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Chapter 8:
~Ditto McCloaker~
That night, as the mists rolled up towards Sarasaland Castle, the
heroes waited sleepily for the arrival of the Princesses from the distant
lands.
Mario was sitting in a chair, reading a Chai comic book.
"I just don't get it," he said. "People with exaggerated
bodies and oversized eyes, doing fantasical things." Nevertheless,
he continued on, engrossed in his reading.
Luigi played cards with Hydraulico for a while, but found it constantly
ended in a draw, as he had programmed his own playing skill into the
bot. He tried playing a few games on his monitor, but he got tired of
'Pong' and 'Mario Bros.' How he wished he had brought 'Super Smash Brothers'
with him, as he loved taking his brother to the cleaners on it...
Luigi, hands thrust into the back pockets overalls, had wandered over
near the window, and as he peered out, his green eyes went wide.
"Whoa! They're coming! I can see their ship! Princesses from
distand lands, dead ahead!"
Mario rushed over and looked, to get a glimpse of the ship coming
over the dense clouds of fog rolling over the bamboo covered landscape.
Daisy had asked the brothers to take over watch duty so as to free up
the extra pionpi to prepare for their arrival. They had been given a
comfy room at the top of the watch tower, and all day they had been
in there.
"Time to go tell them!" said Luigi. After hours of boredom,
this suddenly seemed like the most exciting thing in the world. They
excitedly opened the rice paper door to their room and dashed down the
hallway, past the busy pionpi, nearly knocking over a suit of samurai
armor, out over a balcony over towards Daisy's pagoda.
Peach and Daisy were alerted, and amongst much fanfare, the Princesses
were helped from their flying ship and escorted into the Sarasaland
castle.
Of course, Plum and Maple were tired from their trip, so after a small
dinner of leftover sweet and sour chicken (which Luigi enjoyed and Mario
just picked at) the were escorted to their rooms, in preparation for
their speeches at the Sarasaland Academy the next day.
~Luigi of the Pipes~
Of course, Headmaster Smith wasn't sitting idle this whole time. He
was putting the finishing touches on his new, master plan.
"BANDIT! IN HERE, NOW!" Smith bellowed. In accordance to his
calling, the sly, grey-robed Bandit stepped through the door.
"You wanted something Sm--?"
"HEADMASTER SMITH."
"Uhhh... yeah."
"I'VE DECIDED THAT YOU'RE WORTHY OF HEARING WHAT I HAVE IN STORE
FOR THOSE MEDDLING MARIOS, SINCE YOU LOST MY SHIELD..."
"Eh..... heh....."
"YOU'RE QUITE LUCKY THAT MY SEARCH TEAM IS HOT ON THE TRAIL OF
THAT GEM. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I DECIDED THAT YOU BANDITS NEEDED SOME
ASSISTANTS..."
"Like what Sm-- Headmaster Smith?"
"MEET THE SQUID GUY."
A circular panel on the floor a few meters away from Bandit slid open.
A pedestal rose from that hole, with a passenger sitting atop.
The passenger faintly resembled a Shy Guy, with its mask and grey cloak.
But that's where the similarities stopped. The two eyeholes of the mask
were now surrounded by a thin ring that stuck a few centimeters off
the mask. The mouth hole had four, tightly fitting teeth in it, which
squeezed together until all that was left was a tiny hole in the center.
Above the mask strap was a long dome, capped with a triangular segment.
Where the sleeve for the arm would be, it was cut away to drop a long,
fleshy grey tentacle. The tentacle itself had a large suction cup on
the end, and multiple smaller cups all along it. Instead of legs, the
creature had a grey, mermaid-like fin.
"That's..... real nice Headmaster..." the Bandit stuttered,
resisting the urge to vomit at the sight of the monstrosity.
"YES, IT IS, ISN'T IT? I MERELY MUTATED A SHY GUY, SQUID, AND
THIS ODD CREATURE CALLED A "SEA COW", I BELIEVE, INTO ONE."
"I see......"
"ENJOY THE ADDED ASSISTANCE. YOU MAY LEAVE."
"Added assistance? Great......"
The Squid Guy flopped off the pedestal and squirmed it's way over
to the Bandit's side. The Bandit sighed, then walked out the door, Squid
Guy at his side.
~Yoshiman~
Bandit said to himself "Man, Master Smith has been actin weirder
and weirder ev'ry day now. I wonder if it's still safe to trust him."
He looked down to Squid Guy at his side. "I mean, what good are
you, anyway?"
Suddenly, a clawed arm picked him up.
Bandit yelped in surprise. "Croco!"
Croco looked at him. "Hey, yooz not leavin me, ares ya?"
"No oo sir!" the bandit replied.
"Wait. . . yooz ain't Sakit!" And he threw him down on the
ground. Croco retreated.
"Itz been houas. Where has that little punk gone ta?"
~Masamune~
Inside the university, Headmaster Smith was not the only foul scheme
stinking up the school. In the registration office, other twisted plots
were hatching.
"So you say that Douglas Doodle-" Began a chai, but she was
cut off by the very tallk woman and chubby bird across from her.
"Dodo." The tall woman corrected, "He prefers the nickname..."
"Dodo then... you say 'Dodo' here is an exchange student from
the the Raven School of Advanced Learning?" The chai asked, "I
can't say I have ever heard of it..."
"It's a private school." The woman explain as sincere as
possible, which was very little, "So he is very quiet, in fact...
he does not speak your language."
The chai lady raised an eyebrow but nodded, "I am sure we can
fit 'Mr. Dodo' somewhere. As for you... Miss Val Tina, we can arrange
you in the teacher dorms."
"That would be splendid" 'Val Tina' Replied, "But I
would like to see the Headmaster first. His old teacher wants to make
sure this is a safe school..."
"I... will try to make an appointment..." The chai receptionist
replied warily.
"Come along Dodo..." Val Tina said in a sing-song voice,
before leaning down to him and replying in a threatening voice, "And
don't you dare screw this up..."
~Elsewhere...~
Inside Sarasaland Castle, three youngsters all sat together in one
of the many rooms. All sitting around a table, playing a game of cards.
"I'll raise you five coins" Chibobuigi stated.
Goombario frowned and spit out his cards, "I'm out."
Heidi grinned, although it could not be seen under her mask. She set
down her cards, "Three Queens
Chibobuigi frowned, "I only have two Jacks... and three Aces!
Ha!"
Using his tongue, he started gather all the coins over to him.
"Bah, this is boring." Goombario replied, "Ya'd think
with Mario and Luigi around things would be a bit more upbeat..."
"Well... we gotta keep ready in case 'Headmaster Smith' pull
something." Heidi replied.
Chibobuigi poked his head up from his coin pile, "Speaking of
which, we are missing most of our classes."
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