-Chapter 46-
Edge of Revolution
Muda Castle Town
"Oh dear…" Sebas wailed as he looked over the army Daisy had assembled at the castle. "This is terrible! Horrible! Dreadful even! Princess, what have you done!?"
"Calm down, Sebas," Mario assured. "We can stop this."
"Calm down!?" Zamasu demanded. "She's rallied my brother and the Flameless into open war! Wait…" Zamasu scanned the crowd, eyes squinted as he looked for Muscato. "Where is my brother? He's their leader."
"If I know my revolutionary stories right, there was a disagreement and she relieved him of command."
Zamasu blanched at that. "Oh Nep-Enut…" He slumped over in defeat. "Muscato was the only thing keeping Daisy in check. If he's gone, we're doomed! Doomed! DOOM–"
A loud smack sounded. Mario lowered his hand as Zamasu blinked.
"Pull yourself together!" Mario snapped.
"Y-You…!" Zamasu gritted out as he massaged his now reddened cheek.
"I have a brother with anxiety," Mario cut in. "And sometimes you need someone to smack some sense into you." He took a breath. "Now, we can still fix this. We just need to keep our wits. At least Luigi and Mips are…"
"Wait, is that Luigi!?" Sebas cut in.
"What!?" Mario ran over to the balcony and looked down. Indeed, Luigi was there with Daisy, and not looking very comfortable at that.
"Luigi!? What's he doing there!?"
"From the looks of it, aiding the Princess," Zamasu deadpanned.
Mario shook his head. "No… Lu isn't stupid. He's trying to mediate, rein her in. It's what he's always done for me. I gotta go help him."
"Master Mario!" Sebas called out.
"Are you mad!? If you swim there, you'll be blasted for sure!" Zamasu warned.
"Eh, I've had worse," Mario dismissed, swimming off to find his brother.
-X-
"Zamasuuuuuu! Come out and plaaaaaay!" Daisy called out.
"So Princess," Fizz whispered. "How're we gonna do this? Swim over the walls or blow the gate down?"
"Simmer down, Fizz," Daisy urged. "We may be here to fight, but we can't just go charging in. Wait for my signal, then we strike, got it? In the meantime, do a quick survey of the area. Don't want any nasty surprises, right?"
"Mrrrrr… okay…" Fizz grumbled as he swam off.
"Umm… Daisy? I really think this is a bad idea."
"Relax, Luigi, Zamasu's goons haven't had a decent fight in ages." She tapped her fingers together, grinning eagerly. "They're soft and weak from doing nothing but protecting their rich bosses' bank vaults and pet Cheep Cheeps. They'll go down like oysters, nice and smooth."
"You're leading the entire kingdom into a full-scale war! Did it not occur to you that this is an obscenely bad idea?! We're trying to save Muda, not destroy it!"
"I AM saving Muda!" Daisy shouted. "I'm saving its people from being oppressed and treated like second-class citizens!"
"Maybe that's what you think you're doing, but a war isn't the answer!"
"Well, I don't see a better one."
Luigi sighed. "How about sit down and negotiate? Talk peacefully? Unless that's just too boring for you."
"It is…" Daisy replied without a hint of hesitation. "And more importantly, it doesn't work. I should know."
Daisy's fists trembled as she bit her lower lip, her eyes narrowing in barely contained fury.
"Princess!"
Only to be pulled back to reality by Fizz.
"Princess, look! Up there!"
The hot-headed seahorse turned his gaze upward and toward the castle, prompting Daisy to do the same. Something was heading toward them, something red.
"Eh?" She pulled out a telescope, and to her surprise…
"Hold on, Mario!?"
"Mario!?" Luigi shouted, snagging the telescope to see for himself. Sure rough, Mario was swimming in, waving an arm to get them to notice. "It is Mario! He got out!"
"But… that's impossible!" Fizz exclaimed.
"Unless…" Daisy thought for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock. "Oh, crap! Zamasu's brainwashed Mario!"
Before she could start giving orders, however, the elder Mario brother had arrived.
"Hiya," he greeted.
"MARIO!" Luigi cried out joyfully.
"Luigi, stop!" Daisy shouted, holding him back. "Keep away from him! He's been brainwashed, man!"
"What!?" Mario demanded. "No, I haven't! Look!"
He leaned closer, pointing to his eyes, which clearly shone blue. "See any purple here?"
"B-But… we just saw you swim from Zamasu's castle!" Fizz pointed out. "Nobody who's been captured has ever escaped!"
"I didn't escape, he let me go." Mario perked in remembrance. "Oh yeah! I also bashed him on the head. He's not under Tatanga's spell anymore."
"Whew! That's one problem taken care of," Luigi let out as he wiped his brow.
