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Chapter 4:
Save it for a Rainy Day
-Yoshi Boy-
At Mushroom Castle, Peach stood looking out of her
tower window at the beach not to far ahead. There was no
sign of the Mario Brothers and Yoshi, she feared they may
have been killed. Just then Toad and The Chancellor
walked in.
"Peach, honey," The Chancellor began "It
doesn't look like they're ever coming back." Toad
pulled The Chancellor to the door.
"Your highness, let me talk to her. She thinks I
can understand her better."
"Alright, Toad. I'll be in the study." Then
The Chancellor walked off.
"Princess..." Toad began.
"Toad, don't say anything..." Peach said.
She turned around and unable to hold back her tears any
longer, she began to cry hysterically. Toad just stood
their and put his arm over her shoulder.
"Toad..." Peach said as she wiped her
mascara-stained eyes, and cheeks.
"Yes, Peach?" Toad asked.
"I loved Mario. Why didn't I tell him before?
Oh, I was so stupid!" She told him.
"Well, I think he knows now." Toad told her.
"Yes..." She replied. Toad looked out the
wondow and saw a boat docking at the shore. He could make
out three small figures coming off....
"Is... that...Mario?" Toad asked.
-Ditto McCloaker-
Peach screamed with joy as her eyes told her that it
was, indeed, her beloved plumbers, come home. With
unrestrained glee and relief, she laughed and danced, and
bent down and gave a huge hug to the equally frantic Toad.
Down below, in the Throne Room, Bowser was trying to
figure out how to fit his hunched form into the Throne. A
few chips of paint fluttered down from the thumping
ceiling, and he inadverdently winced, fearing momentarily
that the roof might collapse. He cursed himself for
flinching like that. Mario was dead, he told himself. His
servant Stretch gave him a most solemn promise that he
had seen the lifeless body of the plumber sink into the
watery depths.
Bowser's eyes narrowed and a deep growl escaped his
throat as he slouched his way over to the staircase. He
knew, after all, that cheers from his prisoners were
never a good thing. As he approached the door, he squared
himself, for the possibility existed that it might be
some kind of trick to lure him in, but then he just shook
his head.
"Get ahold of yourself, Bowser," he told
himself with a half chuckle. "You're just getting a
little paranoid with success, that's all." he
thought, remembering how he had long ago read of how such
things happened to people who gained power quickly.
"Suddenly finding yourself victorious just feels a
little odd, that's all," he continued. "It's
just that you've been foiled so often, you naturally feel
a tad nervous now that it's over. Bowser, you know very
well they couldn't hold you off forever. This was just a
matter of course. Now, get used to it, and enjoy!"
A huge smile crossed Bowser's reptillian face as he
reassured himself, and he felt a sudden joy spring to his
heart as he finally grasped just how free he now was to
accomplish his life's ambitions. It was time for him to
act the part of the heavy-handed warlord he had worked so
hard to become.
He walked in.
And, yes, they were cheering.
They didn't even notice his entrance into the room,
and he lurched up and laid his claw on Peach's shoulder.
She suddenly froze in hatred, and, defiantly, turned to
face Bowser.
"Well, Princess. I'm so glad you approve of my
work. I never figured you'd adjust so quickly..." he
sneered.
The Princess said nothing, merely smirking in
Bowser's increasingly suspicious face. He raised a
suspicious eyebrow, then spotted the open window. Keeping
an eye on the silent pair, he marched over and peeked out.
It couldn't be.
His heavy eyebrows went up,
It just couldn't be.
His fangs ground in absolute, unprecedented disbelief.
"IT CAN'T BE!!!" he screamed, his deep
voice echoing throughout the entire castle and well into
the village. At the echo of his protest, birds suddenly
flocked out of the trees in droves. Farmers winced as the
sound radiated out towards them. At a distant pond, the
sound actually caused the waters to ripple slightly.
"It is." said Peach, complacently.
Bowser staggered away from the window, and stood
outside the room, propping himself on a nearby wall. He
ran his claw through his red hair with a frenzy.
"Get a hold of yourself, old boy," he
muttered. "Get ahold of yourself. He's dead. He's
dead."
Even Bowser wasn't buying it this time.
"Well, he may be alive for now, but not for long."
He stomped down the hallway and proceeded to the stairway
which led up to the chapel, the highest point on the
castle. He stepped out onto the balcony where he could
see for miles around. Raising his claws, he summoned the
power of the Stars. He closed his eyes and began to
concentrate. The skies began to darken, and a cold wind
began to blow.
"Storms and hurricanes like never before...
