A/N: Happy Memorial Day, everyone. God bless the soldiers who served and protected our country back then.
Before we return to Luigi and the gang, we'll be taking a sneak peek at the other parties who were either imprisoned by Myster Edge or have not been seen for a while.
Disclaimer: I don't claim Mario or Sonic, whatsoever. Only the plot and my OCs are owned by me.
Chapter 23: Current Situation
Location: Bowser's Castle
Ludwig, Iggy, Morton, Larry, and Lemmy stood outside Bowser's bedroom while Kamek tended to the Koopa's most recent wounds. The question is, how did he receive new wounds and how did he end up back in his castle? Well…
During the night of the invasion, Bowser and his troops were unsuccessful at defeating the Mario Bros. and capturing the princess. The Koopa King, alongside Jr., were ambushed by Edge and became unconscious when he interfered the airship battle. After attacking Luigi and escaping with the other hostages, the shadow took the two to his lair. Once they awoken, they were tied up in chairs. Later, Edge discussed his plans on destroying all worlds. He asked them to work for him to help accomplish his goal.
Bowser, however, was only focused on one thing. Well, two things. The first was obvious: to destroy Mario once and for all. And two, the Koopa King wanted to rule the kingdom with Peach by his side. This wasn't a surprise because he only thought of himself. Jr. was on board with his dad's plan as he preferred that over Edge's.
Seeing that Bowser and the bratty Koopa Kid rejected the offer, he was about to send them to the cells where the others were initially held. But Bowser's strength allowed him to rip the chains that restrained him and helped his son out. He lunged at Edge to try to steal his scepter and his power. However, his slow speed put him at a disadvantage as the antagonist trapped him in another purple bubble. Bowser Jr. tried to help his dad out, only for him to be stuck in his own barrier. Edge sneered sinisterly as he banished them from his headquarters and sent them to Dark Land.
The Koopalings happened to find them outside the front door and they alerted the experienced Magikoopa about this. Kamek told Roy and Wendy to take Jr. to his room and ask Kammy Koopa, an elderly, high-ranked Magikoopa, to heal the young kid. He told the others to help carry Bowser, much to their discontent considering how heavy he was. By the time they reached his room, the five waited until they were given their next task. (1)
Morton opened the door to sneak a peek at Kamek. The blue caped magician was applying a cast to Bowser's right leg. "How long until you're finished in there?"
"Patience, Morton. It takes time to heal a Koopa's bones."
Iggy stood next to Morton and joined in on the conversation. "But you're a wizard. Don't you know how to heal him faster than what those Toads can do at the clinic?"
"You learned the same magic as well. But all of your skills are inferior to mine. Besides, you can't just magically restore someone with a spell. They must be properly taken care of, even if the process takes several days or weeks."
"If you can make him gargantuan all the time to power him up, then you gotta find some way to heal Dad faster!" Lemmy retorted.
"I reiterate, it takes patience and time. Now close the door before a draft comes in."
Morton raised a finger. "Uhh, I thought that only happens if the window was open."
"Just close it!"
"Okay! Sheesh…" The three stepped back and the black-shelled turtle shut the door.
"I warned you not to bother Kamek when he's busy. Every time you guys annoy him, he'll start to flare up," Ludwig scoffed.
"Hey, I just wanted to see if Dad's gonna be alright."
"He'll be fine. Kamek says so."
"What makes you say that?" asked Larry. "For all we know, he'll be lying in bed hopelessly for a month. You remember the last time we tried to push him off his shell? The entire castle fell on top of him! He was out cold in a pinch!"
"Yeah, and that's coming from the guy who didn't even push him back!" Lemmy shouted.
"Well, excuse me! I'm the youngest of you guys, and I was already pooped from the first couple of fights."
"Well, I'm smaller than you and everyone, but I still contributed!"
"You're still as useless as your circus balls…" grunted Morton to himself. He received a mini bomb to the shell. "OWW!"
"Hey, knock it off, will ya?" That came from the feminine Koopaling. She strutted her way with Roy by her side. "I've already got a headache, and you clowns yelling is making it even worse."
