Welcome everyone to Chapter 11. The gang reunites and will be tackling further down the west side of the sewers. What will come out to stop the heroes? Let's see how it will go for them.
Super Mario belongs to Nintendo.
Ruby Gillman belongs to DreamWorks.
Mario Bros. meet the Gillmans
Chapter 11: Into the Sewers - Part 2
Mario and Luigi's group returned back where they've started. They were relieved everyone was safe and sound. Everyone took their time sharing what they've encountered and fixed the pipelines. Luigi told his bro the sewers are indeed infested with enemies in the dark, and they need to be defeated in order to advance more. In Mario's case, he'll need everyone to check out the next rooms on the west side. Everyone packed up and went straight to the west passageway.
The team made it at the end of the room, where they spotted a manhole cover. Mario opened it, and everyone jumped in. Soon, they came down from the manhole cover, and two more paths splitted. The right had two platforms connected to each other, while the left was another passageway. Mario went to the left side to check if anything needed to be fixed. He came out and gestured to everyone to follow him.
Inside, there were numerous power cords that were in the form of Amidakuji. Apparently, water was flowing over the fence bars, making everyone's boots touch it. Mario went up to the generator and pushed the button. A spark ignited and went through the paths until it stopped on an ink wall. Not only that, some of the cords had a left/right path connected through a series of levers on the bottom. Mario then went up to his crew members and told them what they're gonna do.
"Alright everyone, the only way to stop this water from overflowing this room is by getting rid of the ink that's plastered on some paths and reconnecting the cords for the spark to go through and fix the generator. We need to be quick in changing the route, otherwise we'll start over again. Does everyone understand?" explained Mario.
Everyone nodded their heads as "yes."
"Okay, so who wants to remove the ink?" asked Mario.
Ruby, Sam, Connor, and Margot volunteered, and Mario gave them a scrapper, and they went to clean off the ink.
Moments later, all the ink was removed, and now everyone, including Nessie, stood next to a lever. Mario was up at the generator button and faced the others.
"Alright, everyone ready?" asked Mario again.
Everyone said yes.
"Here goes…!" said Mario.
He pushed the button, the spark flashed, and started going through the paths. Ruby was first to change her direction, followed by Luigi, next was Sam, then to Margot, to Trevin, to Bliss, and finally Nessie, which he pulled with his mouth. The spark passed by and made it to the sub-generator. The overflowing water started to drop, and the room was back to normal.
"Wooo! We actually pulled it off!" Ruby beamed.
"I love doing this job!" Sam replied.
"Way to go, team!" exclaimed Margot.
Nessie barked happily at his talent.
"That turned out really great." said Luigi.
"Okay, everyone, let's head back." said Mario.
Everyone exited out and were now standing next to the two platforms. When Trevin stepped on it. The platform started to descend slowly until it stopped at the bottom.
"It seems this is a see-saw platform." Bliss noticed.
"Looks like we need to get across quickly." said Connor.
"Hey, I see another manhole cover over there. And it seems to be locked tight." said Trevin when he climbed back up.
"Then it's best if we all stick together this time. From what my bro told me, if more enemies begin to swarm us, we need to prepare ourselves for a surprise attack." Mario explained.
"Aww yeah, it's just like in the movies, when the hero is ready to face multiple foes surrounding him." Sam related.
"So are we gonna take the other route first and then the manhole?" asked Luigi.
"That's right, Lu. We gotta find the activation switch to open the lock of the manhole." Mario remarked.
"Alright team, we are top notch at this shindig. Vamoose!" Margot emitted.
Nessie barked happily, and everyone crossed the see-saw platform one at a time towards the passageway.
On the other side, there was an elevator and a set of stairs at the end of the wall with a lever that activated the elevator. Bliss was going up to pull it until a horde of Rat Funks came down and surrounded her and the others.
"Ack! Filthy rats!" Margot shrieked.
"Whoa, even big rats live here?" said Trevin.
"Apparently. Everyone, battle positions!" Mario instructed.
