Chapter 3: Koopa Pack, Attack!

For the first day, adventuring wasn't all that interesting. Mostly they just walked, and took a few breaks to practice with their new things and eat. Peach had already managed to figure out how to disguise herself with her parasol, and managed to trick Luigi into thinking she was Mario for a few minutes, until he asked her to light a fire so they could cook some lunch.

As it turned out, they didn't need to store their weapons in their backpacks - They just appeared when they needed them, and left when they didn't. Luigi spent a bit of time trying to figure out how this worked, until Mario pointed out that conjuring fire didn't make the slightest bit of sense either.

Mario learned how to play what he called "a kind of tennis." It was actually a way for him to attack with his hammer and his fire at the same time, by producing a large fireball and batting at it with his hammer. He didn't have terribly good aim, but the results were…destructive, to say the least.

Luigi instead focused on controlling his boomerang with air currents. It was actually surprisingly effective: with the boomerang, he could actually manage to make a miniature tornado that lasted a few minutes, and control its direction.

Finally, as the sun went down, they set up their camp. The brothers were perfectly content with just sleeping in a couple of trees, but Peach had a rather elaborate tent for herself. All was well so far.

Unfortunately, the peace didn't last for long. The group had a rather rude awakening at the crack of dawn, by way of four Koopas attacking Peach's tent.

Before he had even fully woken up, Mario jumped down and shot a fireball at the Koopas. This turned out to be a mistake, as the red Koopa in the group tucked into his shell and spun to deflect it right back at the red brother.

Now, Mario was fully awake. Though he was not entirely coherent, as he was attempting to put out his flaming overalls. He was still trying when he was doused with water, and looked over to see the Princess directing the water back into the special pouch in her backpack.

"Now, who do you think you are?" Peach said, her voice losing some of its usual dulcet quality to become something that sounding a lot more threatening.

"We're a squad working for Bowser," the red Koopa said, stepping forward. "I am Pomodoro, and these are my siblings."

"Melanzano," the black Koopa introduced himself, getting into a fighting stance.

"Citronello," the yellow Koopa followed suit.

"And I'm Asparago," the green Koopa finished up. "Remember me?"

Mario was too busy laughing to reply to that. "Are those… really… your names?"

"Hey! We're supposed to be cool and threatening!" Pomodoro said. "What's wrong with our names?"

"Everything," Mario said.

"That's it! ATTACK!" Pomodoro shouted, ducking into his shell and shooting off towards Mario. Mario jumped up to try and simply land on his shell, but the shell ignited just before he landed, burning his feet.

Citronello wasted no time in going after Peach. Rather than curling up into his shell, he just stomped on the ground, creating miniature shockwaves that knocked the Princess off her feet. This gave Asparago time to dash at her and land a solid punch to her cheek, but he wasn't quite fast enough to avoid being whacked with a surprisingly painful umbrella.

Mario was having problems with Melanzano, as well. The black-shelled Koopa turned out to have a rather large collection of miniature bombs, which he kept throwing at Mario and having Pomodoro ignite at just the wrong moment. After being blown up about seven or eight times, Mario was fed up with it. He whipped out the cape, and actually managed to knock Pomodoro out of his constant, firey spinning and into his brother. Mario was so stunned by this, he didn't react in time to prevent Asparago from slugging him in the back of the head.

By this time, Peach had figured out how to stay out of reach of Citronello by using her parasol as a sort of parachute. Hanging on to it with one hand, she used her other hand to send a high-powered jet of water at the yellow Koopa, knocking him onto his back and taking him out of the fight.

When Mario looked up to see Pomodoro shooting at him, engulfed in flames once more, he thought it might be the end for him. At least, until a stream of water splashed over the Koopa, dousing the flames and allowing Mario to grab onto his shell. Using the shell to boost himself up quickly, Mario jumped over and landed on Melanzano, sending him into his own shell. Getting an idea, he kicked Melanzano at Pomodoro.

