World 2-3: With a Little Help From My Friends
The river rapids beat across a bed of jagged rocks and fallen branches like a current of death and destruction. The water tossed and turned as it flowed across the jungle as a rainstorm raged on overhead, flooding the river and making the already treacherous waters even more hostile.
It was all that Roshi could do just to keep his head above the surface as he was dragged downstream. He thought for sure that he would drown until he finally managed to grab hold of a low-hanging branch of a tree that still stood firm enough not to snap under his weight. It took all of his strength to pull himself out of the violent waves but eventually, he was able to climb onto the rocky shore.
He collapsed onto the hard, cold ground and gasped for air as he stared up at the dark clouds overhead. Roshi felt like he could just lie there forever but soon he heard a rustling in the trees nearby and rolled onto his feet.
The maniacal, shadowy forms of a swarm of fuzzies hopped out from the forest, having somehow managed to track him down after his fall into the river. Roshi ran as the giggling furballs relentlessly chased after him. His legs felt like they were on fire but he couldn't stop, couldn't slow down for even a moment.
"Help!" he cried desperately even though he knew that nobody would come. He was alone. All alone. There was no one who could help him, let alone anyone who would.
Then he tripped, falling face-first into a slick patch of mud. He quickly flipped over onto his back and tried crawling away from the looming swarm gathering around him but to no avail. A shower of beady eyes and toothy grins rained down upon him. Roshi closed his eyes as he braced himself for the inevitable.
But it never came.
Roshi heard a series of muffled thumps and sharp grunts over the rain and hesitantly opened his eyes. Ridley was crouched over him with a pained grin on his face as the fuzzies repeatedly slammed into his back.
"Hey, buddy," Ridley smirked. "Holding in okay?"
"Huh, what are you doing here?" Roshi asked.
"What does it look like?" Ridley winced as the fuzzies continued their assault, then turned his head to the side. "Hey, now would be a good time for you to join in, you know!"
An energy blast shot by alongside a familiar 'fwish' sound and at once every fuzzy caught in the blast was vaporized out of existence, greatly thinning the swarm. The red, purple and white armored figure walked up behind them. It took a moment for Ridley to recognize Samus, as her armor looked completely different than it had the last time that he'd seen it.
"Looks like the cavalry just arrived," she said before shooting down a few more of the furry black creatures.
One fuzzy managed to jump around from the side and nearly struck Roshi only for it to burst in a puff of fur as the sound of a whip cracked through the air. Luigi walked over and held out his free hand towards Roshi. Roshi accepted it and stood up.
"Are you-a alright?" Luigi asked him.
"Oh, yeah," Roshi replied sheepishly. "I'm fine. But what are you all doing here?"
Luigi turned to strike down several more fuzzies with the Vampire Killer before replying. "It looks like we're-a here to help you out. And that-a shouldn't be a problem with all of us here."
Roshi opened his mouth to ask what Luigi was talking about but it seemed that he didn't need to. Another group of fuzzies was suddenly flattened by Bowser falling on top of them. Those that had managed to avoid the impact were pulled together with a wave of Rosalina's wand before getting minced by a white-haired swordsman in black that Roshi had never seen before.
"I think that just about takes care of them." Roshi turned to see Princesses Peach and Daisy walking up behind him, with the head of the Mushroom Kingdom being the one who'd spoken.
"No, it's never this easy." Ridley shook his head. "I'd give it about three… two… one…"
Nothing happened.
"Huh, maybe that was it." The ex-space pirate shrugged. "Alright, we've clearly got more people here than we came into this cave with, so what happened?"
Luigi looked around at their allies before responding. "I'm-a not really sure. I was fighting Dracula when everyone suddenly showed up to help me."
"The same thing happened to me," Samus said. "Minus the Dracula part. I'd rather not talk about what I had to do but my parents and… other important people that I've lost. They helped me get through my challenge but they seem to be gone now."
Ridley looked around at everyone somewhat awkwardly. "Um, yes… Same with me. I had to fight the Dark Hunter, long story we don't have time for right now, and I was rescued by… Kraid. The original, not Junior. Obviously he's not here now, though."
"So…" Roshi tried to process all of that. "Those must have been the trials we were supposed to face? And we all got help from people we care about but only the ones who are still around are… well, still around?"
"It would seem so." Rosalina nodded, which made Roshi feel a bit better. She always seemed to have a good idea of what was going on.
"Right." Ridley nodded. "So, now what? How do we get out of here?"
"I believe that I can help with that."
Everything went black before a single ray of light seemed to cut through the darkness like a sword. The darkness fell away and they were no longer in the jungles of Yoshi's Island.
Ridley tried to regain his barrings as he looked around. They seemed to be back in the Cave of Nightmares. Or, more likely, they'd never left the cave but whatever illusions, enchantments or general nonsense they had been dealing with was now gone. With a quick headcount, he saw that everyone was still there. Himself, Samus, Luigi, Roshi, Rosalina, Daisy, Peach, Bowser, whoever that white-haired guy who smelled like blood was and the tiny round knight with a gray mask and blue cape.
