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Chapter 10:
Master vs. Pupil
~Yoshiman~
". . . Mario, what's happening now?" Luigi asked finally,
turning to his brother.
"What do you mean?" Mario replied.
"Now, I mean, what are the villans doing. . ."
"What are they plotting. . ."
"Where it'll take us. . ."
"How many there are. . ."
"And how it'll turn out."
"Luigi, I'm sure that if we were there with any one of them,
we wouldn't know much more than we do now."
"But that's just it, Mario. SOMEone must know everything that's
going on."
~Luigi of the Pipes~
Toad woke up, groaning and stretching his neck. He tried to move his
arms, but found they were bound with quite durable rope. "What...
happened?" he murmered. 'Okay, think Toad. You were going to Truffle's
to wish her get well soon... and... and...'
Toad's musing was cut short as two Sackits walked up to him.
"Master Croco pleased Glepe, yes?" one asked.
"He'll be greatly pleased, Pilf," the one called Glepe answered.
"Who are you and what do you want me for?!" Toad yelled.
"Calm down, little one," Glepe soothed. "We found you
unconscious in one of our tunnels. After a quick searching, we noticed
that you're one of those Mushroom Retainers. Well, we're in luck."
"Huh?"
"Our boss, Croco, has orders from some guy to capture a bunch
of princesses. Since the Mario Bros. will be there to ruin our plan,
perhaps you can be used as a "shield" of sorts. I'm sure that
Mario wouldn't want to hurt his dear friend Toad, even with a quartet
of royalty at stake."
"You expect me to comply to this?!"
"No. That's why we've tied you up. The question now is whether
we can get you to Croco in time or not.
"Speaking of which, grab the mushroom Pilf. We've got a long
trip ahead."
~Masamune~
The group of thieves had been digging for some time now, hoping to
dig into the basement of the castle. Of course this was unlikely, for
the map that they were using was very primitive. Croco was meant to
map the castle using the access Daisy had granted. But because she went
back on her word, the map maker bandit had to work with what little
time they had when they last broke in.
Croco was behind the group, looking over the map and shuting out orders.
The bandits, sackits and Shy Squad were digging through the long tunnel
they had carved. The squid guy sat beside Croco doing nothing whatsoever.
"Boss! We made it through!" One of the bandits exclaimed.
"Good." Croco replied, "Get in there, then!"
The group hustled faster than before until there was hole large enough
for them to get through. After all of them had made it in, they rolled
a barrel in front of the hole. The reptilian theif then took the lead,
while his group of villains followed. He shushed them, while producing
a small bob-omb from his bag. He walked up to a seemingly normal wall
and placed the bomb. The group backed up, just as the bob-omb exploded.
The wall crumbled into dust, revealing a secret tunnelway that the wall
was hiding.
"Behold... da secret rooms of da castle. It took a lotta money
to find out about dis, so ya best apprecieate it." Croco said,
"Now... you, Squid. Stay here in case those two lazy bandit brothers
decide to show up."
The squid guy saluted with one of it's slimy tentacles, while the
group shuddered and entered the hole. They continued down several tunnels
until Croco finally halted and started feeling around on the wall. He
found a lever, then pulled it and a door opened just in front of them.
One of the sackits slinked in the room and looked around. The sackit
then returned and whispered something to Croco.
"What!? Peach's room?" Croco retorted, "Fine... we
may as well grab her too. Use the fuzzy powder, if you let her scream
I'll make ya wish the guards DO catch ya..."
Croco pulled a small amount of fuzzy powder from his bag and handed
it to the sackit. The sackit then ran in, accompanied by two of the
bandits. Just as she was beginning to wake from her slumber, the sackit
slapped his fuzzy powder coated hand over her mouth. She attempted to
scream, but everything began to go dark and she soon passed out.
"Good, very good..." The boss congradulated as they dragged
her in, "Take the gal back with the Squid, we'll go find the two
damsels..."
As the three ran out, Croco proceeded to tear up the map. "Ok,
this things worthless already. From now on, we're gonna go on my instincts."
The group exchanged nervous glances as they continued. Going through
all sorts of twisting turns in the secret tunnel. Finally Croco halted
the group and presented another lever. He pulled it, and like before
another door opened. One of the sackits ran in then ran back and whispered
in Croco's ear.
"Ok, this is Maple's room. Snap to it." Croco ordered.
The sackit ran in, followed by Tweeter and a bandit. They used the
fuzzy powder again, and proceeded to drag her out. Croco gave them the
same orders he had given to the previous group and they rushed out.
Once more, he began leading them through the maze-like hallway. After
a few errors in choosing rooms, they found Plum's room without causing
alarm. A bandit and the remaining Shy Squad dragged her off to where
the squid was waiting.
