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Chapter 27:
Blaargantua!
~Luigi of the Pipes~
"Haha!
What's the matter with your wand?"
"It
hasn't bonded with me yet," he answered glumly.
"Boy!
That is the single most pathetic thing I've ever heard!
How old are you again?"
He thought
about lying to the boy, but he decided against it.
"In my
thirties...."
"Wowie!
I bonded with my wand when I was only five! You ARE
pathetic!"
"You
little ingrate! Show some respect for your elder!"
"I don't
think I could consider you my elder, since I already have
more power! Haha!"
"No!"
he screamed.
The Magikoopa
woke up in a cold sweat, insults still ringing in his
head. He shook them away as best he could.
"So what if
I haven't bonded," he thought aloud. "I just
haven't found the right wand yet. But what if he was.....
No!"
The Magikoopa
looked out the window of the tower. Yes, he just needed
to find the right wand, that was it. And as he thought, a
peculiar sight caught his eye. A Mushroom Retainer was
standing close to the neighboring woods, using an ancient
wand to vaporize a couple rocks. The nerve! It wasn't
fair that the Mushroom boy could use a wand, with him
still left in the dark. Another thing crept up on him.
The wand seemed to call him, almost.
"But that
is impossible!" he yelled. "The wand was bonded
with the Mushroom, so why would it want me?"
But then, he
shouldn't just ignore that calling...
The Magikoopa got up and walked to a chest in a corner of
his room. He opened it and packed, ready to fight the
Mushroom for that wand.
---------------------------------------------
Ten stepped cautiously to Toad's side, who hadn't even
noticed the other's presence.
"Do you
really think that's such a good idea?" Ten asked,
shocking Toad from his activity.
"C'mon Ten!
I'm just practicing!" Toad answered in an all too
whiny voice.
"Right in
front of the Magikoopa Tower? I fail to see how that's
such a good idea...."
"Yeah? Well
I didn't ask for your opinion," Toad answered as he
pointed Kichra at another rock. It disappeared in
a quick purple flash.
"Toad...."
Ten began, "I really think you need to lay off on
using the wand."
"The wand
has a name. Use it."
Ten was taken
aback by such a harsh statement. Here Toad was, the one
who had led them through infallible dangers, suddenly
worshiping a wand like it was some deity.
"Toad!
That's enough! You're dropping Kichra after
tonight, ya hear me?"
Toad turned, a
look of sheer disgust masking his face.
"Did you
just give me an order?" he asked icily.
"Well, I...."
Ten began, trying to back out without angering Toad. It
seemed a bit too late for that anyway.
Toad turned his
back for what seemed to be the longest pause in a
lifetime, then swung around abruptly and smacked Ten
across the face with Kichra. Ten fell to the
ground, rubbing his jaw gingerly where Toad had hit it.
He looked up at Toad, but the other didn't flinch.
"I don't
take orders," he answered, saying the words as
coldly as before.
Ten hopped up
and turned around, not wanting to call an argument any
further than it had come. Toad had different ideas,
however.
"DON'T TURN
YOUR BACK ON ME!" he fumed, pointing Kichra
directly at Ten's chest. "I'm not done talking to
you yet!"
"Well I am!"
Ten countered. "Live with it, your most powerfulness!"
Ten stormed back
under the shrubbery surrounding Toad, but on a second
thought, he stayed in the bushes instead of continuing.
His presumption to stay was correct.
---------------------------------------------
Toad angrily blasted another rock, and then another.
"The nerve
of Ten," he muttered beneath his breath. "I
can't believe he would just come over here and tell me to
give my prized possession up. Well, he deserves what he
got!"
Toad prepared to
destroy another rock, but his sight became obscured by a
flash of blue. He turned and saw an average Magikoopa
standing before him. The Magikoopa was lacking the usual
wand though, which mystified Toad.
"I would
like my wand back," the Magikoopa snarled.
Toad was taken
aback.
"What are
you talking about? This is MY wand! It bonded with ME!"
Toad answered rather huffily.
"Did it
now? We'll have to see about that, won't we."
Toad, pushed to
his ends by the disrespectful turtle, prepared to hit him
with a blast of energy. He was completely shocked when
the blast didn't come.
"WHAT?!"
Toad screamed in frustration.
"Just as I
suspected..." the other snickered.
And as if on a
cue, Kichra left Toad's hands. Toad, far too
dumbfounded by the whole thing, stood on his spot as the
wand floated into the Magikoopa's grimy palms.
"Toad!"
Ten yelled, bursting from his spot. "Look out!"
