The Four Horsemen

By no-YOU

Chapter 7: Justice For All

James strode past a maniacally grinning Popple down towards the cabin where his bandmates were relaxing. Upon his entrance, Lars and Kirk quickly shut up and Cliff ceased "gently" strumming his guitar, which he had for no reason in particular. Rob, however, just kept on snoring loudly. Cliff cursed at James with the air of someone interrupted doing something extremely important. He ignored it and cleared his throat. "We have reached the Beanbean Kingdom. Boss says to get all of our garbage packed up and ready in five minutes... wait a sec, what garbage?"

Cliff kicked Rob awake and picked up his cracked guitar while the others also grabbed their instruments (including Rob, excluding Lars). They strode out to the deck and waited around with Popple and Rookie. Five minutes later, a beeping noise came out of the ship's radio and three Beanbean warships began
approaching. Swearing silently to himself, Lars walked over and picked up the radio. "Yeah?"

The person on the other end was temporarily stunned by Lars's rude answer. "... Uh... unidentified vessel, please identify yourself."

"This is, uh... Captain Lars Koopa of the KSS uh... Manta Storm. We're, uh..."

"Are you licensed to pilot that kind of vessel?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I-"

"Where did you acquire it?"

"From a Noki in Seaside Town."

"... Hold on just a second. Stay right where you are, or our ships will fire upon you."

"Kay... hey, Kirk? Stop the boat."

Kirk complied and they just sat around in silence, waiting for the port manager to call back. "Captain L. Koopa?"

"Uh, yeah?'

"You are permitted to enter Beanbean Harbor. However, we will have to confiscate your vessel, as it's an illegal model. The Noki who sold it to you is going to be held responsible for the sale of an illegal boat. You are safe to enter. Oh yeah, we will also fully refund your 50000 coins."

"Thank you."

The war boats separated and their boat moved forward again, with Popple muttering angrily about the delay. A short time later, they docked near a road that led straight to the city itself. James jumped out first, grinning
wildly and knocking down a Beanbean. "Okay, boss. I'm guessing we just go right up this road? Uh, yes?"

~~~

Iggy grinned as the ragtag group of rebel Koopas approached his forces on Vista Hill. Ever since Ludwig had signed the treaty with the Mushroom Kingdom, factions had been rising up to try and overthrow the new king. Every single one of them had failed, and he doubted this one would be any different. There were only about 1000 troops approaching them, all of them poorly equipped. The most advanced technology they were sporting was some customized versions of the portable Bill Blaster and a few early attempts at scout tanks. On Iggy's side were 5000 strong, with the most advanced weaponry used by almost every soldier and multiple tanks with long-range, artillery-plasma cannons.

His sub-commander approached him. "Sir, we are awaiting your orders. We have our tanks ready to fire and our foot soldiers are ready to charge into battle if the tanks (somehow) fail."

"Just a second."

He took out his radio and keyed in for Ludwig. A couple seconds later, a heavily accented voice came on. "Yes, Iggy?"

"Hehehe... Our troops are in position to fire. Shall we commence?"

"Yes. Fire at vill."

Keeping his insane laughter in control, he turned to the Sumo Brother standing next to him. "Fire at will."

"Yes, sir."

Iggy sat back against a rock and looked out at the soon-to-be-dead dissenters approaching them. Seconds later, white-hot yellow plasma launched into the air, striking right in the middle of the mass. The troops tried to scatter, but the laser rain continued to bombard them. Several Terrapins surged forward, firing their Missile Blasters rapidly, aiding in the decimation of the small faction.

Thirty seconds later, all 1000 were dead, with no casualties to the mighty Koopa Military. As they formed up behind them, Iggy once again fought down a psychotic laugh, saving it for when he got back to the castle.

~~~

Ludwig studied the maps of Pipe Maze and Sarasaland closely. Although much of the Princedoms of Chai, Muda, and Easton had been destroyed, the area known as Birobuto was more or less still intact... and ripe for a Koopa invasion. Sure, he may have signed off any attempts of conquering the Mushroom Kingdom, but he still could attack any other kingdom he wanted to. Sarasaland was the most obvious choice, as it had resources that were never found in the Dark Lands and a large populace to control... not to mention the
number of doomships they could capture.

