A/N: Last chapter of the month, and uploaded on my first day back to school. Joy. Again, I'm going to hope I can upload every two weeks. I'm not planning to put this story on hiatus unless I find it necessary.
As for our story, more swearing is included in this chapter. I hope I'm not going overboard on this. But that's why it's rated T.
Finally, special shoutouts to Steel Fairy, Tiger of Darkness, and TemUltimate for helping this story reach 100+ reviews! Not only that, but HB has accumulated over 7000 hits! Thank you, everyone!
*NOTE: Another PCN is added to the list, found at the bottom. I also had to edit the numbers.
Disclaimer: The plot and my OCs belong to me. Mario and Sonic belong to Nintendo and Sega.
Chapter 35: Rising Frustrations
Location: Outside of Toad Town
Previously, Luigi vanquished Gooper Blooper and the Overset Possessor to claim the fourth moon fragment. But before the heroes could return to E. Gadd's lab along with Yoshi, Knuckles, Eggman, and his robot henchmen, they were waylaid by Myster Edge, who found out about the remaining Chaos Emeralds he was seeking.
A cruiser landed near the rubble remains of the skewer fortress. From there, Edge forced the five mentioned above, alongside Tails, Mario, and Sonic inside the vehicle. To make matters worse, he busted up the Mushroom Copter with his lightning powers, burning the vehicle to a crisp. The eight hostages were confronted by some large Shadelings, as well as Alpha who manned the ship. (1) The Omega clone set a course to Toad Town.
Once they left Sparkling Waters, the minions took the yellow and green Emeralds, as well as Sonic and Tails' communicators, which by no means can the duo contact anyone. After handing the prized gems to their leader, they locked the octet up in a separate room. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were on a bench while Mario, Yoshi, Orbot, and Cubot were sitting across from them. Meanwhile, Eggman was banging his fists against the door, attempting to get out.
"Where are you taking us?! I demand you to tell me, you dirty bum-bots!"
"Would you zip your big mouth up, Egghead?! They're not going to listen to you, nor let us out!" Sonic groaned at his direction.
"And frankly, you're going to hurt yourself if you try ramming into the door," warned Orbot.
"Yeah! Not even your weight is big enough to dismantle the lock!" Cubot mentioned, earning a grunt from the doctor.
"Where are they even taking us?" Yoshi wondered as he gazed out the window.
Mario, sitting next to him, inspected the land outside. "We're heading towards Toad Town. I can see Peach's Castle from afar."
"But why would the shadow dude bring us there? What's the point in that?" Knuckles shook his head.
"Could he want to return to Mobius? He could use our Chaos Emeralds to access the warp pipe again," believed Tails.
"But Luigi and I heard him talking about heading to Star Hill once he got his hands on all seven Chaos Emeralds. Star Hill is miles away from Toad Town, though. It's closer to Yoshi's Island and Vanilla Dome," Mario reasoned, not understanding the logic.
"And worst of all, he does have all seven Emeralds! Which makes this absolutely bad for all the wrong reasons!" Sonic sputtered out.
Mario resumed thinking. "If he does want to return to Mobius, then the only reason I could come up with is to use us as bait."
"Bait?" the robots repeated.
"You know, kidnap us to lure Luigi into Sonic's world. Edge initially captured all of you and split you up so we could waste time rescuing everyone as his army searched for the Chaos Emeralds. The Grouchy Possessor took me to coax Luigi in the Vanilla Dome to fight him. They're using us as a distraction so that they can use the time for Edge to summon the Oblivion."
"Which reminds me, Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix are still nowhere to be found. I don't know if they were brought to Mobius, or if they're still stuck in this dimension," Tails put a hand to his chin.
Something snapped into Knuckles' mind. "Hold on, didn't you say that shadow guy sent those white, large ghosts to areas where they held us prisoner?"
"I mean, it appears to be," Mario replied.
"What if another one is in our home world?"
Tails seemed to understand where the echidna was going, but he was more surprised that he thought of something smart. "Maybe that's why the Professor couldn't locate the missing Dark Moon piece. If the next Possessor has the fragment hidden in our world, then that's the next place Luigi needs to go!"
