ILikeLemonChicken: I'll be straight up with you, I don't have plans on redoing this story. I agree with a lot of your criticisms honestly, and the way I see it now, I feel like it's kinda too late to 'fix' those errors since we're nearing the end so I'm leaving everything as it is. Main reason being is that this massive story has been a project goal of mine to finish for many years now and I want to finally complete it. I'll explain more about my thought process of all this in the bonus chapters, once the story is finished. But thank you for taking the time to properly review, it means a lot!
Mushroom Corporations Group: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, DK, Dixie, Toadette, Goombella, Kooper, Parakarry, Spike/Paper-Yoshi, Vivian, Bowser, Larry, Wario, Pauline, Mona, Starlow, Grodus, Lord Crump, Boshi, Bleck/Blumiere, Fly Guy, Kody, E. Gadd, Rosalina, Monty Mole, Mimi, Toadari, Tadano, Paraklyde
Hospital group: Toadsworth, Bowser Jr., Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Clawdia, Toodles
Island group: Tatanga, Beldam, Roy, Doopliss, Dimentio, Diddy, Fire Bro/Konnor
Moon: TEC
MUSHROOM CORPORATIONS - 6TH FLOOR
Toadari flung open the closet door…and saw nothing. Just a bunch of boxes on shelves and some cleaning supplies tucked away in the corner. However, he did see a sheet in the corner next to the cleaning supplies that looked like it was covering something big. Toadari chuckled a little at this.
"Really? C'mon Mario…you're more elusive than that. But I suppose your cunning tricks and plans must run out sooner or later! You're not untouchable like you think you are!" Toadari mocked then waved the star rod around and pointed to the sheet. A red light ray shot from the rod and hit the sheet, disintegrating it…revealing nothing but more cleaning supplies.
"What the hell!? Did you turn invisible somehow!?" Toadari shouted in confusion, wondering where the hell he could be.
BANG!
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Toadari screamed and fell to the floor, feeling a sudden and immensely sharp pain in his arm and the noise of a bullet infiltrating the air.
It was Mario, who came from the room next to the closet. He quickly ran over to Toadari, stumbling a little due to his injured foot, and frantically shot another bullet.
"OHHHHH YOU FUCKEEEEEEER! AAAAGGGGH!" Toadari screamed bloody murder as the bullet hit his torso, dropping the Star Rod now. This was Mario's chance to nab it, but before he could do anything else, two toad soldiers came from the elevator and jumped Mario. One of them punched Mario repeatedly in the stomach while the other got on his back and tried to strangle him. Mario roared angrily, a little taken aback by this sudden disruption, but he had to not let that stop him.
He backed up into the wall, making the toad on his back hit the back of his head and loosen his grip a little. Mario then bit into the toad's arm as hard as he could, making it bleed a little and also making the toad scream out in pain, loosening his grip further. Mario then pulled the trigger on the toad who was punching him, sending him to the floor with a hole in his chest, then elbowed the toad on him, made a quick turnaround and shot him in the head. Mario then turned back around and saw the other toad struggling to stand up then shot him in the head as well.
Mario turned to his right and saw that Toadari was, unsurprisingly, gone with the Crystal Star Rod taken with him. Mario grunted in frustration and took off the rainboot that he found in the closet that he put on his left foot in order to not leave a blood trail on the floor. He went into the closet and grabbed his left shoe that he hid in one of the boxes and put it back on, feeling more comfortable in it despite the bloody mess.
Mario remembered that the rest of his friends were checking out the 3rd and 2nd floors, so he decided to head down there to reunite with them and track down Toadari and end this madness once and for all…until he also remembered the arwings. They were on the same floor he was on. That's when he had a lightbulb moment.
Mario bolted down the hallway and made it to where the arwings were stored. He entered the room and rushed over to the closest one to him and got inside.
"WARNING! WARNING! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! ACTIVATING EMERGENCY OFFENSE!" yelled a robotic voice from the speakers.
"SHIT! AAAAGGGH!" Mario shrieked and turned on the arwing as quickly as he could. The arwing began to float and Mario floored the arwing, heading straight for the sole glass window. Mario braced for impact, but luckily the arwing broke through the window easily and cleanly as bullets were heard ringing from the room.
3RD FLOOR - ROSALINA, GRODUS, CRUMP, DAISY, TOADETTE, DIXIE, VIVIAN, SPIKE, YOSHI, MONTY, FLY GUY
"Starlow…hey. You okay? When you were in that room…did they…" Luigi asked gently, alluding to the horror that he didn't want to say out loud if it was true. Starlow stood there over the dead body of the morally corrupt toad she shot. Even though the toad was now gone forever, Starlow was still livid that she experienced what she did.
Starlow turned to Luigi a little without looking at him and responded, "No. He was close…but no. Fly Guy came in at the right time. So thank you, Fly Guy…you too, Luigi. For killing that other guy."
