Chapter 7: Mine Being Sneaky

Mario, accompanied by Luigi and Diddy Kong set out to discover the purpose of K. Rool's mining operation in the center of the Kongo Isles. Looking down at the operation, Mario set out to make a plan. "Alright. It's a simple plan. All we gotta do is," Mario said. Diddy Kong yawned and interrupted. "Oh, sorry. I stopped listening when you said plan," Diddy Kong said. "Look, I know planning stuff isn't usually yours and DK's thing, but if we have a shot at saving Donkey Kong, then we're gonna need a plan," Mario explained. "Aw man. Can't we just charge straight in?" Diddy Kong asked. "No!" Mario exclaimed. "Can we get back to what we were planning?" Luigi asked.

Mario looked towards the mine, and noticed something. There was an entrance, unguarded by any Kremlings. "Alright. That is where we are going," Mario said. The three snuck down, using what remained of the jungle to hide from any guards. They arrived at the entrance. They all nodded as they entered the mine.

"What have they done to the jungle?" Diddy Kong asked. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to fix it once we find out what's going on," Luigi said. As they walked through the mine, they saw a bunch of machinery mining away at the stone. Then they noticed a giant laser beaming down at the center of the entire mine. "Huh. Whatever they're looking for, they definitely want it badly," Mario said. They heard the stomps of a giant creature approaching. "Hide!" Mario ordered. They hid behind some rocks as K. Rool came along.

"What is taking so long?!" King K. Rool complained. Approaching K. Rool were two more of Bowser's children. Larry and Morton Koopaling. "Well, Sir K. Rool, the laser can only go so far, and the stone is thick, and we don't want to cause damage to the crystal," Larry said. "Ugh! Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!" King K. Rool complained. "Hey! Listen here croc! Our pops didn't recruit you just so you can yell at us! Remember what he promised you!" Morton yelled. "Yes! Yes! World domination and domination of the entire universe! I know!" King K. Rool yelled, "Just find the Convergence Crystal!"

K. Rool walked past the rock that the Mario brothers and Diddy Kong had hidden in. "K. Rool? Working with Bowser?" Mario questioned, "And what is a Convergence Crystal?" "I'm not sure, but I think it's worth checking out," Diddy Kong said, "And if it gets us closer to save Donkey Kong." "Are you both sure this is a good idea?" Luigi asked. "We can't let K. Rool and Bowser get whatever that crystal is. We gotta figure out why they want it," Mario explained, "But don't worry Luigi. Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together." "Hm. Alright," Luigi said.

Once they figured that the Koopalings were turned away, they decided to sneak towards the center edge of the mine. Using their jumping skills, they all jumped down across the many levels of the mine. Until they reached the definite bottom. "Alright, they said that they haven't reached the bottom of this. So we gotta get there first," Mario said. "How?" Luigi asked.

The laser from above continued to mine below. Mario saw some cracks to the side of the laser that began penetrating the floor beneath. "Found it," Mario said, "Diddy, right there." Diddy Kong pulled out his peanut pop gun and shot one of the cracks, expanding it and breaking the entire bottom, revealing a larger cavern below. The laser came to a halt. "Hey! We found it! We found it!" Larry yelled as he looked down and noticed Mario, Luigi, and Diddy. "Wha?! Mario! Sound the alarm!" Larry yelled.

Above, alarms began to beep and illuminate red at the top of the mine. At that moment, Diddy put on his jetpack. "Hop on!" Diddy Kong yelled. Mario and Luigi held onto Diddy Kong as they jumped down into the cavern. Diddy Kong flew through the cavern until they found a temple with a light illuminating it from the top. "There! Let's get it before they get here," Mario said. "Got it!" Diddy Kong said. They landed on the top, with Luigi nearly stumbling down the stairs. "Whoa," Mario said as his voice echoed.

They looked at the Convergence Crystal floating atop its pedestal. "Well, I'm guessing this is it," Mario said. "I'll get it!" Diddy Kong yelled. "Wait! What if this causes the entire temple to fall? Or what if it melts us? Or what if it activates a booby trap?" Luigi asked. "Yeah. He does have a point," Mario said. "Hm, maybe, but I already got it and it hasn't done anything," Diddy Kong said as he held the crystal in his hands. "Huh. That felt anti-climatic," Mario said.

They heard the sound of a cannonball being shot. Mario saw that the cannonball was approaching them. "Jump!" Mario yelled. They all jumped off the stairs as the cannonball hit where they were. They landed on the bottom where Larry and Morton were flying around them on Clown Cars. Following them was King K. Rool who flew with his propeller pack and landed in front of the heroes.

"You thought you were going to get away with it! No! I am King K. Rool! The mighty king of the Kremlings!" King K. Rool announced. Larry and Morton shot cannonballs at the trio. "Go! Go!" Mario yelled. Mario and Luigi chose to jump on the cannonballs and they jumped up until they ended up on the Koopalings' Clown Cars. "Hey! Get off!" Larry yelled. "Yeah! You're messing with our fucking cars!" Morton yelled. "Whoa! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Mario asked. "Don't you talk about my mother!" Morton yelled.

King K. Rool charged like a bull towards Diddy Kong. Diddy Kong narrowly dodged. "Ha! Little monkey isn't as strong as the big monkey!" King K. Rool yelled. "No! But I have these!" Diddy Kong yelled as he shot peanuts at K. Rool's belly. K. Rool looked down at his belly to see the peanuts bounce off. "Ha! If you think that will work-" King K. Rool said as he looked up but suddenly was taken into a wall by Diddy's jetpack. "Argh!" he yelped. "Ha ha!" Diddy laughed.

Mario and Luigi jumped multiple times on the Koopalings' head. "Enough!" Morton yelled as he tilted his clown car. Larry did the same. Both Mario Bros. landed on the ground with a roll. "Time to use our weapon!" Larry yelled as he took out a cannon. He began charging it up. Diddy noticed and it was the same cannon that took out Donkey Kong. "Dodge!" he yelled. Larry shot and the Mario Bros. ran to the side. The arrow flew past them and hit a cave. "Hey! You wasted a shot!" Morton yelled, "Don't you know how long that takes to recharge!" "So it needs a charge. That's good to know," Mario said.

King K. Rool landed back onto the ground. Mario, Luigi, and Diddy Kong stood back to back as they were being pushed back. "I think we're in serious trouble," Luigi said. "Don't worry guys, we can take them," Mario said. The Convergence Crystal began to hum and shine brightly. "Guys! It's doing something!" Diddy Kong yelled. "Huh?" Mario and Luigi questioned as they looked. Right the moment they looked, out of nowhere the crystal brought a bright, blinding light that made the three heroes disappear.

"What?!" Where did they go?!" King K. Rool yelled. "They were here! They were here and now they're gone!" Larry yelled. "Yeah! And they insulted our mother!" Morton yelled. "We don't even know our mother Morton!" Larry yelled. "Shut up! Both of you!" King K. Rool yelled, "How will we inform the council?"

Mario awoke in what seemed to be a sort of space away from space. Light engulfed this space, and Mario tried to speak but couldn't. He didn't see any sign of Luigi and Diddy Kong. Only thing he saw was one beam of light that passed beneath him, and that light was also parallel to six others, and one seemed to be faded. Then, Mario awoke all of a sudden and only witnessed the stars above him.