Mario agreed. "We need to warn him about this, now."
"But how? They confiscated our communicators, Mario," Sonic mentioned.
"I don't know. But there has to be a way!"
"Can't we ask the princess to help?" Yoshi thought.
"We probably shouldn't. If I get her involved, she'll probably be abducted again. And you know how tiring it is to save Peach, for both her and me."
"Well, what other choice do we have, plumber?" Eggman retorted. "Either Blondie or one those girls gets your green guy to come rescue us, again, or we can suffer as washed up bones when that purple freak obliterates everything! And I can't go back to my evil plans of taking over the universe!"
Mario stood up and confronted the tall human with a dark glare. "You know, Sonic's right. Sometimes, you need to shut your fucking big mouth, Eggwad."
"Grr… It's not Eggwad, nor Egghead! For the last time, it's Eggman!"
"Like anyone cares at this point," he rolled his eyes. "Oh, and Bowser's already beaten you at the whole 'Ruling the Universe' shit twice. Why don't you step up your game? That is, if you can even do something productive."
Everyone was surprised to hear Mario talk like this. Eggman was more on the infuriated side.
"I don't need to hear you roasting me, pudgy! And right now, I could care less about that Koopa! All I want is to get out of here!"
"Well, too bad. We're stuck, and it's going to stay that way until we get off," Mario muttered and walked away from him. He leaned forward onto the back wall, resting his forehead on his arm. Sonic got off the bench and stood behind his friend.
"Dude, I get mad at Eggman many times, but I've never seen you go apeshit on him before. Heck, you weren't that hostile towards Bowser earlier," he whispered.
Mario didn't turn to look at him. He mumbled quietly, but loud enough for the hedgehog to hear. "I didn't do that to act like I'm some sort of badass. I'm just frustrated. I just watched my brother get shoved into the water, and there was nothing I could do. Knowing how much Edge did to him, I don't want him to harm anyone else. Not the princess, not you guys, not my other friends, and not even Eggman. But I swear, Edge will pay again for ruining the only family I have. And if he crosses that line one more time, I'm going to end that son of a bitch for good."
To say Sonic was worried for Mario was a fact. The red plumber has expressed fury over the last week of unfortunate events, but not to this extent. There was something burning in his heart that's causing him to behave contrarily to his positive attitude. That something, was retribution. Retribution against Myster Edge, for the wrongs and acts he did to attack Mobius, the Mushroom Kingdom, and most of all, his brother.
"Mario-"
"Please, Sonic. I just want to be alone."
The Blue Blur slouched his shoulders, feeling bad that he couldn't help Mario again. He closed his eyes, sighed, and went back to his seat next to the kitsune. Tails stared at his friend, who appeared to be mentally defeated.
"Sonic?" he hesitantly spoke.
His eyelids opened to see Tails' worried, blue pupils. "Yeah, buddy?"
"What are we going to do?"
Normally, Sonic would improvise an answer right on the spot. But given the scenario they're in, he frowned, unsure of himself. "I… I don't know, Tails," he replied honestly.
Silence remained in the locked room as all eight prisoners were exhausted and helpless to escape. Without Luigi, or any other assistance, it was quite a pickle for the gang to be in.
As for the antagonists, Alpha guided the cruiser to their desired location.
"Myster Edge. We shall arrive at the center of Toad Town in circa three minutes."
"Perfect. Minions," he referred to the four individuals behind him and Alpha. "I want you to take them to Shrewd's hiding place, the Chemical Plant Zone. (2) I like to see that green mustache try going through that toxic wasteland without drowning in the water or getting crushed by the machinery there."
"You've basically drowned him in the Sparkling Waters, though," reminded Alpha.
"You're right. But, I wasn't planning on killing him. I still need him for my master plan of resurrection. I decided to play nice and only give him a couple of minor shocks."
"So why'd you send him overboard in the ocean?"
"Hey, my trajectory was apparently off by a couple feet. Just forget about it, and get back to driving this ship."