"Pfft, what's her beef?" Ludwig received a hard glare from Wendy.
"Eh, Jr. woke up from his blackout. And that's the bad news," Roy answered.
"Is there good news to this?" Iggy raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Kammy allowed us to leave. That way we don't have to care of the little runt."
"Jr. is too much of a handful to look after. He may be a preteen, but he's still the most despicable, immature Koopa in this castle. Sometimes I question Daddy's trust in him if he's always so demanding and egocentric. He dared to demand me to give him the rest of my cookies because I was snacking on one earlier," Wendy puffed with irritation.
Ludwig rolled his eyes. "I wonder where he gets that from. That's the only thing he cares about."
"Not only that, we had to get him blankets, ice packs, bandages, all the stuff he needs to feel better. But throughout that time, he acts like a dictator and we're his measly peasants!"
"More like a dick-tator," Roy mumbled quietly. He got a few snickers from Morton, Lemmy and Larry.
"Either way, I'm not one to listen to someone bossing me around like he owns the place."
"That's basically King Dad, except he actually owns the place," stated Iggy.
There was someone awkward silence before Lemmy sighed. "I'm so bored. Can't we go do something besides wait out here?"
"As long as it doesn't involve looking after the pipsqueak. Do whatever you want. I'm taking a nap," Roy muttered as he walked away from the others. Wendy shrugged and followed him down the hallway.
Larry turned to the other Koopas. "Anyone up for some video games?" he suggested.
"Sure," they all shrugged as they walked in the opposite direction of where Roy and Wendy went.
Location: Kongo Jungle
Donkey Kong was relaxing outside his house while Diddy was fetching some bananas from their large hoard. (2) Since the night of Luigi's party, the two primates remained on Donkey Kong Island when their bananas were stolen from the malign Kremling ruler. With the help of Dixie and Cranky Kong, the four managed to take back their precious collection back to their base. Afterwards, Dixie and Cranky went to the outskirts of Jungle Hijinxs to vacation there whereas the other Kongs decided to kick back at their home.
Diddy Kong jumped down from the treehouse with two bananas in his bands. He got his friend's attention and threw the yellow fruit at the large ape.
"Grooo-hoo! Thanks, Diddy!" DK howled at him.
"Ookie! You're welcome!" Diddy responded as he plopped down on a lawn chair. They both peeled their favorite food and ate them contently. It was a relaxing evening in the jungle as the sun was about to set.
"Sunsets are always nice to see, huh, Diddy?"
"They sure are DK! Nothing beats sitting out, watching it fall until the moon comes out and the stars shine brightly."
"Not even collecting and eating bananas?"
"Ok, you got me there. But still, this is the life."
"I'm with you, buddy. I don't think there's anything that can ruin this evening."
It's too bad Donkey Kong spoke too soon. That's because as they were resting outside leisurely, the bushes behind their treehouse rustled. It didn't bother the Kongs at first. They just assumed the wind was blowing through the trees and plants. Then, the sounds were more audible that it disrupted Diddy's relaxation. He opened one eye and turned his head around.
"Something the matter, Diddy?" Donkey Kong asked despite not moving.
"Hmm… It's probably nothing. I thought I heard something."
"It's probably the wind again. It is breezy here right now."
"True, but I just thought… Eh, never mind." Diddy readjusted himself in his chair before he heard another noticeable rustle. Then, the sound of a twig snapping caught his attention. He screeched in annoyance. "Ok, what's going on?"
DK opened his eyes and turned to the small chimp. "What do you mean? Is there someone here?"
"I don't know. Dixie and Cranky are gone on vacation. And I doubt they'd be back this early."
Curiosity killed the cat… or in this case the monkey, or the ape depending on who you're looking at. The two got up from their seats and passed through the shrubs to find the source.
"Do you think someone is spying on us?"
"If so, who?"
"That's what I'm wondering. Won't know until we find out."
"True. I'll go ahead and check."
Diddy ran in front of the brown-furred gorilla using his nimbleness to jump at the trees and swing from branch to branch. Eventually, he landed in a soft dirt spot and looked around to see where the rustling came from. But before he could look any further, a small object flew right towards the monkey. It managed to pin through his thin fur.
