Sailor Moon Chronicles R
Floating above Disaster
The Fight to Bowser's Throne Room
Meanwhile in Bowser's throne room, the Koopa King sat on his grand throne and in muted glee watched Princess Peach enter. Kamek stood a few paces to Bowser's left while Kaorinite stood to the king's right. Led by a paired procession of Asajj Ventress and Bowser Jr. the soft-hearted, pretty-in-pink princess of a dreamland kingdom, sullen-faced, walked in grim pageant down the crimson aisle.
"Welcome, Princess," announced Bowser when the parade ended at the foot of the steps leading to his throne. "To what do I how the honor?"
"You kidnapped her," Kaorinite answered plainly.
Bowser, not hearing her answer, gave his own answer. "Me! I brought you here, so the honor is mine. Now, to get down to business…"
"A wondrous day indeed for the Dark Kingdom and Koopa Troop," said Ventress, "for today, the Mushroom Kingdom will be ours."
"That isn't why I want Peach here," said Bowser.
"Come again," added Kaorinite, surprised.
"Peach, today is the day you will finally back me a big and delicious cake!" Bowser boomed in joy.
"…What?" Kaorinite said with a dropped jaw.
"She bakes the best cakes, but I have never been invited to the castle to have some," he whined in roar. "Mario and Luigi get cakes baked for them, but I don't!"
Kaorinite, with her forehead cradled in her palm, stood there in silent disbelief. "Are you trying to say to me that we went through all of this bulls*** for cake?"
"It's good cake. Say, can you bake, Kaori?"
Right before, Kaorinite could say something, a Hammer Bro. dashed through the chamber and knelt before the king, panting. "My king, the Mario Bros. and the Sailor Soldiers are currently engaging Lust and Gluttony in the hall leading to this chamber!"
The king growled. "The Mario Bros. defeated King Boo, did they? Humf! Kamek!"
"Yes, my king?" Kamak said, bowing to Bowser.
"Go and stop those meddlesome plumbers so that Peach can bake my cake."
"I am beginning to think this is more trouble than it's worth," Kaorinite sighed.
"Allow me to assist, King Bowser," Ventress said with a calm bow. "I will end the Sailor Soldiers."
Meanwhile in the battle, a bolt of lightning flashed and struck the Snake Block, making the blocks that comprised it break apart and fall into the lava. Lust had leapt off just in time and landed on a nearby platform of blocks. Sailor Mars hopped on Yoshi, and with his sticky, stretchy tongue, he latched onto the platform and climbed up onto it with Sailor Mars.
"Get them, Gluttony!" Lust called.
The bulbous monstrosity with gorilla arms and fat gut came crashing down from the layer of blocks above them. "Oh boy!" he cheered looking at Yoshi. "Cajun food!" His fat, slobbering tongue lapped the side of his face as he changed forth. Yoshi dodged to the side while Sailor Mars jumped up, slammed her fits into the back of his head, knocking him into a skid on his stomach, and launched a stream of fire into his back, setting him on fire when she landed. The beast howled in pain, but quickly got back on to his feet with the flames still searing his flesh. With red sparks jumping on his body, the burns were healing promptly.
"How can he just shake that off?" Yoshi gasped astonishment.
"He's a Homunculus," said Mars, "just like that woman."
"You really should be paying more attention!" Lust's nails shot forth for the raven-haired Mars.
"Venus Love-Me Chain!"
The golden chain broke the nails into pieces. Lust recoiled and saw the fireballs Mario had thrown at her just in time to lunge out of the way. The rest of the heroes had made it up to her level.
"Lust!" called Sailor Moon. "Surrender!"
In a puff of smoke, Kamek appeared between Lust and the heroes. After a quick swirl of his magic scepter, he launched diverging blasts of swirling circles, squares, and triangles at the blocks above them. The two blocks hit transformed into two yellow-shelled Koopa Troopas, which fell to ground and attacked. Luigi and Sailor Venus met them head on while Sailor Mercury slipped through the ruckus and sent a wave of bubbles at Kamek to ensnare him. In a poof, he disappeared, avoiding the bubble attack and reappeared hovering up in the air at her flank where he hit her with a magic blast, sending her onto her side.
"Mercury!" called out Sailor Moon.
Lust took the advantage of this and stuck the blocks above Sailor Mercury with her nails to get them to fall. Sailor Mars dashed for Mercury and shoved her out of the way of the crumbling blocks, so both were safe. In the meantime, Lust had made it up onto another platform and was continuing to gain distance.
