Requiem of the Dark Realm Chapter 33: Dropping Into the Wild Blue, a mario fanfic

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Dropping Into the Wild Blue

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Location: Under the jail?

As the tox box falls in the darkness toward the rapids, the slab that had fallen on it beforehand tilts the tox box away towards its heavier tip, pulling it away from the five heroes. The tox box drops down much more quickly, splashing into the water below.

Daisy hugs the unconscious Koopaling and screams at the top of her lungs as they fall into the darkness and away from the little light that penetrated this secret chamber. Yoshi keeps babbling, seemingly unaware of their predicament thanks to the effects of the fuzzy gas. Geno's wooden body won't react also due to the effect of the gas, leaving him only able to bulge his eyes in horror. The silvery suitcase gets stuck on the unconscious shark pirate's dorsal fin.

Suddenly, all five splash into a coursing river, the resonating torrent drowning out any cry for help. Bioluminescent moss decorates the river's shore, and stalagmites and stalactites line the edges of the waterway.

They finally enter a relatively calm bend, where everybody steadily rises to the surface. Morton and Johnny float upside down, as Daisy grabs hold onto one of Morton's legs as she gasps for air, but slips off soon after. The princess then barely manages to grab onto the Koopaling's tail, the current being too swift for her to do otherwise. Yoshi, still under the influence, holds onto Stuffwell, oblivious to the danger, and Geno's left leg gets caught on the suitcase's handle.

Daisy somehow climbs onto Morton and is barely able to get the intoxicated dinosaur and Stuffwell 2.0 up with her. Unbeknownst to all of them, the current had steadily picked up speed, and while Daisy barely manages to retrieve Geno from where he was, the river once again became too swift. Once she realizes this, she tries to wake the Koopaling up, probably the only one who could swim against the current.

"Mort, Mort, Mort!" she blurts, lightly smacking the corpulent Koopaling in the face. "Wakey, wakey! We need to go to shore." She pulls out a bag of cheese puff out of nowhere. "Looky here… Cheesepuffs! You favo…rite…"

She rips the bag open and scarfs down the orange colored snacks, tossing the bag aside once she finished them. She lets out a satisfied burp.

"That was gooood! Now, where was I?"

She turns around and is greeted by the edge of the waterfall, their impending doom almost inevitable as the distance to the falls is getting shorter.

"Daisy, don't panic, don't…" She shrieks as loud as she can.

Daisy's screams suddenly wake the comatose shark, miraculously triggering something in Johnny's subconscious. An adrenaline rush flows through the veins of the decrepit shark, increasing his swimming prowess. Unfortunately for everyone, his feral instincts kick in as well. The white ocular membrane has covered his good eye, and is ready to eat the three. He rushed toward them just as they drop into the falls, and grabs them all, swimming back up against the current.

Right about then, Geno's star-shaped spirit suddenly leaves the puppet body, and floats close the Sarasaland's monarch.

"Yo, Daisy!" he begins, "Hang in there. I'll try and distract Johnny for a bit so he won't eat anyone."

"Sure… thing, Gee!" she gasps. "I'll… hang."

Geno flashes in front of the shark pirate in his star form, who then responds by biting repeatedly at Star Geno. The star spirit then flies off into the darkness, following the backwards route of the splashing river. The shark pirate, while he has everyone else trapped in his flippers, follows in tow.

After thrashing about in the violent stream, Johnny finally reaches a point in which there is no resistance in the water. The water is so clear that it is possible to see the bottom and the rocky coast of this mysterious body of water. The flashing of Geno's star glitter still manages to distract the shark into beaching himself onto the shore.

The new cavern they are pretty dark except for a tiny light illuminating a branch wielding the fabled Bubble fruit. Yoshi is slowly gaining his senses back, but is buzzed at the moment and still hugging the silvery suitcase. Daisy lays on her back as she pants while the Koopaling next to her is still unconscious.

Star Geno is still distracting the shark pirate enough to force him closer and closer to the fruit. Johnny is clearly gasping for air since, but somehow, Geno's glittery form keeps triggering the shark's feral response to prey, probably confusing the shark into seeing flashing fish. As soon as Star Geno touches the Bubble fruit, he stops moving, causing the shark to lunge forward and devour the branch and fruit alike just as Star Geno flies upward and then goes back into his wooden carapace.

Johnny stands, still in his feeding frenzy mode, yet his breathing has normalized. He slowly waddles toward Morton Jr., who is starting to wake up. He stops right in front of the Koopaling and when he is about to take a bite out of his shell, Geno sends a left, rocket boosted punch at Johnny, knocking him out. Geno recovered his left fist again as he looks down at the breathing shark.

"That was too close," he says. "And now that I think about it, shouldn't a shark be having a hard time breathing on land?"

