Chapter 27: Blasted Bowser
After a long sea journey, Link, Sonic, Mario, and Luigi finally arrived at the shanty-looking city of Rogueport. Sonic stepped off and gave the place a look around.
"So this is Rogueport. They need new wallpaper." Sonic said, looking around.
"Looks like the Castle Town when Ganondorf was in power." Link said, recalling the memory.
"It may not look like much, but the cool stuff isn't here. It's down below." Mario said, pointing at the floor.
"If you need info on Rogueport, ask Mario. I've only come here once in a while on my own adventure." Luigi said, gesturing to Mario.
"Uh, yeah. We'll remember that. Now where is this treasure?" Link asked, wanting to get onto the mission.
Mario was about to answer when someone interrupted them. The voice appeared to be raspy and a little quiet, but there was something fishy about it.
"You lookin' for treasure?" It asked.
Mario and Luigi whirled around while Link and Sonic just stood there, staring at this person. It was a very big guy wearing a cloak that concealed all but a pair of black eyes and a beak. Mario folded his arms across his chest and Link cocked one eyebrow just as Sonic tilted his head in confusion.
"Who the heck are you?" Luigi asked, one eyebrow cocked.
"I'm a treasure hunter. And if you're lookin' for treasure, I'm pretty sure I know where it is." The guy answered.
"Well, do you have something called the Crystal Stars?" Mario asked.
"Crystal stars?" Link asked.
"The Crystal Stars are a bunch of gems I found quite a while ago. I used it to save this world from eternal darkness and I had to beat some hag with an attitude. I found them again, but I hid them from Bowser." Mario explained.
"You think THAT is what we're looking for?" Link asked.
"Most likely. Now, mister," Mario said, "Do you think you have what we're looking for?"
"Certainly. I hear of these Crystal Stars. Follow me." The guy said, turning to leave.
Link and Mario followed easily, but Luigi and Sonic lagged behind. There was something fishy about this cloaked guy and it was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
"You ever have the feeling that there's more to this guy than meets the eye?" Sonic asked.
"Uh-huh." Luigi answered.
A few minutes later, they arrived at a shabby-looking house. The cloaked man stepped in and so did everyone else. The place had nothing in there, save a cobweb or two.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Link said, fingering his sword.
"Oh, I'm absolutely positive…" The guy said as he stepped on a switch.
Sonic suddenly knew what was happening and took a step forward, but then the floor gave way underneath him and his friends. They were standing right on a trap door that they hadn't even known about. The fall wasn't much and it led to a kind of slide and they slid all the way into a jail. Sonic landed first, but then Luigi landed on him, closely followed by Mario. Just when Sonic thought it couldn't get any worse, it did when Link landed on Luigi and the combined weight on Sonic's back caused his eyes to bulge.
"OH! THAT IS REAL NICE!" Sonic strained as he tried to get up.
"WHAT?!" Link shouted as he got off Mario.
Sonic shoved Mario and Luigi off his back and then saw where they were.
"WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?!" Sonic asked, running frantically around the cramped cell.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Decided to 'Drop in', huh?" A deep growling voice asked.
There, just outside the cell was Bowser and the cloaked man. Mario's face contorted with rage as he seized the bars and tried reaching out for Bowser with one arm. Strangely, Bowser was accompanied by the exact same guy who led them here. And this guy was…smiling a rather malicious smile.
"Hey! Cloaky-guy! Who in the name of Koopa are you?" Mario asked, gripping the bars of his cage.
The cloaked man seized his cloak and ripped it off him. The "man" was a big, muscular bird with long hair like a rock star, yellow feathers, and a headband. He wore tights with a black belt and boots as well.
"You know too well who I am, Gonzales. I am RAWK HAWK! That's right, I work for Bowser now." The big bird answered.
Mario groaned in disgust while Link and Sonic just stared as Rawk Hawk flexed his muscles. Bowser finally gave Hawk a good shove that sent the big bird to the ground and went up to the cell.
"Now, you all stay here. If you're gonna give me the treasure you're looking for, I'll let ya go. Until then, you're gonna stay here like good boys." Bowser gloated, his arms folded across his chest.
"THIS is the reward I get for saving your skin from those bloodthirsty dinosaurs on that island?" Link asked in disbelief.
"I thought I told you that was a truce. Truces end, longears. You can stay as long as you like." Bowser said as he walked off.
As the two walked off, Rawk Hawk laughed and said, "HAHAHAHA! As long as you like! HAHAHAHAHA!"
There was a pounding noise as they were walking away and Rawk Hawk said, "OW!" just before Bowser said, "Quiet, big bird."
Link stomped the ground in frustration and even kicked one of the bars. He regretted this since he had a throbbing foot afterward.
"Take it easy, Link. We need to focus on getting out of here. We've also got to find these 'Crystal Stars' before the Dragonoids do." Sonic said, putting his hands up.
"Dragonoids?" Mario asked.
"More on them later, plumber. Do you know where you hid the Crystal Stars?" Link asked impatiently.
"Oh, don't worry. Bowser and Rawk Hawk won't find them in a million years. I hid them in a place they would never look. It's in the-" Mario began, but Sonic put a hand over his mouth.
Sonic seemed to look to the side and spot something. After a little confirmation, a sly grin crossed his face.
"Y'know, it's not too bad in here. It's kinda cozy once you get used to it." Sonic said.
Luigi stood there, dumbfounded and confused at what Sonic was doing.
"When I first came here, I thought I would really hate it. But now that I think about it, I think it's really starting to grow on me." Sonic continued, pointing backward with his thumb.
Luigi then saw that Sonic was pointing at a red thing that looked like a radio transmitter on the wall. Sonic obviously spotted it and Luigi got the idea and decided to play along.
"Yeah! It's not too bad in here. Although it's a little drafty, you do get fresh air and light from the sun." Luigi said, putting up a finger.
Sonic seemed to beckon for Luigi to quiet down a bit and went over to Link. Luigi continued talking, but in a much quieter tone and now he knew what Sonic was up to.
In another, Rawk Hawk was listening in on their conversations on escape, the jail cell, and other stuff I don't want to bore you with. Then, Luigi's voice got real quiet and he began to adjust the machine's settings so he could hear the tall, green Italian.
"Ah, you can try to keep quiet, but that won't work. I gotcha now, Gonzales." Rawk Hawk said, stifling a laugh.
Now, Luigi was talking about the food sticking to his plate but being okay. Sonic went over to Link and whispered into his pointy ear. Link's smile broadened and he nodded as Sonic gave the details.
"You'd think they'd never heard of popcorn, pizza, or even a cheeseburger. However, I wouldn't say no to a nice juicy steak. Wouldn't that be nice?" Luigi whispered.
Link quickly went up to the little transmitter with a sly grin on his face. He then took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"IT SURE WOULD!!!" He yelled into the transmitter.
Back in the room, Rawk Hawk had just finished adjusting to the set and now he could even hear a whisper. Then, he heard someone yell and since he turned up the volume to hear a whisper, the volume was so great that it almost deafened him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Rawk Hawk screamed as he fell to the floor in surprise and pain.
Bowser rushed into the room and picked up the bird by the shoulders. Rawk Hawk got up, looking pretty steamed and ran off.
"Make fun of ME, will they?" He cursed as he stormed off.
Whoever these losers were, he was going to give them one HECK of a pounding.