Chapter 6: Venting Feelings
There was yet again, a looming sense of dread among the party as the mossy stone walls came into view. The few walls that were scattered before the fortress sent chills down Timpani and Blumiere's spines.
"What ever happened to the Koopa Bros after we defeated Bowser," pondered Kirby.
"I deliver martial arts equipment to the fortress from time to time," explained Parakarry, "I think that started a training school after they had a run in with the Toad Master." The group talked a little bit as they got closer to the main fortress.
"Aren't you guys the slightest bit curious how all these poor people are getting corrupted," asked Timpani.
"I agree," agreed Blumiere, "Perhaps there is some sort of source that can corrupt, but that is a simple theory."
"All I can remember is blacking out a lot," stated Parakarry. The group entered the next area. The fortress seemed normal. There wasn't anything peculiar about the door.
"I can sense the Yellow Pure Heart," smiled Timpani, "It just has to be in there somewhere."
"First we've got to save those Koopas and Goombas who were taken from Koopa Village," proclaimed Kirby. With a hardy breath, the team opened the doors to the Koopa Bros' Fortress and ventured inside. Mario was the first to enter. To his surprise, the stair case that usually hung above the shell pool was missing. Mario shrugged his shoulders as they continued on their way. The plumber knew the way to the cell at the back of the fortress, but he was unsure if that was the place the Koopas and Goombas were being held. The doors to the next room suddenly swung open. Two black and white Goombas were marching, but stopped once they noticed the group.
"Intruders!" exclaimed one Goomba.
"We must capture them for the Knight!" Kirby's eyes widened.
"What knight!" asked Kirby, "Would this knight happen to be a Meta Knight." A battle began. Mario switched Blumiere and Timpani to the front.
Timpani tattled one of the goombas, "This is a Corrupted Goomba. They have two HP, two Attack Power and no defense. Perhaps they know something about Meta Knight's location." Mario swiftly jumped on one of the goombas, which knocked it out immediately. Kirby followed suit by taking out the other Corrupted Goomba with a quick swing of his hammer. The team gained some Star Points as the two Goombas started to regain color. The two goombas groaned in unison.
"Where's MK!" shouted Kirby as the goombas realized where they were.
"Who's MK?" wondered one of the goombas.
"We were at Koopa Village," added the other goomba, "I saw Parakarry, but then all I remember is blacking out a lot."
"That's what happened to me too!" chimed Parakarry.
"You two better head back to Koopa Village," comforted Timpani. The two goombas nodded before walking towards the door.
Before the two goombas left the fortress, Blumiere questioned, "Do you two remember where you were being held before you were corrupted?"
"It was some big cell," answered the first goomba, "There were a bunch of prisoners."
"Good luck breaking them out," added the second goomba, "There are no bars, just some weird inescapable grid thing." With that, the goombas disappeared into the outside world.
"Intriguing," pondered Blumiere, "I wonder what they are talking about."
"Maybe Meta Knight is there!" cheered Kirby as he led the charge into the next area. It was the area with the shifting stone walkways and strange barred off areas. Inside the barred area where Mario found his first Power Bounce Badge was a new air vent that he had never seen before.
"I guess it does make sense to have Air Conditioning in a Martial Arts School," noted Timpani.
"I remember delivering that vent!" informed Parakarry, "The Koopa Bros have actually become pretty nice people." The group continued through the fortress. There several Corrupted Koopas and Goombas in this room. The team were quickly able to defeat the troops and send them back to Koopa Village. Parakarry's Shell Shot was extremely useful for clearing out the enemies and collecting Star Points. Mario and Kirby even leveled up during the process. Mario chose FP and Kirby chose HP to upgrade.
"There is nothing better than leveling up!" exclaimed the pink puffball. They entered the next area, and once again, the big moving stairs were missing. Mario scratched his head in confusion.
"I could have sworn there were stairs around here somewhere," commented Parakarry. Mario then realized something, the cell that he and Link fell into was down a level. The plumber proceeded to explain the situation.
"This does seem like quite the issue," stated Blumiere.
"I could go down there," suggested Parakarry as he looked down the rectangular gap in the floor. The group could see the door that led to the cell room. Kirby had an idea.
"Timpani and Blumiere," asked Kirby with a big smile, "Are you two okay with hanging out here for a few minutes, "Parakarry, Mario and, I can jump down there, asses the situation, and then I can carry Mario back up here like we did in Fort Francis." Timpani shuddered at the words "Fort Francis."
"Sure!" smiled Timpani, "We'll keep a look out for anything suspicious." Mario nodded to the couple as he, the Paratroopa, and the Puffball jumped down the hole.
When they were in the next area Blumiere commented, "I did not know that he had such a wide vocabulary."
"So those two goombas were right," gasped Parakarry as they entered the room. Instead of bars, it was a wall of a grid like structure. It was very similar to most of the buildings located in the Bit-Lands. There were a few Koopas and Goombas in the cell. A few of the prisoners noticed Mario and company, but didn't say anything. Mario scanned the cage for anybody familiar. Thankfully he didn't have to look for long.
"Mario!" called an old Goomba with white hair and a green hat, "You're always saving the day aren't you?" It was Goompa, Goombario's grandpa.
"Hello!" smiled Kirby, "What kind of cage is this exactly?" Goompa paused as he looked at Kirby.
"How should I know?!" snapped Goompa, "I was visiting Koopa Koot in Koopa Village, next thing I know I wake up in a strange cell next to him. Those black and white Koopas can open the cage somehow. They already took Koopa Koot!"
"What about Kolorado's Wife?" wondered Parakarry.
"They came in a few minutes ago, knocked her out with a finger snap, and hauled her off," sighed Goompa. The trio frowned at the news.
