-Chapter 28-

A Giant Mess

Bowser's Castle

Back in Iggy's lab, Mary Pat was in the middle of trying on the newly fine-tuned Soopa Soot as Iggy applied the finishing touches to her weapons.

"Wow, the Soot feels better already!" she exclaimed as she moved her arm around. "It's much easier to move in and feels much lighter than the old one."

"Of course it does," Iggy replied as he carefully extracted nectar from an Ice Flower with a syringe-like contraption. "I stuffed the new padding with Cloud Flower Cloud."

Once he had gathered enough nectar, he began pouring it into several cylindrical cartridges.

"Kieran! How's progress on the Freeze Blaster?"

"So far, so fabulous!" the black Shy Guy called out as he tinkered with Mips' blaster. "You could say it's ready to put folks 'on ice'."

Iggy responded by blasting him with his wand, causing a disembodied white glove to slap him upside the head.

"Ow!"

"This is a lab, not a comedy club!" the Koopa Prince snapped. "You wanna crack jokes? Go hang with Lemmy."

"Yessir," Kieran said as he got back to work, only for him to accidentally cross a wire and electrocute himself. He twitched and spasmed for a few moments, then coughed and fell backward, his black robes looking even blacker and smoking.

"Oww…"

Iggy facepalmed. "Dangit Kieran, not again!"

"Oof…" Mips uttered with a wince. "That looked painful,"

"Speaking of pain…"

The duo turned to see Kamek walking in with a cup of tea on a saucer.

"Sorry to interrupt your work, Prince Iggy," he said respectfully. "But it's time for Mary Pat to take her medicine."

Iggy and Mary Pat raised an eyebrow.

"Again?" Iggy asked.

"I thought I got a clean bill of health?"

"You did," Kamek explained. "This is a time-delayed healing potion. It lies dormant in your system until you experience enough stress and injury. Considering who your opponents are and your destination, I figured a precautionary measure would be in order."

"Right…good thinking, Kamek," Mary Pat said as she took the cup.

"Yes…" Iggy chimed in. "Very good thinking…"

"Could I have some too?"

"Quiet, Kieran!" Iggy hushed.

Iggy watched as Mary Pat carefully sipped the tea, the glare from his glasses concealing the suspicious gleam in his eyes.

"So, Mary Pat," Kamek began, "are you looking forward to your rematch with your brothers?"

Mary Pat finished her drink, setting the cup down on the saucer before placing it on a nearby table.

"You know I am," she replied.

"Looking forward to making sure they pay for what they did to you and your family?" A grin came over his face. "For hurting you?"

"You know I am," Mary Part repeated; her tone and expression the same as before, something that didn't go unnoticed by Iggy. "Hey Kamek, how much longer do I need to keep this disguise act?"

"Not much longer, my dear," the wizard-koopa replied. "We just need to make a few more preparations for the next phase, otherwise it could mess up King Bowser's plan. Besides, it will just make the end result all the sweeter."

"Good," Mary Pat said, a cruel smile creeping over her face. "I can't wait to see the looks on their stupid faces when they see their precious 'baby sister' again."

"Heh heh…yes," Kamek giggled nervously.

"Ahem!"

Everyone turned to Iggy, who was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Oh! Sorry about that, Iggy," Mary Pat apologized, her mood snapping back to normal. "Are we ready to go? Cuz I am PUMPED!"

Iggy grimaced at Mary Pat's enthusiasm. He enjoyed beating up heroes as much as the next baddie, but something about her was…off. It was then that he saw it. It was only for a second, but he could've sworn he saw the human's eyes take on a distinctly red sheen.

Something was definitely off.

"Iggy?" Mary Pat repeated.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that," Iggy said, adjusting his glasses. "I zoned out for a moment. You were saying?"

"I was asking if we were ready to head out to Giant Country. That's where Mario and Luigi are heading next, right?"

"Right, right!" The green Koopaling cleared his throat. "Yeah, we're all set. Just need to go over the weapons real quick. Head on down to the Pipe Hub and I'll meet you there in five minutes."

"Gotcha." She gave a two-fingered salute before snagging her helmet and taking off. "Don't keep us waiting!"

As soon as Mary Pat and Kamek left, Iggy ran over and grabbed the teacup. He examined it carefully, looking over every last inch of the inside before smelling it.

"Uhhhh…Prince Iggy?" Kieran asked.

Iggy took a deep whiff of the teacup, his expression darkening.

"Kieran, get this teacup down to Koopa Lab 5." Iggy handed him the cup. "If anyone asks, tell them 'cuz I said so, now shut up'."