Alpha bleeped out a sigh. "Yes, sire."
"Shadelings, grab the captives again. We're about to disembark."
"Yes, sir!" they saluted.
One of them opened the door, getting everyone's attention. "Listen up! You're going to be detained as we take you to our next destination. Anyone who refuses to our leader's orders, or tries to retaliate against him will be officially terminated. Pair yourself up with someone and line up in front of one of us. You'll remain in custody until we imprison you."
"Again?! Listen here, bozo!" Eggman pointed his finger against his metal chest. "I've been stuck on that damn pirate ship like a dirty landlubber who doesn't know how to cook basic oatmeal for the captain! You expect me to be forced into one of your stupid prisons aga-"
Eggman didn't finish as the robot whipped out a flamethrower he uncovered from his right arm. "Do you want to continue?"
Eggman stood there, glaring at him as he couldn't defend himself. "Fine, you win. For now," he slurred the last sentence.
"Now, choose a companion and head outside as each of us will supervise you."
Yoshi stood up from his seat and walked near Mario who was still leaning against the wall in shame and irritation. He put a hand on his shoulder to comfort his buddy, and to indicate who was his partner. Sonic and Tails didn't spend a second to decide who they're with. Orbot and Cubot blinked at each other and shrugged.
"Aw, screw this! I have to be paired up with Fatass Loudmouth over here?!" Eggman turned his head to Knuckles and growled.
Location: Peach's Castle
The Mushroom Princess was finished putting away her clothing and groceries. She went back downstairs to wait for Mario and the others to return after another long adventure. She saw Daisy and Amy standing with Cream and Cheese sitting on the edge of the fountain, having a conversation.
"Hello, everyone," Peach greeted.
Daisy turned around and smiled. "Hi, Peach."
"What are you girls talking about?"
"Oh, just wondering how to help the heroes," Cream answered.
"Chao! Chao!" Cheese added.
"Yeah, it's just been this as we're anticipating their return. And thanks for bringing us to the spa! You were right about the service there! It was spectacular!"
"You're welcome, Amy," Peach giggled. "So, Mario and the others must still be at Sparkling Waters, huh?"
"Well, you never know," shrugged Daisy. "They could be done and fly back to E. Gadd's lab."
"That is possible, unless-"
Amy got interrupted by the purple cat. "Guys! Guys!"
The five saw Blaze, Toad, and Toadette running into the backyard garden, all with desperate looks.
"Everyone, calm down! What's wrong?" Peach asked.
"Toadsworth told us to warn you about something bad!" Toad panicked, flailing his arms.
"Something bad?" Cream stood up from the fountain.
"You guys won't believe what happened!" Toadette curled her hands into fists, placing them in front of her cheeks.
"Get to the point already!" Daisy demanded.
"It's Mario, Sonic, and the others. They got captured by the shadow figure," Blaze hissed.
"What?!" they all gasped.
"Follow us this way!" The cat waved her hand, leading everyone to the front window where they saw Toadsworth standing in front of a stained-glass window.
"Toadsworth! Where's Mario?"
He turned around to the Toads and the girls. "Princess! It's absolutely horrid! See for yourself!"
Everyone gathered around to see the front of the castle. Peach, Daisy, Amy, Cream, and Cheese had their mouths wide open in shock as the others remained staring at the scene. There, they saw the eight prisoners held by Edge's robots, standing near the Mushroom Warp Pipe.
"Oh no! They're in trouble!" Cream cried.
"Why isn't anyone helping them?!" Peach asked her advisor.
"That scoundrel immobilized the Toad population so they wouldn't interfere with him! Luckily, it didn't work on us since we were safe inside the castle," said Toadsworth.
"Hold on. Where's Luigi? And his Polterpup?" Daisy asked anxiously.
"We don't know! They weren't with them when they exited Edge's ship!" Toadette clarified.
"Speaking of Edge, there's that scheming villain," Blaze narrowed her eyes.
The others gazed over at the cruiser where they did see the Shadow Spirit, the one who kidnapped them on the night of Luigi's birthday. He was floating over with his prized scepter, containing six Chaos Emeralds.
