Hmm… I wonder how the temporary Supreme Leader's doing?
Chapter 30: The Legendary Captain Rourke
KND Moonbase
"Okay, I'll get on that- You, too- In a minute, I need to- Er, excuse me, I need to-" The Sooper Stealthy Communications Officer, Bartie Stork, struggled trying to fight his way past swarms of operatives. Since Rachel, Fanny, and Patton had left for their adventure, he was the only operative there to take the job as temporary Supreme Leader… and he didn't like it one bit.
"HEEEY! !" All operatives stopped and turned to see a panting, angry Virginia Sims. "Now… unless you all want your heinies spanked, you all better get away from Bartie and give him a break." She fist-palmed. Terrified, the dozens of operatives stepped away from the temporary leader, who was knocked on the floor with his clothes tattered. Numbuh 23 helped her friend up, pulling his shirt back over his shoulders and brushing him off. "You okay, Bartie?"
"Yeah… I think so." He panted. His then looked furious. "That's it. The MOMENT Numbuh 362 gets back, I am giving her a PIECE of my mind!"
"Relax, Bartie. I mean, the fact Numbuh 362 AND Fanny and Patton had to leave to help Sector V MUST be pretty important."
"Well, she coulda called a few of the Sector Leaders to fill in for her."
"Well, I guess she figured the only other highest ranked operative was a better choice." Bartie only held his head down and sighed. "Hey, you need a little break." Ginny said, wrapping an arm around him. "Come on. Let's get some food down at that Fancy Cuisine restaurant in Virginia." She kept her arm around him as she led him out the door.
"Hehehe. Why, because the state has your name?" he chuckled.
"E-yup."
South America; seaside
The main group continued their journey along the rocky seaside. The sky was bright and sunny, much nicer than all the storms they just went through, and it was a nice day for adventuring. "So, these Kremling guys are after Manaphy," Eva said, "and you think that disk will explain how they planned to find him?"
"It's gotta do something." Ava replied.
"But didn't Manaphy disappear with the Sea Temple?" Violet asked.
"Oh ho ho! Of course he did, you simple brat!" They all stopped and readied their guard when Eggman and Eggman Nega appeared with their henchmen and a squad of Bokoblin, with Decoe and Bocoe riding in Eggman's pod while Bokkun floated with his little rocket.
"Eggman!" Sonic shouted.
"Nega!" Blaze followed.
"What do you want now?" Nigel shouted.
"Here to stop you from finding the next Firstborn." Eggman replied.
"And to take the Guardian with us." Nega followed.
"Our demons will squash you flat!" Bokkun yelled.
"They are not our soldiers, but Ganon was nice enough to let us borrow them." Decoe said.
"Too bad he's busy with something else." Bocoe followed.
"I wonder about that guy." Decoe replied.
"Kids Next Door:" Nigel began as they all readied for battle, "Battle Sta- Huh?" Suddenly, a bunch of GUN Troops ran in from behind, all aiming weapons. "Oh no. Not them, too." Nigel moaned.
"Ready, men: CHARGE!" The kids kept their guard up as GUN charged forward. However, they looked up when the troops passed them and started taking out the demons. The group exchanged glances and shrugged as they decided to fight the demons with them. Violet pounced on a Fatblin and started chewing its ear, but the monster grabbed and threw her to the ground. She shut her eyes when it was about to stab his spear down, but suddenly-
The beast was shot by a gun blast as the lot looked toward its source: it was a rather muscular man in a green military suit and black boots with grayish-white hair. He smirked as he blew the smoke from his blunderbuss gun, and said in a cool tone, "Hey, aren't you a little old to be bullying little kids?"
"Grrr. ATTACK!" Eggman ordered. The demons ran to attack the man, but he easily grabbed and threw them away. A swarm of Bokoblin piled on the man, but he shook them away, grabbing and throwing more demons into each other and shooting them off with his blunderbuss. "Mmmm! You GUN soldiers are always annoying. This isn't the end!" With that, the mad scientists flew off to the sea.
"Ha ha! Want a bunch of cowards." The man smirked, turning to his soldiers. "Great work there, boys! Just keep that up!" They saluted.
"Wow… thanks, Mister!" Ava smiled.
"Yo, who are you?" Kweeb asked. The man only grinned as he shot around to face them. (Play Groose's Theme from Zelda: Skyward Sword.)
"KIDS… my name's Captain Rourke. Highest ranked captain in the GUN Navy. Very close to becoming Commander. A bunch of monsters have been occupying this area lately, so we've been keeping watch. We saw you kids get attacked and had to help you."
"Well… thanks for the save, Captain Rourke." Nigel said. "We're the Kids Next Door. Well, most of us. I'm leader of Sector V."
"And I'M his loving cousin!" Eva smiled, wrapping an arm around his neck. "Call me Eva! I'm leader of the KND news team."
"Heh heh heh!" Rourke laughed. "The Kids Next Door! I heard of you guys. You kids got in lots of trouble down in Chicago, I hear."
"Yeah… that's why we thought your soldiers would attack us at first." Nigel replied.