Wait, that last one was new.
"Who are you?" Samus pointed her arm cannon at the stranger.
"I am not important." He stared up at her without a hint of fear or hesitation in his glowing yellow eyes that peaked out from behind his mask. "But it seems that you are. I was beginning to lose hope."
"Yeah, that's not really an answer." The barrel of Samus' cannon began to glow as she charged up her shot.
The stranger sighed and shook his head. "Very well. You may call me Meta Knight. I was once a member of the Star Warriors, who protected this world from an ancient enemy. However, I am now little more than the guardian of the Star Rod, here to ensure that it does not fall into the wrong hands."
"Oh, so you're the one that King Wart mentioned," Ridley said, remembering what they'd been told when they'd been coerced into entering the cave. "Wait, but that would mean that you've been here for, what, hundreds of years?"
Meta Knight seemed to regard him coolly for a moment before nodding. "I have not kept track of how long it has been but I do know that it has been quite some time."
"Why are you so small?" Bowser blurted out, crouching down on his stomach to try and make eye contact. Indeed, Meta Knight appeared to be less than a foot tall.
Meta Knight just glared at the king intently.
"More importantly," Luigi tried to steer the conversation back on track, "we might-a have a problem. We were-a sent here by a giant frog calling himself-a King Wart, who's after the-a Star Rod. We-a don't know the full situation but we're-a pretty sure that he's a bad guy who-a might be holding our people-a captive. We-a don't know what he wants, though."
"That is troubling news," Meta Knight replied. "The Star Rod cannot fall into the hands of those who would misuse its power. But the Star Rod itself has deemed you worthy of protecting it or else it would not have sent you aid in your trials."
"What do you mean?" Roshi asked him.
"Only four of you entered this cave," Meta Knight pointed out before walking over to a white and pink-striped wand with a yellow star at one end. He picked up what must have been the Star Rod and held it out for them to see. "But the Star Rod somehow sensed your presence and activated, using its power to call forth your allies to aid you against your nightmares. It would not have done that if it did not find you worthy of its help. So now, I request that we work together to protect not just this Star Rod but all of the dreamlands from threat. I fear the enemy may return soon and I will not be able to fight it on my own. In return, I will do my part to assist you as well."
Ridley shared a look with the others and it seemed that they were all more-or-less on the same page on this.
"We'll-a help," Luigi told him. "But we need a plan. King Wart's probably waiting to-a ambush us the moment we set foot outside of-a this cave."
"Assuming that we do step out of the cave," Ridley pointed out. "That Star Rod thing is supposed to be able to open portals between the real world and this one, right? Why don't we use that to get out of here?"
"Both of our worlds are just as real as each other." Meta Knight shook his head. "But more important than that, the Star Rod cannot leave the dreamlands at this time. The reason I have had to protect it for so long is not just to stop those with ill intent from abusing its power but also because it is maintaining the seal on the enemy. If something were to happen to it, then that seal would be broken and this land would fall to a nightmare far greater than anything you have ever faced so far."
"Hey, you don't know us," Ridley huffed. "We've been through some pretty wild stuff. But, yeah, probably best not to do that."
"We may not be able to use it to return to our own worlds but could we use it to escape to somewhere more secure in this one?" the red-eyed swordsman asked.
"Hmm… I suppose that could work," Meta Knight agreed.
"Wait, who are you?" Samus turned to the stranger.
"You may call me Alucard," he nodded politely as he introduced himself to everyone. "I am not sure why I am here but it is clear that this is important. I will do what I can to aid you all."
"Wait, but if we just leave through a magic portal or whatever, won't this Wart guy just come after us?" Bowser spoke up.
There was a lot of back and forth as everyone weighed in on coming up with a plan but even they were able to come up with something. Now all they had to do was pull it off. Of course, that was going to be easier said than done.
King Wart waited impatiently outside the entrance of the Cave of Nightmares. It had been a while since he'd sent those pawns in to grab his prize and he was beginning to think that they'd succumbed to their nightmares and been lost just as everyone else he'd sent in there. He was just about to tell the other members of his gang to pack up and leave when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
At last, the purple dragon stumbled out of the cave, followed by the two humans and the Yoshi. They looked as they had when he had sent them in there, though perhaps a little worse for wear. More importantly, though, none of them seemed to be carrying the Star Rod.
The King put up his friendly facade as he walked up to greet them, while his gang stayed behind near the carriage.
"Ah, there you are!" Wart said as he reached them. "I was beginning to get worried. How did it go?"
Ridley just stared at him through dead eyes. "It wasn't there."
What? That couldn't have been right. The Star Rod had to have been in that cave. It must be! All of Wart's plans revolved around finding that stupid rod!
"What do you mean?" He did his best not to sound like he wanted to tear someone's head off, which he did. "Are you sure?"
"We checked that whole thing top to bottom," Samus replied. "There's nothing in there!"
