Chapter 30:

~lzn64~

The remaining airborne theives turned away from the plummeting Squid Guy, focusing on the intruders attempting to infiltrate the Blade II instead. As far as they were concerned, the semi-aquatic pest was done for, and indeed, it certainly seemed that way. Mario and Luigi struggled up the anchor chain, fighting the wind generated from the Blade's rapid propulsion through the sky all the way. Watinga could only use his remaining strength to cling to the smooth metal surface of the ship as best he could. The mousers hovered about the plumbers, grabbing on to them and attempting to pull them off. Mario and Luigi, already strained from attempting to climb the thing in the first place, gripped the chains as tightly as they could and hoped for a miracle...

Meanwhile, lagging far behind the rest of the gang, Dodo flew drunkenly while Croco yelled several curses at the poor, abused Raven. I wish this guy would shut up... he's reminding me of Valentina, the bird thought, as he vainly attempted to gain some altitude. Maybe she was right; I should have lost some weight! I can barely fly myself around, let alone all these guys as well... The raven soon looked ready to collapse, and seeing this, Croco frantically changed his tone from abusive to encouraging, but it was far too little, too late. The Raven faltered slightly, dipped toward the ground, and to finalize matters, just as as Croco braced himself for pain a small falling Squid Guy slammed into Dodo's soft, feathery back, eliminating all chances of aerial recovery. The bird and his passengers fell several feet through the air, hit the ground, and were silent for a few moments; until the muffled voice of Croco shouted "Get off a me, ya useless lumpa feathers! Oooh, my rib cage..."

Seeing their leader thus incapacitated, the theives that were busily attempting to pull the Mario Bros. to certain doom released the two, hovered for a moment in indecision, and propelled themselves over to where Croco had fallen, leaving the brothers free to continue their climb. They both looked at each other with a glance that clearly meant "Are we lucky, or what?" and did so, quicker this time than before, despite their fatigue.

The mousers and assorted other thieves landed near Dodo, managed with a lot of effort to pull the bird off of Croco and the other unfortunate passengers, and were subjected to verbal abuse by the purple con artist that would have put the most well-versed villian to shame. Needless to say, after all of this had transpired, the Blade II had disappeared far beyond the reach of any of their jetpacks (which only further fueled Croco's impotent rage-- much to the dismay of his gang.)

Only a few thieves elected to notice the fallen Squid Guy...

"Hey, Beezo, quit poking him with that thing."

"Shut up, Snifit. I'll poke him if I want."

"You think he'll wake up?" Bandit inquired, looking with what was almost pity on the unconscious squid. His back looked somewhat charred, undoubtedly the result of the jetpack exploding on him, and in all it didn't look to great for the fallen minion.

"Doesn't look like it," Lantern Ghost offered pessimistically. "Does it matter?"

"LG's right!" Shyguy stated emphatically. "Isn't he a traitor?"

"You could say the same about us," Tweeter replied pointedly, earning himself a whack from Beezo's spear.

"Actually, he's got a point. And while we're recruiting, this guy looks like he might be an interesting addition..."

"He's on the Mario's side!" Snifit objected.

"I've been thinking, guys," Bandit observed, almost timidly.

"Great, I was getting tired of being the only one of us that does that," Shyguy muttered, joining Tweeter in getting whacked by Beezo.

"Don't we want to WIN?" Bandit asked, ignoring Shyguy. "I mean, you guys have jumped in on the loosing side every time... what are you, masochists?"

"Wha-?"

"Blame Shyguy, he's the one that tells us to do everything," Beezo buzzed, brandishing his spear in a threatening manner.

"I mean, ever since I joined this group, you guys have made made decisions and stupid choices," Bandit pointed out, and the others all hung their heads in shame.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Let's help out the side that ALWAYS wins, for once!" Bandit announced triumphantly, taking out his canteen and pouring its contents on Squid Guy. The group waited for a moment, holding their breath, and suddenly there was movement! Squid Guy flopped feebly, opened his eyes, and looked fearfully up at the Shy Squad.

"He lives!" The others shouted emphatically.

"This was the best idea ever! I think Bandit should be our new leader," Tweeter announced.

"All in favor?" Bandit agreed.

All but Shyguy, who was sputtering in consternation, replied with a hearty "Aye!"