"We're kind of on the run from your troops due to assisting the family of psychics." Blaze said.
"Heh heh, old Gunkan…" Rourke shook his head. "He's got a real problem with 'freaks.' But don't worry. You're safe with me. Matter of fact, we just ran into one of that family you're talking about. She's with a bunch of other kids at a yacht down at the port in Azultown. It's not too far from here."
"That must be the rest of our friends!" Nigel beamed.
"Well, then let's head back. Afterwards, we can explain everything. Let's go, boys." Rourke ordered, walking off with his GUN Troops, followed by Nigel and Eva.
"Why do I get the feeling this group is about to get a whole lot more crowded?" Kami asked, chuckling with Ava as the rest of them followed. (End song.)
Azultown
The children were now following the GUN soldiers along a harbor outside the city of Azultown. "While I may be a captain in the navy," Rourke explained, "I'm also the leader of a small marine research team. Our job is to protect the many aquatic creatures of the sea. And for some time now, we've aimed at a goal for finding the sunken city of Atlantis."
"Oceana."
"What?" Rourke rose a brow at Numbuh 10.
"The sunken city is called Oceana. No one knows where people get the whole Atlantis thing."
"Actually, we dubbed the whole underwater realm as 'Oceana', and thought Atlantis might be the capitol, the home of the Ocean King himself. But the one thing that's been standing in our way for some time… is the dreaded pirate ship, the Flying Dutchman, captained by the ruthless Davy Jones. Until, a few months ago, he suddenly disappeared."
"That's because Eva wiped the deck with him." Kade said.
"What?"
"E-yep. Sliced him into four parts and sent him falling down the drain!" Eva exclaimed, waving her arm like a sword. "It was awesome!"
"Hmmm…" Rourke became curious, looking closer at the girl. "Say… aren't you Eva Roberts, daughter of Eric and Angelica?"
"Y-Yeah… how do you-"
"Eh heh heh. You'll find out." Rourke grinned again.
Once down at the harbor, the team immediately discovered Facilier's yacht, the Old Orleans, and standing around it was the rest of their team. "Morgan! Guys!" Nigel exclaimed.
The kids turned around, giving bright smiles. "Nigel!" Morgan called.
"BLAZE!" Marine yelled.
"Luigi!" Mario called.
"Mario!" Luigi called.
"Mario!" Peach waved.
"SONIC!" Amy yelled, immediately jumping off the boat and running to her 'boyfriend.'
"No, Amy, WAI-" The blue hedgehog was immediately embraced in a breathtaking hug.
"Oh, Sonic! You've been gone for so long, I thought I'd never see you again!"
"I do love me some romance once in a while." Kami remarked.
"AHEM." Rourke coughed, getting everyone's attention. "Perhaps we could hold off on the introductions for a minute, and we could head over to my ship to discuss business?"
"Where's your ship?" Hoagie asked. Rourke cocked a brow and pointed his thumb behind him. The kids' mouth dropped, seeing a massive, silver naval ship, made up of several cannons, and the deck lined with flags of various countries. "Wow… can't believe we missed that."
"It's cool!" Wally exclaimed.
"Heh heh, yep! Strongest one in the whole navy." Rourke said. "The SS United Nations." They noticed the writing on the side of the ship. "Aptly named, because it doesn't matter where you were from. If you were people like us, we stand together, and fight the evil that threatens us. That's what the G.U.N. is all about."
"Yeah, 'cause that's totally what they do." Morgan said sarcastically.
"Yeah… sometimes officers in the GUN military get a little paranoid, depending on what types come into play. But we really aren't an evil sort. Anyway, come on in! I'll show you around." Rourke said, walking over to his ship.
The captain guided the large group through his ship into the central control room, where soldiers were working terminals and ship controls. "My team and I have researched the marine biotic life for years and tried to find a way into the lost kingdom. We've been hanging around this town for a while because we believed that most of the people in this town are descended from the People of the Water."
"That would make sense." Eva said. "The place is called Azultown, and azul is Spanish for blue."
"Exactly!" Whaddyou point out the obvious a lot? Rourke thought.
"So, is this your team?" Nigel asked.
"Er, not quite. These are just my soldiers. My research team's currently researching at the base we have stationed out in the sea. Unfortunately, a bunch of hostile characters appeared recently and got the whole place surrounded. We need to get over there so we can show them what might be on that disk you got." Ava looked at the disk in her right hand.
"Well, we'd be happy to help you get through, Rourke." Nigel smiled.
A few of the Sonic team's members waited outside aboard the ship's deck. Marine stood beside the railing, looking over the city below. Blaze noticed her thoughtful expression and walked over. "What's wrong, Marine? Is this place familiar?"
"Well… yeah. Crikey, Oi think this is the town where Elijah said he came from."
"Who's Elijah?"
"Er… jus' an old mate of mine. I only met him one other time after our first meeting and… le's jus' say he got shanghaied into a nasty bunch, eh?"
"I see… well I hope your friend's okay."
