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Mario & Sonic II: World Heroes

Chapter Seven

Which Witch is Which?

Silver the Hedgehog stepped forward as he then tried reasoning with Tutankoopa, but the ancient monarch was not one to reason with. "I am Tutankoopa, the Pharaoh of the Third Koopa Dynasty, and I will pass judgment on your damned souls!" Tutankoopa raised up his scepter creating gigantic wave of sand that headed straight for our heroes.

"Only judgment being passed will be yours, you freak of nature! Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled tossing a couple yellow blasts at the wall of sand, but it didn't as much crack the wall.

"Hm?" Mario noticed the sand on the ground was disturbing around weirdly and immediately dove toward Shadow grabbing him before the sand could crush him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Mario?" griped Shadow shoving Mario away.

Silver teleported not too far from where Mario and Shadow were. "That's not ordinary sand, Mario! I'm picking up some strange vibes!" he then placed his hand on his chin and moaned. "Hmm, so that means Tutankoopa must be using some sort of...evil magic!" Both Shadow and Mario stared at Silver with a Duh! expression on their faces.

"Okay that was a bit obvious, I'll admit! However, I can surely state that the scepter is the source of his power! In all reality, the scepter is Tutankoopa or what remains of his spirit! This being before us is something the scepter conjured up!" Silver muttered turning toward Tutankoopa. "Am I right?"

"How dare you attest that I'm just a mere scepter, you impendent worm!" Tutankoopa howled being sure to keep the scepter close to his body.

"So, it's that scepter that gives him that power, huh?" Shadow muttered standing up slowly patting the sand of his fur. "Hehehe...I guess the scepter is also what that bounds that so-called pharaoh to this world! Without it I bet he returns to nothingness!"

Hearing them berate him was too much for Tutankoopa and he lifted up his scepter reciting a spell from the days of long ago. "Sand Coffin!" Sand poured into the room filling it up at a vast clip and Tutankoopa snickered. "Mortals who dare mock Tutankoopa will be buried alive just like I was! Do not fret though, the rest of the world will meet the same fate!"

"You psychopath! I would never let you do something that evil!" Mario cried reaching into his overalls pulling out a Metal Cap and placed the cap on top of his head. Suddenly Mario's entire body shivered as it was being covered in a metallic chrome. "Metal Mario!" Mario then cried squeezing his fist pointing it at Tutankoopa.

Silver was surprised and intrigued by Mario's sudden transformation. "Wow! I had no idea Mario was capable of such a feat! I had no clue that he could breathe being encased in metal!"

"Humph, you should know better than that Silver nothing makes since here!" Shadow then huffed folding his arms. "Besides Metal Mario is a new one on me! I've never seen him turn into that one before!"

"Here we go!" cried Metal Mario as he ran straight through the sand clobbering Tutankoopa with a super punch sending the monarch into a wall. Metal Mario repeatedly punched and kicked Tutankoopa causing him to dissolve into nothing, but sand. "Wha? Did I get rid of him?"

However, the sand seemed to move to the back of the chamber reforming itself back into the tyrannical Tutankoopa. "Like I said Mortals cannot begin to fathom what I truly am! Now die in a sea of sand!" Underneath their feet Silver, Shadow, and Metal Mario could see the walls crumbling letting in more and more sand.

Silver squirmed around as the sand began to bury our heroes. "Grr...I need to do something before we're all buried!" Silver then closed his eyes focusing his psychic energy trying to lift up Shadow and Mario, but Mario's metallic form was way too heavy. Veins appeared on Silver's forehead as he tried lifting Metal Mario. "Dammit...Mario you weigh a ton!"

"I'll distract that overstuffed mummy while you free Mario!" Shadow muttered teleporting over to Tutankoopa, but Shadow was careless and the monarch coiled sand around the emo black hedgehog squeezing him. "Ahhhhhhh...Dammit!"

It took a lot of Silver's psychic abilities to lift Metal Mario out of the sand. "Whew! Alright Mario, let's go help Shadow before he get's the life drain out of him!" Silver then pointed his hand at Tutankoopa blasting him with a purple energy wave. "Chaos Pulse!" A loud ringing noise then echoed throughout the entire chamber causing Tutankoopa to dissolve again.

"Ahhh...You'll pay for that you Platypus!" Tutankoopa screeched reforming his Koopa state before beginning a strange chant. "Chain...Chomp...I...summon...you...Chomp...Chain!" Large groups of Chomp-Chains were being crafted out of sand and they barked at Silver, Mario, and Shadow. "Hahahaha...no mortal has ever survived battling my pet Chain-Chomps!"