"What are youse guys CHEERING about?" Croco's immensely irritated voice interrupted. He sauntered over to where the Shy Squad was gathered, sneering at them. "There is NOTHIN' to CHEER about, y'hear? We gotta report back to Smithy, everyone, READY YER JETPACKS!"

And as the theives did so, those without jetpacks being carried by those who did, the Shy Squad remained on the ground, watching them go. "Jerks," they all muttered. Squid Guy struggled to sit up, wondering what was going on... "So, what to we do now, Bandit?" Lantern Ghost inquired, as Croco and his gang dissappeared in futile pursuit of the Blade II.

Oh, great... what am I going to do now? Squid Guy groaned mentally, observing his new companions wearily.

-----*-----

Mario and Luigi, free to continue into the Blade II, soon completed their climb and made their way on board. They were greeted by a very peeved looking Clubmin and the Blade's crew of Mad Mallets. Some other new Machine-Mades also roamed on the decks, all of them facing the two infiltrators; who were beginning to realize that they were quite unprepared for this. As the lot converged on the two, they both leapt from the deck simultaneously. Clubmin continued to helplessly shake his transmitter in hopes of getting it to work as Mario and Luigi used their traditional methods to clear out his minions. After the last Mad Mallet was brought down by an particularly well executed leap on the part of Luigi, they both turned to face the now rather nervous looking Clubmin. As they carefully advanced, Watinga finally felt strong enough to fly up to the deck and joined them.

"You traitor!" Clubmin shouted, focusing his anger on the supersized fly. "If you hadn't been taken in by these goody-goodies we'd be ruling Sarasaland right now!"

"No, Smithy would be, not you... or us," Watinga corrected him. "If Smithy gets his way, he'll not only subject the people of Sarasaland to his tyranny; but his minions as well. You haven't realized that yet?"

"I'll never turn traitor like you," Clubmin sputtered, half seeing the truth in Watinga's words. "I would rather be FAVORED under his rule than otherwise!" He shouted, justifying his actions to himself.

"Then you'll have to beat us now," Mario interrupted the two, "Because we're taking this ship!"

Clubmin made one last attempt to activate his tranmitter, looked wide-eyed at the several Mad Mallets lying defeated on the deck (many of which were trying with all their might to pull the sharp end of their heads from where they were embedded in the deck,) turned, and jumped off.

Watinga, Mario and Luigi stood still for a moment, shocked, and then ran as one to look over the side of the deck incredulously. They watched as Clubmin free fell for a second, activated a parachute-type device, and glided harmlessly from their view. Inside the cockpit, the two Mad Mallets that had been piloting the ship cowered helplessly.

"We're the captains of this ship now," Mario informed them, as though they couldn't figure it out.

"Now take us to Dais- I mean, Chai Castle!" Luigi ordered them, and they scrambled to do so at once.

-----*-----

Frogfucious and Mallow sat on the Nimbus, conversing quietly as they floated above the kingdom below. "I'm worried about that Alexis," Frogfucious admitted to his adopted grandson, knitting his eyebrows. "But I'm sure he's found his way; after all, he was one of my best students."

"Tadpoule's a smart one, all right," Mallow said encouragingly. He knew that his grandpa worried a lot about his students, especially in situations where they could really be in danger. "But how can we know where he ended up?"

"That's the question of the day, my boy. Even I can't know the answer to that..." And so they searched, descending every now and then to ask the residents of the scattered communities of Sarasaland if they had by chance noticed a Frog wandering about.

They were tired and nearing the edge of the Easton Mountains, dejected and losing hope, when suddenly a rather odd thing caught their attention. A sky pop flew by, a little ways ahead, heading north... and the crowded passenger area was filled with what were undoubtedly familiar faces. Frogfucious and Mallow looked at each other in amazement, then immediately put the NimBus in full gear to give chase.

-----*-----

"It's kinda getting cold," Goombario noted, as the plane flew above the mountains, heading toward the Frappeland.

"Something tells me it won't get any better," Heidi warned him, "So get used to it!"

"Cold?" Kari chimed in, rather alarmed. "Yoshis don't take well to the cold..."

"Neither do Goombas," Goombario muttered darkly.

"It's not MY fault that they're all in the Frapplands!" Heidi exclaimed in frustration. "Look, just grit your teeth and take it!"