"Oi, me too… I jus' like to know where he is now…"
Enemy Sea Fleet
(Cue Eggman's Theme from Sonic Unleashed!)
Aboard the metallic enemy flagship, commanded by General Immortus, Eggman and Eggman Nega stood by the general and Madame Rouge, overlooking robots and Stormtroopers working at controls. "So, what's the report on the search for the lost kingdom of Oceana?" Immortus asked.
"We are researching the topic as we speak." Orbot responded. "And we still have our enemy research base surrounded."
"IT ISN'T EASY LOOKING FOR A LOST KINGDOM WHEN WE'RE SO LOST." Cubot yelled.
"D'OH! Turn that voice chip down!" Eggman ordered.
"We also think we have a better chance at finding it if we had a Firstborn." Orbot said.
"Typical. And Bowser has the Firstborn." Nega replied, tonelessly.
"Where is Bowser, anyway?" Eggman asked.
"He and Brain had to go handle some other important matters." Immortus said. "It doesn't matter. He called and said he lost the Firstborn."
"I knew ve should not have trusted him to hold on to it." Rouge said smugly.
"Hmmm. How disappointing." Eggman replied.
Just then, King Kroctus Rool marched into the room and approached the villains. "Oh ho, Kroctus! Did you find out what you needed to learn?" Eggman asked the Kremling.
"I believe I have. Eggman, I need Bokkun to send a message for me. To my base, if you will." The Kremling King marched off.
Eggman and Bokkun exchanged glances and shrugged as Bokkun decided to follow him. The large computer started beeping as Bowser Jr.'s image appeared on screen. "Hey, Eggman! We got a little trouble. Those mean GUN soldiers are approaching our fleet, and it looks like Mario and those other guys are with them."
"Get the air fleet ready." Immortus ordered. "We'll handle things in the sea."
"OOH, whatever you say!" Wendy Koopa exclaimed, getting in Junior's way. "As long as I get to still host my show!"
"Er… yeah, sure." Immortus said, unsure. The two Koopas saluted as the screen switched off.
"Well then… I believe we should get started, too." Eggman suggested. (Stop the music.)
On the flagship's deck
"READY THE CANNONS." Immortus ordered to his men on deck.
"LOAD THE GUNS." Eggman shouted as well.
"All men to their stations-"
"All hands on deck."
Immortus then turned to Eggman and said, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well, what are you doing?"
"No, what are YOU doing?"
"What are YOU doing?"
"No, what are YOU doing? !"
"Well, what are you-" Eggman just stopped, seeing they were in a loop. "Er… I'm the boss of these robots, I get to give the orders!"
"This is my ship, and my Stormtroopers."
"YOU'RE only a general, you're ranked under The Brain! I'M the master of MY army!"
"But I command actual humans, not just remote-controlled pieces of scrap."
"…Well, I-"
"STOW IT! !" Captain Whisker came and ordered. "The both of ye! That's an order! UNDERSTAND? ! ?"
Both of them gave frightened expressions at the robo captain.
Whisker's anger then died down. "Arr… sorry 'bout that. I just thought, if we were havin' a debate, I'd run for the spot as captain, aye?"
Eggman and Immortus exchanged worried glances and walked away. Mini and Mum came up behind Whisker, and Mini said, "I vote for you, Boss!"
"Yeah, you're the hardest-shelled captain in the Seven Seas, aye?"
"D'arr har har! Of course, me mateys!"
With the main heroes
At this time, the main group had set sail as well. Facilier and the Sonic and Mario gangs rode on Facilier's Old Orleans while the KND and the Kongs rode on Rourke's ship. The blue hedgehog, Sonic, once again held his head over the railing in sickness. "Y'know, it's amazing that I'm an earthbender, yet I'm a better swimmer than you." Knuckles said.
"Oh, shut up, Knuckles." Amy shouted, walking over to her crush with a small conch shell necklace. "Here, Sonic! Remember that necklace I made you before to keep you safe in the water? The one that Eggman destroyed? Well, I found some shells and made it again!" she smiled, putting the necklace around his neck.
Sonic held his head up and smiled as he looked at the necklace. "Hehe. Thanks, Amy." He gave a thumbs-up.
"Hm hm hm! It was my pleasure."
Ava and Kweeb smiled and watched the two from Rourke's ship. "Aw, aren't those two adorable?" Ava smiled.
"Hehe, yeah… I still say we're cuter, though." Kweeb replied.
Captain Rourke walked by the two aliens, glancing to them and blowing through a smoke pipe. "So… aliens, huh?"
The two turned to him. "Uh, yah. We're aliens. I'm Ava, this is Kweeb." Ava said.
"Mmm…" Rourke blew through his smoke pipe. "Fascinating creatures, aliens… do you have any powers?"
"Um… I can kiss people of a different language and instantaneously learn that language." Ava replied.
"And she can magically call her swords back to her." Kweeb said.
"Ah, interesting!" Rourke smiled. "Let's just hope you remain on our side…" with that, he walked to the front of the ship.
Ava and Kweeb slightly glared in his direction. "Let's just hope you keep us out of your science test labs." Ava said quietly.