The Magikoopa
fired a shot of high proportions at Toad, but Ten slammed
him to the ground just in time to avoid a blow.
"Ten!"
Toad yelled, "what are you...?"
Toad grew
silent, as his whole body let out a shiver.
"Toad?
What's wrong?!"
Toad passed out.
---------------------------------------------
Unbeknownst to the three figures on the ground, Kamek and
Kammy had been flying watch over the whole situation.
"What on
earth....?" Kammy snarled out. "Isn't that
Karib? And that wand is the same as the one that Retainer
was holding!"
"The Kichra,"
Kamek said calmly.
A thought played
in the back of Kamek's mind. It suddenly came to his
realization.
"Go back to
the tower's library and find the book on Kichra,"
he ordered Kammy.
"What? Why
would that do any good?"
"I remember
reading that select few wands can bond with two hosts
instead of one. Perhaps this wand is the rare occurrence
of that. I need to check and make sure."
"But what
about the other Mushrooms?"
"The others
and myself should find no trouble defeating them with
Toad out of commission."
"Fine,"
Kammy said glumly.
She flew off,
back for the tower. Kamek hovered over the trio a short
time longer, then headed off to regroup with the other
Magikoopas.
---------------------------------------------
"Toad! Toad! What's wrong?!" Ten yelled.
"Mwah haha!"
the Magikoopa snorted. "He bonded with this wand for
quite a long time, didn't he?"
Ten didn't move
to acknowledge the fact.
"It appears
that he's going through anxiety separation. If he doesn't
get this wand back, he'll die."
The Magikoopa
let out a sound between a laugh and a snort.
"And that
shouldn't take very long. Less than a minute, actually."
Ten glared at
the Magikoopa, then at the wand, then back at Toad. He
had begun to shrivel up, as if he were a raisin. Ten
lifted Toad's forehead and looked at him.
"Toad...."
"Ten,"
Toad replied hoarsely, "I'm... sorry. I should...
should have listened."
"No..."
"Good bye,
Ten..."
In a flash of
smoke, Toad disappeared, leaving only a mushroom.
"And
there's your friend," the Magikoopa laughed. "Nothing
but the mushroom he should've remained as."
Ten jumped up
and growled at the Magikoopa. He had wanted to remain the
passive one, really. But seeing Toad go with a wretched
Magikoopa laughing at every step of the way was too
overbearing. He lifted his fists in defense and slowly
advanced on the far too brash Magikoopa.
~Lzn64~
Mario shielded
his eyes from the heat of the room ahead of them, not
looking forward to going through there in the least. The
others had similar apprehensive looks on their faces, but
at least he had the advantage of experience. He and his
brother, of course.
Geno had a more
troubled look than the rest, however; here was one time
that being made out of wood wasn't going to come in handy.
He couldn't help wondering how hot wood had to be before
it burst into flames, but he shook his head, trying to
clear that unpleasant thought from his mind. Peach was
also more than a little apprehensive. The moving
platforms were fine for Mario and Luigi; they could jump
like there was no tommorrow. She couldn't.
And Mallow...
well, Mallow was being Mallow.
"Guys... I
can't do this, no way! I'm going to be fried!"
"Don't
think about it that way," Mario advised him.
"I can't
help it!"
"Listen.
All you have to do is jump at the right time. I know how
Bowser is, there's always a pattern you can follow to get
through these places."
"Mario's
right," Luigi said. "See how those flames pop
out at the same place every time? And how those platforms
sink at the same rate?"
"But I
can't jump! You KNOW that, Mario..." Mallow
muttered, a bit embarrassed. There had been a time when
he had been the only frog who couldn't jump, after all.
"I know.
You and Peach'll ride Yoshi."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Yoshi muttered, stepping forward. "Put all the
pressure on ME."
"It's good
motivation to be careful for once in your life,"
Mario laughed, knowing how Yoshi often didn't think
before he...uh, leaped.
"That's not
very reassuring..." Mallow whined, as he climbed
onto the dinosaur's back.
"You had
better be careful, Yoshster," Peach warned, as she
took a seat behind Mallow.
"Jeez, I
love all this faith you guys have in me."
Mario and Luigi
laughed at that, but the two on his back were far too
nervous to muster one up. Geno was too worried to catch
the joke, too. Jinx decided to kick off the party, he
wasn't particularly scared of mere fire. He had, after
all, faced worse in his long lifetime. He hopped nimbly
onto the first platform, and everyone gasped as he did so.
They watched in an tense silence as he hopped from
platform to platform; he didn't have to worry about the
jetting flames due to his size, but the lava below him
remained a threat. He swiftly cleared the mini-obstacle
course, and landed on the safe platform at the end with a
final leap over the lava pool.