"You're very welcome! Happy to obliterate any fuckers that mess with us and our goal of stopping the conquering! Now, if only they had a chainsaw here…THAT would make the combing through of this place all the more fun and well-deserved!" Fly Guy cheered.
"Err, hehe, right, but definitely wanna be careful with that chainsaw there, though!" Monty responded with a nervous chuckle.
"Well, good, Starlow. I'm glad that asshole didn't go there with you. Really," Pauline stated with a nod. Starlow nodded at her back with the tiniest of a relieving smile, feeling like Pauline understood her current emotions.
"Okay, as much as we should rejoice over this, we gotta hurry on down to the basement! Who knows what other kind of crazy shit Paraklyde and his goons are planning!?" Crump heeded as he quickly walked to the elevator and pushed the down button.
"Well, it'd definitely have to do with that machine down there. That combined with the Crystal Star Rod…ooh. I don't even wanna think about what they'll do with those two. But yes, let's hurry!" Vivian pointed out urgently.
"WAIT! Sorry, but Mario! He might still be on the 6th floor! I know every second counts right now, but we NEED to see if Mario is okay before we go down there! PLEASE!" Peach demanded with Luigi nodding immediately.
"Crap, I can't believe I forgot about Mario! Also, there's the rest of our group on the second floor…we also should check if they're okay before we hit the basement," Daisy added.
"Okay, I've got an idea. Me, Peach, and Daisy will head up to the 6th floor to find Mario. Anyone who wants to come with us can, but there needs to be at least a few of you to go down to the 2nd floor to check on the others and then go to the basement. Sounds good!?" Luigi proposed with everyone immediately nodding.
"Oh crap…I don't think the elevator is working!" Crump yelled, pushing the down button a few more times, realizing the button wasn't even lighting up and there was no movement heard from the elevator.
"Not at all surprised. Paraklyde figured we'd use it to go down there, so looks like we're using the stairs!" Dixie exclaimed.
"UGH!" Spike yelled, pushing and kicking the door to the stairwell with all his might, but it wasn't budging one bit. "What the hell, this damn door is stuck! Rosalina, are you able to use magic on this to get it open!?"
"I…think I can…hold on…" Rosalina tiredly responded and dragged herself to the door, but Grodus held onto her.
"Oh no no no! Hold on, we'll use my magic too to get it open! Can't risk you draining yourself completely before the final battle!" Grodus insisted. Rosalina nodded in agreement and held onto him tightly, focusing on both her and his energies.
"Okay…fair enough. Touch the door, Grodus…" Rosalina ordered softly and the two walked to the stairwell door and they both touched the handle. Rosalina focused more intensely on her and Grodus' energies and mustered up the strength that she had in that moment to make the door slam open. Rosalina nearly fell over, feeling slightly weaker, but Grodus caught her, also feeling a moment of weakness.
"Thank you, Grodus. I really needed that assist...okay...let's go! Quick as we can!" Rosalina ordered.
Toadette was the first one out to head into the stairwell, when suddenly, she stopped and stood there in fright when, in the stairwell, she saw smoke filtering throughout.
"Uhh, guys!? You see this, right!?" Toadette shrieked, pointing to the smoke, with everyone quickly observing it too, seeing the smoke rise from the bottom.
"Well, SHIT. How much you wanna bet that that's 'knock-out' smoke right there? Looks and even smells like the stuff I used back in the day to knock my foes out!" Crump pointed out.
"Rosalina, sorry to keep asking you for more magical help, but is there any way you have enough strength to make the smoke go away!?" Monty nervously asked.
"Is there another stairwell on the other side of this hallway!? I don't wanna risk draining Rosalina further right before we face off with Paraklyde and whoever else," Grodus insisted.
"You know, there probably is. Let's find out! COME ON!" Yoshi commanded and led the group down the hallway to the other side.
They ran and ran, under the pressure of time ticking away, knowing that each second lost is another second that Toadari and his lackies have the advantage over taking the victory for themselves.
They passed by more labs and office rooms until they made it to the other side of the hallway where a single door was. Yoshi carefully opened it and saw that it was indeed a stairwell...but something was off. The stairwell felt incredibly hot.
"What the...why does it feel like hot in here!?" Yoshi asked, entering the stairwell with everyone else feeling the odd and intense heat as well. They all looked down the railing and gasped when they saw that the bottom of the stairwell was on fire.
"That's gotta be the basement that's on fire there. Well...crap. Another thing blocking our way!" Spike roared in annoyance, wondering what the hell went down while they were upstairs.
"Okay, we're losing too much time! We'll just have to find an alternative way into the basement! Me, Peach, and Daisy will go to the 6th floor, the rest of you to the 2nd floor! Once you guys all reunite, head straight for the basement, do NOT wait for us!" Daisy ordered with everyone else nodding with no questioning. The gang split.