"There's somethin' about that guy…" Kweeb replied, suspicious.
Rourke then went over to the front of the ship with Nigel and Kade. "I have to say, Rourke, you have a pretty cool ship here." Nigel said.
"I'm surprised you aren't Commander already!" Kade said.
"Heh heh. Well, I'm nearly there. Hopefully ridding the seas of these types will make that happen."
"Hey, boys!" At this, they turned and saw Numbuh 10 walk out of the ship, twirling in her red sarong and blue dress. "Can't go on a seafaring adventure without the best style, remember? So, how do I look?"
Kade only made a hot-girl whistle, which Eva giggled at.
Just then, they heard a cannon fire, and saw something made a huge splash in the water beside them. "What was that?!" Tails shouted.
Ahead of them was a fleet of pirate ships, both mechanical and wooden versions, with sails of K. Rool, Eggman, and Brotherhood symbols, and also some Kremling naval ships. Sonic only noticed the Eggman sails and smirk. "Hehehe. The good doctor sure is desperate, isn't he?"
"Oi, mates! Those blokes ah Whisker's pirates, too!" Marine pointed.
"So, Whisker's made a return, too, has he?" Blaze said.
"Hehehe. Time for a little oceanic action!" Sonic snickered. "See you in a bit!" With that, the blue hedgehog charged his legs and dashed over the boat's ledge, running along the water.
"Wait, when did Sonic learn to do that?" Knuckles asked.
"I think during the Dark Gaia incident." Tails figured. "Or was it when we met Blaze…"
"Aw, hey, Sonic! Don't hog all the action, Mate!" Marine yelled, jumping onto her waterbike. She smirked and said, "Save some for me, eh? WOOHOOOO!" the raccoon cheered as she sped after Sonic. (Play the "Darktoon Chase" Theme from Rayman Origins!)
Stage 29: Sea Fleet
Mission: Get through the enemy fleet and reach Rourke's base!
Act 1
Sonic the Hedgehog skidded across the water and dashed to the fleet, dodging the cannon fire that the ships blew at him. Sonic saw some winged Tikis and Home Attacked off of them, getting onto one of the Kremling ships. The hedgehog boosted over some Klomps before Home Attacking off more winged Tikis up to the cannons. Sonic had to hit the cannons a few times before they exploded, and once they were taken out, he fell to the back of the ship.
On another ship across from him, two Kannons were firing barrels over. Sonic Home Attacked off the barrels and reached the ship, taking out the Kannons before shooting up to take out the naval cannons. When Sonic reached the last one, he tricked it into blasting the front of another ship, making it tilt downward, while that ship blasted the back of Sonic's and made it tilt. Sonic just ran down the tilting ship, across the water, and up the other one, shooting over the part tilting up and Home Attacking off some Bladed Spinners to reach a shark-designed flagship.
Sonic sped down the long flagship, running over several Stormtroopers before running around a pole, making a tornado around it that blew him higher up the ship, then Home Attacking off more Tikis before reaching the top of the ship's tower. At the top, two E2000s aimed to blast him, but Sonic got between the two robots and tricked them into firing lasers at each other. Sonic then charged his Spin Dash and shot into the ship's control room, wrecking and exploding the tower.
At this time, Marine the Raccoon was speeding by on her waterbike, punching away Tikis and Kremlings on speedboats with her energy balls. She passed by a pirate ship and shot an energy ball to the topsail, making a chain that swung her around the sail before landing on. Marine slid down the sail and started punching away robo-pirates. She then charged and punched the mast, making it topple over onto another ship, using it to run across. On the other ship were two robots with ball-n-chains. One of them tossed its ball, but Marine grabbed and swung the robot into the other one before throwing it off. She then hopped in a cannon and fired herself to another ship, hitting and knocking over the mast before landing back on her bike.
She hit the boost and shot through groups of Lockjaw that jumped at her. When she reached the next flagship, she shot her fist at some winged Tikis hovering over, grabbing and swinging across them to land on the flagship. On the ship, several Stormtroopers got aboard Imperial Walkers, firing lasers at the raccoon. Marine shot energy balls at the first one's knees, making it topple over. She shot a ball at another one's leg, making an energy chain for her to swing around it, getting its legs tied so it would fall.
She ran under the last one and shot her fist at the hatch, opening it and shooting an energy chain to climb in, knocking out the Stormtroopers and taking control of the Walker. She aimed at the control tower and fired, blowing it to smithereens. She leapt out of the Walker as a burning piece of the tower landed on top of it, jumping back to her waterbike. She then found Sonic running beside her as both of them headed back for Facilier's yacht, climbing back on and giving a high-five as their friends cheered. (Stop the music.)
The pirate ships fired cannonballs at the yacht, but Facilier quickly used magic to turn them into bubbles. The GUN Troops aboard the SS United Nations took aim at other enemy naval ships and fired their cannons, wiping the ships out. "Steer-RIKE!" Rourke cheered, shooting other ships with his blunderbuss.
