Welcome to chapter two! R&R will be hearted 3 :3 Enjoy this chapter!
It had happened. The impossible was now possible; two girls had found a way to travel to another world and were on a great quest to save their world and the other realms. Seventeen year old Cora Lee and April Lowen were gifted with power and sent on their way towards Toad Town. Fila waited at her place in the in-between of realms, praying that the girls would reach the item in time. The door was weakening and only Fila knew of the horrors that would be unleashed if the key was not returned immediately.
"Please," Fila whispered softly in her room, "Hurry."
Cora and April had been walking for quite a while when the red head of the group fell over with a groan, "Ugh! My freaking legs are killing me! This is torture."
Cora sighed and sat down by April, "Well I guess we can rest for a moment, but we should be as quick about it as possible. " Cora frowned and touched her chest lightly. She kept getting the strangest feeling that something bad was coming. Maybe Fila granted her intuition as well? Cora quickly got to her feet.
"Something wrong?" April raised an eyebrow and watched Cora look around warily, "Yo, Cora!"
"Shh…" Cora's eyes were wide as she gazed around; suddenly she grabbed April by the hand and pulled her to her feet, "Hurry! Lets hide!"
"What-" April was confused but quickly moved to do what Cora said. The two girls dived into some bushes and waited in silence.
After a minute passed the ground began trembling slightly, soon something was coming into view…
"That…is that a-" April whispered, "Piranha plant?"
"There's more than one, "Cora whispered back.
One after another, large piranha plants rushed by. Dirt was tossed into the air as they ripped a path through the earth. April counted more than twenty before they were gone.
The girls waited for a long time before leaving their hiding places, "That." April said, "Was a close one."
Cora frowned, "Yes, I just wonder where they were going."
"Maybe they move and hunt in packs or something?" April suggested.
"Maybe." Cora looked thoughtful then shrugged it off, "We better get going, I don't want to be stuck in these woods when it starts getting dark."
"That would suck." April agreed and they started walking again.
It took an hour to get to their destination but finally they reached a hilly path and on that path found a sign that read: Welcome to Toad Town. The two raced up the path and stood on a hill, and below them was a large bustling town with many figures moving about.
"We made it!" April cheered, "Finally!"
They reached the gates to the town and stepped though with wide eyes. The streets were paved with bright smooth stones and many colorful shops and homes were in sight. A pretty fountain sat in the middle surrounded by beautiful red daisy-like flowers and a Yoshi statue sat by what appeared to be a green pipe. Many towns people, most of them toads, walked the streets in assorted colors. April spotted a red one with white spots, a purple one with yellow spots, and even a black one with pink spots.
"Wow," April whistled, "I've never seen so many toads before."
"Its amazing." Cora breathed, "Real toads, this is so cool."
"Welcome to toad town, "A voice said and the two looked to see a small middle aged toad to their left. He had a bright smile on his face and handed the two girls a pretty purple flower each.
Wow, Cora thought after they thanked him and continued on their way, these toads are so welcoming. She felt very happy inside and was smiling on the outside. Cora smelled the flower and took in its soft scent; Toad town was definitely a lovely place.
April tucked her flower away in her pocket letting the head of it stick out and led the way down the street, "This is so cool Cora, do you think we can explore this whole place? Its so big."
Cora gave her a small smile, "Maybe, but we can't forget our mission."
"Yeah, I guess not. " April grinned, "Its why were here after all, but I can't help feeling so excited, you know?"
"Yes, "Cora sighed happily, "This place is a dream come true."
The two continued on their way until they heard a noise behind them, "Stop! Thief!"
Cora was about to turn her head to see what the heck was going on when she felt something crash into her, "Hey!" Cora yelped and fell onto her side. She looked up just in time to see a shy guy run off with her bag.
April noticed as well. "Hey! Get back here!" The girl helped up Cora who looked really worried.
"April!" Cora gasped, "All our money is in that bag!"
"We have money?"
"Yes! Fila, she gave it to us for our journey!" Cora cried.
April began running after the shy guy, "Stop you little freak!"
Cora hurried after, making sure to not trip over any loose stones in the street, "Don't lose sight of him!" She shouted after April.
The two high tailed after him. They chased the shy guy left and right down different paths and finally turned into an alley and ran into a dead end, "Ugh! What?" April growled, "Where did he go?"
"Oh no!" Cora cried, "What will we do now?"
April gritted her teeth in frustration and brushed a hand over the bricks in the walls, "Maybe there's some sort of secret doorway here."
Cora couldn't think of anything better to do so she searched the walls as well. They were about to give up when April called out, "Found something!"
"What?" Cora turned around and ran to April who stood at a wall near the end of the alley.
April pressed a stone and a doorway opened in the ground, "See?"
Cora looked down, "Wow it's a stair case down into the ground-where do you think it leads?"
"One way to find out, "April said, and started down it.
Cora followed and was alarmed when it resealed behind them casting the two into darkness.
"Eek!"
"Relax, I'm right here Cora." April said.
Cora reached out blindly and felt April's shoulder in front of her; she kept a hand firmly on her friend's back as they descended into the earth.
The darkness seemed to never end and Cora felt as if she was drowning in it. "April," She said after a minute, "I'm scared."
"Don't worry, these stairs have to lead somewhere or there would be no point in building them in the first place."
Cora felt a bit better but still tense; hopefully they would reach the bottom soon-wait!
"Look!" Cora said in a loud whisper, "I see a light."