"EEEK!"
"Diddy?!" Donkey Kong heard a loud shriek from his partner and ran through the jungle to catch up to him. "Diddy? Where are you?!" he called.
He managed to reach the spot where Diddy was. But the ape found him unconscious on the ground.
"Hrooo! Diddy! Why are you asleep? Wake up! What happened?"
Just then, the plants rustled again. Donkey Kong got into a defensive stance and growled.
"Okay! Who's playing games here? Come out wherever you are!"
He searched around the area he was in, but was unaware of a gun creeping out from the bushes. DK stopped when he realized the weapon, but it was too late to react as a dart shot at him. The projectile landed in DK's right shoulder.
"HROOOO!" he yelled in pain. He took the dart out and stared at it for a second. "Hold on. Is this a tranquil… Is this a tran… Is this… Grooo…" The ape's words slurred as he started losing focus and balance. His vision started to become blurry as he developed a headache. Soon after, he fell onto the ground next to Diddy and blinked heavily. He could've sworn he saw someone coming out of the same spot the dart was shot. He barely saw the figure approaching him. The unknown person was then followed by a white entity floating in midair. And that was all Donkey Kong remembered before everything turned dark.
Location: Sparkling Waters (3)
"Grr! Hrrgh… Come… ON! If you ghouls don't let me of here this moment, expect a knuckles sandwich through your stupid faces!" Knuckles bellowed.
"I'm pretty sure you can't punch ghosts. They're transparent and can turn immiscible," Cubot rebutted.
"You mean invisible," corrected Orbot.
"Yeah, what he said."
"Oh, hush the both of you."
Knuckles kept punching his spiked fists into the locked door for the umpteenth time and he has yet to knock it down successfully. So many jabs and kicks, and Knuckles continued to persevere. But the more he failed at escaping, the more frustrated and exhausted he was. Right now, he was trapped with Yoshi, Cubot, Orbot, and Eggman inside a cargo ship floating in the middle of Sparkling Waters. The ghosts who led them here locked them in a small cabin located at the stern. There were two beds, a small dresser, and a rug on the floor. At least it had a private bathroom as well. There was a window next to the bed where Orbot and Cubot were lying down. Yoshi occupied the other one while Eggman was leaning against the wall beside him, arms crossed over his torso.
Worried about the echidna blowing his temper (again), the green dinosaur hopped off the berth and tapped his shoulder, mindfully avoiding the elbows being thrown back every time he walloped the door.
"Uhh… Knuckles, you're probably tired at this point. Why don't you take a break and-"
Yoshi was interrupted by Knuckles' fury. "Take a break?! I've been trying to get out of this damn room for the last… how many days has it been?"
"Well, everything went hectic in Mobius on Friday," informed Orbot as he sat up.
"That includes all the chaos that creepy shadow guy started. From ruining Station Square to invading the Mushroom Kingdom," added Cubot.
"To Luigi getting hurt and us being held hostage inside Vanilla Dome for three days," whined Yoshi.
"Then that arrogant beast tried to convince me to join his squadron of my robots when he should be bowing down to me!" Eggman rebuked.
"So now it's…" Cubot trailed as he counted his fingers. "Dinner time?"
"Dinner?! Sounds about right! I'm starving!"
"You're always hungry, you big-nosed reptile!"
"Guys! I asked a simple question, and all I got is a bunch of nonsense that doesn't answer it."
"Well, maybe we were trying to explain it slowly so that you would understand…"
Knuckles turned to the red robot with a glare. "You tryin' to freaking sass me? Do you want me to rip your head off your body?" he threatened, punching a fist in his hand.
"Hey! Hands off my henchmen!" Orbot felt relieved from Eggman's defensive statement. "Only I can dismantle his circuits and throw him in the trash heap with the rest of my rejected robots!" His face fell afterwards.
"We were only taken away to this new location yesterday. We've probably been stuck here for a whole day since they separated us with the others!" explained Yoshi.
"By the looks of it though, it's gonna be night in just a few hours," Cubot mentioned as he peered outside the bolted porthole.