"That doesn't matter," Daisy cut in. "Even before being brainwashed, Zamasu has always been bad news. Him and his Burners need to go down."
"Burn the Burners! BURRRRRN!"
"Fizz!" Daisy shouted. "Tone it doooooown."
Fizz let out a pitiful but irritated whine.
"Is that what you think?" Mario asked. "Because he told me differently."
Daisy scoffed. "And you believe him?"
"Remember what Mary Pat told you on the sub? How there are two sides to every story? Well, Zamasu told me his side."
Daisy perked.
"How he was trying to change the system himself. Making progress. Until you came to the capital city and provoked a civil war after humiliating him in public."
"His court was running roughshod over everyone! And nobody was doing anything about it!"
Mario shook his head in exasperation. "Um, hello?! You can't change a centuries-old political caste system overnight, Daisy! It takes time and patience!"
"And by then, everybody who could've done something about it will be too old, weak, or dead to do anything about it! Zamasu is the strongest Burner in the seas! If he really cared about changing things, he should've used that strength to shut everyone up and make things change! General Muscato has been trying diplomacy for Grambi knows how long, and what has it gotten him? Jack shiitake!"
"It's not that simple!"
"Is too!" Fizz interjected. "The Burners get Burned, the Bubblers take over. We make things better, they never hurt anyone again. And if you're not with us, you're with him!"
He promptly charged a bubble, shooting Mario in the chest and launching him away.
"FIZZ!" Daisy shrieked. "What are you doing!?"
"What we came here to do!" Fizz shot back. "Burn the Burners and their stinking allies!"
"They aren't allies of the Burners! They're not even from here! And more importantly, I haven't given the order to fire yet!"
"Oh, I'm sorry Princess," Fizz said sarcastically. "I thought this was a war!"
"Don't give me that attitude! This may be war, but you can't just go blasting people like that! They're not enemies!"
"They're defending the Burners! That makes them their allies! And that makes them enemies of the Bubblers! Which means they're getting Burned too!"
Daisy gaped in shock. "F-Fizz..."
"So what are you waiting for, Daisy? Give the order. You said you were gonna help us." Fizz glared at her menacingly "You are gonna help us, right?"
The other Bubblers gave her a similar look, and it was at that moment Daisy realized just how badly she had messed up in rallying them.
"I-I..."
"I knew it." Fizz tail whipped Daisy, knocking her aside. "Forget the Princess! We'll do this ourselves! DOWN WITH KING ZAMASU! BURN THE BURNERS!"
The army swam off, some toward the upper levels, while others focused on the gates.
"What have I done…" Daisy gasped, sitting up. "What have I...?"
Mario groaned, pulling himself out of a coral reef. "Anyone get the license plate of that torpedo?"
"Mario!" Luigi and Daisy immediately went to check on him.
"Mario!" Daisy cried. "Are you okay?!"
"Fine…" Mario rubbed his gut. "Mamma mia… Those bubbles pack a wallop."
"Yeah, they do," Luigi agreed. "And now they're on a rampage, and we're about to see War of the Dragons live."
"This is all my fault..." Daisy let out. "I… Oh Grambi, I screwed up!"
A loud boom sounded. Everyone turned to see the gates falling.
"The gates!"
"We gotta stop this before too many people get hurt!" Mario perked, noticing someone was missing. "Hold on… Where's Mips?"
Everyone froze. Indeed, she was gone.
"She was right next to me!" Luigi cried.
"Uhhh... guys? I think we have bigger problems..."
Daisy pointed in the distance. They looked to see a cloud of purple fog slowly advancing.
"A Dry Spell!?" Luigi cried.
"No... not now!" Daisy shouted.
"One step at a time," Mario cut in. "We need to work on the Bubblers for now before this gets any more out of hand."
He gave Daisy a dirty look. "Hope you're happy. You wanted to make change by force… and now you've got it."
With that, he turned his back on the princess, swimming back into the city.
"I have to find Mips If she gets caught in that thing…"
Luigi shook his head, then swam off as well, leaving Daisy alone. Daisy floated down to her knees.
"It's all my fault... Mom... Dad... Peach... What have I done?"
-X-
"Okay… get it together, Mario," he whispered as he swam into the city. "You just gotta get people to stop fighting. Shouldn't be... too hard, right?"
Upon entering the city proper, Mario froze upon getting inside. Already, the previously peaceful city was in utter anarchy. Bubblers were running amok, destroying and attacking everything in sight. Some were fending off the city guards, using debris from the buildings as cover. Others chased down fleeing Burner citizens attempting to escape the carnage. A few were even destroying and looting homes and businesses.
"Ohhhh…" Mario groaned. "Mamma Mia… this hurts already."