2ND FLOOR - BOWSER, LARRY, KODY, GOOMBELLA, E. GADD, BLECK, MIMI, PARAKARRY, KOOPER, MONA, WARIO, BOSHI, TADANO
The explosion in the office made everyone's ears ring plus smoke filled the air. Everyone coughed like crazy, quickly realizing they had just escaped from being nearly wiped out in the sudden explosion. Everyone stood up and made sure that everyone was accounted for, doing their best to see through the smoke and waiting for their hearing to come back.
"Ahhhh...a fucking detonator was in there!? SERIOUSLY!?" Boshi yelled, trying to see if everyone else was alive.
"Larry...hey! HEY! You okay!?" Bowser yelled, shaking his son who was seemingly knocked out from the sudden escape of being pushed to the floor and loud noise. Larry coughed and slowly opened his eyes.
"Dad...what the...are we...dead?" Larry asked, seeing his father's worried face with smoke everywhere.
"No no, son! We're alive thanks to Bleck. An explosive went off in the office...he got us out just in time. We're still alive! Still fucking alive," Bowser rejoiced a little and gave him a quick hug.
"Oooogh...hey...wh-where's E. Gadd!? He...he was in the office!? E. GADD!? GAAAAAAAADD!" Bleck screamed, thinking that he may have been too late in saving him from the explosion.
"Hey...um...guys? That's...him over there..." Tadano spoke in fright, shakily pointing a few feet away from the explosive site. They indeed saw E. Gadd laying on the floor, motionless, with his coat caught on fire and his whole body gray from debris dust along with some visible cuts throughout from the shrapnel of the explosion..
"NO! E. GADD! NOOOOOO!" Bleck wailed in despair, tears filling his eyes. They all ran over to him with major worry while Bleck waved his hands vigorously, magically fanning the flames away.
Kooper knelt down to E. Gadd and turned his body over on his back, seeing the damage done to him. Everyone else gathered around Kooper, hoping to hear good news, but it seemed pretty obvious that E. Gadd was a goner.
"Is he..." Kody started but couldn't finish, his voice catching in his throat and his vision beginning to blur a little.
E. Gadd coughed, signaling his consciousness. The others gasped in surprise and relief when they saw he was still alive...but just barely.
"Ohhhh...guys..." E. Gadd weakly spoke. Everyone scooted closer to hear him. "I...ah...don't...try to save me...this time...please..."
"E. Gadd, we gotta get you outta here! You'll be fine! C'mon! Please stay with us!" Mimi encouraged.
E. Gadd slowly shook his head. "No...I'll s-slow you down...but...take...the book...please...if it's not too burnt..."
"What!? The...book..." Goombella yelped confusedly, then saw the book in his head. It was somewhat scorched, but she took it and saw it was mostly intact and legible still.
"E. Gadd, just STOP, okay!? We'll get Rosalina to heal you like she did last time! We just gotta find her and the others, heal you back up, then kill those fuckers and you'll be there with us to see Tatanga go down!" Boshi urged. E. Gadd slowly shook his head again.
"No. I mean it. Leave me...*coughs and hacks* but...don't...leave my laboratory...all alone...and if you're able to...go there...before you...g-go to Tatanga...please..." E. Gadd was adamant in his decision, but also surprised the others with his mentioning of his lab.
"Your lab? Wait, why the hell are we going there? E. Gadd...this is really what you want? After everything?" Parakarry asked.
E. Gadd slowly nodded and coughed and hacked some more. "Yes...please...I'm...glad to...have helped you all..."
"No...no no no no no! E. Gadd...NO!" Mona yelled, nearly crying.
The door to the stairwell slammed open and in came everyone else from the 3rd floor. Both groups saw each other instantly. One group was beyond relieved to see the others alive...but that relief didn't last long when they saw the obvious tragedy before them.
"E. Gadd...no...GADD!" Starlow cried, flying over to the old man as fast as she could. She landed beside him and gently held his hand, trying her best not to cry, but a few tears came anyway.
"What the hell happened here!? Did a fucking bomb go off!?" Spike shrieked.
"Yeah, pretty much. Poor E. Gadd got caught in the explosion...I was just a few seconds late in saving him...DAMNIT!" Bleck cried in self-blame.
"Rosalina, is it possible to revive him like you did when he was shot!? Or...no...you don't have the power right now for that, do you?" Wario asked, but then saw how drained and weak Rosalina seemed, confirming his fears.
"I'm sorry...it'll take too much energy to do that...energy and power I don't have right now..." Rosalina confirmed.
E. Gadd coughed again, bringing attention back to him. "Go on...please...save...everyone...and...take care...of my lab...p...lea...se..."
