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Chapter 16:
Return of the Koopalings
-lzn64-
Ten squinted his eyes as he emerged from the
transakoopa's psuedo castle. He winced at the pain that
came with the unfamiliar light, yet thought to himself
that he had never been so happy to feel discomfort. The
warmth of the light seemed like a dream, and he shivered
at the prospect of going back into the cold, dark castle.
How on earth did we get lured in there? He thought,
staring at the forbidding turrets that seemed to scream
"I am a work of evil!" It all seemed so
ridiculous, now.
He knew that he had to keep his promise and return,
though, and so he took a deep breath and turned to the
group of mushrooms that he had led through the dank, dark
underworkings of the castle.
"All right, people!" He called, getting
their attention. "I know you're all relieved to be
out of there-" He was forced to stop there, until
the cheers and applause died down- "but we are still
a far cry from being safe..." His expression at that
point was quite enough to suppress the optimism that had
been spreading like a wildfire through the mushroom gang,
and Ten felt bad for it, but he knew that it was better
that they know the truth of their situation- which was
really rather bleak.
"I am going to go back inside and retrieve the
second group of mushrooms- including Toad- and I am
trusting that you will be able to take care of yourselves
until I return." He was met with nods and
affirmative gestures all around, and he couldn't help but
smile at their determination. Who would've ever suspected
that mushrooms accustomed to palace life would have been
able to carry themselves so well in the face of such an
uncertain future? Ten nodded respectfully to an elderly
mushroom, who had obviously filled the gap of leadership,
and turned toward the castle. His face darkened in
apprehension of the miserable trek ahead of him, but he
bravely re-entered the castle in spite of his misgivings.
Rinaz watched him go, his face betraying obvious
admiration. I'm going to be just like him when I get
older! He thought, his youthful face lighting up at the
mere prospect. He, being a younger mushroom, was excused
from such tedious things as paying attention to the
elder's instructions, and was permitted to indulge
himself in his own fantasies.
Just before he, Rinaz the mighty warrior, could fell
the evil Koopa King and win admiration from the nearby
imprisoned Princess Toadstool, however, he was jolted out
of his daydreams by a vaguely familar voice, which
cackled,
"I could've swore dad said there were more
mushrooms than this!"
The voice was, of course, that of the bald headed (and
mean spirted) Roy Koopa. He peered at the frightened
mushrooms from within the official mode of transportation
for the Koopa Royal Family..... a large propeller-powered
cup with a clown face painted on it. Ludwig, who was
preoccupied with the all important job of steering the
bulky contraption, glared at his dim witted brother in
obvious irritation. None of the seven were in a
particularly good mood, as the clown copter's space was
severely limited, and having a spiked shell pressed
firmly against a soft underbelly is no Koopa's idea of a
good time.
"Maybe if you would take off those nerdy glasses
for a second you could see better," He suggested, as
he expertly landed the copter on the beach.
"I wouldn't be talking about nerdy, Ludwig,"
Roy said pointedly, as he launched his impressive bulk
onto the sand.
The mushrooms gaped at the koopalings, who had built
themselves a reputation worthy of their obvious dismay.
Even Rinaz knew who they were, and he was not young
enough to escape the fact that he and his fellow fungus
were in a whole lot of trouble.
"So," Roy drolled, grinning at the cringing
mushrooms. "What comes first? Mental torment?"
He jumped at a young child who was standing not far from
him, her eyes wide. She shrieked and took off toward her
parents, but was intercepted by Lemmy, who plucked her
off the ground, much to the dismay of the other mushrooms.
"Physical torture?" Roy nonchalantly
suggested, shrugging his scaly shoulders. Right on cue,
Lemmy held the crying mushroom out at arms length, upside-down.
She dangled from the koopa's terrifyingly strong grip,
looking very fragile next to the stocky heirs of the
Koopa Empire.
"What do you think, guys?" He asked,
turning to his heartless siblings, who were laughing at
the antics of their brothers, and slapping each other
high-fives.
-Masamune-
Iggy stepped in front of Roy with an annoyed look on
his face. "Remember! Dad sent me, Larry and Lemmy!
You just came because you were bored"
"That's right" Larry added, "We are
here to do the Heh heh... work, you get to watch and have
the leftovers"
Roy mumbles something under his breath and stood
between Wendy and Morton. "Well if your going to
make us watch, at least make it interesting!"
"Good idea!" Morton agreed, "How about
a little contest... four mushrooms on one, not much of a
challenge but we gotta work with what we got."
Lemmy scratched his head then shrugged in agreement,
"Yeah, that sounds ok... but they better no try to
escape."
"Fine..." Iggy mumbled, "Hey fungi-people,
choose four of ya to fight!"
The mushroom people could only watch in horror at the
Koopa kids who saw this as a little game. Despite the
fact that they were young, being a royal koopa made them
three times the size of a mushroom person. Unless there
was a powerful warrior amongst them, they would be
slaughtered mercilessly...
"They want to fight... we don't stand a chance
agaisnt them...." The elder mushroom stated, "But...
if we can buy some time by being fast enough to get out
of the way. Then with the stranger and the rest of us may
be able to overpower them with number. So we must decide
the fastest and most elusive of us all."
One of the mushrooms stepped up, "I may not have
my Bazooka, but I'm still a speedster!"
Another one, a female mushroom stepped up as well,
"I took some lessons on the class 'Evading Danger
101' a few years ago"
A third stepped up, he had been the quiet unspeaking
one throughout the trip, "... I was trained by The
Master... evading a koopa is nothing..."
The elder looked around quietly, finally another
stepped up wordlessly and joined the four. "Well
then... I suppose we are ready. Good luck and may the
seven stars protect you..."
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