Hello again everyone, welcome back! This chapter took longer than I expected it to, but I think that it was worth it, considering that this is my favourite chapter I have written so far. I hope you enjoy it too!
Very special thanks to StarlitDuck for favouriting me!
Chapter 9: The Darkness
Harry, Gordon, and Lucy worked quickly to remove the baffled heroes from their cages. Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach all glanced in confusion at one another. Mario gave a tiny nod to the other two; they should play along for now. Rosalina was removed from her cage as well, and made to stand in a line with the heroes. Rosalina was in the front of the line, followed by Mario, then Luigi, and lastly, Princess Peach. Harry moved to stand behind them, and Gordon and Lucy flanked them on either side.
Larry Koopa, standing in front, gave them an odd, cold smile.
"Now then, follow me" he said.
Larry turned and walked out of their holding room through the heavy iron door.
"Best behaviour" Harry growled, prodding the Princess lightly in the back.
The small group of prisoners walked slowly out of the room, followed closely by their jailers.
Mario leaned over slightly to Rosalina.
"Rosalina" he whispered. "Do you think you would be able to use your magic to get us out of here. When the time comes, I mean."
"Only a bit of it" Rosalina whispered back. "They took my wand. I can do magic without it, of course, but I would need to find it again before doing anything too big."
They were silent for a moment.
"Did you know he was here" Mario softly asked, nodding at Larry Koopa.
"Yes" Rosalina nodded. "He was who I was trying to tell you about. I don't know why he is here. I have not figured that out."
In the back of the line, Peach was staring over all of the others towards the back of Larry's head.
"This makes no sense" Peach muttered. "There is no way that Larry would do something like this. Why would he help the Dark Star?"
Luigi looked back at the Princess.
"I don't get this either" he whispered. "Bowser's kid, helping the thing that his dad killed. Why would you possibly do that?"
Peach shook her head. "I know Larry. He's a cheat, he's a trickster, but he has no desire to make his own evil plans. Every time I've seen him, he seems happy in the castle, happy working in Bowser's command; why would he leave that?"
Luigi opened his mouth to respond, but Harry interrupted him.
"Alright, that's enough chitchat. If you have something to say, share it with the class, got it?" Harry spat.
"Yeah, what do you guys know anyway" Gordon laughed. "The green one's shirt is on backwards, he can't even get that right."
Luigi scowled.
The small group continued their march down the dark halls of wherever it was that they were being held. The hallways were dimly lit, the only light provided by burning torches placed sparingly along the walls. There were no other people, minions or otherwise, in sight.
At one point, they passed a small set of stairs that led up to a trap door on the ceiling above them. Mario stared at it as they passed by; he would have to remember that that was here.
Finally, shortly passed the staircase, the small group stopped in front of a small, wooden door. Between the mismatched planks of wood and the way that it barely fit into the door frame, it looked as though it had only recently been thrown together. Larry Koopa pulled a silver key out of his… pocket? No one really had any idea where koopas held their items.
Larry put the key into the door and turned it. The door swung open with an obnoxious groaning noise. Larry stepped inside the room, and the heroes were shoved in after. The trio of minions made to follow, but Larry held up his hand.
"Leave me with them" he said.
The minions frowned.
"Are - are you sure that that's a good idea, boss" Lucy asked, looking uncharacteristically concerned. "What if they try to attack you. That would be four against-"
"I am perfectly well equipped to handle myself" Larry said flatly. "I suggest that you simply do as you're told, and do not concern yourself with matters such as these."
The trio of minions shifted uneasily, until Harry spoke up.
"Come on guys, let's go, we have orders."
The trio closed the door. Larry strolled over and locked it again. He turned back to his four captives.
"Now then" he said. "Let's get down to —"
"You're not Larry" Peach interrupted.
She said it with such certainty, such conviction, that it was hard not to believe her.
