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Chapter 34:
Wish Upon a Star
~Sapphire~
Of course Daisy
was alone and forgotten by the group, or so it seemed,
when the embittered Koopalings went for the attack. But
she was a tad quicker than they gave her credit for... at
least she believed it to be so. Of all the dumb luck she
had been drawn into this and now there was no point in
her being there at all, but certainly not as an easy
target.
Though, as she
watched them, she wondered if to keep teh man of her
affections closer to her would it be better to play the
damsel or prove that she was smarter than they gave her
credit for... Surprising the koopalings with a sudden
burst of speed, she quickly sprinted from her place near
the wall, confusing them for a moment.
"This is
useless." Larry said, annoyed. "Why don't we
split up to corner them?"
"I'm just
wondering when King Dad will make an appearance."
Wendy replied, her voice a little harsh as she was very
upset at the current happenings. "Just catch those
spoiled princesses. I broke a nail, and it needs tending!"
With that, the
koopa princess stormed off, leaving her brothers in a
mass of their own confusion. "When she says spoiled
princess brats, I conclude that she meant herself as well."
Ludwig joked, but immediately became serious.
The smoke had
grown thick but now was clearing; Mario and Luigi stood
poised, hands clenched in fists, ready to fight the
koopalings in a free-for-all if it came to that. Yoshi
was also there, with Mallow standing behind him
uncertainly. At this point, no one even knew what they
were fighting for anymore, only that soon would come the
time to get to the final confrontation that would end
this. Then again, these sagas were never oft to end, no
matter how many times the enemy seemed defeated, he
always came back.. The enemy would always return, even if
the hero got tired of fighting the battles.
A short ways
behind them, Peach now stood, her eyes bright and blue
and brimming with anger. This was too much! Yet here was
the end of the road continually blocked. Well, no more.
'The buck stops here,' she thought, watching the groups
as they faced off for what would be the umpteenth time
before scanning the area, checking for any hidden
enterances to where Bowser would be hiding.
Of course he was
hiding. This was how it usually was. Send his children to
do his bidding, either because he was to weak or too lazy
himself. She would surprise him this time, since now that
everyone was occupied, they wouldn't notice her slip
away, and Bowser wouldn't notice either.
Even though of
course this would be extremely stupid, she thought, her
eyes notcinging a patch of glass littering the floor from
overhead, travelig up she noticed a small hole, and then
her eyes fell upon the stair at the end of the corridor,
if she could make it there first, and find out what was
upstairs...
She looked back
towards her companions. They were talking now, and Mario
jumped forward to face Roy while Luigi to face Ludwig,
and the rest sort of stood there, outnumbered and silent.
No one would notice her missing. Carefully she crept up
the stairway leading to what she did not know.
Only one person
did notice her, Daisy with a jealous eye turned away to
face the fight, giving out an occasional cry of "Oh
Mario, be careful! You too Luigi!" And then Mallow
shot her a strange look, so she was silent, so she
pressed herself against the wall, waiting, when an
unfriendly claw tapped her shoulder.
"Greetings."
Daisy nearly
jumped, but she turned around, angered, to face the
koopaling princess. "I don't believe I've seen you
here before." the koopa said airily, yet annoyance
still gleaming in her eyes.
------
The stairs
consisted of grey stones, and yet at the top it broke off
into two directions; at least, one wide room, and a wall,
but there seemed to be something strange about it...
Peach pushed against it and found that it was a door of
sorts, it was also made of stone... it swung open
inwards, but it had been opened already or else she
wouldn't have been able to move it...
She looked into
a dark corridor and found more steps. More grey steps
leading up into more blackness.. it sent a shudder up her
spine, but she knew it would be ridiculous to turn away
now, not after she had come so far. The colors were
depressing. Even a bout of fire for a light would have
been useful.
Peach
straightened her pink dress - again flinching at the
color, certainly when she got home she would be doing
some redocorating - if she ever did get home, after all
of this - and stared upwards at the many steps. How
difficult would it be, to climb them and confront him?
Resolved, she
began her ascent.
At the top of
the attic, Bowser was waiting.
~Ditto
McCloaker~
Mario and Luigi
panted as though they had been fixing sinks all day long.
