Me: Another filler chapter, but have no fear as another battle comes up after this.
Crow: The highlights of this chapter are that there's a flashback sequence, Luigi and I find Clay, and Clay talks of ways to fight the Dentes Rhohos.
Servo: Also, be on the lookout for Gantz Gun's next oneshot story, which will take place soon after the chapter after this one.
Mallow: Hey guys, Zane wont be here today since he's working with Gantz for that scene he told us about.
Me: I figured as such. After mentioning Gantz's idea to you guys, he left to see Gantz so he could get to work on this right away.
Mallow: Well, let's get started. I got the video recorder set up so Zane can watch this chapter when he comes back.
Crow: Smoking is prohibited by our local internet fire marshal. Please be considerate of others in the theater!
Chapter 16: Reunion
It was late at night. 10:30 PM to be exact. Clay was looking up at the stars reflecting on his past. He couldn't help but think of his old friend Geno when he looked up towards the stars. He remembered when they met back in the Forest Maze in the Tadpole Pond region years ago. His inside look into the cause of the Star Rod to break apart by Smithy's invasion was very helpful. At times, Clay often wondered why he never heard of Geno before.
He knew of the seven Star Spirits due to the legends told about the Star Rod, and Geno also turned out to be a Star Spirit like the other seven who used the form of a popular children's toy to obtain a physical form to help during the war against Smithy's legions. What was really odd was that his real name was impossible to pronounce, which suggested he may have been from a long forgotten age where the language by today's standards would be impossible to translate.
He also remembered the day the kind spirit left the team to restore the Star Rod.
Flashback
Mario, Luigi, Clay, Yoshi, Geno, Mallow, Peach, Bowser, his seven children, Goombario, Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Bow, Watt, Sushi, Lakilester, and Krunch stood around the fallen remains of Smithy. They were in what seemed to be a giant junk pile, as there was scrap metal everywhere (aside from Smithy's metal corpse). The final Star Rod piece was now within grasp. Before Mario grabbed it, Geno said, "Be sure to send this last one way up high!"
Mario nodded as he approached the star. Like the others, it flew around the room and hovered over Mario's head. Mario's allies gathered around as they all had a look of triumph and relief as well as happiness that it was all over. Finally, the star came down into Mario's awaiting hands after what seemed like an eternity. The star then left Mario's grasp, along with the six other pieces as they all flew into the air.
Geno then walked up into the circle his friends formed, and said, "Thank you. The Star Pieces have been found, and now we can fix the Star Rod. And then..." Geno seemed a bit resigned about what would happen next, as it would mean he'd have to leave, and possibly never return. Before Mario could say anything, the seven Star Pieces appeared and surrounded Geno. Everyone jumped back in shock, except Geno. Mario and the others watched as the seven stars swirled around Geno, which they all guessed was some kind of repair spell.
Each star flew back into the air, and began fusing with one another, but everyone's attention was on Geno. At the same time as the Star Rod began to reform, a beam of light surrounded Geno which got so bright everyone had to shield their eyes. When the light dimmed down, they saw in Geno's place was the little toy he barrowed for this adventure. Bowser said, "So THIS is the little toy he barrowed." He picked it up to take a look, but that's when a small spark erupted from the doll. Bowser dropped the toy, as he thought the toy had somehow caught on fire. But it turned out the spark was the Star Spirit that barrowed the Geno doll. It emitted a powerful light that blocked his features, so no one could tell what he looked like.
He then began hovering around playfully as everyone began wearing huge smiles on their faces. The Star Spirit went up to the mass of Star Pieces up above, and with one last burst of energy, reformed the Star Rod. Geno then used it to warp everyone back outside Bowser's Castle.
When they arrived outside, they watched as the giant sword that embedded itself in Bowser's Castle began to crumble and disintergrate. It eventually left no sign that it was ever there at all, other than the huge hole in Bowser's roof. Bowser could care less about that right now though, as he and his kids finally got their home back and he couldn't be happier. Now he could get back to kidnapping Peach, that is once things settle down as even he knew now was not the time to do any evil. Now was the time to fix his family's home, and to enjoy the endless praise from his followers.
During his time trying to get home, much of his army deserted him. Some went off to build peacefull lives, which he thought were well deserved after how much trouble they went through during this terrible trial. Most of them were brainwashed by Smithy, including his right-hand minions Kamek and Kammy, so he held no malice towards anyone in his ranks.
At that moment, the most unexpected thing happened. The dark skies of Darkland cleared up revealing the blue sky behind the thick clouds. For a short time during this era of peace, blue skys dominated the Darkland skyline, but Bowser suprisingly didn't mind. After what he and his kids went through, they could use a temporary change.