"We'll stop her!" called Sailor Jupiter, heading after Lust with Mario and Luigi.
"Are you okay?" Mars asked Mercury.
"Yes," said Mercury weakly with a nod, slowly getting up.
Gluttony was still eyeing Yoshi with drool oozing out of this mouth.
"Yoshi," Sailor Venus said, "I will help you take this creep. I'll need a ride though." She turned to her friends. "I'll be careful. Take care of the wizard guy."
Sailor Moon nodded.
"Hop on!" he said gleefully.
Sailor Venus got onto the saddle, and as soon as they were off, Gluttony pursued them.
Kamek reappeared and shot several blasts of magic at the heroes.
"This is so scary!" cried Sailor Moon, running back and forth to avoid the polygonal blasts.
Kamek then hit one of the yellow blocks above Sailor Moon, turning into a yellow-shelled Koopa Troopa that fell on top of her. The two awkwardly rolled around; they stopped the Koopa Troopa on top. He tried to get his small hands around her neck.
Right when the Kamek flung his scepter back to fling a magic blast at Sailor Moon, a darting object struck his hand, forcefully knocking the scepter away. "What was that?" he moaned, rubbing his hand. He then looked down and found that he was hit by a rose.
Sailor Moon punched the Koopa Troopa in the face and threw him off of her. She looked up and smiled with shining eyes when she saw that Tuxedo Mask had arrived. "Tuxedo Mask!"
Kamek saw the billowing cape and the handsome figure on a nearby platform. "Who are you?"
"The wicked wizard at the hand of the evil kind, the damsel in distress, the brave heroes: all of these are elements of tale that I, Tuxedo Mask, will guarantee has a happy ending."
Standing beside him was Sailor Saturn (Zoey Yuki), wielding her Silence Glaive. "Soldier of destruction and rebirth, and not happy to have been pulled away from wedding cake tasting with her fiancé, I am Sailor Saturn, appearing epically.
Kamek, confused, just gawked at them.
"Death Reborn Revolution!"
Sailor Saturn threw a sphere of refulgent purple energy forth like a Poké Ball but with far more intensity and struck the Magikoopa nicely. He comically floated down to the ground and then fell onto his back after a spin and teleported away in another puff of smoke.
Meanwhile, Lust had found herself at a dead end on a platform situated near the far left wall. Sailor Jupiter, Mario, and Luigi quickly caught up to her.
"Stand down, Lust!" Jupiter ordered.
The Homunculus turned and faced them silently, jabbing into her pursuers with her sharp, unfeeling eyes. Jupiter was poised, ready to shoot out a bolt of lightning, but waited first for Lust's move. Interestingly, she hadn't made one yet. Something was amiss to Sailor Jupiter, but it soon became clear when she heard the blocks crashed into the floor of the platform they were standing on, even Mario was struck and knocked back, losing his power-up and returning to his normal form. After leaping out of the way of an incoming block and zapping another one into pieces with a small lightning shot, Sailor Jupiter saw that one an adjacent platform raised above their level stood Asajj Ventress. The heat that rose from the lava ruffled her long, black skirt. The gentle whips teased away the silence; her pale blue eyes, even from far away, smiled with sadism, which made Luigi sweat more than the heat did.
"Who is that?" he asked Sailor Jupiter.
"Ventress…" she heaved. At the moment, she was trying to mask her own anxiety, for she had never faced Ventress alone and remembered how, even in a group, Ventress proved quite formidable.
The sultry, bold femme fatale spoke, "Pathetic… It's truly pathetic… pathetic that the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, Bowser's archenemies… are plumbers."
"Well, I have a question for you," blurted out Luigi insolently. The sudden bravado was definitely brought on only by his sheer discomfort. "Are you a man or a woman?"
Ventress was speechless
"Luigi!" scolded Mario. "That's rude. Maybe he or she is like Birdo?"
A vain popped. Ventress ignited her dual lightsabers.
"Now you've done it," Jupiter sighed.
Ventress leapt up with a jaguar's intensity and darkness. The whipping of her black skirt quickened into the pace heard at torture chamber. The three heroes scattered to avoid her when she landed. Her attention fell squarely on Mario and Luigi. Both of those stout plumbers were whisked around her by the swings of her lightsabers. The men jumped and wiggled around the assailant. To her surprise, in fact, they were actually alive longer than five seconds. Sailor Jupiter, out of Ventress's sights, charged up an attack.