At the other end of the arena, the Koopalings were also
catching their breaths from the near escape. Finally, all
stood up at the same time, and faced their enemies.
Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Mallow stood to face them.
"Seven
against five..." said Ludwig Von Koopa, wiping his
massive hair from his face. "Do the math. We've
already won!"
The Mario bunch
exchanged glances. There was truth to this. It would be
hard, but...
"Not so
fast!" cried a scraggy voice from above. The
Koopalings looked up. The Mario crew craned their necks
over their shoulders and up, at the battlement atop the
wall behind them. A figure stood up there. A figure with
a shell and a beak. The light from the flames of the
burning Clown Copter illuminated the noble form of none
other than Jagger. Suddenly, like a flash, his Mario
training earned it's money as his thick Koopa legs
propelled him high into the air. He landed in the middle
of the two groups.
Mario and Luigi
looked up, nervously. The Koopalings exchanged glances,
and wicked grins formed on their faces. Ludwig leveled
his head to the Mario crew.
"It appears
there is now eight to five." he hissed fienishly.
"I have
come to realize that my first allies are my truest."
Jagger announced. Mario gulped. The Roy and Lemmy
snickered.
Jagger turned to
the Koopalings, and marched over to Ludwig who was in the
lead. He faced him for a second. Ludwig smiled and
laughed in his throat.
That was about
when Jagger's fist landed in his face.
The Koopaling
went flying off to the left and landed on his shell. The
others looked on in wonder. Suddenly, Roy got brave. He
charged through his siblings. He threw a mighty punch.
Jagger leaped high into the air and Roy went sailing
under. Roy regained his footing and charged back. Jagger
stuck out his hand and caught Roy's fist, and held it
steady. Roy's glasses drooped down his beak in utter
shock, and his wide eyes looked at Jagger. And then to
the tiny form on Jagger's shoulder, about an instant
before the tiny dynamo leaped forward like a flash and
knocked him flat.
Thus reduced,
Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Yoshi, and Mallow quickly charged in
and each took one. Mario demonstrated his tried and true
stomp to Morton Koopa Jr. Luigi dodged Iggy's tackle, and
then grabbed the hapless turtle by the tail and flung him
at Morton. Larry evaded Mallow's fists until Mallow got
fed up and crashed his cymbals against his head. Lemmy
got the novel idea of attacking Yoshi from the rear, and
hopped up into the saddle, grabbing him by the neck.
Yoshi bucked like a bronco, leaping and flutter jumping
until the dizzied Lemmy bounced off.
Wendy furiously
faced the duplicitous Daisy.
"You're
goin' DOWN, you... you... pretty-faced plumber lover!"
she screamed and removed her bracelet. She flung it at
Daisy. It grew larger in mid air, and glowed with magic.
It was a binding spell, which would bind Daisy helplessly.
Luigi shouted at her to be careful. Daisy shut her eyes
tightly and concentratedand tried to remember something
she remebered from long ago. It worked. There was a burst
of smoke, and when it cleared, she was a FighterFly. She
nimbly bounced out of the way as the bedazzled Wendy
watched her. Daisy the fly whirled around and zipped back
at Wendy and whirled around in circles around her as
Wendy tried to swat her. She went round and round until
she began to get dizzy. At that point, Daisy landed,
reverted to human form, curtsied, and then plowed her
gloved fist into Wendy's face. The female Koopa went down
for the count.
Yoshi then
swallowed Lemmy and turned him into an egg, which he then
bowled toward the other Koopas. It exploded, sending
Lemmy streaking across the battlefeild. The Koopalings
were defeated. The heroes, joined by their new permanent
allies Jinx and Jagger, stood triumphantly over the pile.
Mario was proud, but noticed something.
"Where's-a
Peach-a?" he suddenly blurted out as Luigi attempted
to high five him and ended up flying right past.
Indeed, where
was Peach?
