AN: Before I begin, I have something important to say. A good friend of mine, GiovanniGo, has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser. It's called "Thanksgiving 2023 Cruise Vacation Fundraiser." They (as well as I) would really appreciate it if you donate, as they are in really need of some funds. Please, I implore you, please donate if you feel compelled to do so. Thank you.
Chapter 31 Big Bad (Disinterested) Boss
The hallway to the boss chamber was quiet. Quiet like before a thunderstorm, so quiet Luigi part way expected to be ambushed by some boos. He exchanged a look with Daisy, who gripped her hand into a fist and nodded. The determination in her eyes made Luigi's heart soar. He smiled at her before facing forward. There was no reason to worry. She was here, they were going to kick that boss's butt. With a smile growing on his borrowed face, he started marching down the hallway. Daisy followed, all while an iceball in her hand glowed.
When they got to the end of the hallway, Luigi looked down into the boss arena. A sand pit surrounded the arena itself, probably deep enough to bury a truck. Even if it wasn't, Luigi didn't feel particularly enthusiastic about stepping in it, as sink even a little bit would cause him to suffocate. Luigi saw, around the perimeter of the arena, were circles on the floor. They were each brown, as opposed to the rest of the floor which was constructed with musty gray brick. Luigi's eyes traveled to the center of the arena, and he gulped when he saw the boss that he and Daisy were going to face.
"That's one of the Koopalings, right?" Daisy asked him.
Luigi nodded. "Morton Koopa Jr, to be more specific." All of a sudden, those circles around the arena's perimeter made too much sense. Morton had the ability to ground pound, which would no doubt cause those circles to turn into pillars and shoot up into the air. No doubt they would crush Luigi if he was unfortunate enough to step on them while that happened. With that obstacle, there was almost no point to Morton holding onto the magic wand he clearly intended to use in battle.
He couldn't let them bother him though. Looking at Daisy, he took hold of her hand and jumped into the arena with her. Once they cleared the sand pit and landed safely on the ground, Morton sniffed at them. He frowned, not displaying any semblance of interest in the two who broke into his arena.
"Oh no," he said, his voice so monotone it was like a statue was doing the talking. "It's Mario and…" he did a double take and squinted at Daisy. "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"
Daisy took a step forward with her hands planted firmly on her hips. "The name's Princess Daisy, bucko. I've joined the man in red to stop you and save Princess Peach! You gotta problem with that?"
The tiniest traces of a smile grew on Morton's face. "Oh no. Not at all. I find it interesting when Princesses save Princesses. And hey, inevitably getting beaten by a completely new face just might make this a tad more enjoyable."
Luigi almost laughed. Wow, talk about an extreme pessimist. Either that, or he was a realist who recognized the agonizing pattern that every single encounter between Mario and the Koopa Troop followed. Either way, it was actually kind of humorous. It wasn't everyday he found a Koopa this hopelessly and comedically jaded.
Daisy gave him a stern look. "You're darn right it will!" She put her closed left fist into her open right hand. "This might be completely new to me, but I know for a fact that we are going to beat you like you've never been beaten before!"
"Yeah!" Luigi chimed in, thinking that he might as well go out of his way to make his brother look intimidating. "We're gonna take you down!"
Morton actually rolled his eyes. "You say these things as if this will be the first time that has ever happened." He sighed. "You know what? I don't care if you're being aided by a Princess Mario; I just want to get this stupid fight over with. In fact…" he motioned for him to come closer. "You can have the first hit."
Luigi and Daisy exchanged a look. Luigi turned toward Morton in slack jawed awe. "Wait, are you serious?"
Morton nodded. "Might as well rip off the band aid now."
Luigi did a double take. This wasn't real! There's no way that this could be real! The Koopalings always did their best to fight off against Mario! Granted, they didn't do the best job at that, but at the very least they tried! On some level, Morton anticipating and welcoming defeat was kind of sad. Sure, there was some humor to be found in him recognizing the futility of actually putting up a fight, but it was still sad that he didn't even feel like putting up a fight was worth it. L…Luigi almost didn't want to fight him now.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Morton asked. He kept gesturing for them to come over. "Jump on my head; please jump on my head."