Team Mario engaged the horde of Rat Funks. Mario used his acrobatics and pounced on two mices. Luigi grabbed one by the tail and swung at two Rat Funks. Ruby stretched her arms to grab two of them and banged their heads. Sam dodged every single attack and morphed into a ball to attack four Rat Funks. Margot used both a hand and hammer to strike down six Rat Funks. Bliss and Trevin worked together in pouncing several of them while Connor made extreme moves to outsmart the mices. Nessie used one Rat Funk as a hammer to pound 3 of them in front and back of him.
The team was making good progress until one Rat Funk called for help. In the shadows came out Shadows and new ghostly enemies, a Boo. Many of them swarmed the heroes.
"Whoa, what are those ghost-like enemies?" asked Connor.
"Those guys are called Boos. They like to sneak up and scare you big time." Luigi answered.
"Really, they don't look threatening." said Ruby.
Suddenly, a Boo sneaked up and tapped her shoulder. Ruby turned around and was met with a scary face the Boo made.
"Aaaahhh!" screamed Ruby as she jumped and landed on Connor's arms. She blushed while Connor smiled.
"Real mature, sister." said Sam, trying to hide his laughter.
Connor put her down while Bliss came up to her. "Ruby, word of advice. I've known a lot about specters. These guys enjoy traumatizing victims no matter the cause."
"I'll take note of that." said Ruby.
She got her fighting spirit back, and so, everyone resumed battling out more enemies. Mario, Luigi, Ruby, and Margot dealt with the Shadows, which they didn't prove to be resilient. Trevin, Connor, Bliss, Sam, and Nessie faced the Boos. They were a little annoying, considering they could turn invisible and approach them anywhere, but that didn't stop them from trying.
While everyone was duking it out, three Boos were watching the battle at the top of the elevator switch. They came up with a sneaky plan. The Boo Trio created a large orb of lightning and aimed at Luigi, Sam, and Margot. The three got shocked so hard that their bodies were paralyzed and couldn't move.
Ruby watched her little brother and best friend in shock and faced the three Boos giggling. That made her furious with payback. If there is one thing the Boos didn't know is never anger a princess of the Kraken Kingdom.
"You think it's funny to strike down my little brother and best friend!? You guys are about to get punished!" yelled Ruby.
Her eyes illuminated as she shot out a laser heading toward the Boo trio. Two moved aside quickly, but the middle one got hit and was sent through the wall. The two Boos looked back at Ruby, thinking they should be angry or terrified of what happened. They didn't have time to think because Mario and Nessie jumped right on top of them, stomping on their heads.
All the enemies were defeated and retreated back where they came from. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief it's over, but three members; Luigi, Sam, and Margot were still paralyzed after the sudden electric shock. The gang ran up and checked on them.
Ruby spoke to them first. "Sam, Margot, Luigi, do you three still have strength!?
"Ohh, my body is still numb after that electric shock." cried Sam.
"Good golly, it's as if my aunt gave me a lethal back massage that vibrated my entire body." Margot grimace.
"I'm a little fine. My body could only sustain some electric energy thanks to my kraken medallion powers." Luigi answered.
Mario went up to the supply bag and brought out a "Pick Me Up" drink, and gave it to the unconscious three.
"Here, drink this and your health will be restored." Mario assured.
Each person took a sip, and in a few seconds, they were restored to their prime health.
"That was refreshing!" said Luigi.
"Wahoo! I enjoyed that flavor, yo!" Margot shouted.
"That hit the spot. I feel better already!" exclaimed Sam. Then Ruby went up to his little brother and hugged him.
"I almost thought you were a goner." Ruby cried.
Bliss finally pulled the lever, and then the power on the elevator rose. Everyone scooted in, and Mario pressed the up arrow, and the elevator ascended. The top floor consisted of a simple rundown with pipe tubes and another elevator. They all entered, and Luigi pressed down, and the elevator descended.
When the team exited the elevator, they were greeted with a pair of switches on top of a ledge. Three of them were small, and two were giant sized. Ruby, Sam, and Trevin went up to the switches to take a good look at them.
"What do you suppose these switches do?" asked Sam.