"Easy for you to say," Goombario shot back, "You're the only one here with actual CLOTHES!"

"Hey..." Tadpoule interrupted, before the argument could go any further. "Is that the NimBus following us?" He was turned backwards, squinting at something following them.

"The what?" Heidi asked in confusion, slowing down a bit.

"Looks like a bunch of clouds to me, Frogman," Kari chided him, glancing unconcernedly over her shoulder.

"No, no, I think it is! Heidi, stop!" He shouted, simultaneously leaping halfway out of his seat to wave at the NimBus.

"You just get weirder and weirder," Kari muttered, shaking her head at Tadpoule as she settled herself back into her seat.

"Tadpoule, sit down!" Heidi cried in alarm, but she immediately began scanning for a place to land in the mountains. "You'll fall off if you keep on like that!"

-----*-----

"Well, it looks like SOMEONE finally noticed us!" Mallow exclaimed happily, waving back at Tadpoule.

"He'd better sit down again before he falls out," Frogfucious muttered.

"I wonder where they were headed? You'd think they were going to the Frappelands with the way they were barrelling north like that."

"I can't see why they would want to go there, but that certainly did seem like the destination they had in mind..."

-----*-----

Axem Pink plodded down the abandoned halls of the Chai Palace, eager show off her accomplishment. The two mushrooms in her arms were quite bulky and cumbersome, but the feminine Ranger didn't seem to care at all. In fact, she was humming a jovial tune to herself, imagining promotions and praise-- and a ton of jealously from her companions. It's gonna be SO nice to finally be able to boss Red around! she thought ecstatically, then suddenly, something horrifying dawned on her.

"My compact!" She shouted, dropping the mushrooms to the castle floor. "How could I have forgotten you, my dear compact!?" She wailed as she dashed back down the hall to retriever her forgotten makeup.

All was quiet for a few moments as the Pink and Orange mushrooms sat immobile in the silent hall. Then, quietly at first, a new sound made its way toward where the transformed princesses sat. It sounded like heavy footsteps, as though someone was attempting to pull a large ball and chain as they walked. This sound slowly got louder and louder, until the source slomped its way into the hall. It was, of course, none other than Axem Yellow, dragging his companions along in his quest for free food.

"Mushrooms!" the large yellow-clad ranger exclaimed happily, quickening his pace. "A perfect appetizer!" The others glanced at each other worriedly, wondering how this would impede their progress. As Yellow reached the Mushrooms, he bent down to take a big whiff before biting in... and stopped suddenly, sniffing more delicately at the abandoned fungi.

"What now?" Red snapped.

"This doesn't smell like a NORMAL mushroom," Yellow explained, perplexed.

"So let's GO, just leave them!" Green shouted impatiently.

"Remember your free food!" Black added, trying to be helpful.

"...I guess," Yellow finally agreed, when a sudden familar screeching voice caused them all to cringe.

"HEY! Those are MY Princesses, hands off!!" Pink screamed, her compact retrieved and safe. She rushed up to the bound Axems and plucked the Mushrooms swiftly off the ground, holding her tickets to glory protectively.

"Aha! Pink! So that's what you've been up to..." Red muttered, a bit surprised at her success. "Well, what are you waiting for, get us outta this!"

"No!" Pink yelled defiantly, still certain that she had a promotion above Red coming.

"Hey! You can't say no to ME!" Red shouted angrily, and shot Green a warning glance before he could be warned about his blood pressure again.

"As soon as I tell Smithy what *I* accomplished... while YOU idiots were getting beaten by a princess, might I add... YOU won't be leader anymore!" Pink exclaimed triumphantly.

"You idiot! If Smithy find out how dysfunctional a team we really are, those stupid Macein Rangers will outrank us! You wouldn't want to be overshowed by Macein Pink, would you?"

"Well..." Pink hesitated for a moment, then finally conceded. "That bimbo can NEVER outrank me... I'd never live it down!" She agreed, succumbing to Red's logic. She quickly unbent the club that bound them, and watched as they immediately stumbled away from each other, stretching stiffened muscles.

"'atta girl, Pink!" Green cheered. "I never want to be that close to Yellow ever again... you thought he ATE like a pig, try smelling him one day..."

"Hey!"