Yoshi breathed a
sigh of relief when Jinx got to other side, but he was
still really nervous. He had precious cargo, after all,
and Jinx had made it look so easy. He decided that he may
as well go, though, since no one else seemed to be in a
hurry to volunteer.
"Keep your
heads down!" He called to Peach and Mallow, and then
he leapt across the firt gap- only to nearly get his head
fried off by a sudden blast from another hideous koopa
statue. "I thought you said there was a pattern to
this!" He yelled back toward Mario and Luigi,
hastily hopping to the next platform as soon as it
floated near enough to him, barely avoiding the fire
blast as it swooped down in an arc.
"Well...
Bowser hasn't been his usual self lately, after all..."
Mario offered helplessly, watching with a considerable
amount of nervousness as his dino friend transported the
princess through the firey room. He took a longer while
than Jinx, due to his having to dodge the constant
eruptions of flame that Jinx had been able to run right
under, but in the end he made it all right. At least, he
and Peach were all right... Mallow looked like he was
going to vomit.
Mario and Luigi
looked at Geno, giving him a chance to go next. Geno set
his jaw and gave a running jump out into the lava field.
After all, if this body burned up he could always find
another... though Gaz might not be too happy about it. Maybe
I'll inhabit his Bowser doll, Geno thought, and had
to fight down an urge to begin laughing histerically. He
figured that the fumes must be getting to his head. He
tried not to think about the possibility of him falling
into the lava as he hopped from platform to platform, but
it was hard. He was not a very strong jumper; his wooden
joints didn't allow for it.
When he finally
reached the platform with all his friends, he was ready
to collapse with fatigue. His body might not have been
organic, but it wore out just the same. And the heat was
really getting to him... how were the others standing it?
Peach noticed the sick look on his face before anyone
else and motioned to the others that she would be heading
into the next room without them. She grabbed Geno and led
him through the door, in the hopes that it would be a
little cooler in there. Blast Bowser's lava fetish!
she thought angrily as she walked.
Mario and Luigi
glanced at each other then. Their turn.
---------
Meanwhile
---------
The shy group
exchanged triumphant looks. They stood in a room above
the lava room, looking down at the "heroes" as
they attempted to cross the fire sea. It was really a
pity that none of them had fallen in, but they hadn't
really expected them too, anyway. The Koopa Sorcery that
they were now being allowed to use, albeit in
predetermined ways, allowed them to see through the
seemingly solid rock of the floor, while those below
would not be able to see them.
Their plan was
working perfectly, though. The Mario Bros. had opted to
go last, as they knew they would-- they just had
to make sure their friends got across all right, the
noble imbeciles. And the wooden man had left the room, as
they knew he would because of his suseptibility to heat,
and even better-- the princess had gone too! Yes, their
plan was working just optimally.
"Pull those
two levers!" Beezo ordered his two companions, and
the quickly scuttled to the north face of the room, where
two large, imposing levers stuck from the otherwise
smooth wall of stone. They each grabbed one, and after
sending each other equally diabolical looks, they pulled
them down.
Then the three
of them scampered to the middle of the room to see the
fools' reaction to their newest trick.
--------
Peach gasped as
the doorway she had come through with Geno slammed shut
behind her, a solid sheit of metal blocking her path back
to her friends. Geno blinked in surprised, still a bit
sick from the heat, but aware enought to know that
something bad had just happened.
--------
Mario prepared
himself to jump to the first platform like all his
friends before him had done, and leaped from the solid
floor beneath him- only to be pulled back to the ground
by his frantic brother. Mario gasped as the platforms
sank into the lava one by one, leaving only an
undisturbed sea of lava with fire jets going above it
between him and his friends.
"What the...?"
"What now?"
Luigi asked helplessly, turning to his brother.
Mario shrugged,
completely at a loss.
~Masamune~
"Mario!?" Mallow shouted, "Luigi, you
guys ok?"
"For now..." Mario replied, his brain
thinking of a way to get across.
"Hey Mallow, can you... freeze the lava?"
Luigi asked.
"Gah!" Mallow exclaimed, "Why didn't I
think of that before?"
~Just above...~
"Gah!" Shyguy growled, "Why didn't I
remember that!?"
"We still have a few weapon transformers..."
Snifit replied.
"I got an idea!" Beezo exclaimed, grabbing
a few of the weapons and flying through the ceiling.