"But why….?" the Shy Guy asked.

"Because I said so, now shut up and do it!" Iggy ordered.

"Yessir!" Kieran saluted and scurried off, leaving Iggy alone to think.

"Something weird is going on here," he whispered as he scratched his chin. "And not in a fun way."

Meanwhile, somewhere in the ocean…

"Hey, Mario!"

Mario let out a yelp as Toad barged into the captain's cabin looking surprisingly sound of body and mind. Mario, on the other hand, looked like he'd just been stranded on a deserted island for years with nobody to talk to but an old volleyball. His overalls were hanging around his ankles, his bedsheets resting on his shoulders like a cape. Scraps of paper lie strewn about the floor, and the walls were covered in bizarre, sloppily-written messages like 'L Is Real 2401', 'All hail the Virtual Boy', and 'Who is Charles Martinet?'.

"Uhhh…you okay?"

"Toad!" Mario shouted, grabbing onto the toad's vest. "What time is it? What day is it? Has the world come to an end!?"

"Uhhhh…no?" Toad replied. "You okay, man?"

"I don't know, Toad." Mario released the mushroom man before turning away, a thousand-yard stare in his eyes. "It's been weeks since we left Sea Side for Giant Country, and so far, we've yet to see any sign of land. According to the atlas King Delphinius and Princess Marina gave us, we should've arrived by now. Instead, all we've seen is water, water, and more water! Tensions are high. Our food supplies are dwindling. The crew has already broken out into a samba dance number (1). If this keeps up, I fear our expedition may be-"

"We've only been gone for three days."

Mario paused, his right eye twitching.

"Also, we're here."

"Ahh…" Mario replied, taking a deep breath. "Bene…molto bene. (2)"

-X-

On deck, Yoshi and Luigi were sitting across from one another, staring into each others' eyes unblinking. Luigi was sweating profusely while Yoshi just stared.

"Come on," the green-clad plumber grumbled. "You've gotta blink sometime, you rascal you..."

"Oh, this staring contest?" Yoshi tilted his head. "Yoshi thought it was blinking contest and he losing."

Luigi paused and blinked in surprise.

"W-Why would you...?"

"Ha!" Yoshi threw up his hands. "You lose! Yoshi win!"

Before Luigi could react, Yoshi shot his tongue out and caught the watermelon they had been bartering, swallowing it in one gulp.

"Dangit!"

"Guys!" They turned to see Mario and Toad approach. "We made landfall."

"We did?" Luigi asked.

"We do?" Yoshi questioned.

"Yeah." Toad pointed behind them. The greens looked over their shoulders.

"Wow!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"Ohhh…" Luigi let out. "Wowie-zowie..."

They were staring down a massive island filled with equally massive plants.

"Well, I can see why this place is called Giant Country," Mario remarked. "Everything's super-size!"

"Well, here's hoping the palace will be easy to spot." Luigi mused.

As they disembarked, they didn't realize they were being watched…

-X-

Giant Country

Later, the group was trekking through the giant forest.

"Alright, according to what Princess Marina told us, Colloso Castle is located somewhere beyond this forest," Mario remarked.

"We just gotta get through it," said Toad.

"Oooooh..." Yoshi looked up, his tongue hanging out his mouth. "Giant fruit..."

Yoshi shot his tongue out at a gigantic peach. His tongue hit it, then he used it to grapple himself toward it. As soon as he reached it, he took a big bite, sighing in bliss.

"Yoshi, we don't have time for a lunch break!" Toad objected.

"Yoshi can't help it!" Yoshi saw an apple and rappelled toward it before tearing into it.

"Wow…" Luigi mused. "Look at him go. He's got a bigger appetite than you, Mario."

"Yeah…" Mario agreed.

Yoshi then saw another fruit and rappelled toward it. But when he bit down, the fruit let out a pained scream and leaped up with Yoshi still attached, revealing it to be a giant Koopa Troopa.

"Ow!" the Koopa roared. "Rabble-flabbin, sunnuva flim-flammin', hurgle-burbin...get this thing off!"

The Koopa yanked Yoshi off, tossing him into a tree. The Marios and Toad went pale, slowly stepping back

"Oh boy," Luigi managed.

"That's a big Koopa." Toad let out.

"Hmm?" The Koopa looked down, noticing them. "It's the Mario Bros! Code Red! Code Red!"

The Koopa whistled. Suddenly, several more massive Koopas, Goombas, and other baddies arrived, surrounding the heroes.

"Um, guys?" Toad said. "I think we're in trouble!

