11 January 2009
Smash Mansion
Dear Diary,
The Subspace drama is even further behind us, and Brawl is now firing on all cylinders. Some of the Smashers take the time to thank me for reviving them, even though I had good reason to leave them in their trophified state. I'd always tell them that grudges didn't matter when there was a malevolent being seeking to destroy everything that Super Smash Brothers stood for. I've been all but flooded with calls from Josh, Jules and their wives, along with the Butters. I had to calm them down and assure them that I was okay, just buffeted a bit, and we all managed to triumph over Tabuu and save the tournament. In turn, I expressed my relief that they hadn't been caught in the crossfire. If Tabuu had done anything to them—
But we don't talk about Tabuu anymore. We don't talk about anything Subspace-related anymore. The only proof that it happened was in our newfound closeness. Koopa, Dorf and Wario even apologized to us for everything they'd done due to Tabuu's machinations. The King of Evil also talked things out with the Koopa King after the dust settled, apologizing for his betrayal. Ironically, Koopa was a forgiving soul, and this villainous friendship beat the odds and survived.
During one of my fights today, I was getting a bit overwhelmed by Sonic's speed. So, I grabbed a nearby Assist Trophy and summoned it. When the help popped out, I could barely believe it—and neither could he.
"Luigi?!" gasped Mac.
"Little Mac!" I replied.
"Long time, no see!" said Mac as we hugged. "Is this what you've been up to lately?"
"Yeah," I replied, "along with saving the MK occasionally, and…"
"Josh told me that you faced off with King Boo," said Mac.
"I did," I nodded, "because he was threatening Mario, and that's all you need to know for now. How about you?"
"I'm still in the WVBA," said Mac, "fighting old foes and new, winning titles, losing some and then winning them back. Thank God for Doc—he's keeping my skills sharp."
"But how come you made it to Smash as an Assist Trophy?" I asked.
"After one of my bouts, I was approached by an Alloy acting on Master Hand's behalf," explained Mac. "He said that due to my schedule, I might not be a full-on Smasher, but I could help one of the Smashers during a fight. Then, I asked them how you were doing, and they said that you were one of the best Smashers out there. I just—wanted to see my old friend again."
"Oh, Mac—I'm glad to see you, too," I said. "As a matter of fact, could you…?"
"Of course," smirked Mac, dashing at Sonic and grounding him with a flurry of punches, ending with an uppercut.
"Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome," said Mac. "We'll do lunch!" On those words, he disappeared, and I went back to Brawling against Sonic.
But now that I think about it—I believe Mac deserves a shot as a Smasher in this tournament. I caught snippets of his fights and read about his other exploits on the Internet. With the advent of Facebook, iPhones and Android phones, I was able to catch up on what Mac's been up to. And as always, Josh was a good source of info, as well, as Mac continued to frequent his gym. With his swiftness and boxing skills, Mac could give Nintendo's top fighters a run for their money. And Mario, having officiated at Mac's 1987 go-round, could also testify to that.
Given what happened, I shouldn't pester MH over it just yet. But maybe if a fourth tournament rolled around—
Luigi
11 February 2009
MK
Dear Diary,
An outbreak has struck the Mushroom Kingdom. Something called the Blorbs has afflicted at least a quarter of the MK population, causing the Toads to swell up to massive size! The very moment Peach was informed of the Blorbs outbreak, she went straight to Master Hand, who granted her, me and Mario emergency leave so we could deal with the problem. I'm writing this while en route to the castle for an emergency meeting. I hope things won't come to it, but Peach might have to declare a quarantine if the outbreak worsens. Since this disease only affects Toads, Julian, Jackie and Jasmine are immune, but I'm still worried for them. Jules will have to close down his gym, resulting in a significant loss of income.
When I can, I'll update you on the situation.
Luigi
20 April 2009
MK
Dear Diary,
Who knew that one could use an outbreak as a diversion to grab Peach?
Before we get to that, do you remember Fawful, Cackletta's right-hand man? Well, he came back, and he wanted revenge on us. Let's break it down, shall we?
Okay, here we go. Mario, Peach and I gathered in her castle for the emergency meeting I mentioned earlier. While Peach was droning on, I became conscious of how exhausted I was and wound up falling asleep. I awoke just as something was sucking me in—Koopa! How did he get here?!
I had no time to ponder that, because I wound up sucked inside of Koopa, along with Mario, Peach and everyone else who had assembled for the meeting. That's right, Koopa actually SWALLOWED us. We found out how that came to be after everything settled down, but let me tell you a little bit about our adventure inside of our archnemesis first.
Mario and I had been deposited inside the Trash Pit of Koopa's body, and we got his attention by hammering on his exposed nerves. Also joining us for this go-round was a yellow, ball-shaped fairy named Starlow, who never ran out of ways to sass at people. She communicated with our nemesis under the alias "Chippy", reminding him—and telling us—what had happened. He'd burst in on the emergency meeting, and Mario had engaged him, assuming the worst. Peach and Starlow used the former's wish power to weaken the reptile, and with a few simple hand gestures, Peach had thrown her sworn enemy out on his [bleep]. That filled in some gaps, but not all of them.
Anyway, we ventured through Koopa's body while Koopa did—something which we wouldn't find out until much later. First, we defeated a Scutlet bug, allowing Koopa to regain access to his Fire Breath. Then, we had to tangle with a Durmite which made him ill. Apparently, he fell unconscious at some point, because we had to use the Rump Command to revive him (and also turn him giant, but that was inadvertent). Mario and I came across the Flab Zone and met up with Peach, where she told us about Fawful's return. He'd orchestrated this mess to obtain the Dark Star, a malevolent being which had been kept under Toad Town. The only way to revive this Dark Star was through Peach herself. Just as she was finished explaining things, she was pulled out of Koopa's body as we gave chase.