End Flashback
Like the others he worked with back then, he was curious of Geno's origins. Clay figured he may have been a special Star Spirit of an even higher rank than the ones that gaurded the Star Rod itself. Of course, he didn't know how that could be possible. His thoughts were interupted when he saw a flash of light, which formed a portal of some sort. From the portal, a large metal pod of some kind appeared, and from that pod came his big brother Luigi, and one of his robot friends, Crow T. Robot.
When the two got out, Crow said to Luigi, "It's very simple Pipe-Pusher, don't fall on me anymore!" "Easier said than done, moron! In case you had forgotten, there weren't any seatbelts! Not only that, you also fell on me too you know!" Luigi said dryly. Crow then said, "We'll worry about this later, let's get the gear the professor packed in this thing so we can find Clay, Servo and the others.
They pulled out a package of some kind from the odd-looking pod, and after they did the pod vanished from wence it came. Luigi panicked as he screamed, "Wait, don't go away!!!!!!!!" Clay cleared his throat, getting the attention of the green plumber and the gold robot. Luigi then charged up towards Clay, and tackled him to the ground saying, "Thank God you're alright!!!! (cries)" Crow then said, "Well, that was easy. Where are the others?"
Clay then said, while pulling Luigi off of him, "They're not far away. I'm sure everyone's gonna be glad to see you guys, and my newest friends are also dying to meet someone else from our world, so follow me." Clay took his brother and his robot partner to the campsite where everyone was currently telling stories about their past achievements, and just about any other form of small talk. When Clay got back, he saw he just came in at the end of one of Ash's recollections of one of his past league conquests.
"When Dragonite fired it's Hyper Beam, Pikachu leaned back until his tail pressed into the ground, and then used it as a spring board to launch himself onto Dragonite's head where he then knocked the Dragonite out with a well placed Thunder attack! And that's how I won the Orange League. I still have the photo from that victory. Here, look." Ash passed a photo of himself, Pikachu, a Squirtle, a Charizard, a Tauros, a Bulbasaur, and a plesiosaur-like pokemon known as a Lapras.
Clay then said, "I really do hate to interrupt story time children, but there's someone I'd like for you to meet." That's when Luigi and Crow stepped into view of the group. Of course, Clay's friends were the only ones to recognize them (and due to his participation in the Smash Bros. tournaments, Pikachu recognized Luigi as well).
Clay then said to Ash and the others, "Now for the residents of this world who are curious about these two, this guy is my older brother Luigi Mario. The robot happens to be one of Servo and Cambot's buddies, who's name is Crow T. Robot. Anyway, how did you guys get here?" Crow then said, "Well after me and the others told everyone how you guys vanished, Professor E. Gadd studied some odd energy readings on the beach where that portal appeared."
James then said, "E. Gadd? Who the heck is that? And more importently, who'd name their child that!?" Clay then said, "He's a world reknowned inventor who specializes in many fields of science. His favorite study is on the paranormal. As for why his name sounds like a bad pun, I have no clue. The 'E' actually stands for Elvin, but we simply call him E. Gadd. Anyway Luigi, care to continue?"
Luigi then said, "E. Gadd then built a special machine that can cross through the fabric of time and space so someone could come help you kids get home. Everyone's worried sick about you guys! Zane's friends from the dojo, Merlon-" Meriee and Zane looked down to the ground as they felt bad about making their families worry. Luigi then continued saying, "Oh and let's not forget Peach and Mario. They're worried most of all!"
Clay then said, "Ok, that answers one question. But why did they send you two? Just curious." Crow then said, "I volunteered. Luigi got suckered into it." Goombario then said, "Heh, typical Luigi." "HEY!" Luigi shouted. Crow looked over towards Ash, and then said, "So, who're these kids?" After another round of stories, and an explanation of current events, Luigi said, "Great, my little brother's on the run from a criminal organization... How can this get any worse!?"
Kooper then said, "These Team Rocket guys partnered up with some organization who can somehow turn pokemon into monsters who looked a lot like those mutant dinosaurs we killed a few months ago back at the Island O' Hags." Luigi then said, "Oh great... That just reminded me of something terrible!" Clay and the others were confused about what Luigi had ment, then Crow said, "Old man Merlon told us that those weird dinosaurs we encountered at the Isle O' Hags are still alive."
Clay then said with a fearful tone in his voice, "H-h-h-h-how is t-t-t-t-that possible!?" Crow then said, "Apparently those dinosaurs are mythical beasts from our world even Merlon thought were fantasy. He said they were Dentes Rhohos. As to why they're still alive, we found out from Merlon that they're immortal. They also can turn other beings into one of their own which is what I guess why the pokemon you mentioned looked like those things."