"Sigh… And so little time before he takes up the entire bed again," Orbot whispered to him.
"What did you say, Orbot?" Eggman huffed.
"Uhh… Nothing, sir!"
"That's what I thought."
Knuckles struck the door furiously again. "Man! That stupid shadow guy thinks he can do whatever he wants with the Emeralds. And for him to go that deep to destroy all worlds, he could have a better motive than to go with the most clichéd plan for domination or destruction."
"It's as stereotypical as Bowser trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping the princess every other week. And that gets repetitive and tiring all the time," Yoshi muttered.
"The same could be said when the boss wants to build his empire back in our world. And yet it's always the same because Sonic comes in and ruins his plans!" emphasized Cubot not thinking about keeping his voice down in front of Eggman.
"Thanks for reminding me, you square-headed dolt," he grunted as he slammed his fist on him.
"Arrgh! It was no problem, matey!"
"Oh dear. His voice chip is deactivated again. He's back in his pirate phase again," complained Orbot. (4)
"How appropriate considering we're on a pirate ship now," said the dinosaur.
The red creature grumbled. "This would have been an appropriate time to actually use the communicator Tails devised for me."
Orbot scratched the top of his round noggin. "What does that mean?"
"It means I could have called him to tell us where we are now."
"Then contact the little nerd!"
"First of all, don't call Tails a nerd. He may be smart and too technical with his word choice, but at least he knows how to act like a smart guy, unlike you." Robotnik growled at him, to which Knuckles ignored. "Secondly, I'm not wearing it right now." He showed off his bare wrist indicating that he's helpless.
"So why don't you have it?"
Knuckles didn't answer at first. Instead, he had a sheepish look on his face.
"Well?" Eggman was impatient.
"It… it's broken."
"Broken? How so?" Yoshi questioned.
He folded his arms and closed his eyes to avoid looking at anyone. "Let's just say that… Back at Luigi's party, I wanted to see something if it would work or not. Turns out that communicators don't float in soda."
All four of them facepalmed simultaneously.
"It was a mistake, okay?! I just wanted to experiment it!""
"Seriously, what kind of idiot tests to see if their watch can float in cherry soda?" Eggman dared to ask.
"Actually, it was lemon lime."
They all groaned at him again.
"What?!"
"Apparently, it takes a special kind of idiot to even think about such a dumb move," Orbot whispered so that he wouldn't hear him.
"Kinda like Eggman when he always creates robots that can be easily beaten by Sonic?" Cubot's openly spoken comment earned him another slammed fist from the doctor.
"Aww… Now I'm hungry," Yoshi whined. He plopped back on the bed, both bored and hungry as he mentioned earlier.
To his selfish needs, Eggman grabbed Orbot and Cubot's heads and threw them both on the carpet. The two moaned from the pain as the fat scientist laid down in a relaxed position. As for Knuckles, he resumed his physical breakdown with the door while suffering a mental breakdown himself. It may be too difficult to escape. But that's not going to stop the headstrong enchil-, I mean, echidna.
Location: Evershade Valley
Evershade Valley was perpetually dark, yet fitting, for the setting considering it's the homeland of the many ghosts that reside here. (5) The irony for this location, however, was that it has been dark for the last several days, but the moon doesn't shine from above. That's because, well, you know. Because of the Dark Moon's disappearance, clouds of thick, purple fog floated in the troposphere, covering the entire region, excluding Gloomy Manor. And the hostile ghosts have been terrorizing the households. This was not the most ideal place to be in at this moment. But it's unfortunate for the group of prisoners who were sent here by Edge's Greenies.
Earlier, on the day the prisoners were separated from Vanilla Dome, Edge revisited Evershade to confront them. Silver and Shadow tried to attack Edge and reclaim the Chaos Emeralds. But without having one themselves, the hedgehogs were both powerless compared to the purple Shadow Spirit. Vector, Espio, and Charmy tried their best to help, but likewise they all failed. Soon after, Edge used the power of the Emeralds to trap them into paintings, recommended by the Greenies, as a similar act that King Boo used to capture E. Gadd's Toad assistants during Luigi's last mansion adventure. He took their portraits to the Treacherous Mansion, the former resting place of the king of Boos, and gave the ghosts the responsibility of separating them in different rooms of the large residence. Edge also tasked the Tough Possessor of supervising the ghosts and the entire area since he was somewhat familiar with the landscape. Once Tough understood his duties, he took control while the villain returned to his headquarters.
