Chapter 5: The Searches #1
Author's Note: For this chapter, please
note that the story takes place before Paper Mario 2: The Thousand-Year
Door.
Tails was searching through the Forest
of Illusion for Amy at the time of the battle, also keeping a close eye
out for the Chaos Emeralds as well as the Power Stars. He called out Amy’s
name constantly with no luck, and couldn’t find anyone to ask for help
either. His tails were getting tired, so he decided to land and look through
the forest by foot for a while. When he landed, he noted some flowers that
looked like a certain species that Bowser had described and warned him
to stay away from, Munchers to be exact. He also saw some Monty Moles digging
holes and searching for food. Never before had Tails actually noticed how
many animals lived in forests. Most of the time, the forests he had been
in were being burnt down by Robotnik. However, this forest wasn’t as peaceful
as it seemed to be at first glance.
“Are you okay, Luigi?” Mario asked, concerned about his brother. “That’s quite a bruise you’ve got there.”
“This is why,” Luigi complained, “I would rather be, and I quote myself, ‘just a bystander or a distraction.’”
“There should be a village just a few miles ahead.” Mario pointed past a few rocks, but mainly at just more sand. “They should be able to help us there. If we can make it there, we’ll be able to rest and restock our supplies.”
“The one right before Land’s End?”
“Yes, Monstrotown?”
“Yes, but the ones who live there are hiding from Bowser because they don’t like helping evil tyrants to take over the world.”
“That’s just what they want you to think!" Mario retorted, waving off the concern.
"By the way, Bro, sorry about taking so long to activate the Chaos Emerald, but when I saw how fast you and Sonic were both moving, I just got so scared, and was afraid that he might be the one that finally handed us a defeat.”
“Think nothing of it!” Mario reassured
his brother.
Back at Princess Peach’s Castle, Yoshi was just getting back from his vacation. He decided to be polite and get the mail for Toadsworth, Peach’s paranoid butler and attendant, since it had come a bit early. When he got inside the castle, he immediately saw Toads running back and forth all around the castle. He knew that could mean only one thing; Bowser had kidnapped Peach, again!
(Yoshis talk in grunts and squeaks, although Mario, Luigi, and many others have learned their language. A few Yoshis can speak English, including the one that commonly travels with Mario. However, their English is very basic, as their mouths are not shaped properly for speaking the way we do.)
“What happen here?” Yoshi inquired. “Where’s Mario?”
“It’s terrible!” Toadsworth shouted. “Bowser has done it again!” I can’t believe it, especially since he wasn’t even heard by a single guard! Usually we at least know what happened, we just can’t stop him!”
“Bowser kidnap her and not get seen?” Yoshi asked.
“Yes! Bowser left this note for Master Mario,” Toadsworth explained, “but the latest news says that he and Master Luigi are all the way in Monstro Town, and that they need to rest and restock there for a few days! If we don’t get the message there by the time they leave, there’s no way we’ll be able to notify them of the princess’ misfortune. The situation is absolutely horrifying!”
“Yoshi not best at rescues, but me good runner. Me give message to Mario and Luigi, and if they need Yoshi help, me stay there. Otherwise, Yoshi come back here, and tell you what they say to me.”
“Very well then,” Toadsworth said, trying
to be calm. “A brilliant stroke of thought, Master Yoshi! Although, perhaps
you should visit Professor Elvin Gadd, he seemed to be a bit concerned
when he saw the letter.”
Yoshi made a grunt that meant he agreed,
and headed down to the laboratory immediately thereafter.
Tails was just about to call it a day when he heard someone talking in the distance. He couldn’t make out just what was being said, so he got a bit closer. Then, the talking stopped, and changed to maniacal laughter. Tails started running, and then went ahead and decided to spy on this unknown person from above.
It was a robot that had a slight resemblance to Eggman, but not enough so to actually be one of Eggman’s creations. (Can you guess who it is?) Tails flew up to a branch above the strange machine. Another smaller robot that looked like it had the same face as the first one handed the large one something shiny.
A Power Star! Tails thought to himself. So that’s what one looks like. I should stop them, but maybe I should listen in a bit before making my move.
“Worm!” (How about now?) shouted the larger robot, “That isn’t a Crystal Star! (If that didn’t give it away, you haven’t played Paper Mario 2. Well, time for my trademark offer- or at least it will be after I write a few more fan fics. If you can tell me who this character is, I’ll give you all the lint in my pocket!) That pathetic thing is merely an ordinary Power Star! I should have known you wouldn’t just run into a Crystal Star at random without the map, but you will pay dearly for making me come all the way down here just to find that you are an incompetent worm!”
“Please, Master Grodus!” said the smaller robot. “I’ll do anything to make it up, you can strip me of my title as an Elite X-Naut if you want, but please, don’t hurt me!”
“You’ve failed me for the last time!” Grodus said sinisterly.
“B-but that’s the only time I’ve f-failed you!” the Elite X-Naut cowered.