Taking a moment to adjust his Frog Suit, Mario swam out to try and fix things. No sooner than he did, however…
Fwooo… BOOM!
"Whoa!"
He had already found himself coming under fire from incoming bubbles. The bubbles flew in from all sides, at speeds that would make an Olympic track star jealous. Fortunately, Mario's Frog Suit gave him the agility to avoid them effortlessly. Unfortunately…
BOOM!
"Eeeek!"
There was still the matter of the explosions. Whenever the bubble hit something, it would burst with an impressive amount of force; enough to blow holes in the sea stone buildings.
"Okay…" Mario let out. "The plan is to stop the fighting. Don't know how I'm gonna do that... but I'm sure it'll come to me. Just need to avoid the heat and…"
Just then, Mario felt something behind him…heat. Without even thinking, he ducked, narrowly avoiding a stream of fire that would've boiled him like fettuccine.
"Ahh! That almost boiled me like fettuccine!"
"Freeze, rebel scum!"
Mario turned around to find himself face-to-face with a small squad of three Dragobo guardsmen; Burners, if the attack was anything to go by.
"Hey, hey, hold your fire!" Mario raised his hands defensively. "I'm not with them!"
The guards didn't seem to be listening though, as they unleashed another fire attack, forcing Mario to dodge.
"Don't play stupid with us!" the leader shouted.
"Yeah! We saw you with Princess Daisy and the rest of her army!"
"Because I was trying to reason with them! Talk them down! I–! Yipe!"
Mario swam about as the guards continued to literally open fire on him.
"Will you cut that out!?" Mario shouted at them. "I'm trying to–!"
Unfortunately for him, a fourth guard took advantage of his lack of focus and got him with a well-placed tail whip, sending him plummeting back to the ground. Taking a moment to shake the stars orbiting his head, Mario got up to face the guards.
"Will you hold on a second!? I'm trying to help you here!"
Only to find all of their mouths glowing orange with heat as they prepared another fire attack.
"Ohhhh… Mamma…"
Outside the city…
Luigi swam about, looking desperately for Mary Pat.
"Mips!" he called. "Mips, can you hear me!? Where are you!?"
There was no response.
He looked around desperately for any sign of her
" Cazzo (1)... where could she be?"
"Luigi...?"
Luigi shrieked before spinning around, arms raised in a martial stance as he prepared to strike…
"Whoa! Easy, man! It's me!" Daisy shouted, hands raised defensively.
"Daisy!" Luigi's stance relaxed. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you." Daisy sighed. "I... figured I might as well do something instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself. And since there's no way I could help in the city..."
Luigi watched as the princess looked away shamefully as she clutched her arm. It was clear she was taking what happened hard.
"Daisy... I-"
"Save it." Daisy held up a hand. "I should have listened. You were right. I wanted to make a change, to make things better for the Bubblers… but I didn't want this ." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mom is probably roiling in her grave right now."
"Hey…" Luigi swam over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be like that. Now's not the time for self-pity."
"Yeah." Daisy nodded. "Anyway, your sister. We still looking for her? Any idea where she'd go?
"Wish I knew." Luigi shrugged. "Though considering Piraput, I'd wager she's trying to save as many Koopas as she can.."
"Then she's probably heading for the Koopa District. It's near the outskirts of Bubbler territory, far from the guards' patrols."
"Then that's where we're going." Luigi swam aside. "Lead the way."
"Right, let's go."
Koopa District
MP and Kerry looked over the Koopa District.
" Gesù Cristo (2)…" MP managed. "This place makes the Hood look like the Upper West Side."
"Yeah..." Kerry sighed. "It's bad."
Bad was an understatement. The Koopa District was the very definition of a slum mixed with an aquarium that hadn't been cleaned in weeks. The buildings were dilapidated and encrusted with barnacles and algae. Trash and detritus littered the streets or drifted about in the currents. It was like the two had stepped into a hardcore gangster rap music video.
"Seriously…" MP said. "When I saw those Koopas with the Bubblers, I thought…"
"That things were better?" Kerry cut in with a snort. "Nah, the Bubblers needed someone to take their aggression out on. Some of them are cool, like General Muscato." He let out a sorrowful sigh. "But not everyone's like them."
"Then why put up with it? Why not just… leave?"
"Because we have no choice. Koopas get treated like crud everywhere we go. Not just us, either. Goombas, Boos, Shy Guys… The rest of the Mushroom World thinks we're nothing but monsters. 'Specially after..."
He sighed bitterly.
"Hey," MP held up her bag so she was eye to eye with Kerry. "I don't think you're a monster. And if it sucks that much for you all, it's all the more reason for me to get you all out... of... here…"
She trailed off, the blood draining from her face as she saw the purple miasma of the Dry Spell trailing across the water.