Still musing over the benefits of capturing Sarasaland, he clambered over to a radio and keyed in for Lemmy. He needed to know how far away his regiment was from Sarasaland.

~~~

"GET BACK HERE, THIEF!" shouted the guard as he and two others chased Popple and Co. down the wide streets of the Beanbean Kingdom. James was both bewildered and angry at Popple for leading them into a town where he was wanted for thievery. They turned down an alley and picked up two more pursuers. Lars pulled out a pair of sticks and chucked them at the soldiers, poking one in the eye. The idiots stayed behind for a second to make sure he could continue the chase. Popple grinned as they left the alley, only to run
into ten more guards. Popple pulled out his sack. "SEMI-RANDOM BAG CONTENT!"

BEEEEEEEEP!

Strangely enough, the word "semi-random" seemed to influence the half-magical attack: a giant semi-truck barreled down the street, smashing the guards and houses while scattering onlookers. The guards behind them caught up, forcing them to run again, except for Rob and Kirk, who drew their guitar and bass out and gripped them like axes. The guards stopped to beat up the rockers, leaving the rest free for a couple of seconds before another group chucked rocks into the group, knocking out Lars, Cliff, and Rookie.

James cursed and sped up, dodging more rocks. A high-pitched squeal resounded, alerting the remaining two fugitives to the presence of Yoshis. "ROOKIE-J! WE'RE GOING YOSHI-BACK, YES?!

"WHA... WHAT ABOUT THE OTHERS?"

"WE CAN COME BACK FOR THEM, SEE? LET'S GO!"

The two rushed back and jumped on the backs of a pair of Yoshis. The dinos yelped in fright and tore off in fright, leaving their riders barely hanging on to the reins. Popple managed to pull himself on top of his ride and held out his bag again. He glared at the guards posted at the city exit. "SEMI...RANDOM...BAG...CONTENT!!!"

FLOP!

A completely useless fish Pokemon flopped down onto the bricks as James fell off of his Yoshi, conking him out cold. The guards dimwittedly charged at him. His stomach jerked as his panic-stricken dino flutter-jumped over the Beanbean Kingdom's "finest".

CLANG!

An iron gate crashed down-

CRASH!

-and Popple's Yoshi smashed into it headfirst, launching Popple into it. As the guards swooped down on him, Popple could only think of one thing to say: "#$#%!"

~~~

Luigi led Geno, Mallow, and Johnny down the familiar streets of the Beanbean Kingdom down to the courthouse. He had just learned that Popple had been captured and all of his belongings confiscated. Now, he figured, would be a good time to get his relic back... but first, he wanted to hear what was to become of Popple.

~~~

Popple took his seat on the defendant's bench, along with Koopalica and Rookie. Minutes later, the judge, an old Koopa, walked in, knees wobbling with every step. Everyone rose as he passed by them. Instead of going to his podium, he went straight up to Popple. His ancient face pierced Popple's gaze. "Normally, I would read off your rights, but due to some circumstances, you seven only have one: the right to remain silent."

He then clambered up to his podium and banged his gavel with all his strength, sending splinters into the air. He boomed, "The court is in session. We will now have order. The plaintiff will speak."

Prince Peasley, who had no clue why he had been chosen to be plaintiff, stood up and flicked his shoulder-length hair, creating a brilliant aura about the courtroom. "Your Honor, this despicable felon has been stealing from the residents of the great Beanbean Kingdom for the greater part of five years, with the help of various 'Rookies'. Although you will never find any of his stolen goods anywhere you look, there have been several eyewitness accounts since he began. He also uses the dangerous Chance magic,
which is a forbidden form of magic.

"Koopalica may have been, er, semi-honorable once, but they've now joined forces with the self-proclaimed-"

Lars stood up. "Hey, c'mon! HE FORCED US TO JOIN WITH HIM! WE DIDN"T HAVE ANY CHOICE!"

This statement naturally caused an uproar. Jurists shouted at each other, spectators yelled, Peasley and Rookie argued, Koopalica rattled off a long lie about how Popple forced them to join him in the general direction of the judge, Popple screamed at them for trying to betray him, and the judge kept booming out the same thing over and over again. Finally, he grabbed a microphone. "ORDER! WE SHALL HAVE ORDER!"

Slowly, everyone shut up and went back to their seats. Peasley remained standing. He let out another bright flash before continuing his little speech. "Anyways, as I was saying, the band has now joined with the
dangerous, self-proclaimed 'Master Shadow Thief'. They have disgraced their good name and made themselves eligible for whatever Popple and his 'Rookie' are charged with."

The judge seemed to take in his words before speaking again. "Popple and 'Rookie', you are charged with multiple theft, practicing forbidden magic, damage to property, and the murder of Beanbean guards. Koopalica, you are charged with defiance of the law, theft, and treason. Unless anyone else wishes to speak, we will now wait for the jury to make their decision."

James stood up. "Alright-"

"SILENCE! When I read you your rights, I don't believe we gave you the right to choose. Therefore, we decided that you do not get to speak. It's simple. Now, shut up and sit down. Anyone else? No? Okay, jury. Make your decision."

Seething, James complied, glaring at the completely cloaked person behind the judge. At the moment, all James wanted to do was kill something, and the hidden one seemed to be a perfect choice. The head of the jury came back into the room, followed by the rest. He whispered silently into the judge's earhole. The judge nodded and then faced forward again. "The jury unanimously finds the defendants guilty of all charges. Popple and 'Rookie', you will serve five years for the thefts, fifteen years for the practice of forbidden magic, full reparations to the owners of the property damaged by your forbidden magic, and thirty years for the murder of the guards. That would be a total of fifty years and sixty thousand Mushroom coins. Koopalica, you will serve two years for theft, three years for defiance, and ten years for treason. That would be fifteen years. I have spoken. The court is dismissed."

The gavel smashed wood again, and a large group of guards hauled the angry crew off to the dingy Beanbean prison.

