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...
King Rocko was in the first truck, leading the other trucks to The Tandoo Village. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Tippi ran after them, trying to catch up so they could get onto one of the trucks.
"I'm so tired!" Peach panted, lifting up her dress so it wouldn't get muddy.
"Come on! We have to get onto one of the trucks!" Mario cried.
The Rocko in the last truck turned around, spotting the group. He picked up his walky-talky and spoke into it.
"King, there are two plumbers, a princess and a butterfly chasing after us. I'll try and slow them down." He said.
He grinned and reached into a bag next to him, pulling out a bomb. He threw it at the group and they screamed in terror, diving out of the way. The bomb exploded, sending chunks of land up into the air. He threw another one at them but Mario grabbed it. The Rocko gulped.
"Um...This is bad..." He said into his walky-talky. "I need help right now. I repeat, right now!"
Mario threw the bomb at the truck and it exploded. The truck shot up into the air, The Rocko falling out. Crates also opened and Sandoos fell out, screaming, but Mario, Luigi and Peach caught them. The Rocko landed on the floor, cracking in half.
"Get back to your village." Mario ordered and The Sandoos nodded, running off.
They got into the truck and drove after the other trucks, leaving The Rocko behind. They drove up the mountain and down the other side. About halfway down, they gasped. There were houses everywhere. Hundreds of shops blanketed the area. There was a sea of people walking around. When they passed them the people stepped out of the way, letting them pass.
"Woah...This place is huge..." Luigi whispered.
The trucks parked outside the town square, where hundreds of people stood.
"This must be The Tandoo Village." Tippi said.
A Tandoo walked onto the platform with a microphone.
"Greetings, Tandoos!" He smiled and the Tandoos cheered. "I will be hosting the monthly auction! My name is Tacky Dealer!"
"That's an odd name..." Tippi said, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"Remember to bid if you want the merchandise that's up for sale!" Tacky Dealer smiled. "And even if you don't want it, bid anyway, or you will be sent to the dungeon!"
Everybody gasped.
"Our first item is coming in!" Tacky Dealer smiled. "Oooh! A servant who says he might murder you if you don't pay him enough! Any bids?"
Nobody answered. Tacky Dealer turned to the guards, narrowing his eyes.
"SEND ALL OF THEM TO THE DUNGEON!" He roared.
Then everybody raised up their paddles, yelling out prices. Mario, Luigi and Peach didn't have any and they looked around nervously, trying to find some.
"I'll go get some." Tippi flew off.
"100 coins...200 coins...300 coins..." Tacky Dealer grinned. "4000 coins..."
"Wait, what!? I bid for 400 coins!" A Tandoo yelled.
"OFF TO THE DUNGEON WITH YOU!" Tacky Dealer shrieked and two guards took the Tandoo away. "8000 coins...Hey, that one put his paddle down! Off to the dungeon!"
The crowd kept their paddles in the air.
"12,000 coins...100,000 coins...600,000 coins..." Tacky Dealer said. "1,000,000 coins...Sold to the guy who looks like he needs the servant!"
"But I don't have enough money!" The man cried.
"Then why did you bid?" Tacky Dealer raised his eyebrow.
"Because I had to! Please, I need to provide for my family!" The man pleaded.
"Too bad! If you didn't want to bid then you shouldn't have! OFF TO THE DUNGEON!" Tacky Dealer screamed. "Oh, and I'm taking the 1,000,000 coins too..."
Two guards came in and took the man away, kicking and screaming. Then Tacky Dealer used his hammer to smack the servant. He then pulled out a black bag and put him in. The audience stared at him in shock.
"What? Just because I'm a multi-millionaire it doesn't mean I can't have another servant!" Tacky Dealer muttered. "People these days..."
Tippi came back with three paddles and handed them to Mario, Luigi and Peach.
"Next up is...this thing." Tacky Dealer face-palmed as five Rockoes walked onto the platform holding a large turtle.
"Bowser!" Peach gasped.
"Any bids?" Tacky Dealer asked. "I won't send you to the dungeon if you don't put your paddle up this time, I honestly can't blame you."
"HEY!" Bowser roared.
Mario, Luigi and Peach immediately raised up their paddles. Nobody else did except somebody in a black cloak.
"50 coins..." Tacky Dealer said, nodding at Luigi.
"100 coins..." He said to the cloaked man.
"150 coins..." He said to Mario.
"200 coins..." He said to the cloaked man.
"250 coins..." He said to Peach.
"300 coins..." He said to the cloaked man. "What's wrong with you guys!?"