Luigi sighed. "Look, Morton, I don't think this is…"
"Oh for crying out loud!" Daisy exclaimed. In a blink and you'll miss moment, Daisy rushed toward the complacent Koopaling. She hopped into the air, and made direct contact with the Koopalings head. As she bounced off of him, Morton didn't even bother going into his shell. He just wobbled a little, putting his hand to his bruised head. Once he gathered his bearings, he sniffed and looked at Daisy.
"Thank you." He looked at Luigi. "Want to go next?"
Luigi sputtered. "Dah…dah…next? You're not even going to put up a legitimate fight? Come on, Morton! You're the boss! We're the heroes! You're supposed to fight us!" He crossed his arms. "Don't you think it'll really paint you in a negative light if the word got back to Bowser that you didn't even try to fight against his greatest nemesis?"
Morton blinked. "That is a good point…" he looked between the Princess and the plumber. "So, you want me to actually fight you?"
"Hell yeah!" Daisy exclaimed as she displayed her fists. "This is my first time on a kidnapping mission, and you're the first boss I've ever faced! I know first bosses aren't meant to be the strongest baddies, but they aren't this pathetic! Come on Morty boy; throw some fisticuffs or something!"
Morton gawked. He tried to say something as he looked between Luigi and Daisy, but ultimately decided against it. "Whatever," he said with a sigh.
With that, he leapt into the air. Luigi and Daisy barely had time to react before he ground pounded. Unfortunately for Luigi, he didn't really pay much attention to where he stood. As he shook, stunned frozen in place, the ground underneath him shot up. The pillar kept shooting upward as it shot Luigi toward the ceiling.
Crunch!
Luigi was so pained by the crushing sensation that he couldn't even scream. It felt like the very life force inside him was being squeezed out as he laid smushed to the ceiling. He was kind of surprised to see that he was still alive as the pillar shot back down to the floor. At least, until he remembered that he had been using a power up. He looked down at his hands, feeling disappointed but not at all surprised when he saw that the ice flower had worn off. That just meant he would have to fight Morton the old fashioned way. Nice.
Daisy grit her teeth at Morton and shot a glare at him. "You hurt Luigi!" She held an ice flower in her hand. "Now it's personal!"
Morton blinked. "Luigi? Are you so stupid that you can't tell the difference between one Mario bro and the…" before he had even finished his sentence, Daisy shot her iceball at him. It froze him in the layer of ice that dry bones had been encased in earlier. Daisy actually looked rather proud at the sight of this, at least for a little bit. With the space of twenty seconds, the ice burst off of Morton and the Koopaling shot the Princess a glare.
"Brr," he said, his enthusiasm levels nowhere close to rising.
Daisy gawked. "That…that was supposed to…" she shook her head. "You know what? It doesn't matter." She jumped toward him, looking ready to stomp on the Koopaling's head a second time. The burly brute moved out of the way minutes before she could.
Daisy growled as she rose from the ground. She turned toward Luigi. "Come on Lou, let's stomp this Koopa together!"
Luigi hesitated for just a second before nodding. The two of them rushed at him, yelling at the top of their voices. Morton just yawned and flicked the hand that held his magic wand. A fireball shot out of the tip, making direct contact with Daisy. The princess shrieked as she got pushed back, all while the power up deactivation noise carried throughout the room.
"DAISY!" All of a sudden, fighting against Morton didn't matter. Luigi went over to her. "Are you okay?"
Daisy's breathing sounded pretty labored as she lifted herself up. "I…I'm fine." She held out her hand, and Luigi took it in order to let Luigi help her get up. "Just makes me want to stomp on this Koopa's head all the more."