"Oh... That's… Noooo…"
"Mary Pat…" Kerry began. "You need to hide NOW!"
"I-I…"
MP yelped as the soft, vicious hissing greeted her ears.
"Ohhh no…."
The hissing grew louder.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
As the hisses grew louder and closer. MP's nerves could take it no longer. Without even looking where she was going, she screamed in sheer terror and swam for her life, desperately trying to put as much distance between her and the nightmare fog as possible.
"No! Get away! Stay away! Keep away from–EEK!"
She froze, finding herself staring face to bony face with a Dry Fish.
"Cazzoooooo…" she whispered, her body locking in place; too scared to move or make a sound. "Nice fishy... nice... skeletal... undead fishy..."
To her surprise, however, the undead creature just floated there, its glowy-ball eyes drifting about absently in their empty sockets, as though lost in thought.
MP blinked. "Uhhh… what's going on?"
"I think its brain broke," Kerry offered. "I mean… I know it doesn't have a brain, but whatever it uses as one ain't working right."
Curious, MP moved to the side. She waved her hand in front of the fishbone, only to get no reaction. She snapped her fingers. No reaction. Then…
"Hey Papyrus!" she shouted. "Your pet got loose! Put it back in its bowl before I tell Sans!"
The Dry Fish paused, prompting MP to reach for her bag in case she needed to pull out a weapon. She waited a few seconds, her heart pounding in her ears as she waited for the creature to do something, anything!
"Urrrrp!"
Only to fall over as its jaw opened up, releasing bubbles.
"Yep, it's broken," Kerry said. "You wanna smash it or should I?"
"No." MP shook her head as she got up. "I don't think this thing is broken. In anime, when undead things aren't moving, it usually means they're on standby. Waiting for-"
"Orders."
MP turned to see more fog, this one white. Out of the fog stepped…
"For one of Princess Daisy's lackeys, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders," Madame Hua mused. "Though... given the company you keep..." She glared at Kerry before clearing her throat. "But, I digress."
"You..." MP managed. "You're that zombie lady from the tower."
"Jyamp-Shi, dear." Hua corrected, annoyed. "I may be undead, but I'm no shambling, brain-eating, maggot-infested carcass."
"No, you're a Chinese zombie," MP confirmed. "The corpse of a powerful mystic reanimated and given a second life."
Hua looked at MP, impressed. "A very good head on your shoulders. Not many outside my dominion know what a Jyamp-shi is beyond 'zombie vampire'."
"I enjoy donghua as well as anime, so I know a thing or two about Far Eastern myths and monsters."
"I see."
MP glanced around the district, realizing no one was to be seen. "Wild question. Did you take all the Koopa in this district?"
Hua perked. "Beg pardon?"
"The Koopa. You're here for a reason, and I can't help but notice this place is, for lack of a better term, dead."
Hua shrugged. "Perhaps they all went to fight in the Flameborn in that little rebellion? They are third-rate citizens here, after all."
"Perhaps…" MP narrowed her eyes. "Or perhaps, you're taking advantage of the rebellion."
Hua raised an eyebrow as she went on.
"I mean, come on. Why would a queen be in the slums of an underwater kingdom? A kingdom that just so happens to be having problems with her kingdom's freaky zombie plague? Even an idiot would be suspicious. So why don't you cut the bull-" a distant explosion drowned out her next word. "...and tell me why you're here."
Hua adjusted her talisman as she shook her head.
"You know… This reminds me of those donghua and anime you like so much. You've just stumbled upon the villain's plot. So, you confront them and break down their scheme to them so the audience can understand what's going on. But!" She held up a finger, smiling knowingly. "You also made a crucial mistake. Care to guess what that is?"
MP perked, going pale. "I was monologuing… while alone with the villain… and surrounded by her army." She gulped. "Oh boy."
"Very good head." Hua nodded before raising her hand. " SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (3)"
But, just as she was about to attack, Kerry came flying out of her bag, smashing into Hua's stomach.
"RUN!" he cried out as he wrapped his limbs around the undead queen's body.
"Kerry!?"
"Don't just stand there, Mips! Get outta here! Now!"
MP shook her head. "No way, I'm not leaving you!"
Hua chuckled. "Did you learn nothing from the council meeting, when your brother snapped my neck? You can't hurt me, girl, much less kill me, for I am already dead."
"MP, for the love of Grambi! RUN!" Kerry desperately pleaded.
Then, to take the option away from her, something was shoved out of her bag. A blue-striped shell, this one with submarine propellers instead of wings, was popped into MP's hands.
"Mary Pat, throw me, now!" ordered the Scooba Koopa that had exited the bag.
"But–!"
"NOW!" he repeated. "Get everyone to safety! If you don't, we'll all get captured and made into Bombshells!"