"Hey, Gee!" Daisy interrupts as she points at an almost spiraling path up to a wooden trap door on the ceiling, "I found an exit… At least I think I did."

"I hope so too, but anything is good as long as we get out of here."

He helps Yoshi and then Morton up. Both the dinosaur and doll carry the shark upwards while Daisy, with Stuffwell 2.0 in hand, is encouraging Morton as he lifts the door open, which was covered by lots of sand, and Morton was the only one strong enough to open it. They all walk out into the desert again; this secret exit leads them next to San (III) Lake, which is a freshwater, three Roman numeral-shaped lake surrounded by an oasis lined with coconut trees and dry wood.

"We rest here for now," begins Geno, as both he and Yoshi set Johnny down safely. "Everyone, help me gather firewood."

…

Location: Desert jail, front gate

…

"So, flame boy," inquires Lemmy with his uncharacteristic low voice. "You promised you'd have the pirate and the fruit ready for when we got here."

"A lot happened, dude," Hitatsu replies, "But I ain't gonna wait for the warden to be on my tail, so it's adios for now, dude."

Lemmy shoots an ice beam at Hitatsu's leg; it freezes in place. "I came to this hellhole to collect, not to hear fanfictions."

"So it's your way or the highway, dude?"

"More or less."

Hitatsu suddenly turns into the blue fire demon-koopa that he became a while back, melting his leg free. He hits the tiny Koopaling's belly with a fire ball. "Sounds legit, dude. Your one-way ticket to the Underwhere, serve fresh right now, dude."

A battle between these two begins…

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End of Operation: Desert Rescue Saga

…

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He, he… You found it! Sorry about the "chain mail-esque" entry for this chapter. Hopefully you read it the first time [probably did, too.]. (Please don't spoil this part in a review.)

PS: The title was inspired from one of the stars from Whomp's Fortress in Super Mario 64.

Location: remote coast on Lavalava Island

An hour has passed since Ludwig's arrival. The sky is clear and the tropical stars paint the celestial canvas with radiant blue and pink. The moon is about to "set". Waves crash on the pink sanded beach as a salty breeze puffs across the island. The sandy stretch extends for quite a bit, but the Koopaling sets his eye toward what seems like a campfire.

Ludwig makes his way toward the light, accompanied only by the waves crashing on the beach and the murmur of the evening fauna. He walks toward the campfire cautiously, acknowledging that Lavalava's Yoshis were taller and slightly stronger than Yoshis found elsewhere, though prone to panicking far more frequently. The closer Ludwig gets to the campfire, the louder the sounds of drums and celebration sound, muting the chirping of the evening creatures.

The blue-haired Koopaling stops and pulls out a Wendy's pink gemmed scepter from inside his shell. He flails it a couple of times before touching his head. He begins floating and sparkling as his body slowly transformed into that of a Yoshi. His belly and chest are sandy-colored like his Koopa scales and the rest of his body is dark green. His blue hair remains, as does his buck tooth. He inspects himself, but even in the darkness of the night, can tell the transformation is a bit off.

'Hmm… I look like a terrible fan character design from DeviantArt, and this hair is a dead giveaway. However, I may perhaps be successful, perchance if everyone had one glass to many. Hopefully, Wendy does not become aware of her rod's disappearance.'

"YOU THERE!" a tranquil but commanding voice interrupts the transformed Koopaling's thoughts. He turns his head, seeing an obese Yoshi with a headdress.

"Why aren't you at our annual Raven and Yoshi alliance commemoration? I haven't seen you all night!"

Ludwig has no idea how to reply to a sudden inquiry that could fool the Yoshi Chief. "Well, err, I… need to take… a stroll. Yes! I needed to walk by myself."

"I hear ya," replies Lavalava's chief, "I had to leave for a while too, so I could take a le… Err, it doesn't matter. What matters right now is that we get back in there and party all night long."

The chief wraps his right arm over Yoshi-Ludwig and pats his shoulder twice as he leads him into the festivity. "We have been privileged to enjoy long lasting peace amongst our tribes, and it's all thanks to the oversight of our island guardian, Raphael the Raven."

At the mention of the name, Yoshi-Ludwig clears his throat. "And, uh, Chief! Isn't he going to come and celebrate with us too? I mean, we did invite him right?"

The chief stops and rubs his double chin as he takes his arm off of Ludwig, placing it on his hip. While the Yoshi chief ponders, Ludwig scans the place, only to find many of the adult ravens and Yoshis asleep or drunk from the fermented fruit drinks reserved only for the adults. Surprisingly, all of the Yoshi children run around with all of the energy of the world, the nanny fish Sushi in tow, scolding them to no avail.

"You know, I was busy all day with preparations that it slipped my mind. Can you please do me the favor, and ask him?" Ludwig grins as the chief continues. "You look sober enough. I myself don't drink, but someone needs to stay and look after these fun-loving dinos…" He sees Yoshi-Ludwig sneering. "Is everything okay? You look creepy."