Larry smirked. "So, figured it out so soon" Larry said cooly. "Well, I'm afraid that you're right, but you are also very wrong." Larry's voice started to take on a lower pitch. "See, this is Larry Koopa that stand in front of you, but not the Larry Koopa who you used to know. No, this Larry Koopa has met with power, he has met with greatness, he has met with… the darkness."
"You're possessing him" Rosalina said, in a surprisingly shaky sounding voice. "You're the Dark Star."
There was a moment of silence as the heroes each tried to process what they now realized to be standing before them.
"Possessing is such a dirty sounding word" 'Larry' laughed. His face then turned into a frown. "No, not truly possessing. I am merely influencing the boy, helping him sort out all of the great ideas he has." Larry's voice quite suddenly dropped back to its normal pitch. "The Dark Star itself is over there."
Larry pointed over to what looked to be a giant pool carved into the stone brick flooring.
"Go on, take a look" he said mockingly.
Larry kept his arm levelled at the pool, staring at the heroes in expectation. Glancing at each other apprehensively, they walked over to the large, circular chasm that was carved into the brick flooring. As one, they leaned over the edge and looked down.
In the hole sat a pitch black chest. Light seemed to be cast away from it all together, as the chest was not reflective in any way. It was so dark, that the heroes would not have been able to see it at mall, if not for the fact that a small glass panel was atop the chest. And though that glass panel, stared the dark red, hateful eyes of the Dark Star.
"See" Larry said. "The Dark Star is resting there, but he will awaken again, and he will rise anew!"
Peach turned back to the Koopaling standing behind her.
"Larry" she said softly. "You don't have to listen to what that… thing, tells you to do. You can-"
"SILENCE!" Larry screamed in an unnaturally thunderous voice. A look of pain flashed in Larry's eyes, but was quickly gone. "You can not understand what has been gained. You can not understand the Darkness."
"Enough of this" Mario cut in. He stepped in front of the others, squaring off directly with the koopaling - if Larry even could be called a Koopaling anymore - standing in front of him.
"It doesn't matter what you try to take, Dark Star" Mario said in a decisive sounding tone. "I doesn't matter if you take Koopalings or even comets, we will knock you back out of them all, and throw you back into the prison you came from."
"So, you know about the comet then" Larry said, ignoring Mario's declaration. "I was quite proud of that work. Here, if you know so much about it, why not give me a demonstration of your 'power', and then see how weak you are against mine."
As soon as Larry had finished speaking, six Cosmic Clones, all of Mario, leapt from the dark shadows of the room. It had been as if the shadows had been there the whole time, though Mario figured that they hadn't; the Dark Star, Larry, whatever he wanted to be called, had probably just summoned them when he got the idea. The Clones bounded towards the heroes, and Mario noted for the first time how silent these ones were in comparison to the clones he had been chased by in space. There were no shrieks of laughter here, just a deafening silence as the clones came towards their prey.
"Good luck with them" Larry smiled. "I do hope at least some of you survive this one. It would be an awful damper on my plans if you all died right here."
The clones threw themselves forward on the waiting heroes. Two tackled Luigi to the ground almost immediately, while one bowled over Peach. Two more went for Rosalina, who spun around, evading coming into contact with the Cosmic clones. One tried to grab at Mario, but he ducked under its swing and kicked it at the chest. He then felt a hot flash of pain jolt threw his leg. He had expected this, unfortunately; it had been the same way when he had met the Cosmic Clones in space.
At least the Clone is gone Mario thought, wincing, as he watched the Clone vaporize before his eyes.
"Yes, that's the problem with these things" Larry said, frowning as he watched Rosalina swing around, whacking into a clone and vaporizing it. "There not really all that durable, these Cosmic Clones. Though I did manage to make them a little better. Watch closely now Mario, see how they no longer disappear when they make their own attack."