Some Klinger Kremlings climbed onto the yacht, but Amy smirked as she beat them away with her hammer. She then looked up and frowned when she spotted several flying airships. "Uh-oh. Looks like we got company."
"Those are Bowser's airships." Peach said, worriedly, beating another Kremling with her golf club.
As Rourke shot off a Stormtrooper, he noticed the sky getting grey with clouds, pouring rain down. "And it's a storm. Great!" he yelled sarcastically.
They saw a bunch of Paratroopas and Bokoblin on Kargaroks flying down from the ships and shooting arrows, so Eva used her bending to catch a bunch of raindrops, freezing and shooting the ice drops at the enemies. "Ugh. It's hard to fight these guys down here."
"If only we could get to those airships." Nigel said.
"Bzzz-zip-zi-zzzzt!" At this strange buzz call, they saw the large mosquito, Moskito, zooming around the skies, past the airships, before shooting down and straight toward Eva, who winced as it gave a sudden stop, gesturing for her to climb on.
"What the heck is that thing?" Rourke asked.
"A giant mosquito?" Kade asked.
"It looks like he wants me to ride." Eva figured, getting on its back.
"Are you sure that's safe, riding out in a storm?" Nigel asked.
"Not in the least. But then again… I'm your cousin." She smirked, kicking its side like a horse, making it take off. "HI-HO, MOSQUITO!" (Play the Song of Storms from Smash Bros. Brawl!)
Act 2
Eva rode the mosquito as winged Tikis flew out from the ships and spat fireballs at them, but Moskito sucked them in and blew them back. Moskito dodged as Paratroopas came down and spun at them, sucking some in and shooting the shells at other Koopas. The Bokoblin riding Kargaroks fired arrows that Moskito caught and shot back, but the monsters only defended with shields. Eva bended some raindrops into waterbending slices and cut the shields, allowing Moskito to shoot them.
"Enemy submarines attacking from the bottom!" Rourke shouted. Eva and Moskito immediately dove down, with Eva making a water bubble to encase them so they could breathe. Underwater, enemy submarines shot torpedoes at the SS UN, so Eva bended the water and made them turn back, crashing and exploding the subs.
A school of little fish called Bitesize swam by for Moskito to inhale and fire at Kremling subs. A bunch of torpedoes came their way, but Moskito quickly flew into a dark cave underwater, where Glimmer the anglerfish lit their way. The two narrowly dodged as little clams called Clambos fired pearls, and Moskito sucked and blew the pearls back. A squad of blue octopuses, called Croctopuses, chased them, but Moskito dodged each one that spun by, shooting the octos.
They reached the end of the cave and shot above the surface to the sky. The winds started to become rough as they were flying into the airship fleet, the many floating ships firing Bullet and Banzai Bills, in which Moskito sucked up the Bullet Bills to fire at the Banzais. Eva and Moskito yelped and barely dodged as lightning started to hit, striking and burning the ships, which then exploded into fireballs they had to dodge. One of the ships then fired a squad of Missile Bill at them, but Moskito swerved and dodged the Bills, making them crash each other. The last two had strange raccoon tails, which Moskito destroyed, making Tanuki Suits drop down below.
The two then flew above the stormy clouds to the bright sky above, shooting off a few more Bokoblin on Kargaroks. Eva spotted a bigger airship close ahead, so Moskito flew over for Eva to drop onto the ship. (Stop the music.)
Down below, Mario and Luigi saw the two Tanuki Suits drop down and decided to grab and put them on, spinning and whacking their raccoon tails at some Kremlings that came for them. "Oi, mates! Now you're raccoons jus' like me!" Marine beamed.
"You DO know they probably come from REAL raccoons." Blaze mentioned.
"So. What's yer gettin'?" Marine asked, confused. Blaze looked disbelieved.
"These Tanuki Suits oughta help us get to the lead airship!" Luigi figured. "Let's go, Bro!"
"Yea!" With that, the two ran and jumped over the railing, taking off for the sky.
"Ah ha ha, ha ha!" Came some crazy, kiddish laugh. The operatives looked up and saw the robo child, Bokkun flying toward them. "Now… which one of you is Kami Drilovsky?"
"Uh… I am." Kami decided to raise her hand. "What's up?"
Bokkun got in her face with an angry expression. "I got a message to you from King K. Rool, so ya better pay attention if ya don't want some o' these!" He waved his fists.
"Just play it."
"Here." Bokkun held the mini TV in front of her face as it showed a silhouetted image of King K. Rool, laying back in his throne and slowly fiddling his fingers.
"So… Kami Drilovsky. Word has reached me that it was you who assisted the Kongs in trying to steal my bananas we stole."
"OOOOHHH." Donkey glared at the reptile king.
"Uh, we're here, too." Ava mentioned.
"He can't hear you, it's a recording." Bokkun said.
"I've got some important business I'd like to discuss that I think you'll wanna hear. Come to my floating island base to the Northeast. My minions will show you the way. MWEH HEH HEH HAR!"
