled up into the pipe and climbed his way up it, unaware of where the pipe would lead him next.