Larry pointed to where the two clones were hammering away at Luigi on the floor. To Mario's sudden horror, he realized that Larry was right. When he had met these things on his galaxy hopping adventure, they would always disappear if they touched him. Somehow, someway, The Dark Star had changed this fact. The Cosmic Clones may still be weak - it only took Mario one hit to get rid on one - but they now were liable to perform an endless number of their own attacks, until someone took them out.
Mario charged over to where Luigi was struggling on the ground. He balled up his fist and punched the Cosmic Clone of off his brother, trying to ignore the flash of pain in his arm when he made contact with the shadow. The first shadow vaporized, and Luigi swung back onto his feet, stomping on the other clone on his way up, finishing it off as well.
Meanwhile Peach, after struggling with the the Clone that had attacked her for a few moments, trying to avoid letting it's burning fingers come in contact with her again, had finally managed to corner it, and delivered a Sharp jump on its head, finishing it. Only one Clone stood left in the room, and the whole team ran towards it.
"Hmm, that's disappointing" Larry muttered. "I can't let your workout end so soon."
Just as the final clone burst into smoke, six more Clones appeared on all side of the room.
"Are you kidding me" Luigi cried.
Luigi, in typical Luigi fashion, seemed to have all of the bad luck, and most of the Clones charged towards him first. He let out a scream and ran the other way.
Mario darted under the Cosmic Clones's swinging blows and charged straight to Larry. Larry grabbed his wand and shot a black fire ball at Mario. Mario ducked it, and the fire ball sailed over his head where it exploded into a wall, sending bits of rubble raining down on the floor.
Peach went to go help Luigi fight the Cosmic Clones, but was stopped by Rosalina grabbing her arm.
"Wait," Rosalina said. "I know where he put our supplies. We can fight them better if we get my wand."
Peach nodded. "I would like my parasol back as well."
"Let's go" Rosalina said.
The two ran to a back door of the chamber. Peach had not noticed the door until then because of its sleek dark look, which made it blend in almost completely with the shadow covered wall around it.
"How do we open it" Peach asked, realizing that the door was locked.
Rosalina pointed to where Larry was throwing his black fire at Mario.
"Larry!" Peach called, understanding Rosalina's intention.
Larry did not even look over his shoulder as he shot a stream of fire behind him at the two women. If he had only looked, he might have thought better of his decision. Peach and Rosalina dove to the side as the fire ball collided with the door. The door was thrown off of its hinges and fell to the ground as dust and rubble rained down around them.
Larry snarled, now realizing his mistake. He barked a quick order to the Cosmic Clones, who were still all chasing Luigi. Luckily for Luigi, he was given a respite as four of the six clone detached themselves from the group. Peach and Rosalina were already through the open crater where the door once was, and the four Clones followed suit, chasing after the two blonde women.
Mario finally reached Larry and swung a punch at him. Larry nimbly dodged, looking fairly bored with Mario. Mario tried again, and Larry once again ducked under the punch, not batting an eye. Larry then sent a blast of fire at Mario, which Mario barely had time to dodge. The front of his overalls sizzled as the shot flew past.
Frustrated, Mario opted for an odd move. He reached forward, feigning a punch to Larry, and then as the koopaling went to dodge, Mario swung both of his hands down and clasped them around Larry's wand. The Koopaling, for the first time since their battle had begun, looked surprised. He a Mario tugged back and forth on the magic wand, each trying to wrench it out of the others hand while blasts of Magic fired out at random angles.
Luigi, having nearly pinned one of the two Cosmic Clones that were still with him and preparing to deliver a finishing blow, suddenly had to throw himself on the ground as a blast a black lighting struck where he had been standing. The Cosmic Clone that he had been so close to defeating leapt up to its feet and ran towards him, as the other Clone started circling him like a vulture.
"Mama mia" Luigi sighed.