"Don't forget that you have two opponents!" called Lust, her nails shooting forth.
Sailor Jupiter stretched out of the way and nearly was pieced through her stomach. Sailor Jupiter quickly got into a strong pose, and…
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
The orb of lightning she flung nailed Lust in the stomach, lift her up off the floor and across the platform over the lava and into a wall. Stunned with red sparks, crawling around her, gravity pried her off of the wall and pushed her into a kiss with the blocks of the platform that caught her.
Meanwhile, Ventress found herself in pursuit of the two plumbers. Easily, she caught up to them and even found them on a platform made of dark blue Grab Blocks, guarded by three Mecha-Koopas. The mechanical monsters looked like really slapdash replicas of Bowser with windup keys jutting out of their backs and eyes that would not agree on one location to view. Luigi jumped on one, stunning it, and then grabbed it and kicked it toward Ventress. She raised her hand and caught it with the Force nearly effortlessly. Stunned, Luigi didn't see that a nearby Mecha-Koopa was getting ready to breathe fire. Mario hopped up on into the air and slammed down on his bottom onto the shell of the robot and crushed it onto a puff of smoke. Ventress came down to their level with her lightsabers crossed, whipping them around and missing her targets and destroying the remaining Mecha-Koopa. In a lightning fast moment, Mario performed a Super Jump Punch; with amazing force for what he is, his uppercut punch, hitting her stomach, and jump forced her up into the air and knocked her lightsabers out of her hands. She met her equilibrium quickly and landed square on her feet only to have Luigi meet her with his eyes closed and his arms flailing and whacking her. Within a flash, Ventress undid the tuck of her skirt and wrapped up Luigi in the black fabric. After letting the flailing, wrapped plumber squirm for a second to enjoy the sight, she, with mighty force, sent the plumber flying off of the platform. Mario gasped. Suddenly, Luigi's bounds were undone and, miraculously, he used the black skirt as a parachute. The rising hot air coming off of the sweltering lava lifted him up, and he sailed blissfully to the safety of a platform. After he signed in relief, Mario leered at Ventress, taking a fighting stance. Ventress quickly brought her lightsabers into her hands with the force, ignited them, and struck a pose. Ventress lunged forth and swung as swiftly as a scorpion. To her dismay, Mario knew much more about the elements around them. He picked up one of the Grab Blocks that made up the platform they were standing on and kicked it towards her. The once blue block flashed in rainbow colors and slide quicker than a blade across a sheet of ice. Ventress barely managed to side-step it in time, but she did catch the other one he kicked to her with the Force before it hit her. Upon looking to where the block came from, she found the space vacant. Mario had distracted her to go and jump onto a platform with a Question Block hovering above it in reach.
"You can't run," hissed Ventress, leaping up with a boost from the Force. Even though she landed on the platform, she didn't come in time to stop Mario from activating the Question Block and releasing a Super Mushroom from inside of it. Quickly, Mario grabbed it and received the power-up. The dramatic step by step shift in size ended with Mario becoming twice as tall as he normal was, dwarfing Ventress. Certainly taken aback, she was rattled when he jumped up and then slammed the ground with his bottom in a Ground Pound, shattering the blocks they stood on, making both of them fall down.
The two landed on a platform that was floating above the hot lava. Mario's awkward landing jolted him and deactivated his power-up, returning him to his normal size once again. The heat could definitely be felt here. The door to Bowser's throne room could be seen over Ventress's shoulder. Above and around, Thwomps stomped down onto stone platforms. Tox Boxes, creatures of similar composition but hollowed out with one side lacking a wall for safe passage inside and horrible face on the lateral surfaces, rolled along paths. These horrible, angry, hate-filled faces all seemed to look down at Mario with their ceaseless eyes. The infernal backlight of the molten death surrounding them came upon Ventress's thin, black frame and made the knife-like shoulders and black arm guards bloody.
"Now you die," she said curtly.
Right before either could make a move, Gluttony was seen sailing through the air. After his bottom hit the lava, he bounced off the lava and landed on their platform, hitting the floor with a run, a scream, flailing, and fire lit on his bottom.
"Hot, hot, hot, hot!" he screamed shrilly. He rampaged forth aimlessly with arms waving like flapping wings. The hootenanny ended when he slammed face first into a wall and collapse onto his back.
