Hello everybody, and welcome to Chapter 10. Sorry for the long wait, my computer got jammed, but I fixed it. The Mario Brothers and the gang have officially begun their job. Let's see how things will go for them.
Super Mario belongs to Nintendo.
Ruby Gillman belongs to DreamWorks.
Mario Bros. meet the Gillmans
Chapter 10: Into the Sewers - Part 1
Mario, Luigi, and the gang have entered the dark corridors of Oceanside's sewers. It was starting to get dark. Hence, the light entrance was still shining. Once inside, they could smell the repulsive trash around. The bros and Nessie didn't mind the stench, but for their newcomers, they didn't like it.
Mario pointed to a nearby hole at the far left, indicating the entrance to the sublevels of the sewers. All they had to do was cross the small gap of sewer water. Everyone traveled through, making their clothes all wet and rancid. But the bros told them the clothing dries off quickly. That made everyone feel pleased.
Everyone landed on the underside of the hole, where there were two paths split up, and another sewer lid closed tight with a sign post next to it. Luigi went and read it out loud.
"WARNING: Below are the deepest levels of the sewers. If you are to journey there, make sure you bring enough equipment and some flashlights. It can get very dark down there. There are strange creatures and baddies lurking in the shadows. Make sure you know how to defend yourself. They don't appreciate intruders in their domain. - Oceanside's Plumbing District." Luigi read it. "P.S. - We've only managed to make it through B2 of the sewers. To the person who's reading this, good luck and stay safe."
"So those plumbers only made it through the second floor? I wonder what stopped them?" wondered Ruby.
Mario then looked both ways, finding two passageways.
"Hmm, looks like we're gonna have to split up. There might be broken drain pipes on those passageways." said Mario. "Let's fix the upper ones before we go further down."
"Sounds good to me." responded Luigi.
Then Mario faced Ruby's group. "So which one of you would like to join us?"
"I want to go with Mario!" said Sam enthusiastically.
"I should come along with you to maintain my little brother." replied Ruby, then she looked at Connor. "Do you want to come with us, Connor?"
"Of course, Ruby. Anything to share our feelings even more." said Connor.
Ruby blushed at his answer while Sam felt annoyed.
"Then that leaves us with Luigi then, Top Dog!" exclaimed Margot.
"This will get very interesting." said Bliss.
"I'm ready for anything." Trevin added.
Luigi then faced down Nessie. "Who do you want to go, little buddy?"
Nessie didn't know who he would want to pair up with? He kept thinking about it until he made his decision by jumping on Luigi and licking him.
"Heh heh heh, alright, I know what you want. Okay, bro, we're all set." Luigi signaled.
"Okay, everyone, we will now be working on fixing the drain pipes. At the first sight of danger or enemy, you engage with your defensive guard or your trusty hammer. My group will go to the west side while Luigi's group will take the east side. Once we manage to finish here, we'll go to the next floor below. Understood?" Mario instructed.
"Yes sir!" Everyone saluted.
Everyone got their equipment ready, and they're off to repair the damages.
With Luigi's group…
They entered the east side of the passageway. Sure enough, there were numerous drain pipes all broken down and in need of replacements.
Margot noticed on Luigi's overalls an emblem of some sort. "Hey, Mr. Luigi, just what's that weird icon on your clothing?"
"Oh, it's a Kraken Medallion that Mario and I received from the Gillmans." Luigi responded.
"A Kraken Medallion?" said Trevin.
"How did you get that?" asked Bliss curiously.
"My brother and I went to the Kraken Kingdom, and some ancient relics provided us with these Kraken Medallions." Luigi gestured to his overalls.
"And what does it do? Are you two loyal to those krakens already?" asked Trevin.
"Actually, we have the ability to turn into a giant kraken." Luigi answered simply.
Everyone, including Nessie, was stunned by his answer.
"Whoa, exclamation point! You guys can transform into a giant kraken like Ruby-san!?" Margot hollered.
"So those two lights we saw last night were you guys?" said Bliss.
"Yep, my bro and I were more surprised at how we looked, even though we barely came to this town yesterday." Luigi remembers.
"Can you and Mario please show us your kraken forms later?" Margot appealed.
"Sure, when we get the chance. So let's get started fixing the drain pipes right away." Luigi advised.
Each person got some wrenches and stood next to a pipe with double screws. Nessie observed them from a distance.