~~~

Luigi stood up and followed the others out of the courthouse, eager to finally get his ruby back. He was angry about the insane unfairness of the trial, but there was nothing he could do about it. As soon as he reached his friends, Mallow stepped forward. 'Hey Luigi, how did everything turn out?"

"Well, it-a was a completely unfair-a trial. Popple and-a Rookie are-a going to be-a imprisoned for fifty years and-a Koopalica has fifteen-a. But anyways, let's-a go get-a the artifact back!"

Mallow grinned, Johnny "Yar"-ed in agreement, and Geno didn't do anything. Luigi started walking back to the court, with the others in tow.

Upon arrival, they headed straight towards where the judge was conversing with a completely hooded figure. They became quiet as Luigi approached. "Your Honor, I'll-a take it you-a confiscated Popple's bag-a?"

"Luigi Mario, correct? Yes, we did. Why is it of concern to you?"

"Because there-a is a ruby-a artifact in there that-a belongs to me-a. I was wondering if-a I could have it-a back."

"Why, certainly. Private Refry! Go fetch the relic!"

The bean soldier complied, sprinting out to wherever the bag was stored. The hooded thing stepped forward and said, "Your Honor! I thought you said I would get the artifact!"

"I said you would only if no one claimed it within two months. Luigi here has already claimed it. Therefore, it will be given back to him."

The figure chuckled and stood right behind the judge. He took out a small, shiny, egg-shaped onyx and brought it above the judge's head. Powder sprinkled down from it, and the judge's eyes went out of focus. Private Refry dashed back in and gave the brilliant red stone to the judge, who began to speak. "Luigi... upon further consideration... I have decided... to give this artifact... to the man behind me... and... I am also going... to put you and... your friends... under arrest..  Guards... arrest these people... Zzz..."

As the judge dropped off to sleep, the hooded guy grabbed the ruby and calmly walked out. Luigi's mind finally caught up to what had happened. He followed Mallow and Johnny as they chased after the person, only to find themselves completely surrounded by fifty guards. With Private Refry trembling beside him, the obvious leader stepped towards them. "Uh... surrender!"

Luigi had no intention of doing so. Instead, he leapt forward and struck the soldier in the head with his boot. The Beanbean fell back in pain while shouting, "EVERYONE! ATTACK!"

Refry instead ran out of the building in sheer fright, but the rest came forward to attack. Geno began powering up while Johnny fired a pink, draining cone forward and Mallow launched a volley of thunderbolts. The guards were beat back before Geno launched his own attack. "GENO BLAST!"

Bright multicolored beams sliced mercilessly at the Beanbean police. Mallow followed it up by summoning a giant star to pummel them. Luigi ran right into the middle of them, pounding away with his hammer while the shark pirate sent out a powerful blizzard, freezing several of the guards solid. Unfortunately, it wouldn't last. A giant cannon was wheeled in and fired at the small party, taking three of them out in one shot. Luigi continued taking down guards for a few more seconds before being knocked out by the second shot.
 

Chapter 8: Ride the Lightning

Popple silently ate the thin soup that was his first dinner in prison, glaring at James. Apparently, he had been the one who had convinced the others to betray him. James noticed that he had daggers aimed at him and
simply smirked before going back to his soup. Popple's anger burst forth at the grin. "ROOKIE-J! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, TRYING TO BETRAY ME LIKE THAT?! IF YOU DON'T HAVE A-"

"Hey, come on! If we had somehow managed to get out of our sentence, we would have busted you and Rookie out!"