"Crescent Beam!"
"Fire Soul!"
A beam of light and a ball of fire crashed near Ventress, shattering the blocks around her and now leaving the assassin on a four-black island in the middle of the lava. The Sailor Soldiers, Tuxedo Mask, Luigi, and Yoshi had arrived.
"Ventress!" called Sailor Moon. "You're spree of wicked deeds ends here. In the name of the moon, we'll punish you!"
Ventress looked at her adversaries, fairly unmarred by how outnumbered she was. Upon hearing the stomp of a Thwomp behind her, she acted. Using the Force, she brought down the blocks holding up the Thwomp and, subsequently, the Thwomp. It hit the lava and provided a makeshift stepping stone to get up onto a nearby platform. Tuxedo Mask darted forth and met her on the sinking Thwomp. His extendable cane turned into a sword, which he swung at the lady assassin. Ventress met every one of his blows with her dual-wielded lightsabers. Her lightsabers crossed with Tuxedo Mask's sword pressing down on her, he was slowly yet forcefully pushing Ventress onto her back. Quickly falling back, Ventress caught his stomach with her boot and kicked him up over her. Free, she leapt up onto another platform while Tuxedo Mask turned his sword back into a cane and made it extend quickly into the lava. Like a pole-vaulter, he swung up on the rising rod and flung himself onto a platform.
"Ventress is escaping!" called Sailor Mars, leading the girls into a charge.
Suddenly, two Magikoopa appeared sending a spell each that turned a block of the platform into a yellow-shelled Koopa Troopa. Mario and Yoshi lunged forth without a word to the others. Mario hopped on Yoshi's back and rode him up onto a set of one-block steps that hovered above the lava. The two Magikoopas prepared an attack, and the yellow-shelled Koopa Troopas charged. Sailor Saturn swatted away both of the Koopa Troopas with a swing of the pole-arm weapon she wielded. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars sailed through the blazing air and delivered jump kicks to the two Magikoopas, defeating them.
"Over here!" called Luigi, who was standing on a moving Snake Block.
Ventress, now on the platform in front of the big door to the throne room and away from harm for a brief moment, activated her wrist communicator.
"Kaorinite," she said bitterly. "Lust, Gluttony, and Kamek have failed! They are almost to the throne room now."
"I trust that at least you won't fail, Asajj," said Kaorinite. "I want those Sailor sluts dead. Don't let them open that door."
"I will end their lives…" Ventress ended the talk when she ignited her lightsabers upon seeing Sailor Saturn.
"Stand down, assassin!" Sailor Saturn called as she posed with her Silence Glaive.
"Never!" Ventress retorted sharply. She came out Sailor Saturn with a fury and swung rapidly with an angry force. Sailor Saturn could just manage to block; there weren't any openings shown in the Dark Jedi's relentless strikes.
"Moon Tiara Action!"
Sailor Moon flung the rapidly spinning disc and caused the two combatants to separate. Now, Mario came soaring over Saturn's head. As soon as his feet touched the ground in front of Ventress, he whipped around in spiral with his arms spread wide with astonishing speed, creating a small tornado that whirled around him and picked up Ventress. Ending in a pose of glory with his legs and arms spread out, Mario completely the Mario Tornado, ejecting Ventress and her lightsabers up into the air. The unorthodox move with so bamboozling that Ventress's landing was far from graceful and gave off a hilarious thud. When she got up, she found six Sailor Soldiers and Mario staring her down. Immediately, she saw her where one of her lightsabers landed and quickly pulled it towards her with the Force. With lightning quick speed, Yoshi's tongue caught it and pulled it away from her. She saw her other one and tried to retract it to her, but in midair it was intercepted by a rose thrown by Tuxedo Mask. Now, she was unarmed, exhausted, and humiliated. It was a triple threat of failure.
"It's over," said Sailor Moon. "You failed, Skanktress."
Frustrated, Ventress growled. Suddenly, horribly loud and shatteringly harsh creaking noises rattled the battle-scarred hall. The grand door to the throne room was opening up behind Ventress and giving view to enormous grand hall. A chilling wind slithered out from the crack of the opening door. Seeing that her adversaries were distracted by the abrupt negation of her own objective, Ventress released a powerful Force wave that thrust them all back as though they were hit by a blast of wind. She quickly brought her lightsabers to her belt and retreated into the shadows of the throne room.