~Meanwhile...~
Peach came to
the heavy door and went inside. It was like an inner
sanctum, but it looked ransacked. And deserted. Another
door was at the other end. She silently crept across the
silent, dark chamber towards it. She heard a sound,
coming from a corner, near a broken window. She stopped
to listen. No further sound came, and she chalked it up
to the sounds of a creaky old castle settling. She went
over to the door and bent down to the keyhole. Her blue
eye peeked in. In the room was a pedastal. Hovering over
it, twirling slowly... was the Great Star, the theft of
which had started this whole mad adventure. Apparently,
Bowser had locked it away after the Weather Nimbus was
defeated, but to have it so close, he most certainly had
plans to continue using it...
That was as far
as she got, before a claw suddenly clamped down over her
mouth, and another one wrapped around her torso, jerking
her up.
"Naughty
naughty, my dear Princess," came the deep,
rumbling, gently cooing voice of Bowser. "Don't
you agree that it's bad manners to go peeking into
people's private closets?"
Down below,
everyone was frantically looking for Peach. There was no
sign of her. She was totally gone. Everone was worried,
most of all Mario. There was no sign. She was as good as
lost.
Suddenly, dark
clouds began to gather. The wind picked up and whipped
about furiously. Thunder rumbled overhead. The wind began
to swirl. The Koopalings were picked up as if by an
invisible hand of wind, and whirled away. Sometime later,
they dropped into a mudhole off the side of Dark Land.
The wind was
getting stronger, and would soon blow them clear off the
tower to an unpleasant end. Mario and Luigi clung to
their hats so they would not blow away. Daisy's flower
blew from her hair and disappeared into the darkness.
Each one made to grab onto something to hold onto,
statues, pillars, heavy pieces of rock. It was no good.
The wind was unfightable. Mario was the first to begin to
lose his grip.
It can't
happen. They need help.
Mario felt his
fingers loosen.
There's no
choice. I must. I wish to take control of that cloud!
And then, the
wind stopped. The cloud quit whirling, and an unsettling
silence fell over as the Doom Cloud mulled about quietly
above. A small ripple of thunder echoed outward.
Suddenly, a huge
bolt of lightining flashed from the cloud, and hit the
side of the castle, blasting part of it away. Another
came, hitting somewhat higher, blasting away another
chunk. Again, and again the bolts came, higher and higher
along the wall, seeming to carve a zig-zagging path
upwards. One final bolt hit the side of a tower, blasting
away the entire wall, revealing the inside.
There stood
Bowser. With Peach.
Mario and the
rest looked up, and beside the astounded Koopa, saw the
Great Weather Star. Bowser looked down, amazed, and
glowered.
Mario and Luigi
looked at the bunch behind them. They were shaken, but
alright. They then turned their attention to the blown
apart crack in the wall, which they saw miraculously
formed a stairway up to the tower. They looked at each
other, and nodded. This time it was up to them. Bowser
was their responsibility. They raced over. As they did,
they happened to pass a statue of a Koopa beside the
makeshift stair. Mario stopped abruptly and looked at it.
It seemed to smile warmly, and nod to them.
Get him.
came the familiar voice of their star guardian. With
that, the statue's face then again became neutral, and
froze back the way it was. Mario smiled to each other,
and ran up the stairs.
High above, star
guardian Geno appeared before Eldstar.
"I
understand that was my third wish. I now readily accept
my end."
Eldstar scowled
at him.
"Third
wish, guardian? How do you figure that?"
Geno was
surprised.
"This last
one, the precvious one where I saved them from danger,
and the one where I got them out of the lava cave."
Eldstar leveled
his eyes at Geno.
"You will
not disappear, Geno."
With that, an
image appeared. It showed Gaz wishing for Geno's safety,
and the wish immediately coming true as a way opened for
Geno and his friends. Geno was speechless.
"A wish
made for a null purpose is not a wish. You made only two."
Geno did not
respond.
"You owe
many thanks to that young Mushroom."
Geno was
speechless, but understood.
"That is
why you will return to him, in doll form, and accompany
him until you have atoned for breaking my command."
Geno nodded.
"At such
time as this is complete, which may take years... you
will return. With your record wiped clean."
Geno nodded, and
streaked back down to the world below. It was evening in
Rose Town, and Gaz was sound asleep. The doll appeared at
his elbow, and the star spirit entered it. Geno would be
unable to help his friends th Mario brothers any further
in their final battle, but his adventures with Gaz had
had just begun.
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