"This message was brought to you by the Eggman Empire, who is not responsible for its content." Eggman's voice spoke. "…Except this part." Right away, the TV blew up in Kami's face.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Bokkun laughed, flying away, Kami growling at him.
"Well… that was a real bang." Kweeb joked. Kami once again flicked him away.
"O-kay… But you aren't really gonna go, are you?" Ava asked.
"It's most definitely a trap." Tails pointed out.
"Yeah…" Kami looked down in thought. "But why would he wanna trap me instead of the Kongs?"
"You think he might be crushing on you?" Dixie joked.
"I don't know. There's something odd about this. I think I might go…"
"Shouldn't you find a way to bring backup, just in case?" Ava asked.
"Hmm… I'll think of something."
Above the airship flagship
Back up above, Eva looked around the deck of the airship, seeing it was decorated with pink curtained tables, balloons, and pictures of Wendy Koopa. "Welcooome!" Eva shot her attention to the stage in the front. "To Wendy O. Koopa's dance party AIRSHIP!" The red-shelled Koopa girl with a pink bow emerged from below the stage with a microphone. "Today, I'm the star singer, Wendy O. Koopa!"
"You…" Eva looked weirded out by the girl. "You're the boss of this airship fleet? !"
"Heehee, that's right! And you're JUST in time to watch my debut single!" she exclaimed, drawing out a long, pink ribbon. "…Nooo ESCAPE!"
Boss fight: Wendy O. Koopa
Wendy: Follow me… I'll take you to the siiimple liife. (simple liife)
THAT is why… the Koopa still survives, and thri-ives!
Wendy waved her ribbon and blew pink hearts that homed in on Eva, who dodged and whipped them away with Water Whip.
Come with me. I'll take you to paradise. (paradise…)
IN-humans… are the best life… tooo ari-ise!
Eva ran up on stage and started swinging her Water Whip as Wendy countered with her heart ribbon. Eva pulled the ribbon away and dealt a few blows against the Koopa, who quickly recovered and rolled over to grab her ribbon.
It doesn't matter… what you are.
As LONG as you are one!
She continued to whip more hearts at Eva, the Ocean Princess trying to dodge over and whip her back, but Wendy jumped atop one of the poles.
We will see…
Just you and me…
And see how a freakshow FEELS, ooh-ooh!
Just come on down, you foo'. (foo'…) Eva just stared disbelieved at the Koopa.
Humans beings are SO taboo.
Don't go OVER all banana
Nor act like a nana
And COME be META with ME, ooh-ooh-ooh!
Eva just used Water Slice to cut the pole down, making the Koopa singer fall over. Wendy started screaming as Eva dealt several Water Whips against her. "STOP IT!" she finally yelled, standing back up and whipping Eva's hands with her ribbon. "How DARE you! Just because you're jealous that I'm a better singer than you, doesn't give you the right to stop my show!"
"Girl, you shouldn't even be allowed to sing." Eva snapped back.
"She's right, we could hear it from down here!" The two turned their attention as Mario and Luigi flew up to the deck in their Tanuki Suits, ready for battle.
"Aw! Not you annoying plumbers, too! That's it, now I'm mad. KAMMY!" At Wendy's call, the purple-clothed Magikoopa on a broomstick swooped up.
"Mweh heh heh. You Mario Bros. always have a knack for showing up where you aren't invited. But that's very rude of you to interrupt Wendy's show. I'll do something about that." The Koopa witch waved her wand and sprinkled magic all over Wendy's ribbon. When the Koopa twirled it again, it became a ribbon dragon, flapping its wings and roaring as Wendy hopped on top.
"Aha! This is pretty cool! This oughta teach you meanies a lesson. Let's DANCE!" With that, she whipped her dragon with the handle part of the ribbon as it roared again. (Play the "Koopalings Theme 1" from New Super Mario Bros. Wii!)
The ribbon dragon took to the sky and flew several feet away from the ship, spitting fireballs that Eva defended with a water shield. The dragon charged and blew right over them, nearly blowing them over the edge with the force, but they grabbed on. The dragon landed on the deck and was about to stomp them off, but Mario and Luigi climbed back up and shot fireballs, burning and stunning the dragon, and making Wendy fall off. Mario then back-flipped above Wendy and Ground Pounded her, the Koopa girl retreating in her shell as she spun around the deck to try and knock them over.
Both she and the dragon recovered as Wendy leapt back on, taking off. It flew out from the ship again and launched more fireballs. While Eva protected from the fireballs, a bunch of Boomerang Bros came out, throwing boomerangs at Eva. Mario and Luigi whacked the boomerangs away with their raccoon tails and protected her, then whacked the Koopas away. The ribbon dragon flew high above the ship, about to smash them with a Ground Pound, but Luigi got under, charged his Hi Jump, and shot straight up, damaging the dragon first and knocking Wendy off.
The Koopa tried to whip Eva with her ribbon again, but Eva wrapped her Water Whip around it, pulling it away and using it to whip her a few times. Wendy curled in her shell and spun around, trying to hit them again. She was able to trip Eva and take her ribbon back, getting back on the dragon and flying away from the ship. "Uh-oh. Here it comes!" Eva exclaimed as the dragon charged for one last attack to wreck the ship.