MP paled, remembering what she'd seen at Daisy's castle. Screams of "GAME OVER!" echo through her mind. Realizing she had no choice, MP pulled her arm back and threw the shell, tears in her eyes. The shell beeped, spinning around as MP turned to go.
"I'm sorry!" she cried. "I'll come back for you!"
And with that, she grabbed the shell, taking off through the water with it.
"Yes!" Kerry cheered.
"Get off me!" Hua shouted as she shoved him off and into a wall. Unfortunately, MP was already long gone, and she had no idea where she was.
" Gaisi de !" Hua screamed, her Biokinton shattering a nearby building in anger. "Blasted girl… how dare she make off with my property!"
"Ugh… we're not… your… property," Kerry let out, clutching his stomach…
"Quiet, Koopa scum!"
…only to get a cloud tendril to the face, knocking him out cold.
"Miserable, wretched, little…" Hua seethed, her cloud forming around her in a large, jagged aura. "When I get my hands on her, I'll… I'll… I'LL…!"
She took a deep breath, her body and aura relaxing.
"No…" She shook her head. "She's likely on her way to the city, where the Dry Spell is about to take hold. And even if she does survive, it will be too late. Besides…"
She looked over her shoulder toward the rest of her Biokinton, filled with numerous, cowering, turtle-like shapes.
"I have what I came for."
-X-
Meanwhile, Luigi and Daisy had barely even begun their trip to the Koopa District, when something caught Daisy's eye.
"Huh?" her gaze turned upward, prompting her to gasp. "Oh crap!"
"What's wrong, Daisy?" Luigi asked worriedly.
"The Dry Spell!" she pointed to the purple fog in the distance. "It's speeding up!"
"Ohno!"
"We gotta get to the city!" Daisy cried out as she turned around.
"But what about Mips!?"
"She can handle herself! The Dragobos can't!"
Luigi winced fearfully, his eyes looking in the direction of the Koopa District. He hated leaving his sister alone, but…
"Luigi!"
"Ahh! Right!"
He hated it, but Daisy was right. MP could handle herself, they were needed elsewhere.
Back in the city, Mario braced himself for impact as the guards' flames drew closer… only for them to be intercepted by a stronger flame.
"Stand down!" Zamasu ordered as he swam in. "All of you!"
"Zamasu!"
"Your Highness!" the guards called out in almost perfect harmony, bowing as their king approached.
"Mario is not the enemy here!"
"But sir, he..."
"He met with Daisy and her little civilian army to try to stop them, you fools!" Zamasu snapped. "Are all of my subjects this stubborn and bone-headed!?"
The guards looked cowed as Mario turned to Zamasu.
"The Bubblers are completely out of control. They attacked me for trying to reason with them, and then they attacked Daisy the second she showed any hesitation."
Zamasu gaped in surprise. "What!? That's impossible! My brother commands them, he'd..."
"It's the king!"
A squad of Bubblers quickly surrounded them.
"Well, well..." Fizz spat in disdain. "The big man decides to mingle with the commoners."
"Fizz, listen to me," Mario pleaded. "Don't do something you're gonna regret. You're just gonna make \things worse if you keep going."
Fizz scoffed. "No! I'm done talking, fat boy! We've tried diplomacy! We've tried peace marches! We've tried protesting! Rallying! Picketing, unionizing, holding demonstrations... all to be ignored! The Burners are deaf to the language of peace! Especially Zamasu! Violence is the only language these Burners understand, the only language any of you seem to respond to... And if we wanna be heard, we need to speak out loud and clear!"
They began to charge bubbles. "And it's about to get...LOUD!"
All together the squad launched their bubbles right as Zamasu launched several fireballs, detonating them before they could hit their mark.
"Fool," Zamasu snarled. "Did you really think that was going to..." He was cut off by a loud explosion. "What!?"
Unfortunately, it turned out the bubbles were a diversion, as another Bubbler squad was waiting in the wings. The squad had fired several bubbles at the structure above them, sending debris falling toward them.
"MOVE!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Mario tackled Zamasu out of the way of the rubble, only to be buried beneath it himself.
"No!"
"Ha! That's one down!" Fizz laughed maniacally.
"You fool!" Zamasu roared. "Do you realize what you've done?! That was Super Mario! The hero who defeated the Koopa Troop! And you killed him!"
"He was a Burner-loving scumbag!" Fizz spat, clearly uncaring. "He deserved it! He-!"
Suddenly, a gloved hand grabbed him by the throat and Fizz found himself staring down a newly-arrived and rip-roaringly pissed Luigi.
"That was my brother…" he uttered, his eyes cold and devoid of pity.
"Y-You..." was all Fizz could get out before he was punched in the face, knocking him back several feet.
