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Chapter 9:
~Lzn64~
Night descended upon the provinces of Sarasaland, bringing out a multitude
of sparkling stars and cooling the air to a pleasant temperature. A
benign breeze blew through the kingdom, ruffling the hair of the Pionpi
who stayed out at night, and one by one, the lights that illuminated
the Kingdom of Chai when the sun did not blinked on. The moon hung overhead,
a thin sliver, and the pale yellow man-made lights lit the roads and
town squares down below.
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In the palace
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"Yeah, well... I'm sure no one will care if we
tell them that we're going to help save the world with Mario again,"
Goombario stated.
"But... we're not helping save the world." Chibobuigi countered,
yawning and leaning back.
"That's why I used the future tense, *****," Goombario rolled
his eyes. "And plus, Heidi, Smithy's not our only problem... we've
got to worry about Croco, too."
"Right... well, whaddaya say we go on our own adventure while
we're waiting? Cards is getting so boring..."
"You're just sore because I'm winning!" Chibobuigi laughed.
"Quiet, you. Heidi's right, let's go do something. We're getting
out of our classes, we might as well do something fun while we have
the chance!"
---------
Meanwhile
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"THAT CROCO HAD BETTER NOT FAIL ME... I'M EXPECTING TWO PRINCESSES
TOMORROW, AND I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT FOOL TO CONFIRM THE PLAN..."
"Don't worry about it, boss," A bandit, one of several who
had stayed behind as Headmaster Smith's "reserve troops,"
in case he came up with another ingenious plan, reassured him.
"Yeah, no one would dare cross YOU," another agreed, shuddering
at the very thought of the consequences.
"EVEN SO, CROCO IS NOT THE BRIGHTEST CREATURE. FETCH HIM FOR
ME, AND DO NOT FAIL."
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And... THEN
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Outside the room, where the Bandits and the Squid Guy had run into
Croco, the purple monster himself was debating to himself what was more
important. Obtaining more riches than he could dream of, or not getting
on Master Smith's bad side.
Well, duh.
"That fat hammer-weilding good for nothing can wait," He
said, standing outside the door with a defiant look on his face. "I
have a plan that will ensure my, heh, 'social security' for years to
come!"
He turned on a clawed foot to walk away, but didn't get two steps
before the door swung open behind him. He froze in his tracks.
"Croco! There you are! My master just sent me to find you,"
An annoyingly hyper bandit was delivering this news, Croco knew, without
needing to turn around.
"Oh, well, heh heh, I was just on my way to speak to him,"
Croco replied, mustering as honest a face as he could. He was quite
good at it, too.
"Well, Headmaster Smith's room is over here, not that way. Hurry
up."
Croco grumbled to himself as he was forced into the room where the
fat psycho smithy waited for him.
"AH, THERE YOU ARE, UNDERLING."
"Er... yeah. What is it? I'm a busy man," Croco sneered,
not appreciating being referred to as an underling.
"YOU WILL INDEED BE BUSY TOMORROW. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOUR DUTIES?
IT IS NOT WISE TO CROSS ME, AS YOU KNOW."
"Oh, not wise, not wise," A bandit babbled off the side.
"Right, not wise at all, very unwise," another agreed.
"SHUT UP."
"Yes, sir!" They both shouted at once, freezing perfectly
still and not making a sound.
"Right, I know. Kidnap those two princesses when they come to
give their speeches tomorrow at the Academy. Gotcha." Croco turned
to go.
"IF I DON'T GET THOSE PRINCESSES, THE CONSEQUENCES WILL BE GREAT,"
Headmaster Smith warned, as Croco walked out of the office.
He made a face at the closed door in the hall, not quite bold enough
to do it to his face, and stomped out of the academy. The stupid sackits
would have to wait, he had a job to do... Unfortunately.
"At least not all is lost," Croco sighed. "A visit
to the Sarasaland Castle is always... fun. Now where did those annoying
bandits that are supposed to be helping me get to? And what was that
weird creature with them?"
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Meanwhile...
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The four princesses had long since taken to their rooms, to prepare
for the long day ahead, but certain others in the castle found that
they were not tired in the least.
"I'm going to be up all night from that dinner at this rate,"
Mario complained. He had never particularly liked sweet and sour food.
"Get real, you barely ate any!" Luigi rebuked him.
"I don't HAVE to eat much of that stuff, you know that."
"Heh..."
They both stood at the front of the palace, worried about what might
happen overnight. There was no way of knowing when Croco might make
his move... but it was pretty obvious that it would be before the two
could speak at the Academy.
"I know there's something weird going on around here, I just
can't think of what it is," Mario said finally, crossing his arms.
"We're just going to have to wait until Croco makes his move
and be ready for it."
"I guess, but not doing anything when there's something we COULD
be doing is frustrating."
"I thought you were sick from the chicken," Luigi teased
his brother.
"I AM! That doesn't mean that I don't want to keep everyone safe,
though."
"Always the self-suffering martyr, eh?"
"I'm going to "martyr" you..." Mario laughed,
shoving his brother to the side.
"Yeah, yeah," Luigi laughed, shaking his head. "There
are a lot of stars here, too, aren't there?" He changed the subject,
peering up into the night sky of Sarasaland.
"You know, it's getting to the point where even the stars remind
me of Bowser," Mario sighed.
"I know what you mean," Luigi agreed, and then the two lapsed
into silence, lost in their own thoughts.