"Toad, you wouldn't happen to have any Super Mushrooms in that pack of yours, would you?" Mario asked.

"Looking!" He frantically dug through his bag. "Got'em!" Toad pulled out four Super Mushrooms. "Alright, troops, eat up!"

The heroes all ate a Super Mushroom, getting bigger… only to discover they didn't even reach half the giants' size.

"Okay... anybody got a Plan B?" Luigi asked.

"Yoshi have one." Yoshi piped up. "Run away!"

He took off with the others in tow.

"Get 'em!" a Koopa yelled.

The giant baddies chased after them. Luigi hopped on Yoshi's back.

"Faster, Yoshi!" he yelled. "I'm too young to have my bones ground up to make giant bread!"

"That's disgusting!" said a Koopa. "We just wanna squash you!"

"Yeah, watch your guts and bones splurt out all over the ground like a bug!" A Goomba declared, laughing maniacally before slowly trailing off.

"Dude..." the Koopa let out.

"...Yeah, that was too far. Realized that as I said it."

The heroes continued to run, with the giants hot on their heels.

"So, Mario…" Luigi began, "WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!"

"I..." Unfortunately, Mario ended up tripping over something. The Goomba came closer, preparing to step on him… but then, someone picked it up.

"Now that's not very nice."

"Eh?" The Gooma slowly looked up, seeing a gargantuan Toad-like being in royal attire looking down at the minions coldly. "Oh, shiitake...it's Prince Hugo!"

"But shouldn't he be...?!"

"The spell should've…!"

"Go away." Hugo lifted the Goomba up, throwing him into the distance before turning to the other minions. "There's more where that came from! So, unless you want some, leave this forest and never return."

The minions freaked out, fleeing in terror as Hugo watched.

"Mamma..." Mario managed.

"He's gihugic!" Toad exclaimed.

Hugo then reached down, scooping up all four heroes. "Are you all okay?"

"Eh?" Mario just looked up.

"Oh my gosh...was I too scary?" Hugo let out nervously. "D-Did I terrify you so much your brains shut down!? Oh gosh...I am so, so, so sorry!"

"No, no, it's not like that!" Luigi quickly assured him. "We've just... never met a real live giant before."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Hugo sighed in relief. "When I heard from Princess Marina that smallfolk were coming here, I started worrying."

"Who is Big Shroom?" Yoshi asked.

"A talking dinosaur!" Hugo gasped, nearly dropping them before quickly righting himself.

"Whew!" He set them down. "That was way too close!"

Then he squatted down so he was at eye level with them all. "Sorry. I'm so sorry, I'm not normally like this. This has just been a very bad day."

"Okay," Mario held up a hand. "Prince Hugo, was it? Just calm down and tell us what the Koopa Troop is doing in your kingdom, please."

"Right...of course..." Hugo took a deep breath, composing himself. "Though, we should probably speak back at the castle. I doubt those were the only invaders here. Also, I..."

He started inhaling, clutching his nose. His eyes watered as he held back a sneeze. When it passed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Guh! Whew! Okay, I'm better. Let's get going."

"Lead the way," Luigi urged.

Hugo grabbed all four of them again, placed them on his shoulder, then started walking.

-X-

Later, the group arrived at the castle.

"Here we are," Hugo opened the door. "Colloso Castle."

They headed for the throne room. Next to the throne was a cage in which an elephant-sized macaw with red, green, and yellow plumage was perched.

"Hello?" he called. "I'm back!"

"Ah, Your Majesty!"

"You've returned!"

Two guards ran toward him.

"Rawk!" the parrot squawked. "No doi, buddy."

"Yes, and I've brought the smallfolk Princess Marina told us about," Hugo said. "Allow me to introduce you to Super Mario and his friends, the ones who defeated Bowser."

"So this is the famous Mario." one guard remarked. "He's a lot smaller than I imagine...even by smallfolk standards."

Mario crossed his arms, trying to hide his irritation.

"Well, big things come in small packages, as they say," Hugo defended.

"That's what she said! Rawk! Hee-hoo!

"Gina!" Hugo scolded, the bird looking to the side and whistling. "That wasn't very nah… nah… ah… AH!"

The guards rushed to plug his nose. They covered it for a moment, and it faded. But then, Hugo let out a violent sneeze and was suddenly surrounded by a poof of smoke.

"What the..!?" Luigi exclaimed.

The guards caught all of the falling heroes, as well as a very tiny, pink poodle. The poodle sniffled, then spoke in a high-pitched falsetto.

"Bless me."