"I think you press them with your hand or jump on them." Mario answered.
So the three pressed them, but nothing happened.
"Strange, why didn't it work?" asked Ruby.
Everyone thought about it until Luigi thought of something as he looked at the giant switches.
"I suppose we also need to activate the giant switches as well. Therefore, we also need to do it accordingly." Luigi pondered.
Trevin then spoke. "But how can you guys press them if they're too big?"
"Just leave it to us." Mario assured.
Both brothers leaped onto the giant switches, which made the rest look surprised.
"If Lu is right about this, we all need to press them at the same time. We will press these two with a ground pound." replied Mario.
And so everyone did as instructed. They pressed/ground pounded the switches. The switches disappeared, and then a rumbling was heard. In the middle of the room landed a key and a sack full of food and coins for everyone.
"Yeah, we hit the jackpot!" Margot exclaimed.
"All of this plumbing and battles got me starved." said Ruby.
"I agree, let's all take a break." complied Connor.
Everyone sat down and began to eat in their lunches along with the sandwiches and water bottles Arthur gave to the bros.
At an unknown section of the sewers, the damaged Hobgoblin that was beaten sensitively by Bliss had reached a passageway hole. On the other side, there were multiple toxic barrels spewing purple poison on the sewage waters. As he walked through the corridor, out popped several miniature squids with white bodies and a black visage surrounding the eyes. Half of them looked normal, while the other half were covered in poison due to the toxic barrels.
Once he reached the end of the corridor, a humongous squid emerged from the poisoned waters, releasing all his tentacles around the room. It was similar to the small squids, only this was a large kind with a big head, four tentacles, and blue eyes around the black visage. The only difference is the body and head being covered in purple toxic poison.
The Hobgoblin approached the giant squid and made a grunt noise about his failure to stop the heroes. He felt very scared despite being a scary looking enemy.
The giant squid was frustrated about his failure. He then made a loud squeal, summoning a squid that was slightly smaller than him. He made a command squeal, and the tall squid saluted and swam away to find the intruders.
The plumbing crew finished their lunch break and made their way back to the see-saw room. They all jumped down at the manhole that was locked. Nessie had the key in his mouth, and he inserted the keyhole. The lock came out, and Trevin moved it aside. Mario then opened the manhole cover, and everyone entered inside.
Underneath the manhole, it was a standard room with more drain pipes being broken. Something new was also revealed. Four purple toxic barrels stood at the end of the room. The team took their time fixing the drain pipes and then marched over the barrels.
Mario made a halt signal to check out what the barrels contained. As he approached them, he smelled a foul stench of hazardous chemicals.
"Everyone, these barrels are heavily poisonous. Way more poisonous than the Hobgoblin that did his Dark Claw on you. Whatever you do, don't touch it." warned Mario.
"What are those doing here? Did somebody infiltrate our sewers just to dump their waste disposal?" said Ruby.
"Nah, the gate's always closed. How can anyone break in?" said Margot.
"Well, there isn't anything here to see or fix. Let's all head back." said Connor.
Just then, Nessie sensed something close by. He started to growl.
"What is it, boy? Is someone here?" asked Sam.
Out of nowhere, an ink was shot at the top of the manhole ceiling, blocking the exit.
"BLOOPER!"
A loud, booming voice rang from the ceiling, and out came down a giant squid.
"OMG, what in the world is that?!" Margot shouted.
Mario responded to her question. "A Blooper. Living squids that live in the waters of the Mushroom Kingdom. I've never seen one this big?"
"And how did it end up here in Oceanside?" Luigi wondered.
"Well, it looks like we're gonna have to fight this guy if we want to get out." Ruby confirmed.
"Agreed. Get ready for a serious battle, everybody!" Mario added.
Everyone got their hammers ready and stood in battle poses against the giant blooper. The blooper began the fight as he dived toward the heroes in an attempt to crush them. Luckily, the heroes dodged out of the way. Trevin was the first to lay a strike on the aquatic creature with his hammer. The blooper squinted in pain, but that didn't stop him and chased Trevin. Luigi used the opportunity to punch the blooper in the face, making it stunned for a while. Mario signaled Ruby, Bliss, Sam, Margot, and Nessie to do an all-out attack on the blooper. They all agreed; several slashes and pounding were heard
The big blooper was in deep pain. He spawned five blooper babies that were ready to deal with the heroes.