Ludwig shakes his head and clears his throat again, embarrassed by his own abnormal demeanor. "Err, just a joke someone told me. So, uh, how do I go up to him?"

The chief gives him a knowing look and scoffs. "You should already know that. The Jade Raven is on my desk, inside my hut. Grab a torch and go get it."

"I shall not fail, and will devote myself to a successful mission," replies Yoshi-Ludwig, forgetting to keep up the act.

The chief laughs as he heads over to the cabana. "You don't need to be all formal about it. Just come back safely."

With the chief distracted and mostly all of the adult Yoshis tipsy, Yoshi-Ludwig grabs an unlit torch and ignites it by placing on the flame of a tiki torch. He then speed walks toward the huts, not knowing which one belonged to the chief. But it didn't take long to figure it out, since the transformed Koopaling deduces that the chief's hut was the largest one with a pair of wooden spears crossed above the doorway.

When Ludwig goes inside, he slowly reverts back to his normal appearance, the transformation accompanied by sparkling. He is not amused, neither by the sparkling nor the briefness of the transformation, but just as the chief said, the Jade Raven, the key to Raphael's forest, is on a small pedestal on his desk.

Ludwig walks out, and decides not to transform again since he was pressed with time. The Jade Raven, he reasoned, could only be activated by strong light, so he turns off the tiki torch to make the area dark, and soon emits lightning from his hand, which triggers the gem, illuminating the path he was to follow.

The static noise from the lightning alerts Sushi, who looks toward the noise and spots Ludwig walking away into the forest. She becomes suspicious of Ludwig, knowing in her mind that she indeed did see a Koopaling, but the relative darkness and distance made her have second thoughts. A red Yoshi kid starts crying and other Yoshi kids spill a keg, which take her attention away from Ludwig.

About ten minutes pass, and after avoiding Bzzaps and forest fuzzies (not the hallucinogen types) and traversing through bogs and vines, he finally makes it to the base of the largest tree of the forest. That part of the forest is very dark, since the canopy very thick and barely any light penetrates the understory. He lights the torch again.

He flails his personal wand, and levitates to canopy, only to find Raphael expecting him. A distant thunder clap rumbles. Ludwig chortles, feeling amused at the turn of events.

"Oh. The fruit is ripe for the picking, eh, Raphael?"

"I felt an evil presence on the island, almost as sinister as that shockwave that made the Toads in Toad Town mad and petrified others. Too bad that foolish Yoshi chief led you up here."

"Hmm, interesting. So you are an all-seeing, avian demigod?"

"Not at all, son of Bowser. I merely oversee this island, and as its guardian…" However, he dodges a blast of lightning from Ludwig's left hand.

The Koopaling is composed but angry. "Do not even dare to utter that wretched name again." The electric attack beings a symphony of a thunderstorm; a torrential rain pours down suddenly, gales pick up, and thunder booms. He continues as the rain drenches his unruly hair and water runs down his brows.

"This setting… How appropriate for your inevitable demise!"

Ralph retorts, "I think otherwise. I'll have you beg for mercy when I'm done."

"Oh really? Beg for your mercy?" He cackles. "I suppose that you're not in the mood to talk now. I certainly will not turn you into a constellation, if that is what you fear… Like a Yoshi once did to your ancestor years ago in Bowser's babyhood…"

When Ludwig mentions Bowser, his conflicted emotions distract him long enough to not see the corpulent raven charge at him. The raven is hot pink, seething in wrath and offended by the Koopaling's imprudent remark. Raphael slams into Ludwig, sending him flying to the moon.

"You insolent fool! How dare you mock the guardian of the sky in my presence! It is you who will vanish as a twinkle in the skies! Be gone!" The giant raven flies after his foe.

…

Back at the party, the sudden storm forced the celebration to end. The chief orders everyone to head for the shelter in the nearby cliffs, close the island's river that separates them from the volcano. Sushi leads the way as she escorts the Yoshi children first while the chief dealt with the drunken adults. As the last child marches inside the safety of the cave, Sushi feels an ominous sensation and looks up toward Raphael's tree. Before a cloudy blanket covers the silhouette of the tree, she sees what appear to be two stars heading for the moon. She sighs; a red Yoshi kid sees her look up at the sky.

"Nana, what's wrong?"

She looks at the Yoshi child and smiles. "Don't you worry about a thing. Once the storm passes, we can go home and rest. Did you carry a torch safely like I asked?"

"Uh-huh. We made a campfire already. Like really big!"

She smiles again and flops inside with the kid, waiting for the chief to return. Internally, however, she feels uneasy and ponders on the island's future. 'I pray that nothing terrible befalls our home. I just can't shake this bad feeling. Dear Eldstar, may our guardian be safe tonight.'

…

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