"Where Prince go?" Yoshi asked.

Mario looked at the poodle. "I... think that's him."

"RAWK! Get the pepper!" Gina squawked.

Hugo sighed. "As you can see, Iggy got to me. His spell turned me into a miniature poodle... but he didn't account for my size, so it didn't fully take hold. I can maintain my true form, but unfortunately, the curse is tied to my allergies and every time I sneeze…"

His nose wiggled and the guard tossed him. He sneezed, then Prince Hugo exploded into smoke, landing on his butt. "That happens."

"Then we need to find Iggy and get that wand," Mario decided. "Do you know where he is, Your Majesty?"

"Yes," Hugo replied. "Prince Iggy and his forces have seized control of Bean Valley. They've taken over Fort Jack, the embassy for the Cloud Kingdom, and converted it into a lab for his...gigantification experiments."

Toad blinked. "Wait... you mean those giant Koopas and Goombas out there…"

Hugo nodded. "Test subjects given experimental growth potions. The entire Valley is crawling with them. We've been able to hold them back, but his potions are growing more powerful."

"That's not good," Luigi said.

"I fear it gets worse. We've received reports from the soldiers from the front lines. The Koopalings have sent one of their Elites to back them up."

"Oh no…" Luigi gulped. "Let me guess, a Koopa with a blue helmet and hi-tech shell?"

"Yes! How did you...?" Hugo perked. "Oh wait...you've faced him, haven't you?"

"He's learning! RAWK!" Gina squawked.

"Blue Hood…" Mario clenched his fists. "I'm ready for him this time."

"Mario, I'm not so sure about that," Luigi said. "Something about Blue Hood just feels... off. Haven't you noticed anything?"

"Only that he's some super weapon that needs to go down," Mario shrugged. "Now come on! Which way to Bean Valley?"

"It's to the north," Hugo replied. "But, you'll need help. Guards, please fetch the prototypes."

"Yes, Prince Hugo!" The guards ran off, returning with a box a few moments later. "Here they are, Your Majesty."

"Thank you." Hugo turned to Mario, handing them the box. "Take this, it should be able to help you deal with the gigantified Koopa Troop."

"Thank you, Prince," Mario replied.

"What is it?" Toad began to open it up, only for Hugo to stop him.

"Don't open it!" he exclaimed. "It's still experimental. Save it and use it when you absolutely need to, not a moment earlier."

"Okay," Toad nodded. "We'll keep that in mind."

"Alright. You'd best get on your way then. Gina will fly you over there as soon as you're ready."

"Rawk! Take your time."

Bean Valley

True to its name, Bean Valley, on top of its fall-like orange vegetation, was known for numerous beanstalks linking the surface to the Cloud Kingdom in the sky. And it was in Fort Jack, the embassy containing the largest stalk, where Iggy was mixing chemicals. He extracted red fluid from a Super Mushroom with a syringe, boiling it as he mixed other chemicals. MP stood off to the side in her Soopa Suit.

"Okay..." he said. "That should do it. Kieran! I've got the next batch ready! Get the flasks!"

"Coming!" Kieran scurried over, carrying a large tray of glass flasks.

"Mushroom juice…" MP shivered in disgust. "So gross."

"Oh yeah," Iggy said. "It's my greatest, most amazing invention yet..." He sniffed it, gagging. "Also, nastiest."

Kieran handed the flasks over. "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you, Kieran. Go have a treat."

"Okay," Kieran walked off.

"So, how long 'til Mario and Luigi get here?" MP asked. "I'm itching for a fight."

"Good question," Iggy replied. "I..."

"Master Iggy!" The giant minions came stomping in. "Master Iggy! We got a problem! The Mario Bros. are here and they've met with Prince Hugo!"

"Well, there's your answer, MP," Iggy replied.

"Finally!" MP slid her helmet on, chuckling darkly. "Time to make them pay."

Author's Note:

(1): Yes, it's a reference to Cabin Fever from Muppet Treasure Island.

(2): Good... very good.

Prince Hugo comes from Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, albeit adjusted for this series quite a bit.

Next chapter, a battle of gigantic proportions ensues.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Hugo - Micah Solusod (Alcryst in Fire Amblem Engage, Soul Evans in Soul Eater, Malek Yildrim Werner in Blassreiter, Toma Kamijo in A Certain Magical Index, Yuichiro Hyakuya in Seraph of the End, Yuno in Black Clover, Yuri Plisetsky in Yuri on Ice)

* Gina - Rob Paulsen in his Nicolai Technus voice from Danny Phantom

Please R&R. Until next time!