Icicle Mountain 4

The Ice Climbers climbed over the last ridge of the mountain. Popo smiled as he cast his hand out. "Behold, the world in all its glorious view." He and Nana gasped.

"What the?" Mario said. "What has-a happened to the world?" Giant purple domes were littered throughout the lands below.

"What are those things?" Captain Toad said.

"I don't know. I think we should avoid them." They trudged through the snow, which was like walking through a deep ocean of coldness. Mario once again flicked the fireballs in his hands. "We could-a do with the fire from your dragon."

"Charizard needs rest," Pokémon Trainer said. "The cold has taken the energy out of him."

Captain Toad put a hand above his eyes. "What is that silver thing in the distance?"

The Ice Climbers led the way, bouncing down the hill. Captain Toad waddled after everyone else. "Looks like a tank to me," Mario said.

Captain Toad's heart skipped a beat. "That's the ship!" His eyes whizzed around the vehicle half buried beneath snow. "That's the ship that took you away, Mario."

"Hey!" A fox emerged from behind the Landmaster.

"Argh! That's him! He's the one who took you."

"What?"

Mario's eyebrows closed in together. "So, it was-a you who left me in this frozen hell to die."

"What are you talking about? I've never seen any of you before in my life." Pokémon Trainer threw a Poké Ball, and out came Pichu. Fox rolled his eyes. "This is stupid." Pichu growled and said his own name as he sprayed out a jolt of electricity. Fox spasmed as the shock coursed through his body. "Argh! What is wrong with you people?"

"Why don't-a you tell me why you dropped me here?" Mario demanded.

Radio waves crackled. "You alright down there, Fox? We're picking up high response on your pain receptors."

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Slippy. I just got stung by a… I don't really know what I got stung by. I'm sure I'll be alright."

"What's happening down there, Fox?" Peppy said.

"Relax, Peppy. It's all under control. There's just some delusional man with a moustache claiming I brought him to this ice land."

"But I saw you," Toad shouted. "You popped out of that vehicle and snatched him in your hands."

"Wait. Are sure it was this vehicle?" Fox wiped away the snow that covered the Landmaster, revealing the blue wings.

"Well, it was almost the same. Only the wings were red."

Fox sighed. "That explains it."

"I don't-a understand."

"You were brought here by a Wolf… Wolf O'Donnell. He's a mercenary who must have been hired to bring you here."

Mario shook. "Bowser. It must have been him."

"That's a fine story," Pokémon Trainer said. "But it doesn't explain who you are or what you are doing here."

Fox wiped more snow off his vehicle, revealing a huge dint in the side of it. "I was flying over this land when I was blindsided by the same Wolf I already mentioned. He must have lured me here with the fake call of distress I was responding to."

"It's almost like we're all being shoved in this ice land on purpose, away from the rest of the world," Pokémon Trainer said.

"Something rotten is certainly in the air," Fox said. "None of those purple domes were down below when I first got here. One suddenly burst up out of nowhere. They keep emerging, sucking up all the land around them. The ground here was rumbling earlier, and I was worried once was going to burst up around me."

Nana panicked. Popo put his hand on her shoulder and assured her there was nothing to worry about.

"What-a do we do now? Do we go to the purple domes?"

"My team has picked up suspicious activity in the atmosphere. They've sent my friend to pick me up. I say we take to space and see what is causing all this commotion."

"Until then, I suggest we huddle together for warmth," Toad said. They bunched together, looking at Fox.

He shook his head. "I'll be waiting in the Landmaster." He got back into his vehicle.