Rookie beat Popple to the reply, speaking for the first time that James could remember. "Oh, really? How do we know that you wouldn't have just left to go, oh I don't know, buy new instruments and go back to the Dark Lands?"

Cliff replied, "One: We don't know anything about this %^^% place. Two: We don't have enough money to buy either a boat or instruments. Three: Why would we just leave you here after that wonderfully fair trial?"

Popple considered it for a few seconds. Those were fair points. "Point taken, Rookie-C. How about we think about how to get outta here, yes?"

James frowned. "How could we get out of here? This is a cast-iron prison, checked multiple times for any cracks. We can't simply dig holes in the walls, as they're iron and the strongest tools we have are plastic
butter knives. Even if we did manage it, there are hundreds of guards posted all around, day and night. We can't fight through them."

Popple stared at James. "... How did you know all that? I thought you guys didn't know anything about the Beanbean Kingdom, see?"

James grinned and held up a book entitled Prisons of Plit. "It's amazing what you can learn by reading."

Before Popple could respond, some more guards entered, followed by... Luigi, Mallow, Geno, and some shark thing. They were each tossed into a cell. Without saying anything, they turned and left. Luigi turned to Popple. "So you-a finally got what-a you deserved, eh-a?"

"Yep. What about you? Guilty as charged, yes?"

"... It isn't-a right. You know-a that cloaked guy with-a the judge?"

"Uh... not really."

James said, "Yeah, I saw him."

Luigi glanced at him before continuing. "Yeah, well the-a judge was all for-a giving me back-a the relic, but he-a did something to-a the judge. He decided to-a arrest us-a instead. But-a anyways, what were you-a doing before we-a showed up?"

"What do you think? Trying to devise a way to get out of here, of course."

~~~

BOOM! KABOOM!

The Neo-Crusher fired another plasma volley down at the rather large rebel faction below. Cannonballs retaliated, but simply ricocheted off of the iron-coated hull of the doomship. Several KB-12 class bombers launched from the multiple ports and began dropping Mezzo Bombs down on their targets. They weren't covered in iron, however, so cannonballs ripped through them, taking several out of the air. Roy ground his teeth as his ship's plasma cannon fired a giant ball of heat and energy down again. KRAKA-BOOM!!!

He had been hoping that this group of revolutionaries would be as easy as the last few groups, but it unfortunately contained around 500,000 angry Koopas. Not only was that about ten times the number of Roy's troops, they had also holed themselves up in the natural fortresses of Land's End, which was why he was attacking from the air rather than the ground. Lemmy and Morton were also battling alongside him; in fact, it had been Lemmy's idea to use their air superiority to fight off the latest group determined to overthrow their dear brother. BA-BOOM!

A shot from the Jester blasted a hole into the side of one of the many cliffs. Ground forces charged forward, eager to kill some rebels. Bills launched at either side, resulting in multiple deaths every second. Tanks
unleashed their own form of destruction, firing Bonzai Bills at the cliff side. As the battle unfolded down below, another one began high in the firmament. Several custom-made fighters rose into the sky from the hole and headed straight at the three doomships. Roy turned to the Rocky Wrench next to him and growled at him to launch all of their fighters to intercept the wooden wave approaching them. Another wooden wave launched in the opposite direction, Roy sometimes catching a glimpse of a Bill Blaster in the bright desert sunlight. He decided that this was going to be a long afternoon... or a short one, maybe. It just depended on how skilled the enemy fighters were.

~~~

Elias looked out the view port in front of him. Just like every other one, all he could see was light gray dust floating around. They were in the cloud finally, heading up to a small dark gray rock that his master said existed. What that rock contained, Elias didn't know. Probably was the entrance to the Star Road. His master silently walked up behind him. "Elias. WRA-Omega has found out that Luigi has gone to the continent of Beanbean and landed himself in a dungeon. It shouldn't be too hard for him to find the green-clad one. By the time we reach the asteroid, he should have the relic."