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meanwhile.
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"Wait, wait, weren't we supposed to WAIT for Croco?" One
of the bandits yelled, the Squid Guy flopping around at his side.
"Er..."
"Ah, C'mon guys, we'll meet him at the palace."
"Yeah, I guess... we're already almost there, anyway."
"What if he doesn't show up, though?"
"Then maybe we can do it ourselves! Then we'll definitely be
on Master Smith's good side!"
"Hey... yeah!"
"Wait, do you guys hear something?"
The small company of bandits dove into some nearby bushes, hidden
well by their organic cover, and the extra concealment of the night.
One of them reached out and grabbed the squid guy, grimacing in disgust.
They peered through the leaves to see who had nearly caught them in
their nightly wanderings.
"Man, this is boring." A familiar voice said.
"Yeah, I know. Weren't we supposed to be doing something deviously
evil and wicked?" Another asked, accompanied by the sound of rustling
wings.
"I think they got mad at us..."
"Does that mean we're fired?" A twittering voice, not as
familiar as the others, called out.
"You'll get used to it, tweeter. The rest of us have."
"It's the Shy Squad!" One of the bandits whispered from
inside the bush.
"Well than why are we hiding?"
"Good point."
The bandits emerged from the bushes, waving down the Shy Squad as
they did. They might have been annoying, but if Croco did indeed fail
to show up, they were going to need some sort of help. Again, the Squid
guy needed assistance disentangling himself from the bush he had been
shoved in.
"Hey, look, long time no see," Shyguy exclaimed, shaking
hands with a Bandit.
"Does this mean we're hired again?" Tweeter asked.
"Yeah, you are!" A bandit confirmed, kicking the Squid guy
away when it brushed against its leg.
"This, is something you won't get used to," Snifit whispered
to Tweeter, grinning.
"C'mon, we're still on the same plan, kidnap those princesses
before they make their speeches!"
"But, wait, I'm confused," Beezo called, flying after them
as they all took off toward the palace.
"You're always confused, nitwit," Shyguy yelled back.
"Are we supposed to nab them at the PALACE, or the ACADEMY?"
Beezo asked, ignoring Shyguy.
"We're going to try tonight, but it doesn't matter, as long as
we get them before their speeches," A bandit cleared the question.
With their plan set, the unlikely kidnappers continued toward the tunnel
they had made beneath the palace a while back, under Croco's supervision.
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And...
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Val Tina collapsed on a couch in her dorm, the stress of being registered
and getting Dodo in without raising suspicion drainging out of her.
[i Honestly, a woman of my beauty and elegance shouldn't be made to
go through this sort of thing to achieve their goals...
She glanced at a clock on the wall, and stood up warily. Her appointment
with "Headmaster Smith" was approaching, and she did not want
to be late for THAT. Dodo was happily tucked away in a student dorm,
she would fetch him on her way to Smith's room.
"Headmaster Smith..." She chuckled to herself. "I must
say, I hadn't thought that he could be creative."
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And....
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Kooper stood in his building's common room, staring at the new kid.
He was sort of like a raven, but he didn't even speak the customary
"raven language" that he had picked up a bit of on his adventures
with Mario. The word "caw" did not come out of his beak even
once... in fact, nothing did.
"He's weird, huh?" Tadpoule muttered near him, also staring
at the raven, named "Dodo."
"Yeah, he is..." Kooper whispered back, making a face as
Dodo shifted his weight and several black feathers floated to the floor.
"Tut, boys! Speaking about your classmates behind their backs
is hardly good diplomacy, I say!" Kolorado rebuked them, startling
them both. They turned and faced the explorer, who was also the staff
member assigned to look after their dorm. They hadn't even seen him
enter the commons room-- but since the entrance was behind them, that
was hardly surprising.
"S-sorry, sir!" Kooper exclaimed, blushing bright red at
being rebuked by his hero.
"Won't happen again..." Tadpoule agreed, shuffling his feet.
Before Kolorado could respond, however, the door slammed open, startling
all the students in the room.
"Dodo! Let's GO!" A woman shouted, causing them all to wince.
The new kid quickly complied, shuffling toward the woman in a defeated
way that almost made Kooper feel sorry for the guy.
The two disappeared out the door and away, leaving the others sort
of stunned at the scene.
"SHE's the new teacher?" Tadpoule exclaimed fearfully.
"I hope I don't have her for any of MY classes," Kooper
agreed fearfully.
"Indeed, my boys, I don't like her one bit," Kolorado sighed.
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Finally...
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Croco approached the tunnel that led beneath the Sarasaland castle
after a while of travelling by foot. He looked around stealthily to
make sure no one was watching him, and disappeared inside. The first
thing he was aware of was the amazing fact that there seemed to be work
going on inside. He apprehensively made his way to the sounds, and blinked
in surprise.
"Croco, you made it after all!" a bandit yelled happily.
"Shush, you idiot!" Croco whispered harshly. "You want
the sound to carry out of here and get us caught?"
"Sorry..."
"And what are YOU four doing here?" Croco asked accusingly,
referring to the Shy Squad.
"We're hired again," Tweeter offered by way of explanation.
"Oh, brother... how does he expect me to get anything done with
help like this...? Croco sighed.
"Umm... we promise to be as helpful as we can!" Shyguy pledged.
"Just stay out of my way, and keep digging. The princesses' rooms
are dead ahead... if you guys don't screw up we could be done with this
by tonight."
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