E. Gadd then stopped moving as his eyes slowly closed. Starlow gasped and immediately put her ear against his chest, not hearing any breathing or heartbeat.
"No...oh no no no no no! E. Gadd...AAAAGGGHHH!" Starlow screamed angrily and cried further. Everyone was either speechless or crying, but no one dared to look away.
"E. Gadd...damnit...we're so sorry you couldn't make it to the end," Kooper said while sobbing a little.
"Umm...hey...where's Mario? And Peach? And...Luigi and Daisy!?" Parakarry pointed out, noticing the obvious people not with them.
"They're on the 6th floor. They told us to find you guys without them and head to the basement, because that's where Paraklyde is going, for the machine. And...I see you all found Tadano too," Vivian also pointed out, bringing attention to the twin alien, who looked away a little shyly.
"Yep. They did. And I found out I have a disease that'll kill me in the years to come. Hoo-fucking-ray," Tadano spat.
"Uhh, what? You being serious right now?" Dixie asked confusedly.
"Okay! I know we lost another friend, but no more time can be wasted! We gotta get to the basement and the other four will just have to meet us down there! So let's do this NOW!" Bowser demanded.
"WAIT! What about DK!? I just realized he's missing too!" Kody added.
"DK...oh! He was with us upstairs! But then this weird, supernatural goop got everyone stuck and I saved everyone, but I think I saw the monkey man stumble out into the stairs! We have no time to search for him right now, so he'll have to hopefully find us in the basement too!" Fly Guy explained.
"Damn. Alright, that's what we'll have to do then! Okay, let's get a move on then!" Larry hurried, but Pauline stopped them.
"HOLD ON! We can't go down the stairs because there's a fire at the bottom of the stairwell right now. Bleck, can you use your magic to get the elevator up and running!?" she asked.
"Yes, I think I can. But...someone needs to grab E. Gadd and take him with us. We shouldn't leave him here," Bleck said, feeling the guilt of not saving him in time weigh on him.
"I'll carry him. NOW LET'S GO!" Bowser yelled, picking up E. Gadd, as everyone ran to the elevator. Bleck began to chant his spell to get the elevator running...but then everyone heard the sound of running coming from their right side. They turned and saw a group of toads charging for them.
"You ruin our place of work!? WE'LL FUCKING KILL YOU IN COLD BLOOD! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" screeched one of the toads.
"GET THEM! GET THEM NOW! SHOOT AND KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!" another one commanded.
"But, wait, Toadari said we shouldn't kill them, because they-" one of the toads began to speak, but the first toad that spoke cut him off.
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHAT TOADARI SAID! WE'RE GETTING RID OF THEEEEEM!" he roared.
"FUCK! You'll have to get them while I get this elevator to work!" Bleck demanded.
"I'm not afraid! COME ON GUYS!" Kooper shouted and went in to battle with some of the others.
Kooper used his Shell Toss move to knock one of the toads down, then Parakarry came in for the swoop using his Shell Shot move and bashed the same toad's head open. Bowser unleashed his flame breath, setting fire to a couple of toads. Wario shot the toads that were on fire just in case they were to run towards the group and tried to set any one of them aflame as well. The shot toads fell to the floor and died almost instantly. Boshi flutter jumped and managed to shoot a few more toads in the heads, splattering blood and bits of brains everywhere. One of the toads shot a gun repeatedly and it hit Pauline in the shoulder, making her scream bloody murder and fall to the floor. Some of the others came to her aid while the same toad that shot her reached the group and was about to pull the trigger once more...until Larry kicked him in the side, throwing him against the wall and then Larry bit hard into his neck, making it bleed and ripped off a tiny piece. The toad screamed for dear mercy, but Mona shut him up by stabbing a shard of glass that she found on the floor into his throat and then his heart. There was one last toad, the same one who was hesitant in killing them because of what Toadari said. He put his hands up and fell to his knees, shaking and crying a little.
"Ohhhhh god...p-please don't kill me! PLEASE! I surrender! I'll do anything you want! T-Toadari said not to kill you all a-and I tried telling them that, but they clearly wouldn't listen!" he yelped.
The group's expressions made it clear that they didn't buy what he was selling. Yoshi stepped forward, glaring at him directly in the eyes, scaring the toad even further. The dino then kicked him in the chest, sending the rest of his body to the floor and making him cry out even more. Yoshi then snatched his gun from the toad's holster and examined it.
"Got any more weapons on you?" Yoshi asked.
"N-No, that's it! I SWEAR!" he shrieked.
"Good," Yoshi replied, then aimed the gun at the toad and shot him in the arm.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH! OH MY GOD! FUUUUUUUUUCK!" screamed the toad.
"Now, get out of here before we change our minds! And that shot in the arm was because you still contributed to Toadari's bullshit cause at the end of the day. NOW GO!" Yoshi yelled. The toad cried then ran like hell to the stairwell.