"That's it for you, Mario Bros. and unpretty girl!" Wendy yelled.
"Really?" Eva rolled her eyes.
Mario and Luigi decided to charge their fire attacks as well. When the dragon charged, Mario and Luigi unleashed their orange and green fire tornados, totally burning the ribbon-made dragon to nothingness. Wendy was then left floating in midair, looking down with a terrified look before falling and screaming to the sea.
Mario, Luigi, and Eva did victory twirls as the two brothers tossed their hats in the air. (Stop the music.)
"Yeah!" Mario cheered.
"We did it, Bro!" Luigi followed.
"Of course, I did most of the work." Eva reminded. "Flying through that storm and stuff."
"Hehe, right." Luigi chuckled. "Now we should probably get back to the others."
But when they were about to jump over the edge, Bowser Jr. came up from a table from behind, holding a Darkness Cannon. "Not so fast, you losers!" And right when they turned to him, Junior fired the cannon, directly hitting Luigi and knocking him out.
"LUIGI!" Eva and Mario screamed.
"TAKE 'EM OUT!" Bowser Jr. commanded as Kammy flew by to carry him away. A bunch of other airships started firing at the flagship, quickly destroying it.
"Jump!" Eva yelled. Both of them grabbed Luigi and leapt over the edge, falling back to Facilier's boat.
Luigi woke up to find himself in some freaky, parallel-dimension-type place, rubbing his aching head. "Ow… my head…"
"Aha ha ha. And so, the plumber arrives, as fast as a little kiddie falls to the will of his dreams." A mysterious voice echoed.
Luigi, startled, looked around for the source of the familiar voice. "That voice…" (Play Dimentio's Theme from Super Paper Mario!)
At that instant, a familiar, black-and-white faced figure, dressed in a jester outfit, appeared out of nowhere, baring a similar appearance to Dimentia. "You're as clumsy as ever, my dear plumber!"
"D-D-DIMENTIO!"
"Ah ha ha ha! And I thought my sister made the surprising appearances! 'Course, escaping the Underworld all on her own was no small feat. But what's happening with her isn't important until later. What matters now is YOU, Dear Luigi!"
"What do you want this time, Dimentio? !" he asked, angrily. "We kicked your butt before."
"Aha ha ha! I want NO desire of my own, Dear Plumber. I am merely here to get you what YOU want. Mainly what you deserve."
"What are you talking about?"
"Isn't it amazing? You're the favorite of the Mario Series, the star of your own game where you saved Mario, and even accompanied the plumber on most of his adventures. And yet, he STILL gets deemed the main hero and not you."
"So?"
"Aha ha ha! Isn't it so INFURIATING! Someone who is clearly the less competent getting all the credit?"
"Well, he does get most of the important roles. I'm not really mad."
"Hm, yes… but don't you wish YOU could have the important role for once? Rather than just letting your superstar brother have all the fun? Why, even in this excuse for a story, you're nothing but a mere shadow to him."
"That's not true! Mario may get most of the stardom, but everyone knows I'm just as important!"
"Exactly! And that's why we need to let that importance out!"
"Wh…What?"
"Come, Luigi! The fans all want it, and so do you! Unleash the true Super Luigi within you… on the Dark Side."
"Wh…What are you…" Luigi shook in fear as Dimentio started to channel powerful magic into his hands. The male space clown unleashed his power, giving the green plumber a massive shock. "Oh NOOOOOOO…" (Stop the music.)
Luigi lay unconscious on Facilier's boat as the rest of his friends looked over him. "Luigi?" Peach spoke, worriedly.
"Is he okay?" Toad asked.
Suddenly, Luigi was encased in light, exploding and blowing them all back as his clothing changed black, and a green handkerchief and black Western mask appeared, and his 'L' was revered on his cap. "Lu…Luigi?" Tails looked back up. (Play Mr. L's Theme from Super Paper Mario!)
The gang slowly approached as Luigi's body began to shake. The plumber shot back to his feet, making a pose, the Mario Team gasping at his new uniform. "Wherever there's peace in the universe! I'll be there to make everything worse, I'm Mr. L." He sang.
"Mr. L?" Tails repeated.
"The Green THUNDAH!" he sang.
"Oh no. Luigi's become Mr. L again." Peach said.
"I'm blasting off at the speed of light! Surrender now or prepare to fight, I'm Mr. L."
"What's going on?" Sonic asked.
"Heh heh heh. Never a dull moment, eh, Hedgehog? Well, let me give you the lowdown." Mr. L glared at Mario. "I've been in Mario's shadow for far too long. It's time my true awesomeness has been unleashed. Thanks to a little help from an old friend of mine, the Green Thunder known as Mr. L is awakened!"
"This guy on drugs or something?" Rourke asked, still smoking his pipe.
"Luigi, whaddyou think you're doing?!" Knuckles asked angrily.