Bliss was surprised at this. "Hold on, did that blooper just give birth to kids?"
"Are we fighting a female big blooper?" Sam added?
"Not really, it's male and the correct word for this is spawning. It may look strange, but that is how the Mushroom Kingdom enemies go." Mario explained.
The blooper babies went after Sam, Margot, Connor, Trevin, and Bliss while the big blooper focused on the Mario Brothers, Ruby, and Nessie.
The team of five managed to thwart the blooper babies with their amazing skills. That caused the big blooper to get upset and angry. So he charged himself with electricity and was aiming at Nessie. The big blooper dived into him, Nessie moved out of the way quickly, but the electricity managed to reach him, giving the poor pooch a static shock and suffering.
"Nessie! No!" yelled Ruby as she went up to her pet and took care of him.
"Alright ya overgrown squid, time for some fried calamari! Everyone join up!" shouted Mario as everyone huddled up.
He took out a Fire Flower and threw it up in the air. The Fire Flower released a burst of magic sprinkles and everyone began to transform. Everyone had their shirts and cap white while their overalls had different colors. Mario had red, Luigi had green, Ruby had purple, Sam had dark-red, Margot had scarlet, Bliss had dark-green, Trevin had gray, and Connor had gold.
The big blooper saw this and was starting to get nervous about how this was gonna end. The Mario Bros showed everyone how to make a fireball, and everyone did the same way as they did.
"This is so amazing!" replied Ruby.
"I can't believe this is real!" said Sam excitedly.
"I'm on fire today!" exclaimed Margot.
"I feel so powerful." said Bliss catastrophizing.
"Now we're cookin'! shouted Trevin.
"This'll be swell." said Connor.
Everyone turned and faced the big blooper as they all conjured their fireballs and created a gigantic ball of flame. Once it was ready, they threw it at the big blooper, causing even more damage to his body.
The big blooper couldn't take it any longer and quickly retreated back where he came from. The ink on the manhole ceiling melted and the exit was unblocked. Everyone sat down to calm themselves after all that whole battle. Ruby brought Nessie toward the group to see if they could recover him.
"Oh no, that shock from the blooper really gave him a shutdown." Ruby alerted.
"Do you guys have more of those "Pick Me Up" drinks by any chance?" asked Sam to the bros.
"As a matter of fact, we do." Luigi answered as he pulled one out of their supply bag.
He handed it to Ruby and she poured it into Nessie's mouth. When the cup was empty, Nessie opened his eyes and licked Ruby's face with relief, in which Ruby smiled for that.
"Nessie, I'm glad you're back with us!" exclaimed Sam.
"Oooohhh boy, after all the hard work of fixing and fighting enemies, I really need some rest." said Margot.
Everyone had the same thought as Margot. They needed a huge break.
"Well, the good thing is we managed to finish the first bottom floor of the sewers. Starting on Monday, the second bottom floor will be our next destination." Mario informed.
"Let's all head back, shall we?" said Luigi.
Everyone gathered their belongings and went back up through the manhole ceiling toward the exit of the sewers. On their way back, the Mario Brothers were still wondering where and how the big blooper managed to make it to the sewers of Oceanside if they belonged to the Mushroom Kingdom?
Back at the unknown section in the sewers, the big blooper went up to his former headmaster to inform the failure of defeating the intruders. The giant squid grew very irritated by the stench of defeat. He then looked at the barrels with toxic poison and then the blooper. He made a sinister look that meant he had a new plan.
There we go, Chapter 11 is done. Boy, this was a ton to type out. The gang has completed the first bottom floor of Oceanside's sewers and now, they are gonna take a huge break. In the next chapter, the Mario Brothers are about to experience the powers of a giant kraken and learn them. Leave your reviews and see you next time!