"Ok, it's been a success..." Croco replied, "Now...
hehehe... the rest of us will go find da treasure and take it back."
"Won't that be a big load?" One of the bandits asked.
"Pshaw, just come on..."
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The two bandits, Pilf and Glepe had been dragging the mushroom through
the tunnel after their group. Along the way they had hit the mushrooms
head on the ground and he had went unconcious. Halfway they decided
it would be in their best interest to wake him up and force him to walk.
After they finally got him to come around, he glanced around confused.
"Where am I?" He asked.
"A tunnel, what's it look like?" Glepe replied sarcastically.
"Who are you? ... Who am I?" The dazed mushroom asked.
Pilf looked at Glepe with a raised eyebrow, "That must've hit
him harder than I thought."
Glepe looked at the mushroom and grinned in a diabolical manner, "You
are Loot, one of the Bandit Brothers. Which we are... you are a great
theif, yoru skills are unmatched... I am Glepe, and over there is Pilf..."
The mushroom looked at them silently for awhile, "Loot huh? Well...
why am I tied up?"
"Ah.. we rescued you." Pilf recovered, "We jsut now could
stop."
"Fine... then where to, bro?" 'Loot' asked.
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Val Tina had to admit she was rather... impressed by the size of the
Headmaster's office. His desk was quite large, as was his very large
chair. However, it's back was to her and she could see none of him at
all. Dodo, at her side shivered in fear and attempted to hide behind
her slender body.
"SO... WHY IS IT YOU NEED TO SPEAK TO ME?" The headmaster
bellowed.
Val Tina shuddered at the loud voice and smiled as best as possible,
"To make sure little Douglas here is in safe hands..."
"I CAN ASSURE YOU, HE IS IN THE BEST OF HANDS..." The voice
replied.
Val Tina fumbled, trying to think of what to say. He had not yet seen
her and was not ensnared by her beautiful image. She would have to try
another tactic...
"I see... Mister.. Smith, is it? You seem a little bit on the
edge... what say we dine tonigth and talk about your troubles."
"TROUBLES? BAH... YOU WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND..." The headmaster
retorted, although a bit of regret in his voice.
"I could learn..." She replied smoothly.
"PERHAPS..." The headmaster thought out loud, "VERY
WELL... WE WILL MEET HERE AGAIN... TONIGHT."
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Luigi looked over at Mario in the tower, he seemed as he was about
to doze off again. They had ran out of coffee again. Since Hydraulico
had wandered off, Luigi decided to head off and get some. He grabbed
the pot and motioned to Mario that he was leaving. His brother waved
him off as he headed downstairs. As he was walking, he spotted Pon walking
into Peach's room. He then ran back out with a look of suprise on his
face. When he saw Luigi, he ran up to him and reported that Peach's
room was empty.
"Err... perhaps she headed out for fresh air?" Luigi suggested,
although doubtful it was true.
"No! Impossible... the guard was at the door! She never left!
That is the only exit!" Pon exclaimed.
Another pionpi run up to Pon and explained something to him in a voice
to quiet for Luigi to make out. Pon turned to the plumber and explained,
"Princess Maple and Plum are also missing... and it seems the treasure
vault has been looted!"
"What!?" Luigi exclaimed in shock, "Go up and get Mario,
I'll get everyone else... meet me in the dining room."
"Yes Luigi..." Pon replied, hurrying off to the lookout
tower.
~Vorpal~
"Ahh, now this is where Daisy should be," Croco happily
muttered to himself. "Well, don't just stand there, get the princess
and let's get outta here!"
The cronies did as they were told. Capturing Princess Daisy, as they
did the other three. As soon as they left, Luigi bursted into the room.
"They got Daisy, too," he muttered under his breath. But
it was no time, to sit, and worry about it. It was time for action!
Luigi ran to the dining room where Mario and the rest of the gang were.
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Croco and his team retreated to what was basically an underground
hideout. There they could keep a majority of the treasure to themselves,
(like Master Smith needed any of it) and they could hold the four princesses
there till morning. The treasure from the castle, filled up about half
of the large underground cave. The other half, was occupied by Croco,
his henchman, and the princesses.
One by one the princesses came out of their induced slumber, and one
by one, were horrified by their surroundings. Daisy let out the first
words, "Where are we?"
"Oh, just a couple of miles under de earth, I GAUR-AN-TEE!"
was the reply they heard from Croco.
Next Maple spoke, "What do you plan to do with us?"
"I'm not going to do anything. It's this Master Smith who does."
Peaches eyes widened as she saw three figures come in. Two of them
were bandits, but the third was... Toad?
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