Mario, Luigi, Peach and Tippi wondered why the cloaked man wanted Bowser so much. But they weren't going to give up now. They were so close to saving Bowser, and they weren't going to let somebody take him.
"350 coins..."
"400 coins..."
"500 coins..."
"600 coins..."
"700 coins..."
"800 coins..."
The cloaked man glared at Mario, Luigi and Peach and raised up his paddle again.
"1,000,000,000 coins!" He screamed. "One billion coins!"
Mario, Luigi and Peach glanced at the cloaked man then looked at each other nervously.
"Going once..."
Peach was about to raise her paddle when she stopped.
"Going twice..."
The cloaked man folded his arms, smirking smugly. Then Luigi lifted up his paddle.
"Two billion!"
"Three billion!"
"Four billion!"
"Five billion!"
Both of them were reaching their limits.
"Six!"
"Seven!"
"Eight!"
"Nine!"
"Ten!" Luigi cried.
The cloaked man stopped. He threw his paddle to the ground and stepped on it, breaking it in half.
"I'll get you back..." He whispered, turning and walking down a dark alleyway.
"Sold to the guy in green!" Tacky Dealer yelled.
...
The cloaked man walked down the alleyway until he met somebody else. He wore a purple jester outfit and had a creepy smile plastered on his face.
"Ahahaha-Wait, where's the third hero?" Dimentio asked.
"I didn't get him. These three freaks wanted him more." The cloaked man shook his head.
"But you're a billionaire! You can do anything! Like a...okay, I'm out." Dimentio muttered. "I think I should get started on metaphors..."
"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to waste any of my money." The cloaked man said.
"That's not good enough, Billionaro." Dimentio muttered.
The cloaked man pulled off his cape. He wore a black top hat and a black suit. He held a cane in his left hand and a big bag of money in his right hand.
"I know, I'm sorry. Next time I'll do better." Billionaro said.
"Fine. Go back to the castle and see if Mimi is alright-" Dimentio stopped. "Er...I mean...Make sure Mimi and Nastasia haven't escaped."
"Of course, boss." Billionaro said and disappeared.
Dimentio also disappeared.
...
"Great job, Luigi!" Peach smiled.
Tacky Dealer was about to give Bowser to Luigi when King Rocko ran onto the platform. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Tippi gulped.
"Aha!" King Rocko grabbed Bowser. "You're coming with me!"
"WHAT!? NO I'M NOT!" Bowser roared, breathing fire.
Tacky Dealer and The Tandoos ran off, screaming. However, just like the other Rockoes, the fire didn't affect him. He laughed, looking at Bowser as if he was an idiot.
"That's not going to hurt me!" He muttered.
He took off his crown and threw it at Bowser. It spun around and around, but Bowser managed to duck. The crown sliced off one of the spikes on his shell and it landed on the floor. The crown shot back like a boomerang, hitting King Rocko in the face. He stumbled backwards dizzily, falling off the stage. He landed on some chairs, making them smash.
"Bowser!" Mario yelled and the four ran onto the platform. "Are you okay?"
"Where were you!?" He growled angrily.
"When you were in The Rocko Base we were watching you from up on the balcony and then we saw you being thrown into a truck and we followed you all the way here!" Peach cried.
"Well...You didn't do it fast enough!" Bowser snapped.
"Ugh...My head..." King Rocko groaned, standing up. "Hey! Get back here!"
He jumped onto the platform and used his hands to form rocks. Then he threw them at Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Tippi, hoping to bowl them over, but they leapt over them.
"Grrr!" King Rocko turned into a rock himself and rolled towards Mario, squashing him.
Mario stumbled off the platform, unconscious. Luigi gasped. Peach gasped. Tippi gasped. Bowser laughed.
"Hahaha! He TOTALLY deserved that!" He laughed.
Peach pulled out her parasol and jumped into the air, hoping to land on King Rocko's head. However, King Rocko saw her and quickly created a rock, throwing it at her. The rock slammed into Peach and she fell off the platform, crying out in pain.
"Hahaha! You guys are pathetic!" King Rocko yelled.
"No, YOU'RE pathetic!" Luigi jumped towards King Rocko but he simply slapped him out of the way and he fell off the platform, unconscious.
"HEY! TAKE THIS!" Bowser jumped into the air and landed on King Rocko, crushing him.
King Rocko did the same to him, and both of them were extremely tired. Bowser tried to attack King Rocko again but he dodged, sending Bowser into a bunch of chairs.
"Hmmm...I don't think you're trying hard enough. What a shame. It looks like you don't want this then..." King Rocko smirked, holding up a heart-shaped stone.