Now, it was eerily quiet as the reckless ghosts continued to terrorize the valley. However, there was an unexpected visitor. He stood outside the professor's bunker which was southwest of Gloomy Manor. He looked at his surroundings and couldn't see anything from a far distance. No signs of the ghosts nor anyone to disrupt his appearance. He approached the professor's head-shaped shelter and tampered with the control panel. After he toyed with wires and electrical outlets, he hacked the Pixelator above the door. He tinkered with the buttons before he successfully pixelated himself to his desired destination.
After reforming from the multitude of pixels, he landed in front of the Treacherous Mansion. He walked over to the window on the right and peered to see the Front Entrance. The large lobby consisted of a bunch of interdimensional E-Gates, or portals, to teleport to the exhibits of the museum-themed mansion, gargoyle statues, two doors that led to the west and east wings, and a staircase that led to a stained-glass window where one can view the Inner Courtyard.
After inspecting the interior of the room, he contacted someone on his communicator.
"Hello? Do you read me? Duplicit speaking."
He received a response from a familiar character. "Duplimore here. I hear you loud and clear."
"Any sign of the green man yet?"
"No. Apparently, he's gone. I lost sight of him and now he left the premises."
"Really? But you told me he was at the Vanilla Dome."
"Key word, was. And he's no longer here."
Duplicit grunted. "Damn it. Well, chances are that the guy's gonna come here later. I followed their cruiser leading to the Treacherous Mansion. If I'm correct, some of his friends are trapped here. And the only way to get them out is the guy himself."
"If that's the case, then you can oversee the building and what else is inside. If I don't find him, maybe you'll run into him. I'm still on the lookout for the man."
"Whatever it takes, Duplimore, we can't fail our mission. We have to find him as soon as possible."
"I know. I'm going to head back to home base, then return to the woods to scope out the wacky guy's lab. There is a slight chance Luigi returned there.
"Wait? Luigi?"
"It's the guy's name, you dope."
"Well in my defense, I didn't know!"
"Fair enough. I'll talk to you if I have any leads."
"Roger. I'll infiltrate the mansion and scope out the rooms. I'll make sure to stay hidden from those ghosts."
"Gotcha. Over and out." Duplimore ended the call.
Duplicit, however, decided to sit against the wall and take a nap, contradicting his previous intentions. As he closed his eyes, the only thing he heard was the rushing water falling into the deep ravine.
END OF CHAPTER
There's the current situation for the rest of the characters who have been gone. Bowser Jr. is up and running (sort of), Bowser isn't. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were fine at first, then they were suddenly attacked. Knuckles, Yoshi, Eggman, and his robots are still alive, but they're trapped. Shadow, Silver, and the Chaotix are in the same predicament, except they're stuck 'Mario-esque' style in paintings. And another new character is introduced, who happens to be related to Duplimore. What's their business with Luigi? And is there any hope for the other guys? Next time on Hidden Bravery, we return to E. Gadd's lab where Luigi and his friends must determine their next motive…
Thanks for reading! Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys next Monday. This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): This is what happened to Bowser and Bowser Jr. when they were separated from the others. They may not have any dialogue, but I decided to give the Koopalings some minor roles.
(2): It's been a while since I've included Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, so they get to have some dialogue here. Also, Kongo Jungle, their home, is an important setting for the story.
(3): For those who don't know, Sparkling Waters is the third world in NSMBU & NSLU. Keep in mind that this is also where one of the Dark Moon pieces is located.
(4): Cubot's voice chip can be altered to change the way he speaks, one of them has him talking like a pirate. Examples of this occurrence happened in Sonic Colors and Sonic Lost World.
(5): Just like the previous areas, Evershade is another key place as another Dark Moon piece lies here. And as mentioned above, the boss will be the Tough Possessor, but he won't be shown until much later.