Elsewhere, Peach and Rosalina raced down the back corridors of the fortress, while the four Mario Clones chased after them. Rosalina ran - glided - in front, with Peach following closely behind. Peach did not know where they were going, and they has passed many corridors and doorways, but Rosalina had not slowed once, so Peach followed along. As they ran, the Cosmic Clones seemed to draw nearer, and Peach suddenly felt the terrible reminder that Mario was a much faster runner than she or Rosalina were(1).
"Rosalina, they're catching up" Peach said fearfully.
Rosalina made no response, her head bent forward in concentration as she swiftly glided through the halls. At last she stopped at a plain wooded door and shoved it open. Inside were boxes and boxes of "confiscated materials"; things Larry and the Dark Star had taken from their minions, and now, from their prisoners.
Peach and Rosalina went inside the room, the Cosmic Clones a few feet behind. Peach slammed the door and shoved her body against it, desperately trying to keep it shut. Rosalina began pulling the lids off of the boxes. The Cosmic Clones slammed themselves against the door.
"Hurry" Peach shouted.
Rosalina pulled the lids off of the boxes as fast a she could, only sparring a glance in each of them before moving on. None of the boxes were labeled, making the ordeal much harder for her. She was nearing the back of the room now, she had to be close.
Princess Peach screamed as one of the Cosmic Clones punched through the door, splintering the wood. She shoved as hard as she could against the door, but it was no use, and the door began shaking in its frame as more and more pieces of wood were smashed off. Rosalina ripped open a box, and, finally, found her gaze resting on two items. Thank Goodness.
Despite Peach's best efforts, she could no longer hold the door, and at that very moment it was smashed open. The Princess was sent sprawling on the floor amid a scattering of pieces of wood. She shielded her face as the Clones ran to her.
And then starbits began flying from the back of the room, tearing through the cosmic clones's bodies and vaporizing them into smoke. Peach looked up, and, standing behind her was Rosalina, shining wand raised in front of her like a shield.
"I got this too" Rosalina said, raising up Peach's pink parasol.
Peach breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's get out of here" she said.
Back in the main chamber, Luigi was barely keeping up with his two cosmic clones, that seemed insistent on attacking him on both sides at once, leaving him defenceless. Mario and Larry were now rolling around on the floor, their hands each still firmly grasping onto the wand.
"You know, for the Dark Star, I thought you would be stronger than this, guess I was wrong" Mario snapped.
Larry growled and attempted to shoot a blast of wind at Mario out of the wand. The wind instead misfired and whacked into both Luigi and the two Clones, who all went sailing into the stone wall.
Luigi, dazed but alert, ran over to one of the fallen Cosmic Clones. Before it could stand up, he stomped directly on its head, destroying it.
Luigi let out a victory shout. "Yeah, Luigi number one!" He cheered.
The other Cosmic Clone tackled Luigi.
"Mama mia" Luigi whimpered.
Then, from back through the large hole that had been blown in the wall, Peach and Rosalina reappeared, each now carrying their respective weapons. Rosalina ran towards the exit door, and rubbed her wand between her hands, muttering softly. Peach ran over to Luigi, and whacked the Cosmic Clone with her parasol, flattening it into dust.
Peach helped Luigi to his feet.
"Their, that hurts less than hitting them with your hands" the Princess said happily.
Luigi nodded. His body was sore all over from where he had both hit and been hit by the Clones.
"No!" Larry Koopa suddenly screamed. He flipped Mario under him a stared furiously at Rosalina. "You will not escape!"
Luigi charged over to Larry and, before the Koopaling could do anything, tackled him. Mario, who's hands still had not left the wand, felt Larry's grip loosen. He rolled over and wrenched the wand free from the koopaling's grip. He threw it into the basin holding the Dark Star, far out of Larry's reach, and then turned back to help his brother with he struggling koopa.
Together, Mario and Luigi grabbed at Larry, and after a few well placed punches, threw him hard against the wall, where he weakly sunk to the floor.