She rushed him again. Morton shot another blazing pink fireball at her, but she managed to dodge this time around. Within the blink of an eye, she landed straight on Morton's head a second time. She cheered as she bounced off of him, all while he grunted and rubbed his head a second time.
"YEAH BABY!" Daisy exclaimed. "Just one more hit and you'll be toast!"
Morton stopped rubbing his head and glared at them. Yes, glared; despite all his previous disinterest, he now seemed to be profoundly interested in getting rid of them. He must've finally been getting into the heat of the battle.
"You putz's aren't going down that easy."
With that, he jumped into the air again. Thankfully, both Daisy and Luigi had learned their lesson, as they jumped into the air while staying as far from the circles as possible. Morton ground pounded, and the circles shot up toward the ceiling again. Much to Luigi's terror, they didn't go back down. That meant he and Daisy were locked in the arena and needed to defeat Morton if they wanted to leave. This made him feel sick.
He only got sicker as he watched Morton. He waved his wand, but instead of a fireball shooting out, a spike ball formed. It rolled around the arena, bouncing back as it made contact with the pillars. Luigi shrieked as it grazed him, and he only grew more terrified as Morton got into his shell. With the speed of a cheetah, he began circling around the arena. He ricocheted off the pillars as well as the spiked ball he had formed, creating a hectic environment for the two humans trapped within this makeshift cage.
Luigi shrieked and bounced, just barely avoiding Morton colliding with him like a bowling ball. He looked at Daisy when he landed, who bounced into the air as Morton came her way too. Luigi knew they needed to do something; if they got hit, they could officially consider themselves dead.
Thankfully, Luigi moved pretty swiftly, all things considered. He got out the Power Trapper, fishing out a fire flower from inside. Bracing himself for the horrible, gasoline-like taste, he gobbled it up, The power up activation noise echoed in his ears. Grinning, he faced Morton's ricocheting shell and shot a fireball at him. Then another, and then another. When the fourth fireball hit him, he shrieked and shot out of his shell.
"OWW!" He said as he jumped around. "HOT HOT HOT!"
Luigi looked at Daisy, who gave him a nod. He leapt into the air, ground pounding on top of the Koopaling, who yelled out in pain as Luigi bounced off of him. He wobbled around before flopping on the ground. Laying on his belly, he let out quite a significant number of groans.
Even though he was an enemy, Luigi couldn't help but feel a little bad. "Morton?" He approached the dark skinned Koopaling. "Are you alright?"
Morton groaned and lifted his head, even though the action looked like it hurt even more. Luigi cringed, but the cringe went away as the Koopaling pulled a key out of his hammerspace.
"You won fair and square." He thrust the key toward him. "Take it; you deserve to advance to the next world."
Luigi beamed and took the key. The second his fingers touched it, the pillars sunk back into the ground. A door on the opposite side of the room opened, showing sunlight on the other side.
"WOO! Awesome!" Daisy exclaimed.
Luigi smiled and looked down at the boss. "Thanks Morton."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Morton said.
Luigi exchanged a joyous look with Daisy. Together, they rushed toward the door, each taking in a deep breath when they stood outside.
"That was amazing, Lou!" Daisy exclaimed with a grin. "We actually beat him!"
Luigi nodded. "You did an amazing job Daisy. You managed to hit him twice!"
"Eh," Daisy said as she waved her hand. "It's no big deal. One of those hits was a freebie after all."
"Even still, it was really cool." Luigi chuckled and playfully punched her in the arm. "Are you sure this is your first rescue mission? Because you are quite the natural."
"Oh, stop it!" Daisy giggled as she pushed Luigi's hand away. She looked back out at the path in front of them. "Well, to World 4 we go!"
"Yeah." Luigi took in a deep breath. "To World 4 we go."
With that, the two of them continued on their trek. As the walked, concern made itself known in Luigi's mind. Taking care of Morton had been relatively easy. He severely doubted Bowser would be the same.
Oh, please don't let us get killed we face Bowser.