"Quit your bickering," Red admonished them, motioning for them to shut up. "We gotta get those princess-shrooms to Smithy at once! With this, he'll have no choice to admit that the Macein Rangers are all but useless, while us, the Axem Rangers, are his most useful and loyal minions!"

The others cheered, picked up the Mushrooms, and started back down the halls toward the exit to find Smithy, and claim their reward.

"What about my free food?" Yellow asked in confusion, following after them, with a look back toward the direction of the Welding Room in longing.

"Shut up about your food!" Red ordered, taking his accustomed spot as leader.

"Awe..."

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" Pink stopped suddenly, looking out one of the many windows in the Palace.

"What? Wait... hey, is that the Blade?!"

"No, the Blade II, Smithy's new ship, remember?"

"Oh... right... how I miss our Blade..."

"Clubmin's in charge of THAT ship, c'mon! Let's get a lift to Smithy from him!" Red shouted, and they all immediately rushed toward the exit of the castle.

~Masamune~

Croco finally gave up as he watched the Blade II finally fly out of sight. He looked over at his ragtag crooks and muttered some curses. He then whistled and made a swift motion to one of his men. It was one of the reprogrammed Mekabons from the factory, it was entrusted to Croco for being worthless to Smithy, to keep an eye on the crook and being uploaded with fundamental information that Croco often forgot (such as getting things done). Truffatore was what it was called, a rather boring name so it was just called Truffs.

"Hey Truffs... BESIDES Smithy... who is at the capital and can take 'em out?"

The mekabon whirred a few times before replying, "Booster II is currently highest ranking"

Croco whistled, "Good, ring 'em up wouldya?"

The mekabon was silent for a while, "Unable to establish communications"

"Argh! Who else is there!?"

"Macein Red of the Macein Rangers and Axem Red of the Axem Rangers"

Croco had heard of the Axem Rangers so decided to try the former, "Get Macein Red then"

"Sir, Macein Rangers are not scheduled to be put in action until-"

"Do I outrank 'em?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then tell them to do it! Yeesh! Tell them to prepare to attack the Blade II or something, it's been hijacked"

The Mekabon, quite annoyed now, looked up, "Incoming Transmission from Machine Mutant"

"Say who?"

"Wart's robot clone"

"Whatevah, send it through" Croco mumbled, now massaging the side of his head.

"Eddie Croco! Are you there you idiot?" The transmission said in a very Wart-like voice.

"Yeah, yeah" Croco muttered.

"Where is Watinga, or Clubmin for that matter!? I am en route on three spies, plus two of my prisoners! They hijacked a Sky Pop and are heading north"

Up ahead a parachute was falling, strapped to it a certain robotic mallet. Croco thought about his answer for awhile, "Watinga turned traitor and Clubmin... well, his head is in the clouds at the moment..."

"Wonderful!" Wart muttered, "Fine! YOU come then!"

Croco thought about it, this was certainly better than hearing Smithy's obnoxious yelling again, so he agreed, "Yeah yeah. On my way right now pal, Croco out"

Croco leaned over to the mekabon, "Say, where is 'dey at anyways?"

"Heading north in the direction of Frosted Frappelands," Truffatore answered.

"Lousy name..." Croco muttered, he then looked over at his band, "Ok boys! New plan, we're heading north for some pesky kids. Yeah yeah, thank me later" He then turned to Dodo, "Uesless! Go scout for anything we can use to get there!"

Dodo, worn out from the flight, was none to happy with Croco. In fact, the only thing he could think about was pecking the head off the purple lizard. So when called to do something, he did exactly what was on his mind. He managed to dent in his hat and give him a big lump before he got even more angry and sped off.

"Hey! YOU! COME BACK!" Croco shouted angrily, "Shoulda known 'dat raven was no good. Where the devil's he goin'?"

"North," The mekabon commented

"I KNEW that..." Croco mumbled, "Great, now how we gonna get there?"

"There's a airport just over the hill full of skypops."

"Huh? Howdya know that?"

Mekabon looked up to a rather enraged Clubmin taking off in a rather small Sky Pop in the direction of the blade II, "The obvious supported it"

"Boys! Over da hill! Secure the planes! Now!" Croco yelled, then thought to himself, Planes! Ha! I can rob anything wit' those!"