"I almost drowned," Roshi shuddered. "Please, don't make me go back in there."
"We-a each had to endure our worst nightmares," he explained. "It was-a awful but we-a managed to get through it. But then we-a just found ourselves in a dead end and a small pedestal where the Star Rob must have been but it's-a not there anymore."
Wart had to force himself not to growl as he turned away from them. He'd been planning this for so long, how could his prize have already been taken away from him? They needed to find that blasted rod if he was ever going to fulfill his goals. He marched back to where his gang as they turned to him, waiting for his instructions.
"Well, since that didn't work out, I guess we should probably get going," Ridley said as he and the others started to walk away. "Thanks for your help but we'll have to find our own way home."
"You're not going anywhere." Wart turned around with a swish of his cape, causing the hapless pawns to freeze in their tracks. Hah, pathetic creatures. "If the Star Rod wasn't in there then you four are of no use to me. And if you aren't of use then I see no reason to let you go free."
"Oh no, this is such a surprise. Whatever will we do?" Ridley gasped in an obvious show of mock horror.
Wart didn't exactly care for that tone but it didn't matter. He opened his mouth wide and began to sing. As he belted out the opening notes of one of the first songs he'd ever learned, the winds picked up and clouds formed overhead. The peons before him were startled as by the sudden storm as the rains came down. Then he switched tunes, so something he'd learned far more recently. A crudely made wooden manakin of himself popped up in front of him followed by several more as he continued the elegy. Finally, he switched to the song he'd spent so long writing and the puppets sprang to life. The soon-to-be prisoners tried to fight back as his army attacked them but he'd successfully managed to catch them off guard. It didn't take long before they'd been subdued once again.
"Take them," Wart ordered his underlings. "I don't care what you do with them."
His gang members ran forward. Mouser grabbed Luigi, of course, which was no surprise given the grudge he held. Birdo went for the yellow yoshi, which he found interesting. Tryclyde and Clawgrip ended up carrying off the human woman, which left Fryguy with Ridley. However, Wart stepped forward again and crouched down for a closer look as the so-called dragon.
"On second thought, I think I'll take this one," Wart muttered. "He seems interesting. I think we may be able to recruit him."
Princess Peach stepped out through the magic portal alongside everyone else, finding herself standing on a bright yellow path running alongside an ornate fountain of some kind. Looking around, she found that they were surrounded by an assortment of strange purple trees and short white towers. Up above, several different aurora-like phenomena danced across the starry skies, a rainbow of color amid the sea of darkness.
"What is this place?" Daisy asked, standing next to Peach.
"I've never seen anything like this," the pale swordsman, apparently named Alucard, looked around in amazement.
"This reminds me of your observatory, Rosalina," Peach said as she turned to the aloof woman.
"The architecture does seem similar, which should be impossible," Rosalina noted before turning to the mysterious Meta Knight, who was flying up to the top of the fountain using a pair of batlike wings that seemed to have somehow replaced his cape. "Is this the Fountain of Dreams?"
"Indeed." Meta Knight nodded as they all gathered around him. "We are at the very center of the Dream World, the fountain from which all dreams originate and the original resting place of the Star Rod. This seemed the best place to hide for the time being as anyone looking for the rod would have already found this place empty long ago."
"Definitely pretty but not the prettiest thing here," Bowser said and when Peach turned to him, she saw that he was looking straight at her with that smile of his. She felt her heart flutter and had to turn away. It was weird how quickly she'd turned from being creeped out by him to blushing like a schoolgirl whenever he tried being romantic.
"Oh, get a room, you two." Daisy rolled her eyes. "This is bad enough without you reminding me that tosoro mio is out there risking his neck with the others."
That got Peach to snap out of it and she returned her attention back to the others. The situation was dire and she needed to remain focused.
Meta Knight placed the Star Rod at the top of the fountain so that it stood straight up and at once the reflection on the water's surface seemed to change. The image of the fountain of dreams was replaced by a vision of Peach's subjects where being held prisoner. It hurt her to see her people bound and caged like animals. She wanted nothing more than to go to them and try to rescue them but it would be too dangerous. For now, they all had to simply watch and wait until the proper opening.
"This may take a while," Alucard said. "I think I'm going to look around for some chairs.
Author's Notes: Sorry that this chapter's a bit shorter than usual. I've been hit with a bad case of writer's block and ended up cramming most of this the day before I post it. Doesn't help that I didn't spend nearly as much time as I should have outlining this story and only have a vague idea of what I'm doing for most of this. Part of me is considering putting the story on hiatus so that I can focus on my other stories for a bit while I plan this one out in more detail and/or get my groove back. But that'll be a last resort and I'll try to keep going as long as I can.
In retrospect, I feel like I should have had this story and the upcoming Mushroom Civil War flipped because that one feels like a more natural continuation of the original plot while this one may have worked better if the characters and their dynamics were a bit more fleshed out. Oh, well. Live and learn, as they say. Although that's more of a Sonic phrase than a Mario one.