At that time, Rosalina finished her spell. A glowing emblem in the shape of a star appeared in front of her, and then slammed forward. The door was blown to pieces.
"Quickly, let's go" Rosalina called.
As Larry tried to regain his stance, the heroes raced out through the new crater. Larry, enraged, screamed insults after them, but the heroes did not slow. They ran back down the hall, and at one point ran passed Harry, Gordon, and Lucy. The trio of minions looked shocked, but the heroes shoved them aside and were quickly gone. They reached the small set of stairs that they had passed on their way earlier, and quickly raced up them. They pushed open the trap door, and found themselves in the base of a tower. They then turned, easily pushing passed the few Goombas that stood guard, and ran through the front doors.
As they ran out the doors into the lush plains beyond, Luigi glanced back at the tower they had come out of.
"Wait a minute" he said slowing slightly. "This is the tower from that adventure. The - the one where the Koopalings hid in Peace's birthday cake!" Seeing the others blank expressions, he continued. "You know, like, World one of New Super Mario Bros. Wii!(2)"
"We'll have time to worry about how we got here later, for now, run!" Mario shouted.
The heroes ran off from the tower into the open fields beyond.
Larry stood at the now broken doorway to the chamber of the Dark Star, dazed, but otherwise alright. Actually, he felt pretty good. There was something oddly soothing about the air around, comforting him, holding him close and secure. Why should he worry about anything? His head felt full and foggy, like it feels when you wake up from a long sleep and you are not fully awake yet. Larry did not mind the feeling. Somehow, he felt like he had more energy than he had in a long time.
And his ideas, his plans, they were better than ever. Better than Ludwig of Iggy's ideas, even! He did not need the others anymore because he was simply so far above them. With him and his ideas alone, nothing could stand in his way!
Of course, he was not truly alone. There was of course, his dark and withdrawn friend below, but that was fine. Of course it was fine. His friend only was helping him achieve greatness in the eyes of the others, helping him to stand out. Larry would help his dark friend with his goals, and his friend would help him put his ideas into motion.
But they weren't his ideas. Not really, not when they had been dragged along so much by another. Somewhere, deep inside of Larry's head, a voice was screaming at him to wake up from this nightmarish slumber. But every time that voice came, every time its nagging doubts and fears began to eat at him, another voice would fill its place. A low, thunderous voice that shook his thoughts from their perches and scattered them back into the void that they had come from.
Larry sighed, returning his attention to the hole in the wall. There is work yet to be done he thought bitterly.
It was at that moment when three over eager minions came speeding down the corridor and came to a halt in front of Larry.
"Master Larry" Harry spoke fearfully. "The prisoners have escaped."
Larry made a show of looking around the room. "Really" he asked mockingly, "I hadn't noticed."
The tall green wiggler looked embarrassed, and Gordon and Lucy shifted nervously next to him. "Y-yes, of course, sir. Shall we… help with cleanup, then?"
The wiggler gestured to the rubble in the Dark Star chamber. Larry grimaced; he could not have the others knowing what was in that room. Only he was allowed to know that.
"That won't be necessary, it doesn't matter what condition this room is in" said Larry, hurrying his minions out of the room. "No one should enter that area until I give the word, understood?"
The minions nodded.
Larry smiled coldly. "Good. In the meantime, let's get back to work."
Larry ushered the minions back down the hallway.
Behind them, ever so slightly, the Dark Star shifted.
(1): In Super Mario 3D World, Rosalina is the slowest runner, followed by Peach. Considering this, I figured that the Clones of Mario would match Mario's running speed, and therefore, be faster than Peach and Rosalina.
(2): This refers to World 1-Tower in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This was the first appearance of the Koopalings in about six years.
If Larry seems OOC here, don't worry, that is very much intentional. Slight possession can do that to a person.
I mentioned this on my profile already, but this story is going a short hiatus so I can focus on finishing Neverfall. It shouldn't be too long though, only a few weeks.
See you next time!