Clay and his friends then began to wonder how they were gong to defeat an enemy who apparently was impossible to destroy. Eventually, all the thinking began taking it's tll on Zane's mind, and he yelled out, "GRRRR!!!! There's no way we can take those things down! We'd need the divine powers of God himself to strip those things of their immortality!"
Clay then said, "You give up too easy. I'm sure their might be an easy way to take them down that wont involve us begging the big man in the clouds for help. The way he does things is that he let's us figure things out ourselves, with a subtle nudge here or there to ensure we find what's needed. Besides, I remember a particular movie quote that I find is very helpful in times like these."
Zane was skeptical, and then said, "And that would be...?" Clay then put it bluntly as he said, "Life finds a way. Line spoken by Jeff Golblum's character, Ian Malcom in Jurassic Park. These Dentes Rhohos bastards may have the upper hand now, but you should know as well as I do that any and all opponents have a weakness of some sort. And that weakness in question for the Dentes Rhohos is ironically there greatest strength: Their own immortality. Take that away, and they're easy pickings."
Zane then said, "And as I said before, unless you happen to be God, it'd be impossible to remove that ability!" Clay then said, "In case you have forgotten Zane, I along with Vivian and several others, destroyed the spirit of an ancient demon when I first hunted down the Crystal Stars. A spirit is supposed to be indestructible, so the original four heroes who took the Shadow Queen down had to seal it away in hope someone might get rid of the spirit in the future. I may not know how we killed a spirit, seeing as how the soul of any given being is eternal, but we did it anyway. Otherwise, the Shadow Queen would still be popping up every now and then trying to take over the world like Bowser does. My point is this: There may be some way to remove their immortality without having to become omnipotent beings."
Zane glared at Clay and said, "I really hate it when you turn philisophical..." Servo then said, "Makes sense to me." Crow then said, "Yeah, right Servo..." Before the two could get into an argument, there was a loud beeping going off. Luigi then said, "Oh hey, that's probobly the professor calling!" Luigi then pulled out a Nintendo DS, which E. Gadd modified as a cmmunications terminal like his old Game Boy Horror. Professor E. Gadd appeared on the top screen, and said over the speakers, "Luigi! Crow! Do you boys read me? Over!"
Luigi then said, "We're here professor! Where ever here is..." E. Gadd then said, "Ah, good. Have you found Clay and the others yet?" Luigi then said, "Sure did professor! Just so happens the coordinates you programmed into that pod landed Crow and I near a campsite where Clay and the others, along with some new friends of theirs, set up for the night."
E. Gadd then said, "Ah, that is good news! Please put Clay on the line, would you Luigi?" Luigi handed Clay the DS Horror, and then said to Clay, "Seeing as it's apparently night over there, good evening!" Clay then said, "Hello professor. Anything new aside from the machine capable of travelling through time and space?" E. Gadd then said, "Not much really. After Luigi left, Bowser tried to kidnap Peach again, but Joel sabatoged his Koopa Clown Car with a Bob-Omb, allowing Mario to get Peach to saftey before beating the daylights out of the oversized tortoise."
Clay chuckled a bit, and said, "Ok, tell Mario and Peach I'm ok. Servo and Cambot are fine too, as are Vivian, Meriee, Zane, Yoshi, Kooper, and Goombario. Be sure to tell their families and friends they're alright for me, will ya?" E. Gadd then said, "Can do! Be careful out there kids! I'll call every now and then to check up on you, and offer advice. Also, don't be afraid to call me for anything. By the way, I sent Crow and Luigi with some supplies which should come in handy wherever you go. I packed you some power ups such as Super Leaves and Fire Flowers. And in case any ghosts giv you any trouble, I also packed some Poltergusts! Good luck kids, see you all later!"
The DS screen went blank when E. Gadd ended his message. Max then said, "Wow, that's the coolest thing I'd ever seen! A piece of gaming equipment being used as a portable video phone, cool! Say, you wouldn't happen to have any games to play on that, would you?" May then said, "Max, now's not the time to worry about games!"
Ash then said groggily, "I think we should get some sleep..." Brock then said, "Yeah, we should. It's still quite a hike to Pewter City." Clay then went into his tent and said, "Ok guys, see ya in the morning."
One by one, the team went to their sleeping bags in their respective tents and went to sleep.
To be continued...
Servo: Zane certaily got owned this time, didn't he?
Me: Uh, Servo?
Servo: After all that he went through, you'd think that he'd learn to take things in stride, but nooooooo.
Crow: Servo, shut up.
Servo: Who's gonna make me!? (Zane taps Servo's shoulder) In a minute Zane. Zane's not gonna- (stops talking, slowly turns around)
Zane: (Triple Kicks Servo across the room. Servo shatters to pieces after hitting the wall) What was that?
Servo: (coughs) Sorry... Can someone please put me back together?
Me: (grabs a tube of Crazy Glue) R&R!