Tippi gasped.
"The Pure Heart!" She cried.
She looked around. She was the only one who was still awake. She knew she had to do something. She flew towards King Rocko as fast as she could and picked up The Pure Heart. The Pure Heart was huge compared to her, and she almost collapsed with the weight of it.
"Hey! Get back here!" King Rocko roared. "Rockoes! SEIZE HER!"
Tippi gasped as five Rockoes surrounded her. She clutched The Pure Heart, backing away from them. She glanced at Mario.
"Please, Mario..." She pleaded silently. "Please wake up..."
She attempted to fly upwards but a Rocko grabbed her, taking The Pure Heart. He handed it to King Rocko, who started laughing.
"Hahaha! Now, finish her!" King Rocko ordered.
Tippi screamed in terror as the five Rockoes pounced on her. She got punched and kicked, and soon she felt dizzy. She slowly closed her eyes, dropping to the ground.
"Great job, everybody! Now let's pick them up and head to that volcano!" King Rocko pointed to a volcano far away in the distance. "We need to give them and this thing to the wizard who lives in the volcano. If we give it to him, he will give us lots of money!"
King Rocko and The Rockoes laughed and they jumped into a truck, driving off.
...
"Ugh..." Mario sat up, looking around. "Where am I?"
He suddenly felt extremely hot. He looked down and screamed. He was on the edge of a volcano! The bubbling lava was below him, waiting for a victim. He realised ropes were tied around him so he couldn't escape, and two Rockoes were watching him. He also saw Luigi, Peach and Bowser next to him. Tippi was in a cage.
"What's going on!?" He cried.
"I don't know!" Peach said nervously. "I think King Rocko is going to push us into the lava!"
"We have to get out of here!" Luigi yelled.
"But how?" Tippi asked.
"Maybe we can distract the guards?" Bowser suggested.
"Wow, Bowser! That was pretty clever!" Peach said, shocked.
"Wonderful, you're finally awake!" King Rocko smiled, watching them as he sat on his throne.
"Grrr..." Bowser narrowed his eyes.
"Let us go immediately! I'm a princess!" Peach cried.
"That's not going to happen, princess." Said King Rocko, shaking his head.
"What are you going to do with us?" Luigi asked.
"I'm going to push you all into the lava. Then the wizard who lives in the volcano will give us lots of money and tools so we can build the machines we need!" King Rocko laughed.
"No!" Tippi cried. "We were so close to getting The Pure Heart..."
"The Pure Heart? What's that?" King Rocko asked.
"The heart-shaped stone you stole." Mario muttered.
"Oh, that? Why do you need it?" King Rocko inquired.
"There's this evil guy called Dimentio who wants to take over the world and we need all The Pure Hearts to defeat him." Luigi explained.
"Oh...Well, no matter. I'll just defeat him myself." King Rocko smiled.
"No, you don't understand! With the power of The Chaos Heart he'll be invincible!" Tippi yelled. "Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Bowser are the only ones who can defeat him!"
"Yeah, and they can't defeat me. Pathetic." King Rocko muttered.
"Please, King Rocko! Don't do this!" Tippi pleaded.
"Shut it, you annoying bug!" King Rocko roared.
"WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG!?"
Everybody except King Rocko looked around, confused. Then a dream bubble appeared. The group looked inside. There was a small room with two bookcases filled with books. There was also a globe and a chair. Sitting on the chair was a wizard wearing a purple cloak. He had a big bushy moustache and he was holding a walking stick. He had yellow eyes but they couldn't see his face. Sitting on a desk next to him was The Pure Heart, still made of stone.
"Sorry, Merlain. The prisoners are stalling me." King Rocko apologised.
"IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME A SHOW IN FIVE MINUTES I'LL DRENCH YOUR VILLAGE IN LAVA!" Merlain roared.
The dream bubble disappeared. King Rocko picked up Luigi and lifted him into the air. Everybody watched in terror.
"Mario, Peach, Bowser, Tippi, you have to defeat Dimentio. Collect every Pure Heart and go to his castle. You have to rescue the others. I-I believe in you..." Luigi said.
King Rocko threw Luigi off the edge.
"Luigi!" Peach screamed.
Luigi screamed in terror as he fell down and down. Suddenly he was pulled back up roughly. He landed on a rock and looked up, breathing a sigh of relief. The rope was caught on a sharp rock. Merlain saw all this and narrowed his eyes.
"It looks like I'm going to have to do this myself..." He muttered.