In the Pipe Yard, we were able to navigate Warp Pipes to find the way out of Koopa's body and into the Toad Town Caves. We pursued Fawful, but arrived moments too late to prevent Fawful from taking the Dark Star. To add insult to injury, he threw up a magical barrier to keep us from chasing him further, and off he went to Peach's Castle to wreak havoc. With no other options left, we consulted Dr. Toadley, who told us that the only way to beat back the Blorbs was via three Star Cures, and the first one just so happened to be the Durmite we fought earlier, which was still in Koopa's body. So, back inside we went.
We were able to find the Durmite, which escaped through a Boo Block barrier. Mario, Starlow and I cooled our heels for a few minutes before a mysterious light (later revealed to be from something called a Boo-ray Machine) eliminated the Boo Block Barrier and helped us navigate a maze to uncover the Durmite. After revealing herself as Wisdurm, a sage, we battled. She accepted her defeat nobly, relinquishing the first Star Cure without further resistance, turning into a butterfly, and flying away.
A little later, Koopa told "Chippy" that he needed the combination for a safe, which purportedly contained the second Star Cure. This mission sent us to the Memory Banks and pitted us against memory block versions of ourselves. He must really take us seriously if he protected his Memory Banks with guards in our likenesses! After the fight, we cooled down by solving a puzzle which revealed the memory. Then, we wound up heading into Koopa's gut to snag the second Star Cure.
It turned out that Koopa had been betrayed by three of his minions and was shoved into the safe which they'd claimed had the Star Cure. Using the Pipe Yard again, we headed back to Toad Town, where Dr. Toadley lent us his messenger bird to help us find the final Star Cure. On a cliff overlooking Plack Beach, we encountered another sage, named Chakron, who told us that he'd give us the Star Cure if we could get him out of the pose he was stuck in. We had to collect Attack Pieces for a move known as Snack Basket, which could knock Chakron over, but a Sockop wound up snatching Mario! So, Starlow and I had to rescue him. I improvised by using a subdued Sockop as a nifty little disguise. Mario was pretty shaken up after I saved him, hugging me and crying and thanking me, and seeing him cry made me cry, as well. Once that was out of our systems, we knocked Chakron over, and he kept his word and gave us the third and final Star Cure.
Using those Star Cures, Dr. Toadley created the Miracle Cure, which swiftly counteracted the Blorbs and turned the Toads back to normal. Now, all that was left to deal with was Fawful and the Dark Star.
Mario, Starlow and I charged through Fawful's barriers toward Peach's castle, but his muscle, Midbus, and his robot, Junker, got in our way. We trashed Junker and thrashed Midbus, and the malfunctioning Junker tossed a safe into some garbage, which broke open to reveal Koopa. He'd been in that safe for so long that his back was cramped, so we went back into his body to play chiropractor and use him to storm the castle.
From what Koopa told us later, he had to fight Midbus, who Fawful had turned into Blizzard Midbus, and gave Fawful a whale of a punch, interrupting his attempt to absorb the Dark Star. Most of it wound up inside of Koopa, forcing Mario, Starlow and I to chase it around; unfortunately, we lost it. We finally got our opportunity to battle the Dark Star, now the Dark Star Core infused with Fawful, after Koopa had dueled a dark clone of himself. After we painfully handed Dark Star Core Fawful his [bleep], he tried to pull a "taking you with me" stunt, but he only caused Koopa to regurgitate everyone and everything he'd inhaled in the first place—after finishing off his dark counterpart, of course.
As it turned out, Fawful had initially tricked him after his first humiliating defeat at the castle, giving him what he called the "Lucky Mushroom", which was how he gained the ability to inhale things. He was almost like Kirby, except he was a spiny-shelled, despicable supervillain who got his rocks off grabbing Peach every Tuesday and Friday. No, scratch that, he was like DDD, because DDD didn't copy the people he inhaled. Because he's already perfect. But that's off topic. Anyway, after eating this mushroom, Koopa had been almost like DDD, except that he was a spiny-shelled, despicable supervillain who got his rocks off grabbing Peach—well, you get the idea.
Once the MK was rid of the Dark Star's power, the Toads joined Peach in congratulating us (that's right, us, not just Mario!) while Koopa stood around, confused. Once he figured out that Mario and I had been snooping around in his body, and that "Chippy" was actually Starlow, he kinda lost it. The Toads got Peach out of harm's way as Mario and I took on Koopa in a decisive battle.
Later, Koopa had promised to leave the MK be for a while, at least until the damage from Fawful and the Dark Star's rampage had been repaired, but I didn't trust him, and I don't think Mario did, either. We kept a sharp eye out for our foe as we helped Peach with the rebuilding and renovating. Later, we called Master Hand and told him what happened, and that we could return to the tournament the following day. MH sounded relieved that we got out okay, and given what happened last year, could you really blame him?
Once the MK's repairs were close to finished, Peach baked a cake for—Koopa! Despite what he kept putting her through, Peach took the time to thank him for his help in beating back the Dark Star. Mario and I were worried about how Koopa would receive it, but a week later, Koopa sent us a letter genuinely thanking her for the dessert. Proof that King Koopa has a heart.
Wait a minute—
When we found Peach, she was in the Flab Zone, near Koopa's—love handles!
Love handles—
He really does love her, doesn't he?
He really does—
He just has a bizarre way of showing it.
All right, it's time to rest up. Mario and I have to report back to the Smash Mansion early tomorrow morning!
Luigi