"Okay, everyone, follow my instructions." said Luigi, and everyone did as instructed, unaware that a pair of yellow eyes were watching them in the shadows of the next room.
With Mario's Group…
Mario, Ruby, Sam, and Connor are at the east side of the passageway. There, they witnessed some drain pipes got destroyed, and some only bent. Mario took the time to inspect the pipes and see what could've caused them to crack. Ruby shared with her little brother and Connor about their trip to the Kraken Kingdom and the fact Mario can transform into a giant kraken. That made Sam glee with enthusiasm and Connor being attentive. A few minutes later, Mario approached his group to share his investigation.
"According to these damages, half of the pipelines are bent or broken by something while the other half are removed." Mario stated.
"So the ones that aren't badly damaged can still be used to plug in the pipelines?" said Ruby.
"That's right, which is why we have plenty of extra pipe tubes to replace the broken ones." said Mario, as he gestured to his sack of pipe tubes.
"Are we gonna begin our job, for real?" asked Sam.
"Affirmative." Mario replied.
As soon as they were about to begin, a tiny sound of walking footsteps echoed in the sewer, making everyone stop in their tracks.
"Hey, does anyone hear that?" said Connor.
Everyone did hear the sound, and it was coming closer and closer.
"What's going on?" asked Sam.
Then, they faced a small hole, revealing a pair of small rats with long tails and white gloves. They walked outside of the hole and had a mean streak on their faces.
"Aaahhhh! big rats!" Sam cried.
"What are these things?" asked Connor.
"According to my intelligence during the Mushroom Kingdom, these guys are called Rat Funks." Mario informed. "They use their tail to attack and can inflict poison on us. So, battle positions, everybody!"
As everyone pulled out their hammers, one of the Rat Funks jumped in at Sam, but Ruby deflected its attack with her hammer.
"Nobody lays a finger on my little brother!" Ruby shouted, and Sam smiled at her.
The heroes did their best to defeat the group of Rat Funks. Mario jumped on one's head, Ruby punching another, Sam and Connor swung their mallets at three more enemy rodents.
"Ha ha, take that you filthy rats!" Sam wailed.
"Oh man, I never thought defeating baddies could be this vast." said Connor.
As soon as they defeated the Rat Funks, they skittered back where they came from, and the team made their victory cries. Mario checked his group to see if they were alright.
"Is everyone alright?" asked Mario.
"I'm good. Now I see why you and Luigi are considered fine warriors of the Mushroom Kingdom." Ruby complemented.
"Yeah! I'll mark this as my first time establishing my skills on a whole new level!" squealed Sam.
"Do you think more of them will come back?" Connor speculated.
"Could be, once we go deeper. With that taken care of, let's get to work." said Mario, motioning towards the drain pipes.
The team got themselves prepared with wrenches and a pack of pipe tubes to replace the old damaged ones.
Back at Luigi's Group…
Luigi's group managed to plug in all the leaking pipes without any trouble. He showed them how it's done by holding a tube, twisting the tube gently, and fixed. The others managed to do the same action and got it fixed, as simple as it was.
"Great job, everyone! All of you managed to pull it through!" Luigi said proudly.
"Thanks, it was quite easy." said Margot.
"I just followed your lead accurately." Bliss responded.
"It was all thanks to my video game experience." Trevin answered.
Nessie barked happily for everyone.
Luigi then looked at the next passageway at the far end.
"Now let's all check in the next room to see if there are more drain pipes that need to be fixed." said Luigi.
Everyone packed up and marched their way to the next room. On the other side, all the pipes were completely undamaged.
"Well, it seems everything's in good shape." said Margot
"Then let's head back." said Trevin.
When they approached the exit, a mysterious force field blocked the exit, prompting the group to back up.
"Hey what gives?" Margot replied.
"Is there an outside force stopping us?" Bliss asked.
"I don't know…" said Luigi.
Nessie then sensed something coming from the walls thanks to his leash glowing. He growled in seriousness.
"Hey everyone, I think Nessie is sensing something." Trevin signaled.
Everyone stood next to Nessie and looked around their surroundings, waiting for what was gonna happen.
All of a sudden, many yellow-doubled eyes appeared out of thin air, and a couple of big-headed scarecrows with light-blue lanterns popped out of the ground. A flock of baddies have emerged in the sewers.
"Oh dear, looks like we have company, and they don't appreciate us here." said Luigi.