Elias nodded. So they were just going to sit right in front of the stupid rock until Omega got back with the relic. Wonderful. Brilliant.

~~~

"GENO WHIRL! GENO BEAM! GENO MISSILE! GENO CUTTER! Uh... GENO RUBBER-ISOMERASE"

All of Geno's attack spells had failed spectacularly multiple times, but the chemical reaction-based spell managed to coat the iron bars and Rookie with a thin layer of rubber. The Sackit pulled off the rubber and yelped in pain. He looked over at the living doll and said, "Hey, Geno? It ain't working."

"Yeah, I figured that. Does anyone else have any other ideas?"

Everyone said no in one way or another. They just sat down in their corners and waited. And waited. And, for a change, waited some more. Three hours later, an almost zombie-like judge swayed into the room, followed by the cloaked dude. He went right into the middle of the cells and cleared his throat. "All... of your sentences... have been changed... All... eleven of you... are now... sentenced... Hehehe...hehehe... to death... by the electric... chair... in one hour. Rookie first... Zzz."

The cloaked person dragged the judge away, leaving ten stunned prisoners. Geno began smirking slyly. Popple saw it and steam shot out of his ears. "WHAT ARE YOU SMIRKING ABOUT, YOU UGLY DOLL?!  WE'RE ALL SENTENCED TO DEATH, YES?!"

"By the chair, right? I think I have an idea. Rookie, get as close as you can."

A crying Rookie complied and waited. Geno stored up magic and shouted, "GENO RUBBER-ISOMERASE!"

Rubber once again coated Rookie. Geno began charging up again. "GENO BOUNDER!"

Green light flashed all around Rookie. When it was over, Rob asked, "Okay, say what did that do?"

"Let's just say those guys are in for a surprise when they turn the chair on."

~~~

Kamek watched from the Mage Knight II as the battle raged on. Many of the famous cliffs had been demolished, mostly by suicidal rebels blowing up bombs to avoid capture. Their air force had fallen flat against four doomships and their full fighter wings. Once their cover had been shattered, they had been driven back by wave after wave of ground-based offensive. Yet, they were still fighting, killing nearly as many as they lost. They were brave, but there would be nothing left of them in a few short minutes.

He keyed in to contact the other ships. "Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, have all of your foot soldiers fall back. We are preparing to fire our new weapon."

They all gave their assent and cut off their contact with Kamek. As he watched the battle, thousands of foot soldiers withdrew, while the rebels remained stuck inside their hidey-holes. Grinning, he signaled to a monitor. Several techs activated a few switches and buttons.

A giant cannon came out from the bottom of the giant doomship. As soon as it was fully extended, a tech hit another button. Energy crackled around the giant gun. Rings on the barrel spun rapidly, generating intense heat. A blazing inferno erupted on the cannon, sparking the energy to generate even faster. Kamek took one last look at the series of cliffs. It was a shame they had to destroy such an awesome part of nature.

He drew his thoughts back to where they belonged and signaled to the techs one more time. A final switch was pulled, and both fire and plasma hurled at the fortress. Even from where he was, Kamek could see mutineers dashing to get out of the way... too late. The plasma hit dead on. A giant explosion engulfed the canyons, incinerating thousands of troops at once. The fire hit a split second later and scattered all across Land's End. When the blast cleared, a giant crater rested where the energy had struck. Kamek couldn't see any more fleeing rebels. He keyed in for the other ships. "Alright guys. Pick up your troops. We're going back to the castle."

~~~

Rookie whimpered as the guards led him and the others down to the execution chamber. It wasn't the most pleasant looking place any of them had ever been. Giant needles lay around, ready to be coated with the ancient, green and orange liquids scattered around the room. Muskets were hung up on the walls and lying around on the ground. In the middle of the dome-shaped room, there were two other objects of horror. The first was a giant guillotine with its edge stained a dirty red color. The second was a chair with several wires hooked to it and a headset above it. Several boxes were distributed unevenly around, and there were two other exits on the opposite side.

Rookie sat down in the chair, praying that Geno's spells were still in effect. The others, following Geno's example, went behind some of the boxes. A guard walked up to Rookie and doused his head with a wet sponge before clamping the headset down. He walked over to a switch and pulled it. Electricity crackled down the wires and reached Rookie at the same time. He pretended to twitch as the electricity was absorbed. Seconds later, lightning shot out from him, frying several guards while his allies dropped behind the boxes. A surviving guard tried to turn off the chair, but was zapped as he grabbed the switch. As he dropped to the ground, he shouted for help.

Ten more guards and the cloaked one entered. The latter saw what was happening and dashed to another exit, narrowly avoiding a bolt. The guards had entered ready to fight, however. By the time they figured out what was going on, half of them were dead. The rest brainlessly ran forward to turn off the chair. None of them made it.

Rookie grinned and jumped off the chair, pulling the headset off. The electricity was now electrocuting the chair. Popple and Koopalica ran off after a fleeing Rookie, with Popple throwing a smoke bomb behind him. Luigi and his allies were covered by smoke. They simply headed out the exit right behind them.

"SUCKERS!"

BOOM!!!

Read on!


 
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