~Back with the others...~
Mallow raised his hand to summon a blizzard in the
room. He was ready to cast it, but was suddenly knocked
off his train of thoughs as Beezo suddenly flew in. He
flew over the group, cackling madly. After dropping a few
weapons in the lava he flew through the ceiling.
"What was that all about?" Luigi asked,
looking down at the lava curiously.
"I think this would be a bad thing..." Jinx
mumbled as the lava began to twirl uncontrollably.
Luigi leaned in closer to look as bubbles began to
form near where he was looking. Desperately Mario grabbed
him out of the way, just as a huge red scaly claw plunged
out of the lava and grabbed the platform. Another one
emerged on the other side as the whirlpool of fire began
to intensify. A large yellow spike emerged, followed by
several more that went in a imperfect line towards Yoshi,
Mallow and Jinx. Two green lights peirced through the
magma, as a bulk that resembled a massive reptilian head
emerged. The green lights dimmed down, as it they became
dormant yellow eyes. Scanning it's surroundings, spotting
Mario and Luigi and roaring in such a loud tone it nearly
knocked the two of their feet.
Just above, the Beezo grinned in satisfaction and
added proudly, "Say hello to... BLAARGANTUA!"
-------------------------
Karib cackled gleefully as he fingered the jewel on Kichra.
Such raw power... and it was all his to play with. With
it all under his power, he did not need to be a
suboordiant to Kamek and Kammy. Not even that fool Bowser
either, he could command his whole army. All sorts of
insidous ideas were conceived in his scaly skull. But he
remembered the other wands were still out there.
If he remembered correctly, he had overheard the
others saying the mushroom group had four of the wands
now. Since he had taken one, the other three must of
still been there. Once he obtained them, he would gather
the rest and have full power under his absolute command.
Then they would see he was not so 'pathetic' then.
Mutering a spell, he suddenly vanished and appeared
in the air overlooking the mushroom-koopa encampment...
~Below...~
"I should of known..." Kiero groaned as he
looked down at the mushroom that was Toad, "I could
tell how dependant he was last time the wand was taken
away. But now he has assumed the 'dead' status as far as
mushroom people's lives are concerned.
"What do we do now though? Ten asked as he
looked down at the mushroom that had once been his friend.
Daisy by now had been listening intently and had
remembered something similar to the this strange
occurence.
"His soul was taken." Daisy interrupted,
"Since he was with that wand thing, they had became
symbiotic. Meaning that they were reliant on eachother to
survive. But with the err... ghosts present, they are
familiar with his soul energy and..."
"Can find him like that!" Timier finished,
snapping his finger in demonstatrion. "I can sense
his energy... uh..."
"What?" Ten asked.
"Right above!" Timier replied, causing them
all to look up to see the Magikoopa looming above.
"He's coming down here." Kiero observed.
"When he does, if you can distract him... I may
be able to loosen his control on the wand." Timier
replied, vanishing so the Magikoopa could not see him.
----------------------------
Mario jumped in the air, rearing his fist back as he
neared the large Blaarg creature, ramming his fist
squarely in the jaw as soon as he made contact. Before
the monster could react, he nimbly returned to the
platform.
This only served to enrage the Blaargantua, as it
began thrashing about wildly. Above in the secret attic,
Snifit and Shyguy grabbed on to the floor helplessly as
they were tossed around wildly by the monstrosity.
"Gaiee! I think we made him a bit TO strong!"
Shyguy exclaimed.
"How many did you use!?" Snifit asked
Beezo, while struggling to keep on the ceiling.
"Err... ten?" Beezo chuckled nervously as
he backed away. This earned him several curses and angry
looks in return.
Below, the two brothers valiantly fought side by side.
One would attack the monster, while the other covered him.
On the other side, Mallow assisted with healing spells
while Jinx and Yoshi were only able to watch. After the
two brothers would get healed, Mallow would focus on
creezing the magma. He had made little progress however,
only getting a few feet around their platform completely
solid.
Just on the other side, Peach and Geno could only
listen to the battle taking place inside. They had no
idea what was going on, but they were pretty sure it was
nothing good. They had tried pushing the door open but
with no success. As the sat side by side racking their
brains, Geno spotted a indention in the ceiling.
Apparently an entrance for a ceiling, they may of just
been in luck to get back in there... through the attic.
~Sapphire~
There would be
only one small problem. The ceiling wasn't very high, but
it was high enough, perhaps too high to reach. Geno
muttered to himself something that was inaudible to the
Princess, who turned to look at him. "What's the
matter?"