"Heh heh heh. What it's ABOUT is ME turning to the Dark Side, to show what I'm REALLY made of! And the Dark Master may help me do just that."
"This is foolishness." Blaze spoke seriously. "Stop this right now."
"Heh ha! Just because you're the princess, Blaze, you have no command over me. Mr. L does what he wants now, and he wants over to the bad side."
"Hmm." Mario just furrowed his brow.
"Everyone has a Dark Side, Bro. And you're about to be reminded of mine." He then pressed a button on his belt and activated rocket shoes. "But until then, I need to be acquainted with my fellow villains. For now, let's let the nature of the ocean do its course! Eh heh heh heh!" With that, the brainwashed plumber took off for the enemy ship.
"LUIGI!" Peach called.
"It's too late. He's gone now…" Blaze said.
"Mama Luigi…" Yoshi looked sad.
"Well, NOW what?" Knuckles asked. (End song.)
Suddenly, the boat began to shake. The gang jumped with total surprise when a massive octopus emerged from the depths, looking furiously at them. "That's the octopus that attacked us before!" Eva remembered.
"Oh no! Look!" Sonic yelled, pointing at three Tikis that were shaped like maracas. The Tikis shook and played hypnotic, melodic tunes, brainwashing the octopus. They flew inside the octopus as the angered animal shook its tentacles, grabbing and starting to shake the two ships with various tentacles.
"How many tentacles does this thing have?" Eva asked.
"Doesn't matter. We have to stop it!" Sonic said.
"WOOHOO! Oi, Squidface! Get ready ta be turned into sushi, eh?" Marine shouted cockily. (Play the Squiddicus Theme from Donkey Kong Returns!)
Boss fight: The Multipus
Sonic started running along the water around the octopus, dodging as the many tentacles shot up to whack him. He then Home Attacked off a few tentacles up to its eyes, attacking them. He bounced off for a tentacle to grab him, but Sonic quickly shook away and jumped to another one. That other one tried to smash him in the water, but Sonic ran up the arm and jumped to the tip of the next one, which wrapped around him. The tentacle threw Sonic above the Multipus, allowing him to charge his Home Attack and shoot at his cranium, making him dizzy.
"Moi turn, eh?" Marine said, readying her waterbike as Sonic ran back to the boat. The raccoon sped toward the octopus and punched away the tentacles it tried to whack at her. She leapt onto one of the tentacles in the water, holding on as it tried to shake her off, and jumping as it splashed in the water. Marine ran closer up the tentacle and punched energy balls at the octopus's eyes. She then dodged as a tentacle tried to smash her. She fired a ball at the tentacle to make an energy chain to swing up to it. It shook and threw her off, but she grabbed it with a chain again, getting back on and riding it like a horse. A bunch more tentacles started to come up, but Marine used them as stairs down to the head, and when she reached it, another tentacle rose higher, so she shot a chain to it and swung high above the head, dropping down, spinning her fist, and giving a powerful punch to the cranium.
Marine fell back to her waterbike and went back to the boat. "I'll finish it off." Eva smirked, making an ice surfboard and surfing over to the behemoth. A tentacle shot up and knocked her off her board, but she landed on a tentacle the Multipus was holding horizontally. She kept her balance as she bended her water fists, dodging the tentacles that tried to smash her and punching at its eyes. When she punched them enough times, Eva flipped back and grabbed the ledge of the tentacle, starting to slide down. She landed on the tip of another one rising up, which threw her down to the bottoms of two more.
Eva started to Wall Jump up the two tentacles as they sunk down, then grabbed onto another one that waved by. The tentacle tried to smash her into another one, but she jumped and slid down that other one, nearly making it to the head before another tried to swat her. She grabbed onto it as it swung her upwards. Eva bended her water fists again as the tentacle tossed her, and the Ocean Princess charged her fists and once again bashed the cranium clear at the top.
The octopus groaned as it finally released the ships, rolling its eyes and sinking below the surface. The Maraca Tikis flew out of the monster dizzily as well, and Eva gave her fists one more charge before flinging them out to the sea. Eva made her ice surfboard again and surfed back to the yacht, stopping with style as the others cheered. (End song.)
"GOOO EVA!" Kade cheered.
"Man, am I glad that's over." Rourke said. "You kids sure are the real deal. Explains why you were able to recover that disk."
"It's all in a day's work for the Kids Next Door." Nigel stated proudly.
"Ha ha. Well, at any rate, let's get that disk to my base. With the enemy fleet gone, it's just a hop and a stone's water skip away. Let's go." With that, the ships proceeded to sail to the island base ahead.
"Finally. The sooner we can get off this water, the sooner I can… Ohh…" Sonic fainted.
"Sonic?" Tails looked worriedly with the others.
"What happened?" Ava asked.
"Oh no! The seasickness must've been too much for him." Amy panicked.
"I don't know. I feel like I've seen this before…" Eva observed.
Arrrgh. Once again, this took quite a while. Everyone remembers Captain Rourke, right? And the song Wendy sang was based off of Pink Monkey's from Ape Escape 2. Next time, we'll see what's on this disk. See you then.