"Oh no! Edge has taken Sonic's green Emerald!" Amy shrieked.
"Wait, where's the yellow one then?" Peach wondered.
Her question was answered when Edge brought it out of his black cloak. He placed the Emerald into the slot and turned to the kitsune.
"You. Give me the password that unlocks this pipe," he demanded.
"And if I refuse to?" Tails challenged him.
"Then I will single-handedly restrain you to harsher consequences, worse than what I've done to your stupid, green friend."
Tails glared at the villain. Mario copied his look under the basis that Edge doesn't give a damn about his brother. Not wanting to make the situation any worse, the fox muttered the code to Edge. The shadow nodded and typed the password into the keyboard. The pipe door unlocked afterwards.
"Alright, everyone. Take them to their new prison. Alpha and I will head to my destined location."
"Yes, Myster Edge!" the Shadelings followed his command and entered inside with the group in tow.
"We gotta do something!" Toad told the others.
"I'll give the Professor a call. Maybe he knows where Luigi is," Peach offered before she ran away to find a phone.
"Oh my god. I don't feel so good right now." Daisy looked like she was going to faint. She had to be held by Blaze and the Toads.
"I can't believe Sonic and the others were kidnapped! No one takes my Sonic away from me!" Amy grunted.
"And Tails, too!" yelled Cream.
"Chao, Chao Chao!" whined Cheese.
"Edge has all the Emeralds, Luigi's not here, everyone's flustered… This is not good at all," Blaze grumbled.
Location: Sparkling Waters
Nothing could be heard. It was complete darkness and dead silence. It was eerily quiet for the person as if he were dead. However, a small, faint sound appeared. It sounded like whimpering. The sad noises had a distinct sound coming from the source. Like a ghostly echo.
Wait, ghostly?
That's when the person realized. His heart was still beating; he was still alive. But where was he? What happened? And who was whimpering in the background?
His closed eyes twitched, his head shook, his arms struggled to move. The whimpering stopped for a moment as the man slowly opened his eyes to reveal blue pupils. He blinked twice as his vision came back. The first thing he saw was the orange sky.
Hold on. Orange? But it was blue before. Then, he thought. How long has it been? Did it just turn into the evening now?
His eyes bulged wide open and sat up quickly. He rotated his head and viewed his surroundings. Apparently, he was sitting in the sand. Within a mile, he saw rising geysers, Huckit Crabs, pipes, and, of course, water. He assumed he's back at Waterspout Beach. But how?
"Arf! Arf!"
The man quickly shifted his head to his left. There he spotted the Polterpup, who looked up to him with a concerned face and a slight whimper.
"C-Colombo?"
The dog barked once more and ran his paw on Luigi's leg.
"Colombo? What happened? Why are we back on the beach? Weren't we on the… ghost ship…?"
Luigi had another epiphany. His memory recollected on the events after defeating Gooper Blooper and besting the Overset Possessor. He got struck by a lightning bolt. Then, his friends, Eggman, and his robots were trapped in a purple bubble. He tried to run towards them, but he was suddenly frozen. As he was stalled, he was attacked by another bolt which made him fall overboard from the Shipwreck. And that was the last thing he reminisced since he splashed into the ocean.
The green man narrowed his eyes in ire. He instantly knew where those lightning attacks came from.
"Edge… That conniving, evil-spirited… Augh!"
Luigi pounded his right fist in the sand. It made Polterpup jump back. He muttered a swear word in Italian to himself, releasing a depressing sigh afterwards.
"Sorry, cagnetto. I didn't mean to lose my temper there. I don't show it that often. But what he just did to me and my friends… He's going to pay. He's going to pay for what he's done. Not just to me, but to everyone in our world and Sonic's."
Colombo walked back to him and nudged his head in his lap. He whimpered as he watched his owner staring aimlessly at nothing.
Luigi looked down to him. "Colombo, did you… happen to save me from drowning?"
Colombo bobbed his head 'yes'.