He charged up his energy. A purple lightning bolt appeared in his hands and shot towards Luigi. Suddenly a blue one deflected it and both of them exploded, sending electricity raining down on them. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, Tippi and King Rocko turned around in shock.
"Merlon!" Tippi cried.
"Tippi!" Merlon smiled. "I was on top of Flipside Tower, waiting for you to return, when the door started flashing black. Concerned, I took a huge risk. I walked through the door and into the world. I ran though a field and up a mountain, entering a village. I talked to this nice man called Saff, asking where you were. He said you went to The Tandoo Village, so I went there. Because I was so close to you I could use my powers to see where you were. I saw you on top of the volcano and I ran here as fast as I could."
"Thanks so much, Merlon!" Peach smiled. "Can you please free us?"
"Of course!" Merlon said.
"I can't let you do that." King Rocko said, standing in his way.
"Oh, shut up!" Merlon used his magic to create a blue lightning bolt, zapping King Rocko.
King Rocko shot up into the air and stumbled backwards, falling off edge. He fell down and down, landing in the lava. His legs disappeared under the lava, then his body, then his arms. His hand went under last. He then zapped Tippi's cage, releasing her. He used his magic to make the ropes around Mario, Peach and Bowser disappear and finally he used his magic to create a bubble around Luigi. He floated upwards and Peach popped the bubble, catching him.
"ARRRRGGGHHH!" Merlain roared, disappearing.
He appeared again in front of Merlon. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser backed away.
"Merlon, we meet again." He muttered.
"Merlain..." Merlon said angrily.
Merlain zapped Merlon and he stumbled backwards.
"Heroes! Run to the base of the volcano and get The Pure Heart!" Merlon ordered.
Mario, Luigi, Peach and Bowser ran as fast as they could to a path leading downwards. The path was in a spiral, going down and down.
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE IT!" Merlain zapped the path, making a chunk of it break off and fall into the lava.
Luckily, Mario, Luigi and Peach had made it across before it happened. Bowser wasn't so lucky, however, and he plummeted to the lava below. Fortunately, he landed on a rock, avoiding the boiling lava.
"I'll wait down here!" He called to them.
Merlain was about to zap the path again but Merlon stopped him by zapping him with his blue magic. Merlain dropped to the ground, panting heavily.
"That's it!" Merlain raised his hands upwards, making a huge castle come out of the ground.
"Two can play at that game!" Merlon yelled, doing the same thing.
The ground rumbled, making Mario, Luigi and Peach wobble, almost falling into the lava.
Merlon and Merlain stood on top of the turrets of their castles, glaring at each other. Merlon shot cannonballs at Merlain from the cannons in his castle. Merlain's castle got hit multiple times but didn't collapse. Merlain grinned and shot cannonballs at the path, making random chunks of it break off and fall into the lava. Luigi also fell, but just like Bowser he landed on a rock. Mario and Peach were almost at Merlain's base now.
"Take this!" Merlon created guards and they ran towards Merlain's castle.
Merlain did the same and the guards attacked the castles.
"STOP COPYING ME!"
"NO, YOU STOP COPYING ME!"
Both of the castles collapsed, killing the guards. Merlon and Merlain ran towards each other, screaming. They both created huge lightning bolts.
BOOM!
The entire path dropped, and Mario and Peach gasped. Mario quickly picked Peach up and threw her at the door, making her break through it, landing in Merlain's base. Mario landed on a rock. Peach ran towards The Pure Heart, reaching out for it. The ground rumbled and The Pure Heart fell. Peach screamed as The Pure Heart got closer to the ground.
"Hahaha! I'm stronger than you, Merlon!" Merlain laughed, creating another lightning bolt.
Merlon was on the floor, panting heavily. Merlain got ready to attack him, grinning.
"Got it!" Peach caught The Pure Heart and raised it into the air.
A bright light came from The Pure Heart, making Peach drop it, not expecting the sudden light. Merlain disappeared in a flash of purple light, and the path returned to normal. Mario, Luigi and Bowser landed on it, looking around. Then all of them disappeared.
...
They appeared outside the door. All of them looked around.
"Wait...where's The Pure Heart?" Tippi asked, looking around.
Suddenly, the orange Pure Heart appeared in Peach's hands, not made of stone anymore.
"Woah...The Pure Heart is...pure!" Bowser yelled.
"How did it return to normal, Merlon?" Luigi asked.
"I don't know...I really don't..." Merlon said.
"Well, we better find a Heart Pillar." Peach said, holding The Pure Heart.
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Tippi walked off, leaving Merlon standing next to the door, confused.
...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The Mimi and Nastasia part will be in the next chapter. The next chapter is coming soon!