It might have worked, too, if Pomodoro hadn't come out of his shell at the last second, caught Melanzano, and tossed him at the still-hovering princess. Melanzano uncurled in midair, kicking Peach's parasol out of her hands. Before Mario could react, he was knocked to the ground by Pomodoro, and Peach landed right next to him. Both heroes off their feet, the Koopas surrounded them, ready to finish the fight.

They may have succeeded, too, if not for the resident heavy sleeper having woken up, and been waiting for the right moment to strike. The man in green threw his boomerang without ever leaving the tree he slept in.

The boomerang quickly gained a small tornado around it, and flew around the four Koopas, sucking them in before they knew what was happening while leaving Mario and Peach unharmed and unmoved. The boomerang spun quicker and quicker, until the koopas flew out of the top, flung far out of sight.

"Thanks for the save, bro!" Mario congratulated his brother as the latter walked towards him.

Luigi shrugged. "Wouldn't have been able to do it if you weren't distracting them."

"Please," Mario said. He suddenly snickered. "Guess what? Their names were Pomodoro, Melanzano, Citronello, and Asparago!"

Luigi laughed. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Noticing the Princess's confused expression, Luigi began to explain. "Their names mean Tomato, Eggplant, Lemon, and Asparagus."

Peach giggled at hearing their names; they sounded a lot sillier when they were in a language that she could actually understand.

Mario held up his cape, "This saved my life… The Star Spirits definitely know what they're talking about." He put the cape on, just as he had when joking around the day before. "I think I'll keep it on me from now on."

From there, the three heroes packed up, and moved on. They walked the rest of the day, with nothing of any real consequence or interest happening. They even managed to reach a town around midday, and checked into an inn so they'd have a place to stay that night.

They had some time to spare, so they decided that it would be a good time to stock up on some gear. Toad Town, despite being the center of the country, sold more generalized gear than other places. Faire Square was slightly more old-fashioned, as far as architecture went, but it definitely had some interesting things on sale.

By the end of the day, they'd each found a few new things, not all of them entirely practical. Mario's idea of getting them all Mailbox SPs, in case they got separated, was definitely a good choice. Peach's new ring, on the other hand, was less so, though Mario couldn't completely fault her for that. After all, he'd bought a nice-looking green bandana for Luigi to wear around his neck.

Mario found something else extremely practical: Small bombs. They weren't terribly powerful, and probably wouldn't injure someone any worse than getting hit on the head with a hammer would, but they'd definitely come in handy for clearing away obstacles.

After re-stocking on food, the three were satisfied with their purchases, and returned to the inn to rest for the night.

[break]

Dear Diary,

Today, one of the koopas… Asparagus or something, he's just a scout, told me he discovered two of the four. And that they've started travelling with the princess, to search for the fourth. So, I gave him and all his brothers a promotion, and a new mission: Go after them. I offered them special training if they did well.

When they came back, they were in hysterics because they lost to the two men and the princess. I didn't expect them to beat them, to be honest. So, I told them:

"I only wanted you to see how they fought. You're still getting that special training. You'll start in the morning. For now, though, rest, and think about what they did. Learn from your mistakes, so you can eventually take them on. Tell your friends what you've learned. ALWAYS share what you know of them. Knowledge is half the battle already."

After all, it's been twenty-five years. If I rush it, then I'll probably fail. But if I take my time, learn about my enemies… I believe I can succeed. I WILL succeed. I WILL make my grandfather's wishes reality, because he never could.

KING BOWSER DOES NOT FAIL.

[end chapter 3]

jakeroo123: Yes, the bandana is, in fact, identical to Mr. L's. Just thought it'd be a nice little thing to have… And it may have a practical purpose later, hint hint. Okay yeah that was obvious. Anyway, the cape's also a permanent part of Mario's outfit now. He still doesn't know he can fly, though. Also, diary entry from Bowser at the end - Thought his perspective would be nice.

elisheva: This chapter took a little longer than the others (though, to be fair, you were all warned of that early on). The Koopas do all have incredibly stupid names, so please feel free to make fun of them in your reviews.