Total destruction, from mountian to shore..." he
intoned.
At the shore, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi saw the
inclement weather picking up. A few raindrops fell, and
landed on Mario's large round nose. He looked perplexedly
at the inky sky.
"Mario, I think-a we're-a in for-a some bad-a
weather." said Luigi, looking upward at the ominous
sky.
And suddenly, the gale force winds began to blow...
-lzn64-
As the rain began to pick up force, so too did the
wind, and before long, a loud burst of thunder rang from
the clouds, followed by a spectacular show of lightning.
The wind picked up sand and small pebbles as it blew,
which stung the faces of the heroes, yet they hardly
noticed. Mario was staring at Peach, whose pale face
could be seen, framed in one of her castle's many
windows, staring at them in fear. Luigi's eyes were fixed
on Bowser, who continued to chant his spell as the
weather gained terrifying force. Yoshi was preoccupied
with the lightning, and was trembling with fear.
They were snapped out of this brief reprieve as a
bolt of lightning obliterated a nearby tree, setting fire
to it. Yoshi gasped and nearly fell over, and Mario and
Luigi jumped back. They heard Peach yell as they ran from
the fire, which soon spread through the lush green
courtyard,
"Save yourselves! We'll be all right!"
Mario caught one last glimpse of her before the flames
forced him to look away.
Although Mario and Luigi could run incredibly fast,
it is no surprise that Yoshi could run much faster. And
seeing as though the fire was but a mere ten feet away
from them, they hopped on Yoshi and took off with
breathtaking speed.
Yoshi managed to reach the pipe, but before Mario
could warn him about the pipe malfunction, he had jumped.
Instead of being spit back out, much to their relief,
they simply fell into the Mushroom Sewers.
"We have to get back to the castle!" Mario
cried, looking back up the pipe, where a wicked orangle
glow could be seen as the fire overtook the pipe entrance.
The wind was also blowing frantically above, which made
Yoshi and Luigi very glad Mario couldn't find a way back
up.
"Mario, we can't go that way. There's other ways..."
"What about the fire?" He asked, wheeling
around to face them. "What about everyone inside the
castle?"
"The castle's made of stone, Mario." Luigi
said quietly. "And it's surrounded by a moat.
They'll be ok." Mario clenched his fists, and took a
final look at the dismal scene visible in the tiny circle
of light above them.
"You're right..." He finally said. "We
have to find a way out of here, though. Now."
"Yeah, it smells down here." Yoshi
commented brightly.
"Mario," Luigi said, placing a hand on his
shoulder. "I'm worried about her, too..." Mario
nodded.
"Right, then. Let's get out of this dump!"
"Yeah!" Luigi and Yoshi chorused, and they
started through the sewers.
Things were going along perfectly, though there was
no sign of a way out, but as you all know, when things
are going perfectly in the Mushroom Kingdom, bad things
are about to happen...
And so they did.
"Um, Mario, what's that noise?" Yoshi
asked, cocking his head quizzically.
"I don't know... I'm sure it's nothing."
"Right, I'm sure it's nothing." Yoshi
agreed.
When suddenly they were proven wrong, as a red-orange
shape streaked by, all fins and fangs. Mario and Luigi
shouted in alarm, backing against the pipe walls.
"Trouters!" Mario gasped, pulling himself
out of the water.
"Yum!" Yoshi cried, as he set to work.
However, there was an entire school of trouters, and one
yoshi, and so Mario and Luigi were soon surrounded by the
fish. Yoshi was eating his way frantically through them,
perhaps the first time he didn't enjoy a meal, as Mario
and Luigi tried to get as much of themselves out of the
water as possible.
"Hurry up, Yoshi!" Mario and Luigi both
thought, kicking helplessly at the man eating fish.
-Ditto McCloaker-
Meanwhile, above ground, Bowser's brutal torrent
continued. As the storm mercilessly pounded the Kingdom,
incredible bolts of lightning continued to periodically
strike trees, towers, and flagpoles, and anything else
that stood to tall. For a time, Bowser stood silently
alone at the top of the chapel, not moving or flinching
at the violence around him, the wind whipping across his
face, his long red mane flying frantically in the wind.
He stood there with a stoic face, watching the distorted
forces of nature work it's unearthly will on the helpless
Kingdom.
Down below, the bolts of lighting had managed to set
fire to many structures, and the Kingdom would surely
have been burned to the ground, had it not been for the
quickly rising floodwaters. Starting at the beach, the
water soon rose higher and higher, washing across farms
and plains, and sweeping through the low lying villages.