Meanwhile underneath the pyramid Wario, Waluigi, and Erazor Djinn were not too far from the World Ring. "This better damn be worth it!" Wario muttered attempting to dig upward breaching the ground. "Hey! I can see some light!" Wario pushed over a boulder and spotted Tutankoopa and the Chomp-Chains. "Whoa!!!!"

"Wario?" cried Metal Mario staring at the yellow greedy plumber inside a deep hole. "Y...you must be after a World Ring, too. Does your greed have no end?"

A gleam appeared in Wario's eyes and he helped Waluigi who appeared to be cradling a lamp in his arms out of the hole. "Ya heard that limp noodle, there is a World Ring here! I guess that Erazor Djinn was telling the truth!" Mario, Silver, and Shadow were shocked to hear that Wario and Waluigi were in cahoots with the evil Erazor Djinn.

"Wha? You shouldn't be working with Erazor Djinn he's bent on ruling the world!" Silver the Hedgehog pleaded with Wario, but it went through one ear and out the other. "No can't you tell he's the source of the destruction that has crippled our worlds!"

However, Wario really did not care as he flicked his middle finger at Silver. "All I care is that Erazor Djinn makes me stupid paid!"

"Oh, something in here is stupid, but it's not you about to get paid!" Shadow groaned rolling his eyes.

"You greedy fool! You couldn't possible comprehend what Erazor Djinn's capable of doing! So, I beg of you, please…give us the lamp." Silver pleaded.

"Bite me, fluffy!" Wario chuckled, while his stomach rumbled.

Being upstage enraged Tutankoopa more than anything; he was a bit of a Prima Donna. "Excuse me! I'm supposed to be the menacing one here! "Tutankoopa tapped his feet impatiently before raising up his scepter. "I guess I'll just have to kill all of you!"

Wario then turned toward Waluigi groaning. "Hey! String Bean keep that lamp safe or Else!"

Waluigi hid behind a turned over treasure chest just as Wario decided to join Mario, Silver, and Shadow in battle. "Hey, Mario! We can always fight each other later!" Even though Mario hated to admit it, Wario was right.

"Okay, but after Tutankoopa is down! Its just gonna be me and you, Wario!" Metal Mario shrieked.

Wario smirked at Mario before running toward with his shoulder down. "Here I go!" However, Tutankoopa blasted Wario with a wall of sand and while the plumber tried swimming out of the sand, Tutankoopa's Chain-Chomps leapt onto his back biting him. "Wahhhh!"

"Man, he's kinda pathetic!" Silver muttered while staring annoyingly at Wario. "Alright, let me give it a shot!" Silver yelped, leaping into the air. "Teleport Dash!" Silver immediately vanished before reappearing in front of Tutankoopa hammering him with a massive punch making him lose his concentration freeing Wario in the process.

Shadow immediately turned his attention to the Chomp-Chains and blasting them with yellow blasts of energy. "Chaos Spear!" Once Shadow blasted the Chomp-Chains, they reverted back into just mere sand.

Metal Mario then ran over toward Tutankoopa throwing metallic fireballs at him, but Tutankoopa spun his scepter around in the air blocking the fire.

"Hehehe...You mortals aren't all that bad, but I guess it's time to up the odds in my favor!" Tutankoopa smiled lifting his scepter high into the air. "I must say that I'm impressed I haven't been pushed this far in ages!" Strange symbols appeared all over Tutankoopa's body as he let off one of the strangest chants Mario had ever heard.

Suddenly more and more sand poured into the chamber surrounding causing his skin to crack Tutankoopa and he then formed into some sort of large creature made of sand. "Now mortals bare witness to my true form the sand spirit, TutanSphinx!" cried a large lion-like creature with Tutankoopa's face. "Now prepare for your doom!"

"Holy...Shit..." Waluigi murmured his mouth wide open staring at the over-sized Sphinx.

"Humph. What an absurd transformation..." Erazor yawned, while peering from his lamp. "You better not drop me, sticks." he said, looking up at Waluigi.

"Whoa! I didn't see that coming!" Silver muttered looking over at his comrades, who were just as stunned. TutanSphinx lounged toward them with its claws bared, but Silver used Chaos Control to dodge the swipe from TutanSphinx. "I'm sensing some evil magic right there! Even Mephiles the Dark's power felt so evil!"

Metal Mario then turned toward Wario, Shadow, and Silver muttering. "Okay, since Silver and Shadow are faster than us they'll distract TutanSphinx! Wario, you and I will hammer that moron with all our strength!" Shadow, Silver, and Wario agreed to Mario's plan. "Okay, then guys let's get going!"

The hedgehog warriors Silver and Shadow made their moves leaping toward TutanSphinx distracting him by teleporting all around him. "Grrrr…I don't know what you foolish mortals are planning, but I'll stop it!" he yelped, swiping at them, but they were just too fast, none of his attempts were connecting.