Geno sighed
then, and she followed his gaze upwards. "An
indention in the ceiling..." she mused, realizing
almost at the same time as Geno that perhaps it was too
high and maybe should not even be considered. But there
had to be a way, there must be a way, Peach told
herself mentally. Somehow she would have to figure out
something...
"Of course!"
She gasped suddenly. Geno looked at her. "What is
it?"
"Well,
there are some things just lying around here. And I can
jump pretty high myself..." she let her words trail
off a moment as her blue eyes once again sought the
indentation to the ceiling, "We may just be able to
get out of here."
Geno felt
himself smile. "What a brilliant idea, Princess!"
Brushing away a
few strand hairs with her delacite fingers, Peach arched
her eyebrows slightly. "It won't be brilliant until
it works."
"I have a
feeling that it will." Geno said, rubbing his hands
with glee. "But I must say, I am feeling better and
a bit more optimistic. We better get to work!"
Peach nodded.
"Right."
----------------------
On the other
side of the steel wall, the others were having almost no
progress in their struggle with the monster, all mentally
praying that Mallow would continue his progress with
freezing the magma, as slow as it was, due to the intense
heat and him wanting to help out more in the battle. He
was frightened, but didn't want to be thought of as small
and weak. He wanted to be remembered as someone who saved
the day.
And here were
Mario and Luigi coming back to get healed again. Hearing
their shouts made Mallow sigh, then leave off his
concentration to heal them again. But Mallow wasn't the
only one feeling that he could do more.
Yoshi watched
the battle with awe, and yet mentally wanting to join in,
furious that he couldn't do anything. At least Mallow
could help by healing. Here he was, literally useless,
only taking up space. Peach and Geno were god knows where
and he was starving.
Jinx also stood
mesmerized, wanting to do more, knowing that Mario,
Mallow and Luigi wouldn't be able to hold on for long,
that all of their strength was waning. if those bumbling
idiots Wario and Waluigi had stayed, they probably
wouldn't be losing as badly as they were now. But perhaps
they were both more crafty than they had let on.
Especially the latter. Jinx shuddered, thinking of the
tall languid Waluigi and realized that perhaps he should
be thinking of other angles that would enable him to do
other things than just watch.
"Mama mia!"
Mario cried out to his younger brother. "We haven't
even dented him!"
"I know."
Luigi said, watching as his brother once again got
slammed and was waiting for the next blast to come after
him, perhaps there was a chance that they couldn't hold
out after all, maybe the once all-dominating Mario team
had been burnt out for good. but that's impossible,
Luigi thought, examinging the beast in all it's ugliness.
if this is our defeat, it's too easy. This is only a
trap set up, and we just need to find it's weak point.
With that, he
was sent careening backwards landing on his brother. But
this time, he ignored the pain. Already he was
considering if there were to be any other possibilities
other than this useless brutality against them. His blue
eyes sought the steel wall. Peach and Geno were in that
room. Hopefully they were having better luck, he thought,
and he figured that he better pray for them in his mind
as well.
----------------
Peach cringed as
the sounds of the battle from the other side of the wall
seemed to grow steadily worse as she prepared herself to
jump, hopefully to reach the room thay lay on top of the
ceiling. She looked back down at Geno. "I may not be
able to take you up with me." She said, for the
first time realizing this, he only nodded.
"I figured
that earlier," he said. "Just be on your guard."
Peach nodded.
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
She took in a
deep breath, filling her lungs and then exhaled with the
words, "Here...I...go!"
She jumped,
grabbing onto the latch, unhooking the trapdoor, and then
swinging briefly before scrambling up the hole that now
appeared in the ceiling.
Geno looked up.
"Good luck, Princess." he whispered.
Peach found
herself in a dark area, but then she heard voices. The
trapdoor closed abruptly at her feet due to the violent
shaking.
"Well, at
least we know that those Mario's can't beat our
Blaargantua," She heard Beezo's voice. "It's
only a matter of time before they are all destroyed."
"Maybe
we'll get a raise!" Snifit exclaimed, allowing his
agitaiton at being tossed around momentarily to alight
his eyes with those dollar signs of greed.
"We get
paid?" The Shy Guy asked, causing the other two to
shoot him murderous glances. After being thrown around
again by the intensity of the battle below, Peach slammed
into the wall, biting her tongue in time to escape
screeching.
Beezo turned his
head towards the direction of the noise. "What was
that?" he asked his companions, who shrugged.
"It came
from over there." Snifit said, also looking in that
direction.
Peach lay very
still at the base of the wall.
So now what
do I do? she thought quickly. The only way I can
help those guys is if I figure out what's going on up
here. But otherwise, our chances seem pretty bleak...
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