Many Mushrooms ran screaming in terror, climbing into
spare gondolas and paddling fiercely against the powerful
waters. Anyone who ever imagined the Mushrooms to be
helpless, weak people would have been awed by the grit,
heroism, and teamwork the diminutive Mushrooms displayed
on this dire occassion. Their little bodies strained
against the forces of wind and water, and never once did
one ever ignore the cries of a fellow imperiled Mushroom;
never once did one ever buckle under; never once did one
ever give up hope. Those on higher ground built walls
against the oncoming waters, old working along side the
young, and at various points, groups gathered to help
pull up Mushrooms who had either managed to paddle or
swim to safe land. Watching from her window, Peach gazed
helplessly with a teary-eyed pride at the sight of her
beautiful citizens' indominable struggle against the odds.
And she prayed for her friends.
Deep below, Mario and Luigi continued to confront the
sawtoothed fish. With another few swipes of his toungue,
Yoshi managed to force down another wave of Trouters.
From the distance came the sound of yet another wave of
ferocious fish. Yoshi couldn't take it anymore. By now he
had developed quite the stomachache, and he knew he could
eat no more. Realizing this, the plumbers panicked.
"How are-a we gonna get outta this-a one?"
queried Luigi.
Mario thought for a minute, and then his eyes lit up.
"...Like-a PLUMBERS!" he said with a smile,
and drew his old yet well-polished wrench out of his back
pocket.
He grabbed his brother and the dinosaur and charged
backwards through the pipe, in the direction they had
come. Behind them, the sound of the gnashing teeth
followed them. Reaching an intersection, Mario gestured
down this branch with his wrench for his companions to
follow him down the other route. They did, and soon Mario
cried out with success and gestured ahead.
On the wall a few feet away was a giant hole in the
wall, covered with metal grating. Looking around, he and
Luigi quickly located the giant flange system that opened
it. There were several of the giant metal wheels mounted
on the opposite wall. Mario thought for a minute, and
then directed Luigi toward a few of them.
"We want-a to close off these valves here, here,
and-a here, and open this-a big-a one here," he
explained, pointing at several wheels with is wrench.
He immediately went to work on the big flange in the
center. Luigi was smarter than Mario in many fields, but
he knew from experience that Mario's sixth sense
regarding plumbing was never to be questioned. Mario had
always possessed the uncanny ability to size up within
minutes even the most intricate system of tubes, siphons,
and gears, and in his heart, Luigi secretly yearned also
for this special foreknowledge, which made his twin
brother such a skilled plumber. Pulling out his own
wrench, Luigi hopped up on one of the pipes, propped his
leg up on another, and steadied himself against yet
another, and fixed his tool on one of the wheels Mario
had indicated. Once firmly lodged onto the wheel, he used
both hands to turn the rusty piece of metal. Side by
side, the two plumbers worked, as efficient a team as
any, as the water spritzed into their faces, and flecks
of paint and rust were dislodged from the old works, and
the squeaking and clanking of the tools echoed through
the pipes. Neither one said a word to the other, for each
one instantly could read the other's subtle gesture and
nod, and, in no time, the sounds of gates opening and
closing echoed through to them. The sound of rushing
water roared from a distance. Around the corner, the fins
of more Trouters broke the surface as they sped towards
the plumbers.
Suddenly, Luigi looked at the wall behind him and
observed with fear that the large main gate had opened
only a little and gotten stuck.
"Mario!" he shouted, and the two ran over
to lift up the gate. Yoshi came too, and grunted as he
too lifted, and with their combined efforts managed to
force it open just as the water sloshed downward from
above. With a roar, the water swept the victorious trio
through the tunnels at a fantastic pace, and flushed the
scattered and surprised fish out of sight.
Above, a whirlpool appeared at the surface of the
floodwater, as it gurgled down the drain. The water
slowly lowered back to ground level, leaving the Mushroom
people wet but safe. From her window, Peach and Toad
cheered and quietly thanked the plumbers. Bowser, still
wet with the rain, saw the waters dwidnle and grimly
stomped down the stairs. The strong storm continued, but
at least now the Kingdom would not be flooded.
After being swept along for an interminable time, the
plumbers were finally washed out of the sewers. They were
washed into a pond, and soon, choking and gagging,
managed to drag themselves onto the land. Looking up, the
driving rain continued to pound down on them, and they
looked around for shelter.
"Mario, look over-a there!" cried the
soaked Luigi above the roaring winds, gesturing towards a
distant hill. Looking, Mario could see a farmhouse
perched on top. He nodded, the three of them began to
grimly trudge in it's direction...
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