"Damn. I would've just shot him point blank in the forehead just to be on the safe side...but to each their own, ya know!" Fly Guy said with a shrug.
"PAULINE! Can you stand up!? Oh gosh..." Vivian cried.
"Ahhhh...I...oh...think so..." Pauline groaned and cringed, getting the help from Vivian and Mimi to stand up properly.
"Shoot shoot shoot, she's losing a lot of blood! Rosalina...ummm...again, so sorry to ask about this once more, but do you have the power to heal her yet!?" Monty squealed in panic.
"I'm...I'm so sorry...but no. I'm not there yet!" Rosalina wept in disappointment, so badly wanting to help, but knew it would push her to her limit if she tried to heal her.
"Oooogh...Rosalina...it's...fine. I'll be fine. Is the damn elevator working now!?" Pauline asked, gripping her gunshot wound.
"GOT IT!" Bleck shouted, and the elevator lit up and opened instantly.
"Okay, everyone inside! It's gonna be a tight squeeze but we'll make it work!" Dixie yelled and everyone did indeed squeeze into there.
"Pauline, you're gonna be okay! Do we have anything to press against her wound right now!?" Wario asked.
"Agh...here. Sorry, it's the best we can do right now!" Bowser said, taking off E. Gadd's partly scorched lab coat and giving it to her.
"It's fine...thanks..." Pauline whispered and pressed it against the wound.
Then, generic elevator music began to play. Some groans were heard.
"Seriously!? As if this place wasn't so horrible already!" Spike yelled.
"Are we surprised though? I mean, actually surprised?" Kody asked.
"It's, like, almost as bad as the gunshot noises. Yikes..." Goombella shuddered.
"Hey you. When we get out of here and kill these bastards and then kill Tatanga, we should do a girl's day. Us, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Mona, Toadette, Dixie, Starlow and...Goombella. I've never had a girl's day before, so I think it'd be so fun. What do you say?" Vivian whispered to Pauline, hoping it would cheer her up a little in the moment.
"Yes, that...that sounds great...when we get home, we'll have to...do that..." Pauline said, starting to get a little woozy.
"Hey...hey! Pauline, stay with us!" Vivian said, trying to shake her a little, but then she noticed the blood pouring through E. Gadd's coat. "Oh crap. She's losing too much blood!"
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Come on, Bleck! You better do your magic on this thing and make it go faster than it already is! Pauline needs our help now!" Boshi cried.
"Boshi, we're already here! LOOK!" Bleck yelled and pointed to the top, showing the B button lit up. A 'BING!' noise was heard and the doors opened. They were in a long hallway with only three doors. The door at the end was clearly the stairwell door as they saw flames and smoke coming from it. The door to their left was closed while the door on the right was opened with a lot of yelling and strange, mechanical noises from it. They had to check it out. Everyone's nerves rose again immediately.
6TH FLOOR
Peach, Daisy, and Luigi ran upstairs to the last location Peach had seen Mario. Once they made it, the door had been left wide open.
"Mario!? MARIO!?" Peach yelled, running to Toadari's office with Daisy and Luigi in tow. She slowed down when she saw the bodies of two toad soldiers laying there with blood splattered everywhere in the area.
"Oh man, a fight definitely went down here! But so far, no sign of Mario...and that's actually a good thing! That means he wasn't killed or so brutally hurt that didn't get very far," Daisy pointed out, hoping to uplift the other two a little.
"Yeah, 'so far' though, Dais. We gotta check every room on this damn floor for him! And if he isn't up here, then we just gotta head to the basement and hope he's down there with everyone else!" Luigi said in stress.
Peach checked out Toadari's office real quick...but nothing was there. She exited and realized there were a few papers on the floor. She picked them up and realized they were the machine papers that Mario stole from the drawer. She scanned the papers real quick just to see if anything stood out...and there was one thing. One paper had both the drawing of the machine, looking fully completed and writing underneath the drawing.
Peach read the text outloud to herself: "Upon entering the machine and inputting the correct order of command controls, the user will be warped to an alternate dimension of the Mushroom Kingdom. In case of SEVERE emergency, though...should we bring the monster to this dimension? Reminder to set up meeting to discuss this!"
Peach nearly dropped the papers upon reading that. She wasn't too surprised of hearing about another alternate dimension, this adventure has been chock full of them. But the mention of 'the monsters' being potentially brought here unnerved her greatly.
"HEY! I've checked all the rooms down this way! No sign of him! What about you guys!?" Luigi called out, running back to Peach from her right.
"No sign of him either down here...but, I did find the arwing room! Bullet holes everywhere! And there's a window broken open...wonder what happened in there? I didn't see any blood splatters so probably safe to say Mario or whoever was in there wasn't shot," Daisy explained.
"Peach, what do you got there?" Luigi asked, noticing the papers and her concerned expression.