"You turned invisible and avoided being stuck in Edge's trap. And you probably jumped off the Shipwreck to find me. You dragged my body here, is that right?"
He received another silent nod from him.
"Do you know where the others are, at least?"
This time, Colombo whined and shut his eyes in regret. Luigi frowned. He presumed that the purple shadow took the captives away from the scene of the crime. That meant Knuckles, Yoshi, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were still held against their wills. But to add insult to injury, his Mobian friends and brother were abducted, as well.
And that's what made him worry the most.
He tried using his 3DS to contact Tails. But when he didn't receive a reply, he linked to Sonic's communicator. Once again, there was nothing. He presumed that their devices were either disabled, destroyed, or confiscated. He couldn't call Knuckles, he wouldn't even think twice to call Eggman since he doesn't have his contact, and Mario didn't have a phone on him. There was no way to find out where they're at now.
Luigi stood up and dusted the sand off his overalls. "Well, boy, we're gonna have to go back to Boo Woods and tell the professor, unfortunately. And the princess is not going to like hearing about this. Come on, Colombo. At least Toadsworth gave me a spare key for the helicopter."
The Polterpup's face fell since he knew that Edge destroyed the Mushroom Copter. Luigi didn't know, until he climbed the ladder to reach the three-way intersection. Worst case scenario, he was utterly distressed when he saw the damaged vehicle.
"Oh, Mamma Mia! You've got to be kidding me!" He removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair, scrunching up the ends with a tight fist. He sighed heavily and put his hat back on his head. "Things can't get any worse right now, can't it?" He swore in Italian to himself again.
Colombo was very sorry for his owner, and he continued to whimper.
"I'm sorry for acting like this again, boy. Sigh, looks like I need to call-"
E. Gadd's ringtone played from the 3DS in his pocket.
"To be honest, I hate when he does that," Luigi shook his head. "Hello?" he responded with depression leaking from his voice.
"Gee, what's with the upside-down smile and the tone, young feller?"
"Professor, this isn't the time for jokes. Please get the Pixelator up and running. Colombo and I need a ride back to your lab."
E. Gadd frowned. "But what about the Mushroom Copter? And why just you and Polterpup? Where's your brother and your furry friends?"
"Long story short, Edge ambushed us and separated me from Mario. Those who were held in the Haunted Shipwreck are still captured by Edge, and he has taken them somewhere else. He also destroyed the helicopter." Luigi paused and shifted his communicator for the elderly man to see the wreckage.
"Oh my goodness… That's horrible," was how E. Gadd responded.
Luigi sighed yet again. "Now that you know, please send us back."
"Okay, Luigi. One Pixelator coming at you and Colombo."
E. Gadd didn't say this enthusiastically knowing that Luigi seemed miserable; plus, he felt bad for him. Nonetheless, he ended the call and a Pixelator appeared from the 3DS. The two characters transformed into pixels and were sent into the screen, making the long journey back to Boo Woods.
END OF CHAPTER
Not the best way to end this part before starting another year of school. Believe me, I felt upset after writing this. Nonetheless, Luigi will experience some revelations on where his journey leads to next (although you guys already know). Can he turn things around before they get even worse? And how close will Edge be to bring the Oblivion to all worlds now that he has possession of all seven Chaos Emeralds?
Please stay tuned every two weeks for new chapters. I'm planning for this to be the new upload schedule, but bear with me if I don't get them in on time. I'll make a personal update if necessary.
Otherwise, thanks for sticking around this far into the adventure. Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you in Ch. 36. This is TGN, signing off.
Post-Chapter Notes:
(1): I forgot I used this made-up name to describe the robots Shadow fought back in Ch. 5. I decided to go back and edit in their names in some of the previous chapters, but not all of them since they're not that important. But I figured I should use this name more often rather than just 'robots' or 'minions'. Just note that they're just standard underling clones and not as distinct as Alpha, Clawdio, Slimmer, etc.
(2): Chemical Plant Zone is the second Zone from Sonic 2, which made a return in Sonic Mania. This is the next location where Luigi must rescue the gang and confront the Shrewd Possessor.