"Where do they take prisoners to be corrupted?" questioned Kirby.
"From what I've heard," Goompa paused, "They take these poor souls to the top of the fortress to be corrupted. Only corrupted troops can see the stairs, so good luck getting up there."
"Drat!" exclaimed Kirby, "There's a gap that none of us can clear!"
"Why do you have to vent to me?" complained Goompa, "I've watched as close friends were taken away to be turned evil." Goompa's words gave Mario an idea. Mario proceeded to ask Parakarry about the air conditioning system.
"They go all over the fortress," explained Parakarry, "Why do you ask?" Mario nodded goodbye to Goompa and signaled for his friends to follow him."
"What's the plan Mario?" thought Kirby as the headed towards the exit. Before the small group could do so, two Corrupted Koopas with wings opened the door.
Before they noticed Mario, Kirby, and Parakarry, they called out, "Goompa! The good Sir wishes to see you, so you can be reborn. Wait... Intruders!" Another battle had begun. Mario quickly jumped onto the first black and white paratroopa twice. This both knocked off its wings and flipped it onto its back. Kirby jumped twice on the second which did had the same result as when Mario did it. Parakarry then was able to fire off a Shell Shot which knocked out the first koopa. This was quickly followed by hammer swings from Mario and Kirby which knocked out the second koopa who was unable to get up.
"Hooray!" cheered Kirby as the Paratroopas regained color. Parakarry explained what had happened and sent them on their way.
"Good luck!" encouraged Goompa as the trio left the cell room. Mario looked up and saw the gap that they had previously jumped down. Mario apologized to Kirby as the plumber climbed onto the puffball's back. Parakarry started his ascent to rejoin Timpani and Blumiere, while Kirby took a deep breath. Parakarry startled the couple as he landed on the stone floor.
"Where are all of these Paratroopas coming from!?" questioned Blumiere before he realized it was Parakarry.
"There were some Corrupted Paratroopas that attacked us," informed Parakarry. Before anyone could continue, they heard Kirby psyching himself up
"It's not a problem Mario," assured Kirby. Kirby slowly rose through the room. Eventually, Kirby and Mario rejoined their partners. Kirby fell to the floor once the duo was on solid ground. Mario patted his friend's head as he climbed off of Kirby's back. Kirby panted, "Turns out there was a height difference from Fort Francis."
"So," asked Timpani, "What did you guys find out?"
"The troops had just taken away Kolorado's wife," frowned Parakarry. Blumiere perked up when Parakarry stopped talking.
"Where was she taken?" inquired Blumiere.
"To the top of the fortress," Kirby said while was catching his breath.
"Without the stairs, we can't get to the top," sighed Parakarry.
"What will we tell Kolorado," cried Timpani, "That we couldn't save his wife!" Blumiere noticed that Mario was trying to notify them about the air condition system.
"I won't let another man suffer because of some dark force taking away the love of his life!" proclaimed Blumiere as Timpani blushed, "Mario has a plan to get to the top of the fortress. Maybe we have some time before she is corrupted or teleported away. Let's hurry!" Kirby nearly shed a tear as he got to his feet. Mario smiled at Blumiere before signaling them to follow him. Timpani grabbed Blumiere's hand. The Count looked into his wife slightly scarlet face and smiled.
"I love you," whispered Timpani as they were the last to enter the room with the stone walkways. Blumiere was about to say it back, but was cut off by the curious Kirby.
"I still don't know the plan," stated Kirby as he followed Mario to the center of the room. The plumber looked behind the bars of the middle structure. Mario did the same thing he did on his first adventure with his inter dimensional friends. He went to the right side of the structure and jumped to reveal that there was missing part of the wall on the right side. Now the red plumber was standing right next to the air vent.
"Wow!" chuckled Blumiere, "I did not expect that." Mario motioned for Kirby to join him next to the duct. Kirby complied and stood next to Mario after jumped into the stone structure. Mario explained why he needed the puffball.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh," realized Kirby, "That's smart." Kirby drew his hammer, Mario did as well. The duo gave the vent a hardy wack which resulted in the vent falling off the wall.
"Awww," sighed Parakarry as the vent fell to the floor. A huge hole was now in the wall. If Parakarry was right, the vent should lead them to the top of the fortress.
"A groady air vent..." shuddered Timpani, "If its to save the people in the fortress, I guess so." Mario led the way into the vent. Parakarry, Timpani, and Blumiere jumped into the structure to follow Kirby, who was second to enter the vent. The vent was decently sized, but Timpani and Blumiere had to duck as the group followed Mario. Eventually the group reached an incline that required the whole team to crawl up. Surprisingly, there weren't any cobwebs or dust in the duct.
"I wonder why this vent is so clean," wondered Blumiere.
"I think the Koopa Bros have a vent cleaner among them," answered Parakarry. After what felt like weeks of climbing up the dark vent, a beam of light gave hope to the heroes. Mario kicked the vent at the end of the shaft. The plumber climbed out and looked around, they had popped out near where the exit to the walkway to the second tower was. The rest of the group climbed out of the vent and stretched.
"That sure was a long climb," yawned Kirby, "I could have cracked a certain joke, but I felt like someone would slap me."
"Why's that?" asked Timpani.
"Parakarry knows why," answered Kirby.
"I would usually be more engaged in Kirby's shenanigans, but..." explained Blumiere, "We have to save Kolorado's wife and find that Pure Heart."
"He's right," agreed Timpani, "The tremors of energy have been getting more noticeable when we were climbing through that vent."
"Let's go!" cheered Parakarry. Mario opened the door, revealing the sunlight of the outside world. The light was almost blinding as the heroes stepped out onto the walkway.