"Um...papers for the machine in the basement. It's a bunch of the drawings and blueprints and stuff...but, um, look at THIS paper. Please!" Peach urged and handed Luigi the paper. He and Daisy skimmed it.
"Woah. Wh...what? So...it warps to an alternate dimension of the kingdom...and there's a monster they might bring back here!? SERIOUSLY!?" Luigi shrieked, exhausted from all these twists and turns.
"And the way this person wrote it implies they've already encountered this monster previously. So they know it's bad enough to cause some major destruction if they're wanting to trade places. Well...SHIT! Another obstacle we gotta comb through!" Daisy grunted.
"We gotta go down there with the others and just hope Mario's down there too. Something he tells me he escaped and that he's okay, though...I really feel that," Peach stated.
"Me too. My brother knows his way out of even the most difficult of situations. Alright...let's-a go!" Luigi said.
BASEMENT
The gang exited the elevator and saw fire and smoke coming from the stairwell door on the opposite side of the hallway. Suddenly, they heard a loud, screeching, robotic-like noise coming from the room to their right. They ran in and gasped when they saw the enormous machine in there, along with thankfully seeing DK...and also a bright white light coming from what looked to be the machine.
"WHAT THE FUCK!? DK, WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Kooper yelled, the whirring noise blaring through everyone's ears.
"I DON'T KNOW! PARAKLYDE WAS HERE AND...WOAH! LOOK! WHEN DID HE GET HERE!?" DK loudly replied and pointed to Toadari who was a few feet in front of him, holding the Crystal Star Rod up in the air.
"I WISH TO REVERSE THIS! REVERSE IT ALL! PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASE!" Toadari screamed, shielding his eyes from the bright light.
Luigi, Peach, and Daisy then entered the room and also saw the madness that was happening.
"WOAH! Look, it's Toadari! We gotta snag that star rod NOW!" Luigi yelled.
Wario aimed his handgun at Toadari the best he could and shot him in the back, knocking him down to the floor and dropping the Crystal Star Rod.
Daisy saw this then yelled, "TIMESLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"
Everything was now in slow motion. The whirring sound was reduced to a slow, heavy, grating noise as Daisy shrieked from her body becoming weak from the Timeslow side effect.
Peach sprinted over to Toadari and kicked him over on his back, the toad gripping his exit wound and crying a little, looking defeated.
"You fool. That is the one thing the Crystal Star Rod can't do! It can't reverse time!" Peach said while grabbing the mystical item and pointed it at him.
"Was worth...a fucking shot...fuck. Do it. Destroy me. It's all too late. You got your wish," Toadari said while cringing in pain.
Peach leered at him and spoke, "I wish...I wish you were d-"
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
"WOAH! What the fuck was that noise!?" Boshi screeched.
Peach darted her head to her right and saw that the white light was beginning to fade. Peach backed away a little in fright as the white light faded more and more...until it revealed a giant hole in the wall right where the machine was. In the hole was also a red mist flowing out into the room from it.
"Uhh, where did the machine go!? Toadari...what's happening!?" DK yelled.
"It's...oh no...the machine opened a portal...to a dimension...we were gonna...ahm...escape there...but...I think the monster is coming...I can feel its footsteps shaking the earth..." Toadari responded in clear fear.
"Oh that's just fucking great, another thing in our way! What is this monster then!?" Dixie yelled.
Toadari laughed a little as he coughed up a little blood and said, "Well...in our dimension...there's Darktail the dragon...in the other dimension...there's...Twintail..."
"WHAT!? Twintail!? So...two dragons!?" Toadette yelped.
"Heh...something like that..." Toadari snickered, staring intensely into the hole.
Loud footsteps were heard and felt. Peach got in a readying stance with the star rod, preparing to make a move when the time was right.
The footsteps became more and more prominent as everyone else became more and more nervous yet more and more anticipated to see this 'Twintail' dragon.
Then it arrived. The dragon appeared in view. It was a jet black dragon that resembled Darktail...but this dragon has two heads. It crawled through the hole and let out a piercing roar, deafening everyone in the room momentarily.
"AAAAAAGGGGHHH! PEACH, USE THE STAR ROD! NOOOOOOW!" Bowser yelled.
"DIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!" Peach screamed at the top of her lungs, and aimed the star rod at Twintail. A bright red beam shot from the tip of the rod and struck Twintail in its chest. Twintail made another piercing roar, and one head spewed out flames all over the place whereas another one spewed out black acid. Everyone else screamed and scattered about, desperately trying to avoid the flames and acid.
"SHIIIIT, RUN FOR IT!" Spike screamed and bolted back out into the hallway with some of the others. The black acid landed on some of the floor and walls, disintegrating the spots it landed on whereas the flames set fire to some of the boxes that were in there.
