Chapter 8 Calls Save Lives

Wendy bawled like a baby. She curled up in a little ball in the corner of the cell, ready to wither away like a wilting plant. She buried her face in her knees. She had no possible way of getting back to her own world. She could not convince any of the animal people who lived in this strange and crazy universe that she was not from around here, let alone free her from this prison cell. It was the end of her life as she knew it.

Wendy sniffled, lifted her head, and dried her eyes. No. This wasn't going to be how her life ended; she wouldn't allow that to be the case. She had so much life to live. She had places where she wanted to go, things she wanted to do, and most importantly, friends that she wanted to make.

She would not waste away in this cell. It wasn't an option. It wasn't even a possibility. It was a fear, an unwarranted, unneeded fear. She would get out of this. She had experienced far worse than this in her fights with Mario and even sometimes with her brothers.

Her brothers. Her family. They were her key to getting out of here. They needed to know where she was and how they could help her. But how would Wendy get in contact with them exactly?

Perhaps she could call them? Yeah, yeah! A simple method, but one that would definitely work regardless. She did have her phone with her after all; like any typical teenager, she never went anywhere without it on standby.

So, Wendy glanced around outside the prison cell to make sure that no one was looking. Then, she pulled her cell phone out of her hammerspace. Smiling, she went to her contact list and selected Bowser's number. Now all she needed to do was wait for the phone to pick up.

…

The wind whooshed through Iggy's bright green mohawk, causing it to flap like a flag. He kept his hands firmly attached to the steering wheel and ground his teeth as he soared after Larry. They were literally just a few feet away from the finish line.

"Come on, come on," Iggy muttered to himself. He bit down on his lip so hard that he could taste blood. He wasn't going to let Larry emerge victorious. That was a "no way, no how, nuh uh." He put more pressure down on the gas pedal, causing the speedometer to spike up so rapidly that it almost broke. In fact, Iggy wouldn't be surprised if he were to find out that it did. Larry's eyes grew wide when he saw Iggy pass him.

"What the…"

"Lawrence! If you think you will be the victor, you are sorely mistaken!" Iggy yelled. He laid his palm directly down on his horn, causing a blazing sound to carry throughout the ashy terrain outside of Bowser's Castle. He whooped just as he was about to cross the finish line. He had never won a Mario Kart race before. Even in an official tournament, he always came in fifth at best. Now, he was going to win. All of the work he put in would pay off, and it would pay off substantially well.

"Come on, come on, come on...YESSSSSS!" Iggy yelled once he crossed the finish line. He pulled his go kart over to the side of the road, hopped out of it, and cheered as he bounced up and down. "I...have never….in my life….EVER WON ONE OF THESE!"

Larry, after he also crossed the finish line and ended the race in second place, cast Iggy a glare as he too pulled over. "Oh come on! That was cheap!"

Iggy just laughed at him. "I guess you'll have to hand over that trophy that you won in the last Mario Kart tournament, Lawrence. Because there is a new winner in town!" He laughed. "Give me an I, give me a G, give me an I and a G and a G and a Y! What does that spell? Iggy! Woohoo!"

Larry just rolled his eyes. "Dude, this isn't even an official tournament; will you calm your butt down already?"

Iggy cast the youngest a glare. "Don't ruin this for me," he said softly, dangerously.

Right at that moment, everyone else crossed the finish line and pulled over to the side. Princess Peach, as she dismounted her bike, grinned at everyone.

"Good game, guys. That was excellent!"

Mario, for once, was actually smiling as he got out of his little standard kart. "Yeah. That was excellent! I haven't had this much fun in forever!"

Bowser laughed as he lugged his humongous body out of his car, which was so tiny it looked like it could be remote controlled. "For once, I actually agree with you, Plum Scum. That was fun!"

"Yeah!" Iggy exclaimed. He threw his hands into the air in joyous celebration. "Especially since I WON!"

Larry rolled his eyes. "And society has plummeted into oblivion because of that."

Suddenly, a phone ring sprung up among the group. Everyone, taken aback by the noise, all cast each other looks as they tried to find out who was the offender.

"Whose phone is that?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah! And why is it repeatedly calling me a loser?" Mario asked.

Bowser chuckled, realization appearing in his expression as he reached into his hammerspace. "Whoops, sorry everyone; that was me." He accepted the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

Iggy watched as Bowser's facial expression rose and fell as he listened to the call. Part of him was expecting it to be a scam call that Bowser was taking seriously for some unknown and unknowable reason. After all, both he and Roy were particularly known for taking scam calls and giving out all the information that they possibly could to the scammer. Thankfully, he didn't appear to be giving away his social security number to a foreign prince, so that was a good sign.

"Oh! Hey Wendy...YOU'RE WHAT?...How in the...WHAT?"

Larry and Roy giggled as Bowser spoke to the inaudible voice on the other side of the phone. Iggy, however, just stepped forward in concern. Bowser appeared to be talking to Wendy, and if what he was saying to her was anything to go off of, then she was potentially in danger. Iggy felt a lump form in his throat. Impatience entered his mind as he waited for Bowser to hurry up, finish the call, and actually communicate to the group what the problem was.

When Bowser finally exited the call (after what felt like an eternity passed), his eyes were wide with worry. "Wendy is stuck in one of the dimensions!"

"What?" Iggy asked, shock practically choking him.

"Which dimension is that?" asked Lemmy.

"Apparently, it's a place called Zootopia," said Bowser. He looked down at the phone, wrinkling his snout up as he did so. "I know, a weird name. I'm not even sure if I heard it right."

"Well, whatever dimension it is, it is paramount that we rescue her!" Iggy exclaimed. He pushed his way through the crowd and looked back at the portal that was sitting a few yards away. "Come on everyone! Let's go save Wendy!"

With that, the Koopas made their way toward the portal. Peach and Mario, however, just stood stalk still. Iggy cast them a look as his brothers hopped in the portal.

"Are you two planning to accompany us?" he asked.

Mario's face morphed into scowl. "Yeah, we would love to help," he said. "But there's just one problem; we don't care."

Bowser growled at his former arch enemy. "You will help, Plumber Butt, or you're gonna get yourself fried! Now come on; let's go save my daughter!"

With that, Bowser made his way into the portal. Iggy lingered behind, tapping his foot as he stared at the plumber.

"Well?"

Mario shook his head and looked at Peach. "I don't actually have to go save Wendy, do I?" His tone made it sound like he was whining to his mother.

Peach placed her hand on Mario's arm. "It would be a nice thing to do." She smiled. "Plus, it would be very heroic of you."

Mario cast Peach a raised eyebrow before groaning. "Fiiine." He marched toward the portal, an expression as dark as night and as grumpy as the Grinch on his face. "I'd better get an extra large cake for this rescue," he grumbled under his breath.

Iggy watched, his mouth gawking open in disgust, as Mario hopped in the portal. Peach followed immediately after him, leaving Iggy to bring up the rear. While Mario was in not in any way motivated to rescue his sister, he definitely was. He would not rest until she was safe back in her home dimension.