"That was my BROTHER!" Luigi charged at Fizz. "Bastardo! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"What the…" Zamasu blinked. "What's going on?"
"I don't know!" Daisy swam in. "We'd just got back to the city and we saw what happened and… ohhh man…"
Daisy stood there in shock at the chaos that was unfolding before her. The ruined buildings. The widespread destruction and fighting. The countless wounded. It was…
"Horrible…" she whispered.
"Yes…" Daisy froze, looking to the side to see Zamasu glaring at her viciously. "Look around you, Princess. My kingdom is in chaos, and my subjects are at each other's throats. More or less what you wanted, right?"
"No…" Daisy shook her head. "I was just trying to help! I wanted equality, not a bloody coup, Zamasu! I didn't think-!"
That set Zamasu off.
"And that's EXACTLY your problem!" he roared. "You don't think! You just jump into situations with no idea about the outcome and do whatever you want whenever you want to! How about you stop and think about the consequences of your actions for once in your life, Daisy?!"
"I-I… I'm... sorry," Daisy mustered, unsure what else to say.
Luigi continued to pummel Fizz, who had long since stopped trying to resist. At that moment, the rubble began to shift. Mario rose, groaning and shaking his head, before seeing Luigi with his hands around Fizz's throat, choking him out. He immediately got up.
"Lu! Stop it!"
Luigi wasn't listening, blinded by rage. Finally, Mario darted over, grabbing his arm.
"LU!"
"Eh!?" Luigi paused, finally noticing his brother.
"M-Mario...?"
"It's me! I'm alright! Look!"
Luigi's eyes immediately brightened, welling up with tears. "Y-You're alright!"
He hugged Mario, crying happily. Daisy smiled in relief before turning to Zamasu.
"Zamasu, I screwed up, okay? I know this. But please, there has to be something I can do to fix this mess."
"Not unless you can talk down my men AND the rebels," Zamasu replied. "Though, at this rate, nothing would make them listen."
Just then, it got darker.
"Hm?"
"What the?" Mario paused.
"Oh, nooooo..." Luigi let out in horror.
Everyone looked up to find that the sea sky was blocked with purple fog. The Dry Spell had arrived.
"Crap!" Daisy cursed. "I forgot about the Dry Spell!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing as the purple fog began to descend, spreading throughout the city until it was everywhere. Everything went silent, everyone too nervous to do anything. Then… came the hissing.
"Dry Fish!" Zamasu shouted as a huge school of skeletal horrors descended upon the city, sending Burner and Bubbler alike swimming for their lives. Unfortunately, the Dry Fish were faster; immediately catching up to and swarming their prey, biting into them with their razor-sharp teeth.
It was an undead, feeding frenzy. Combatants did their best to fend off the monsters, only for them to come in from their blind spots and tear into them.
"No… get back!" Fizz shouted as he shot bubbles at the feral fishbones. His defense was for nothing, however, as he was quickly overwhelmed by dozens of them. His agonized screams echoed through the water, only to gradually die down, growing more garbled with every second before stopping altogether. Their gruesome feasting finished and the Dry Fish swam away, leaving nothing left of Fizz but a pile of bones sinking to the ground.
"Fizz…" Daisy let out in horror.
"Mamma mia…" Mario added, only for both of them to snap back to reality when a Dry Fish lunged at them.
"Take this!" Zamasu shouted, blowing the Dry Fish up with a fireball.
"Thanks!" Mario replied.
"Mario... what do we do now?!" Luigi asked as he fended off a group attempting to make a meal out of some civilians.
"We gotta do something!" Mario declared, swimming off. "These things will eat everyone! Swim out, start breaking bones, try not to die, and see where it goes from there!"
"Good a plan as any!" Luigi replied, swimming after him.
"You heard the man!" Daisy yelled, turning to the others. "Let's go!"
"Go!" Zamasu ordered.
"Sir!" the guards saluted before dispersing.
Meanwhile… in the Marine Pop
"Professor?" ROB began as he entered the infirmary. "A huge amount of paranormal activity has been detected in the direction of the Castle town. We must…"
ROB stopped in his tracks. "Oh dear..."
E. Gadd was in the middle of another, more complex seance to try and revive Peach. He had drawn a magic circle around her bed, with odd, antenna-like devices placed at the points of the star, and was holding up a white music box with two notes on the front.
"Professor… what are you doing?"
"Attempting to revive Princess Toadstool," E. Gadd explained.
"Sir, the previous seance failed."
"I know that! The mystical arts failed us, so I will attempt to reunite the princess' soul with her body using science!"
At that, he got back to work.
"Alright, set up the five Phasmogoric Transpookers equidistant from the body… Then, play the Star Music Box backwards..."