Luigi grabbed Daisy, who was still weakened by the Timeslow ability, and tried to bring her out of there, but the lovers tripped over each other and landed on the ground. Luigi looked up and yelped when he saw the black acid heading straight for him and Daisy. He didn't think they could escape in time.
But then in came Pauline who covered the two, taking the brunt of the acid. Pauline made a bloodcurdling scream as the acid signed her back and she fell to the floor, shaking greatly as if she was having a seizure.
"NOOOO, PAULIIIIINE! WE NEED HEEEEELP!" Luigi roared, coming to her side and bringing Daisy with, as Pauline began to foam at the mouth.
Peach ducked and fell over trying to evade the flames, dropping the star rod accidentally. She rolled over on her back in a fast attempt to get up but then froze when she saw some black acid heading straight for her. She scrambled to grab the star rod, but was stopped again by something else.
"SHIELD!" Rosalina yelled, creating a magical barrier which deflected the black acid from Peach. The princess looked back at her friend and smiled and giggled in relief at being saved. Peach then quickly focused back on the objective and shot another beam at Twintail, this time at the neck of the right head. There was another roar from both heads again, spewing more black acid and flames about.
"Rosalina, we need to get rid of the flames and acid AND the damn dragon, otherwise this whole room will be destroyed in seconds!" Grodus frantically yelled, running to her with Bleck.
"Both of you, grab my shoulders and focus all your energy onto me!" Rosalina commanded and they followed suit. Bleck touched her left shoulder and Grodus touched her right shoulder. Rosalina then touched the Star Rod as Peach was still aiming it at Twintail, then Rosalina began her chant.
"Stars, eliminate this beast from the other world! USE OUR POWER WITHIN US AND THE ROD, AND LET IT BE UNFURLED!" Rosalina shouted, then the beam from the star rod became massive and it engulfed both heads of Twintail, making the beast screech once more. Twintail's screech slowly faded as the beam disintegrated its entire body, turning the dragon into nothing but a big pile of black dust. Rosalina, Grodus, Bleck, and Peach let out a groan, that spell taking a big load of energy out of them and made them collapse to the floor in exhaustion.
"Ohhhhhh! Oh...we...did it...finally..." Bleck panted and sighed tiredly and in relief.
"Heh...heh heh heh...well...you got what you wanted...but...I don't regret a...single fucking thing...my legacy...all that I built...will live on forever..." Toadari said while chuckling and also coughing and hacking up more blood.
Peach struggled to get up as she stumbled and walked over to Toadari, looking down on him. Some of the others went over to him as well.
"Wow. Even in your final moments...you're still delusional as hell. And just so you know, your little 'legacy' is going to be destroyed after we leave here. So all that work you put in over the years...gone just like that. Sucks, doesn't it!?" Kooper teased with a smirk.
"But you'll remember everything I did. How I...oggghhh...messed with your heads and...made you feel like you couldn't trust anyone and turned you...ugh...into bitter shells of your former selves. Heh. Man...you're all so fucking miserable now...brings me joy to know that I helped with that," Toadari said proudly, further disgusting everyone else.
"Okay, you're boring all of us now!" Peach yelled then flipped the star rod upside down then stabbed the 'star' end of the rod into his chest with all her might. Toadari shouted in pain again as blood gushed out from his wound and he coughed up and gurgled on more blood. Peach removed the rod from his chest and Toadari slowly stopped moving and closed his eyes.
"Badass princess!" Kody commented with a grin.
Tadano spat upon Toadari's lifeless body and said, "Serves you right for capturing me and treating me like a pet project. I know I'm a whoooole lot of things...but I don't deserve that shit!"
"So, it's over now, right? I mean, the beast is gone, the main mad scientist is killed, the machine has disappeared from existence and we got the star rod back. So...that must be it, right!? No other surprises!?" Monty said in worry of something else crazy happening.
"Oh, there's ALWAYS a crazy surprise right around the corner, so don't get too comfortable just yet," Larry replied.
"Peach...bring the star rod over here!" Luigi called out from the other side of the room, bringing everyone else's attention back to him with Daisy, who were both sitting next to a dying Pauline. The others ran to the scene and gasped a little when they saw her state.
"OH NO, PAULINE! Uhh, Peach, heal her with the star rod!" Mona demanded.
"No...don't..." Pauline whispered, surprising everyone. She coughed and foamed a little more from her mouth, then weakly spoke, "I...feel at peace now, honestly...like...my suffering can finally end...thank you all...for taking me in...and accepting me..."
"Wh-what!? NO, PAULINE! Don't say that, I am gonna heal you and that is FINAL!" Peach stated and was ready to use the rod to heal her friend.
"OH MY GOD, LOOK OUT!" Mimi screamed, pointing to behind Peach. She turned around and only saw a glimpse of a familiar face before she was suddenly swept up into the air.
