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Chapter 7:
~Luigi of the Pipes~
Kinopio "Toad" T. stood before the house of Truffle T. He
straightened his vest. He shined his shoes. He patted his mushroom-like
cap. He shuffled the bright red roses into a pattern that he hoped would
be to Truffle's liking. And he knocked on the door.
Truffle answered a few minutes later, wearing a long red bathrobe and
with eyes narrowed from sickness.
"Toad!" she exclaimed, despite her sore throat.
"Hi Truffle. Brought you flowers!"
Toad gracefully handed the roses over to Truffle, who took them gtatefully
to her hands. "Oh, you shouldn't have," she smiled.
"Eh, but I did. How you feeling?"
"Like a Goomba being squished by Mario. I assume you're better."
"Eh, so so. Can I... come in?"
"Well... sure."
Toad stepped up to Truffle. The latter turned and walked back into her
home, Toad following.
"So I assume you came here for another reason, besides the flowers.
Am I right?"
Toad blushed. He HAD had another reason for coming... "Well...
uh... I wanted to say..."
Truffle sat down on a couch and motioned for Toad to sit as well. He
moved shakily, but eventually made it to the sofa.
"Truffle... I... I... don't know if I can say it..."
Truffle looked into Toad's black eyes. Toad's face became redder as
he realized he had been staring back.
"You know what I wanna say, don't you?"
"I wanna hear you say it."
"Do you HAVE to...?"
Truffle crossed her arms. Toad glumly scooted his foot along the rug,
then looked back up.
"Truffle, I..."
~Golem~
A stray sackit that had lost Croco's attention while it was digging
sneaked away. Now he was near a modest little house that didn't interest
him much, until he heard the previous conversation. The sackit hopped
up and turned the nob on the door--and just as he hoped and thought--it
was unlocked. He snatched the ring Toad hid behind him and ran off with
it for his life. Inspecting it, he noted, "Not quite what I expected,
but it'll still fetch a pretty price!" The sackit could not easily
outrun Toad, though, who was faster than other mushroom people he had
seen.
~Luigi of the Pipes~
Right after the Sackit ran out the door...
Toad looked at his hand, then over at Truffle. "Uhh, I'll be right
back. Get well soon!" And with that, he burst out the door, angrily
waving his fists at the pouch-carrying purloiner.
Just when Toad was about to grab the vile thief, the blue-capped Sackit
disappeared suddenly under the ground. Toad gasped and put his small
hands on his knees, glad to take a break, but furious at letting the
Sackit get away. He slammed his foot on the ground and started looking
for the hole that the Sackit must have used...
Underground...
The Sackit ran up to Croco, proudly holding the treasure he had stolen.
"Eh, not bad short stuff. Dis ring could be sold for a good price,
I GUAR-AN-TEE! Now, GET BACK OUT THERE!!!!!" Croco roared, making
the Sackit jump in shock and run back out to the castle treasury.
The Cajun Croc looked down at his new jewel, pondering about how much
cash he could get a worthless sucker to cough up for it. Then, he noticed
a small marking on the shining red gem. It was small, but definately
resembled a mushroom. Sarasaland rings didn't have mushrooms carved
into them, of this he alone should know. That meant the ring must have
come from the Mushroom Kingdom. "Impossible..." he muttered.
"How'd he go'n get over to dat Mushroom Kingdom like dat?!"
Croco looked back at the hole from whence they had come. Could he
really have tunneled that far? The two respective kingdoms were quite
a ways apart. And, if his geography skills were accurate, there was
an ocean somewhere between the two... Curiousity building, Croco re-traced
his steps a bit, jumping into the hole and walking down its path. And
then he saw it. It was hard to see from all the dirt and the dark light,
but there was definately a warp pipe there. And somehow the Sackit had
tunneled into it absentmindedly, then walked through during an explosion
or something, which was why he didn't hear the usual sound a warp pipe
made. That could be quite useful for an underground looting system...
Thousands of thoughts played under the tall red top-hat sitting on
Croco's head. If there were, by chance, more warp pipes, he could find
a way to travel from every part of the world, collecting jewels from
every kingdom, Sarasaland to the Kalamari Desert. He'd have to get those
bum Sackit workers of his on the job right away, after looting the castle
a bit more, of course. Croco grinned, sharp white teeth shining brightly.
He couldn't help it. Soon, he'd be the richest creature alive. And with
the riches comes the power...
~Lzn64~
Before he could look into this enticing little development any further,
though, he had to attend to the more pressing matter at hand. Those
other two gals that would be showing up later that day had to be taken
care of before he could do any exploration of his new loot tunnel, a
pity though it was. Oh, well. At least it meant a return trip to the
Sahasraland Castle. He grinned greedily and turned on one purple heel,
in an uncharacteristically good mood.
~Meanwhile~
All those that had boarded the ship bound for the Sarasaland Castle
were roused into wakefulness by the dutiful Hydraulico, who had long
since finished recharging, or in more organic terms (as understood by
Chibobuigi), napping. Pon, standing dutifully at the complex-looking
controls, had politely given the request, and one by one, the occupants
of the airborn craft were stirred, some easily, some not so easily.
After everyone was awake, or halfway there, at least, Pon directed
the ship to its landing area on the grounds of the Castle, descending
with the perfection and ease of a professional. Daisy was the first
to exit the hangar, and the first thing she did was inquire worriedly
into the safety of the two princesses.
The report was positive; no trouble had been encountered in her absence.
Daisy, however, remained suspicious, knowing that Croco would be hard
to catch even without the element of surprise. Her companions followed
her into the main chambers of the castle, in awe at its beauty and size.
The Mushroom Palace was certainly a wonder, but this... this was amazing.
They were left little time for admiration, on account of new security
preparations that had to be arranged, and before long they each found
themselves stationed at some various point in the castle, on the lookout
for trouble.
"They are scheduled to arrive in an hour," Daisy said over
her should to Peach, who had been paired with her on their station at
the top of the castle. "We should see their ship arriving from
here, and have a clear view of anything that goes amiss."
"I somehow don't think Croco would attack them out in the open,"
Peach stated thoughtfully. "That's not his style. It's far too...
direct, for a weasel like Croco."
"We have to be sure, in any case," Daisy said absently.
Why on earth did she ask for our help if she's not going to heed our
advice? Peach thought, rolling her eyes. She knew that this was all
a waste of time, and they should instead be searching out secret tunnels
or spies within the castle. But, Daisy's opinion was what flew in this
country, after all...
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