He wound the crank for the music box backward, causing it to play "Rise from the dead in the name of Jaydes."
"You are a scientist. yet my records show this as the least scientific thing you've attempted since my activation," ROB said flatly.
"You be quiet! Now here…" He handed ROB a black candle with a purple flame. "Hold on to this special, Boo Essence Infused Incense Candle while I fetch a power cell from this mechanical goat."
ROB watched as the professor made his way to a cupboard, which he opened up, revealing the morbid sight of a deactivated robotic goat.
"Where did you procure that?"
"As I once told Mario, ROB," He pulled out a kitchen knife from his lab coat pocket. "Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to know the answer to."
With a mighty thrust, he plunged the knife into the robo-goat and tore open its chassis. Once a big enough hole was made, he thrust his hands inside and rummaged through its parts, eventually pulling out a small, glowing yellow energy ball.
"The scientific nature of this endeavor still eludes me," ROB insisted. "And how, pray tell, is the power cell going to help the princess? She is a carbon-based life form, not a machine."
"It's not for her," E. Gadd clarified. "It's for the machine."
He pointed toward the frame of Peach's bed, allowing ROB to notice that the professor had installed what looked like a pair of old-timey electrodes and a generator into the back frame.
"Oh my…"
"Now, to begin the Re-Soulification Process!" Gadd ran toward the bedframe, opening up a hatch and tossing the power cell inside. "ROB, throw the switch!" He pointed toward the door.
"The… switch?" the robot asked, tilting his head, allowing him to notice a large lever sticking out of the wall. "Ah… where did that come from?"
"Today, ROB, today!"
At that, ROB pulled the switch, the lever letting out a metallic screech as he did. Once he was finished, the room was immediately filled with eerie lights and sounds as the Boo Candle burned brighter and the Star Music Box began to play on its own, repeating its jaunty phrase over and over again.
Rise from the dead in the name of Jaydes…
Rise from the dead in the name of Jaydes…
Rise from the dead in the name of Jaydes…
"Come on!" E. Gadd shouted. "Live, blast you! LIVE!"
Just then, Peach's body began to levitate into the air, her blankets hanging limply as she did. ROB's optics shone in awe as his creator rapped his knuckles excitedly, eager to see his invention make the princess… fall back onto the bed unceremoniously as the machine died down, the candle snuffed out, and the music ground to a halt… still sleeping peacefully.
"Ohhhhhhh… fudge brownie!" E. Gadd cursed. "It didn't work…"
"I tried to warn you," ROB retorted.
"Oh well…." E. Gadd sighed. "Back to the drawing board."
As the doctor and his robotic assistant left the infirmary, neither one of them noticed something strange happening to the princess. It was subtle… barely noticeable. But for a brief moment, Peach's fingers began to ever so slightly twitch…
Meanwhile…
Back in the city, Mario, Luigi, Daisy, and the various Bubblers and Burners were fighting off the Dry Fish. Things were looking up more than before, as the fighting had stopped, but the sheer number of the swarm brought little comfort.
"There's too many of them!" Luigi cried out as he kicked a Dry Fish's spine in half. "Bro, this might be it! I can't believe it's gonna end like this!"
"We can't give up, Luigi!" Mario insisted, knocking the skull off another.
"We need to evacuate the city!" "Guards! Get the civilians to safety!"
"Wait!" Daisy perked, looking around. "Where's Sebas!?"
"Princess!"
Just then, everyone turned toward the direction of the castle to see Sebas swimming toward them.
"Oh! Thank Eldstar!" the elder Toad butler cried out. "You're…"
Daisy's eyes widen as several Dry Fish swim toward him.
"SEBAS, LOOK OUT!"
"Huh?"
It was then that Sebas saw the fish, each hissing and ready to take a bite out of him.
"My word!"
"SEBAAAAAAAAAAS!"
Suddenly, right before the fish could strike, a column of pink light shot into the sky from the distance, piercing and dispersing the Dry Spell cloud.
"What the…!?" Mario let out.
"Mario!"
Luigi pointed upward, right as a magic circle filled with runic lines and heart symbols formed in the sky. From it, a storm of pink light descended upon the city. The Dry Fish screeched in agony as the light filled them. The undead fish twitched rapidly, then went stiff as their glowing eyes faded, reducing them to lifeless bones once more. A dead silence filled the spot where the Dry Fish and the sounds of combat were mere moments earlier.
"That was... Heart Power," Daisy realized. "Peach, she... she saved us."
"My word..." Zamasu whispered.
"Wow…" Luigi let out.
The Dry Spell had been stopped. The day had been saved. And all was well once again… for all of five seconds. Sadly, with the paranormal crisis averted, the Bubblers and Burners turn back to one another. Sebas swims between them, clearing his throat.