"RAAAAAGGHHH! YOU FUCKEEEEEERS! I WILL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU EVEN IF I DIE TRYING TO DO IIIIIT!" Paraklyde screamed in pure rage as he strangled Peach in the air and grabbed the star rod from her. Everyone else screamed in surprise and fright.
Fly Guy quickly zoomed into the air and bashed into the side of Paraklyde, dropping Peach and the star rod. DK luckily caught Peach and Yoshi caught the star rod.
Suddenly, another gunshot rang through the air as they all suddenly saw Paraklyde being knocked to the earth and blood splattering. They all looked to where the gunshot noise came from and saw Mario in the doorway, carrying a pistol and a duffel bag full of what also seemed to be guns.
"Sorry, I'm late," Mario said then quickly walked on over to the brutally hurt paratroopa with everyone else in slight rejoice.
"Aaaaaaagghhhh...damnit...there you go again...saving the fucking day. You'll get tired of it eventually, Mario...I know you know that..." Paraklyde groaned, gripping his chest wound.
"Oh, Paraklyde...you were marked for death the second you turned everyone against me back at HAL Laboratory. That moment led to here. Got no one to blame except yourself!" Grodus stated.
"I never...never fucking blamed anyone else...Sir Grodus...all of this is what I wanted...at least I'm real...unlike...some of you..." Paraklyde responded, slowly going out of consciousness.
"Nothing you say matters because you're dead now. Rot in hell," Mario said then shot Paraklyde in the forehead.
"Is it just me or do we keep letting these bad guys have too long of a monologue before they die?" Yoshi pointed out.
"Thank goodness he's dead as well...but...Pauline!" Starlow shrieked, putting the focus back on their dying friend.
"CRAP! Wait, she's not moving anymore! Check for a pulse!" Yoshi yelped, running over to her, ready to heal her with the rod if it was even possible now. Rosalina put her hand just above Pauline's chest and closed her eyes.
"Oh no no no no NO! Rosalina, is it too late!?" Peach shrieked as DK set her down on the floor with Mario coming over to her, knowing immediately what was happening.
Rosalina opened her mouth suddenly, but then slowly closed it. She sighed in a sad manner and clenched her hand, everyone knowing right away what that meant.
"I'm so sorry...I felt her energy for a moment...but then it went away...she's gone," Rosalina said and choked up a little. Everyone fell silent and mourned for yet another loss. This wasn't new to them, of course, but the heaviness that came with the grief still wasn't easy to handle.
"She died saving mine and Daisy's life...we need to get her body out of here. She needs a proper burial, like the others! Along with E. Gadd," Luigi stated, unable to take his eyes off of Pauline. They connected a little back in the lab room and it was truly the first time he saw her raw vulnerability and that she had changed for the better. It made him wish he had befriended her before.
"Wait, Luigi...what do you mean by E. Gadd? Is he gone too!?" Mario said while sniffling a little. Everyone else nodded. Mario angrily sighed and shook his head, then spoke, "Goddamnit. I'm so sick and tired of losing people, especially now that we're at the end! Guys...I stole an arwing from the 6th floor and flew it back down to the lobby and found a room where they stored a bunch of guns. I got some in this bag here. We can get more on our way out...but yes, we ARE taking Pauline and E. Gadd out of here. There are still more arwings left on the 6th floor, so I'm thinking...we take one arwing back to the hospital and lay Pauline, Petey, and E. Gadd there to rest and let the others know what's going on...and the rest of us begin making our way to Tatanga's island. This is it. We're not just doing this to save the world now...we're doing this to avenge our friends who helped us and saved our lives along the way. We owe them that."
Everyone nodded in agreement and they started to leave, with Bowser picking up Pauline, but Rosalina stopped them.
"Hold on. Yoshi...let me see that star rod, please," Rosalina ordered. Yoshi handed it to her, then she pointed the rod to the giant opening in the wall that was still emanating a red mist from it.
"Close!" Rosalina yelled and a black beam shot from the rod to the hole. A bright flash occurred for a split second, and then the hole was gone. It was just the wall there again.
Rosalina turned to the others and said, "I did that because the portal to the other world was still open...who knows what other beasts lurk in there that could come in here. But now, like Mario said...let's go save the world and avenge our friends."
EoC.
Next chapter begins the Tatanga's island arc! We're 7 chapters away from finishing this story. WOW! Next chapter, some of the gang fly back to the hospital to lay Pauline and E. Gadd to rest and to inform the others what's happening, Luigi tells Mario of what E. Gadd said before he passed and hands Mario the mysterious book that E. Gadd wanted before his old office blew up, Tatanga's weapon is complete and starts it up...only to find something completely unexpected heading his way from the sky that could ruin everything, and as always, much more! Next chapter will be uploaded on or before Sunday, November 12. Thanks for reading!