----------------
Meanwhile
----------------

Macein Red's eyes suddenly flashed to life, "Mission accepted"

The four other Macein Rangers did the same and followed Croco. They all ran a way until they came to a room with five pipes. Each one stood in the one of their respective color until they were sucked in. They were then deposited into five different small control rooms.

"Objective... Engage the Blade II in Aerial Combat..."

Five steeple-shaped ships suddenly shot out from the five towers on the Sarasaland Palace. Below Axem Red looked up angrily, "Argh! They're gonna hog all the glory!"

----------------------

It took a while for the Skypop to land, for it had to find a proper landing spot first. They ended up finding a snowfield next to a nearby cliff where the skypop landed and the NimBus smoothly landed on. Tadpoule was the first one out as he bounded over the Frofucious and Mallow.

"Alexis! You're alright!" Mallow exclaimed as he tackled his tadpole-sibling.

"Yeah, though groggy and have a little sunburn..." Tadpoule commented, "But I've had worse, I think"

Goombario and the others had joined up with the Tadpole Pond trio. He ventured to ask, "Say, why are you here anyways?"

"To speak with Alexis here," Frogfucious replied, "It has been a time since we have seen eachother. Prince Mallow was kind enough to transport me along."

"Aww... shucks" Mallow blushed, "Hey... what are YOU guys doing all the way up here! It's FREEZING..."

"I hadn't noticed..." Kari commented, as she sat a little distant from the group shivering.

"Hm... interesting friends..." Frogfucious commented, "Unfortunately I don not recognize any of them!"

Tadpoule nodded, "This is Goombario, he's also a transfer student from the Mushroom Kingdom, Chibobuigi is a local from Sarasaland, I met Kari at Yoshiopa in Muda... and the Shygal..."

"Heidi," The shygal interrupted, since neither of the two had a chance to meet prior, "And we're here to save the Mario Brothers!"

Mallow looked over at Frofucious quizically, "Uh... we just left them"

"SAY WHAT!?" Goombario and Chibobuigi shouted in unison.

"Birubato" Mallow replied, "Headed off in the Blade II"

"But that pionpi said..." Heidi mumbled.

Kari groaned and collapsed on a nearby mound of snow. However this mound said "Oof" and she quickly got up and apolgized.

"No no..." Said a depressed voice, "I'm used to it... once you've carried two turtles, big black dinos are nothing... just another person needing someone to sit on..."

"Aww..." Kari replied as she patted the mound of snow, "You should be happier!"

The snow mound, which was really a flurry, dug itself out and sighed, "The only happy thing today was that song... but the avalanche even ruined that!"

"Now listen here Grasshopper..." Frgofucious interrupted, "That is not the correct way to act"

"Umm, we better head back then" Goombario interrupted, "Sorry to be leaving, Mr. uh..."

"Flik" The flurry replied, "And don't worry... go ahead and leave... even that koopa with the funny accent hated me."

Alexs perked up, "Was his name... Kolorado perhaps"

"Yeah..."

"Hey!" Mallow interrupted, "Didn't Hydraulico mention those two ending up here?"

"Aha, you are correct. I had completely forgotten," Frofucious replied rather embarrased.

"Do you know which way they went?" Goombario asked Flik.

Flik frowned, "Towards the old city..."

"Right! This was to be Tatanga's new capital city, it was ruined after his dissapearance," Chibobuigi interrupted, always good with Sarasaland History.

"Let's go then!" Mallow exclaimed as he suddenly felt very adventurous. "We'll take the NimBus, it's faster!"

"I suppose I'll stay here instead of melting..." Flik sighed.

"Nonsense Grasshopper," Frgofucious replied, "That is mere superstition. We'll split up. Not reasonable to leave the Sky Pop here"

"Then..."

"Sure," Kari exclaimed, "You can come with us Snowy!"

Frogfucius, Mallow, Kari, and Flik piled away into the NimBus, while Tadpoule, Goombario, Chibobuigi, and Heidi took the Sky Pop. While they were in the air, they hit an air current that rocked the ships. Being the slippery thing he was, Flik fell out from his back seat and landed exactl where he was before. It was a great while until anyone paused to ask what happened.

He did not complain about being left behind though, he just moaned about his miserable life awhile when some penguin tourists passed the area.

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