"All of you, stand down!" he pleaded. "Stop this pointless fighting! This senseless feud is over!"
"Like hell it is!" a Bubbler cried out.
"These hooligans nearly destroyed the city!" a Burner challenged.
"And Hua's Dry Spell running rampant nearly killed you all!" Sebas added, getting them to back off for a moment.
Several of the Dragobos winced in realization. But there were still some who looked like they were ready to fight.
"This is bad..." Luigi dreaded. "It looks like they're about to go at it again any minute! What do we do?"
"I... I don't know..." Daisy admitted. "I..."
"Bubble Brigade, stand down!"
At that, everyone turned to see a new face enter the city. Well, new for Mario, at least…
"Muscato!" Daisy cried out.
"Brother...?" Zamasu whispered in shock.
"Zamasu, please listen to me," Muscato began. "What happened here today was not what I wanted. I swear to you."
"I know." Zamasu shot Daisy a glare. "It's because of this little fool that things escalated to that point."
"I never wanted things to get this bad!" Daisy cried. "I just wanted to make things better for the Bubblers!"
"Princess." Daisy turns to Sebas. "King Zamasu told us himself. The Burners are given the privileges they have because their flames are needed to keep the city functional, not out of favoritism. He had been trying to make things change himself. You can't simply force a centuries-old caste system to change overnight."
Daisy was silent, considering his words as a look of epiphany spread across her face. Zamasu sighed in irritation.
"I made those very same points to her, but fine," he grumbled. "No one listens to me."
"Because you yourself don't listen," Muscato chimed in.
"What!?"
"With all due respect, Your Highness, the General is right," Sebas concurred. "How you present the argument is just as important as the argument itself, and your method of presenting things is rather... brusque."
"Brusque!?"
"How often is your response to somebody making a mistake to lose your temper and loudly berate them for it?"
"Too often," Muscato cut in.
"I…I…!" Zamasu sputtered indignantly, only to realize he was only validating them. "Alright, I admit I can be rather… confrontational."
"And that makes you come off as authoritarian and insensitive to the plight of others," Sebas continued. "As a ruler, what you say is just as important as how you say it."
"Yeah. I'll say this much," Daisy spoke up. "I would've been more willing to listen if you didn't get in my face and scream about it."
Zamasu paused to ponder this.
"Now then, with this unpleasantness over…" Sebas looked between Zamasu and Muscato. "Are we finally ready to sit down and settle this peacefully?"
The two brothers turned to each other, an unspoken message passing between them.
"Yes..." Zamasu nodded, his expression softening. "I think we are. It'll be good to sit down like a family"
Sebas smiled, nodding. However, at the mention of family Luigi perked as his eyes flew open with horror.
"Oh mio Dio ... MP! We never found her!"
"Crap!" Daisy cursed. "If the Dry Spell was near the Koopa District..."
"Errrr... Princess?" Mario cut in, pointing upward at something flying toward them. "Incoming!"
At that moment, they heard approaching screaming. Everyone quickly gave it a wide berth as the flying object plowed through the street, carving a trench. When the sand cleared, they saw it was MP, clutching a blue Spiny Scooba Shell.
"Mips!" Mario let out.
"The heck!?" Daisy reacted as the bros went over to her.
"Are you alright!?" Luigi quickly asked.
She didn't answer. She was still clinging to the shell, quietly sobbing.
"Mips?" Mario asked, kneeling next to her. "Mips, what happened?"
"Hey…" Luigi spoke up, touching her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"Kerry…" MP hiccuped. "She took Kerry…"
"Kerry?" Luigi asked, not recognizing the name.
"The Koopa…" she continued. "The blue spiny shell… She took him… I couldn't stop her…"
"Who took him?" Mario asked.
MP's face snapped up, eyes filled with tears of grief and rage. She tried to say something, but her first word was cut off by a whale call. "-ing Madame Hua, that's who! She's been taking Koopas and now she has Kerry! She has my friend and I couldn't save him! She's gonna turn him into a kamikaze bomber shell and it's all my fault!"
MP completely broke down, her face buried in the shell in her hands as she cried her eyes out. Just then, she felt something wrap around her, then another. She opened her eyes to find both her brothers hugging her tightly.
"It's okay, Mips…" Mario soothed. "We'll get him back. I promise…"
MP sniffled one last time before burying her face in Mario's shoulder, letting out all her emotion into a mournful wail.
Author's Note:
(1): Fuck
(2): Jesus Christ
(3): Kill
(4): Damn it
(5): Oh my God
Well, the crisis has been resolved in Muda, but Kerry has been taken, along with a lot of other Koopas. Can the Marios save them?
And yes, the bit with E. Gadd was taken from the Futurama episode Calculon 2.0.
Please R&R. Until next time!