"Yeah I do too, "April whispered in return, "We must be almost there, to where ever this leads."
Finally the dim light brightened and the two were relieved to find themselves in a room lit up by torches. The stone walls around them were of the same stone of the streets above but duller in color. It was a small room and a rough looking wooden door was at the end of it.
The two cautiously approached the door, "Where does this go?" Cora whispered, "Do you think we will find that shy guy here?"
"Yeah, where else would the little bastard go?"
April opened the door and the two girls peered in to find a long dimly lit hallway, several doors lined the hall some made of metal, others wood. The hallway curved at the far end so they had no clue to if there were more doors at the bend or a dead end.
"Great," April moaned," Why are there so many friggin doors!"
Cora sighed, "Just our luck, our quest is already delayed. Where could that shy guy be? There are so many doors to choose from."
"Eeeny meany miney moe?" April grinned.
"Not funny, "Cora replied but hid a smile, "Ok, lets get serious here. I'll pick a door to the left and you go right, how's that sound?"
April shrugged, "Sounds like a plan to me."
Cora carefully opened a door; she saw some stairs leading up this time and glanced back at April. She was a bit tense when she realized that April had already left through her door and the hall was now empty. Feeling a bit unnerved she quickly shut the door behind her and started up the stairs.
April's door let out into a large room that had two doors at the far end of it. She glanced from door to door and reached for the one to her right after a minute. April opened it a crack and was startled to see two koopas standing, their backs to her, chatting.
"I heard our new recruit went a-picking today, " One said, "I wonder how useful he will be."
The second Koopa, one with a blue shell instead of green shrugged, "Dunno bro, but I heard that shy guys are good at that sort of thing, real sneaky and stuff."
The other scoffed, "I've heard of them being careless and jumpy little guys, not at all dependable."
"Well, he did collect some nice stuff, a pearl necklace, a gold lamp, and even a satchel full of coins."
"Coins?" The other koopa looked interested now, "how much?"
"5000."
"What? No way, you must be messing with me."
"No bro, 5000 coins…all shiny new."
April bit her lip… that had to be their cash. Now she just had to find where they stashed it. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed blue shell turning around, April quickly shut the door and was still.
"Bro."
"Yeah?"
"I think I saw something." April felt her heart beat fast in her chest and swallowed. Not good…not good…well…maybe not that bad. April suddenly had a thought, what if she tried out her new powers and kicked some koopa tail? She was so not afraid of some dumb turtles anyhow, and it would probably be fun. But, she did have an advantage of surprise over them, it may be that much easier just to sneak around and find the money then showing face and possibly losing that chance forever. I'll just wait, April thought, and see what I can learn.
"Your just tired, lets go get a snack and rest up for the next raid."
"Well, I guess it was probably just a flicker of light or something. Lets go. I want some nachos before Ronnie eats em all again."
"Who knew moles even ate nachos?" The other laughed.
April heard a door close and waited for a while, finally she moved silently to open the other door. She found another set of stairs, these leading down once again. At least this time she spotted torchlight at the bottom. April started down them wondering how Cora was fairing.
Cora reached the top of the stairs and found a narrow room with a crude looking wood door at the far end. She reached it and opened the door slowly. Cora found another empty room this one large and containing some tables and chairs. A painting of an old but sharp-eyed koopa hung at the wall next to the door. Cora carefully stepped around the tables and started for the door. She was horrified to hear voices behind it suddenly. Cora had just crawled under the nearest table hitting her head lightly on the wood when the door flew open.
She saw three koopa's feet and tucked herself into a small ball. Hopefully they wouldn't see her and she could continue her search.
"Yeah, "A rough voice said, "That shy guy is a crafty little fellow, he's already weeded his way into our garden of thieves. A shy guy of all things, I thought we only allowed koopas and goombas into this guild?"
"Its cause he pulled in some big stuff," Another voice said. Cora held her breath for a second when the three took a seat at the table she was at, "He got a hold of some big cash, is what I've heard."
"Pfft, and I have yet to find anything juicy all week," Another sighs, "Maybe I'm losing my touch."
"What touch?" Another laughs. The other snickers.
"Ha-ha, very funny, "The other replies unhappily, "I'm not that bad am I?"
"That would be an understatement," One chuckles, "Your only on this team cause your mommy begged the boss to let ya in."
"T-that's not true!" The other stuttered, "R-really!"
The others just laughed and they all got to their feet, "Come on mommy's boy, lets head for lunch, I'm starving."
The other sighed and followed his companions out the door; Cora crawled out from under the table when they were gone.
"That was interesting," Cora said to herself and stepped up to the door they had come through, "Now lets just hope this door leads to the right place."
Cora reached out to open the door but was shocked to find it opening up on its own. She stepped back her eyes wide. Not good…not good. A koopa with spiky bracelets and a brown shell smiled at her, "Well, hello sweet heart."
YES! Chapter two is officially complete! : D I'm very proud of myself for getting this up! Kudos to me! I hope you enjoyed this chappie, and remember reviews make the magic continue lol. Oh and note: the teen rating is because of our two heroines cursing and violence. The citizens of the Mario world will not be cussing, we will keep that strict with only Cora and April. I like to think that that stuff would corrupt the world and that if any of them say something unrelated to that world then the whole dimension would be screwed up. Just an idea, tell me what ya think! ^^ Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it! Oh, and I hope you like my OC's. Tell me how you feel about them if you want. ^^ I try and make good characters. R&R Please! :3