"Whoa, this is getting better and better, just like in a video game." said Trevin excitedly.
"An army of evil undead spirits? I'll have the pleasure to punish them." said Bliss catastrophizing.
"Prepare to get a whooping' ya A-class jerks." said Margot, pulling her hammer and making a kung-fu pose.
Nessie stood on his ground and got ready to munch the enemies.
"Alright everyone, let's-a-go! Charge!" Luigi shouted in battle cry.
The group of Shadows and Hobgoblins charged at Luigi's team. A Shadow got in front of Luigi, trying to swipe him, but he dodged to the side and attacked him with a jump, which made the baddie hurt.
Margot was facing a Shadow and Hobgoblin, the latter preparing to hit her, until she jumped high enough for the two enemies to hit each other.
"Oh yeah! Don't mess with this actress, baby!" Margot exclaimed.
Two Shadows were behind Bliss. They used the opportunity to strike her unnoticed, but Bliss knew they were behind since she enjoyed dark arts.
"You guys look cool as ghostly beings, but if your intention is to slash me, you're about to be executed!" Bliss catastrophizes very seriously, making both Shadows tremble with fear.
Bliss jumped high and bonked a Shadow's head with her hammer while she kicked the other with her foot.
Meanwhile, Trevin was swarmed by six Hobgoblins, all preparing to jump on him and beat him up. Trevin knew what was gonna happen, so he thought of an attack he remembered from this game system.
"I've always wanted to try this." said Trevin, eagerly trying it out.
The six Hobgoblins all jumped at the same time at Trevin.
"Prepare for my Swinging Vortex!" yelled Trevin as he spun himself with his hammer in tow.
All the Hobgoblins got conked everywhere in the room. Trevin stopped spinning and felt a little dizzy but managed to recompose himself.
"Hah Hah, I dig this!" yelled Trevin.
Nessie was dodging all the attacks by a Shadow and managed to approach behind and jump on the head and chomp the specter. The Shadow howled in pain and disappeared in thin air, leaving Nessie to bark happily.
Only one Hobgoblin remained, and the group was ready to take it down. In an act of desperation, he unleashed an ominous sound called Elegy to silence everyone and used Dark Claw to slash them, inflicting poison.
Everyone was down due to the poison and can't ask for help. The Hobgoblin was ready to finish them off, but then noticed that one of them was missing. A pair of footsteps sneaked behind the specter and tapped him. It was Bliss, showing a face of dread against the enemy.
"You will regret ever hurting my friends so badly! For that, I prepared a special treatment just for you." said Bliss threateningly as she grabbed the Hobgoblin and beat him to the pulp. Everyone saw what happened and were shocked how much damage she inflicted on the Hobgoblin.
Later, the Hobgoblin was thrown in front of the group, all bruised up and his lantern broken. He slithered back towards the wall where he came from. The elegy wore off, but the poison was still active. Bliss went up to her friends to save them.
"Are you guys all right?" Bliss checked.
"Yeah, but that phantom inflicted us severe poison." said Margot somberly.
"I don't think I can go further beyond," said Trevin.
Nessie was pouting very sadly because of the poison.
"Is there any way I can help you guys?" asked Bliss eagerly.
"Yes, in the bag, there is a Cleansing Juice for us to drink. Quick!" Luigi cried.
Bliss marched into the supply bag and managed to bring out a Cleansing Juice and gave it to the poisoned group. Everyone took a quick sip, and moments later, the poison weared off. Everyone was back to normal.
Bliss felt glad her friends and Nessie were okay.
"I feel so much better yo!" Margot shouted.
"I'm back to 100%!" said Trevin.
Nessie barked loudly and happily as she jumped on Bliss and licked her, and she felt calm.
Everyone heard a sound at the exit. The force field rose up and vanished. Everyone can now leave the room.
"Alright now we can get out of here!" Bliss exclaimed.
"If this sewer is infested with these creatures, then we need to inform my bro about this. C'mon everyone!" Luigi signaled everyone to leave the room.
Little did they realize a white-triangular head popped out on the ceiling, making an angry moan at the visitors. He went back up to inform his master about this.
That is all, Chapter 10 is finished. The adventure continues inside Oceanside's sewers, and the heroes have managed to fix B1 drain pipes. The next chapter will be the gang joining up and checking out the farthest path on the west side. An aquatic strong monster awaits the gang. Will they succeed? Leave your reviews and see you next time!