“Haven’t you ever heard?” Grodus laughed. “Failure is not an option!”
With that, Grodus shot a laser out of his staff. Tails quickly jumped down and pushed the ex-Elite X-Naut out of the way, narrowly dodging the laser himself. “Get out of here, little guy!” Tails shouted. “I’ll stop this robot.”
The X-Naut was already gone, before Tails could tell him to leave.
“Who dares challenge me?” Grodus shouted.
“The name is Miles Prower, but you can call me Tails,” Tails said. “Or, if you don’t like that, you could just refer to me as the one that will defeat you!”
“FOOLISH WORM!” Grodus said.
“You can never hope to comprehend the power you are up against!” Grodus
held up his staff and shot a bolt of lightning from it at Tails, stunning
the heroic fox where he stood.
“Did you really think you could defeat
me? You didn’t even last five seconds! Even Lord Crump could have stood
against me longer then that!”
Just then, an army of X-Nauts appeared, including the one that Tails had rescued, and a slightly larger one as well.
“We’re sick of you trying to use us to take over the world!” said the leader of the group. “Go back to the moon, and give my little brother Crump my regards!”
“General Trump, so this whole thing was a set up… ha, ha, ha, wahaha, HAHAHA! You think your little trap is really going to work? Just who is this little orange freak of nature, you traitorous worm? X-Nauts! Assemble!”
The army of X-Nauts that Mario would later fight on the moon appeared behind Grodus, tearing down a large patch of the forest in the process.
“I don’t know who this new ally of ours is, but he protected one of our soldiers, and we will not allow you to harm someone for protecting another!” General Trump said.
“Please, do you take me for a fool? My army outnumbers yours a thousand to one!” Grodus pointed out. “Now that you’ve been flushed out of hiding, the task of destroying you will be simple very simple. X-Nauts, destroy this crosswired freak of a worm!"
“This is it, everyone. Here, we make our final stand!” shouted General Trump.
Grodus’s army did, indeed, outnumber Trump’s a thousand to one. In addition, Trump’s army was fleeing, making it hard for Trump to attack. Then, when his whole army seemed to have run away, Trump went up to Grodus and laughed, then shouted, “Now!”
With that, the whole army was teleported on top of Grodus himself, who would have been destroyed if not for the Grodus Xs protecting him. Trump then proceeded to finish Grodus off, but Grodus took his staff and raised it high, and then a burst of flames came shooting out of it. Trump, however, was not the target, Tails was. Tails’s paralysis had worn off, so he simply jumped out of the way, and then got behind Grodus. Grodus then hit Trump with his staff, piercing right through the metal armor that protected the noble robot. Tails then grabbed the staff from Grodus and tried pressing a few buttons. Nothing happened. Grodus, undaunted by Tails, attached Tails with his fists. He swung a quick left hook, knocking the staff to the floor, about ten yards away from the both of them. Tails charged up a quick spin dash (anyone from Mobius can do it) and ran towards the staff. However, he was caught by an Elite X-Naut and stopped short of his victory. Grodus simply walked towards his staff. Then, right as he was about to grab it, it disappeared.
“You still dare to defy me, Trump?” Grodus asked angrily. “Decloak yourself and return my staff to me now! I’m sure you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your precious militia!”
“Did you forget that my army can use teleportation to escape from a battlefield?” Trump asked. “My troops can easily escape from you any time they feel that it is necessary. Besides, I know how to use your staff!”
Right from the spot that Trump’s voice was coming from, there shot out a large lightning bolt that pierced the Grodus Xs and shattered his dome. Grodus, in a fit of rage, commanded his whole army to attack that area, which overwhelmed Trump, who was unable to hide even with his cloaking device.
Tails, however, was a bit luckier. When Grodus told his whole army to attack, everyone in it did so, including those that had been holding Tails. Tails ran up to Grodus, jumped on the Robotnik-like robot, and punched though the area of the dome that had been shattered by Trump’s attack, severly damaging Grodus.
Grodus still grabbed his staff, but
then decided to rethink his next course of action. “We’ll settle this later,
traitor!” Grodus shouted, pointing to General Trump. “TEC, teleport us
up!”
Yoshi entered the profeesor’s lab, and immediately a robotic Yoshi appeared. His eyes were unlike anything Yoshi had ever seen, each with a glare that showed more power then any form of electricity could ever give the beast. Both of them were unknown to Yoshi, but they were some sort of jewel. (Okay, I’ll stop beating around the bush and just say that they are Chaos Emeralds, but Yoshi has no idea what a Chaos Emerald is yet, so, therefore, they are a mysterious power source to Yoshi.)
“Intiating monologue sequence,” stated the robotic Yoshi. “My name is Roboshi. I shall terminate any who oppose my master, who wishes to remain anonymous at the time. You will fall in the name of my master.”
"I may not know who your 'master' is, but I can assure you, if you won’t be terminating anyone," Yoshi said in Yoshinese (my made up name for the Yoshi language), "and if you don’t explain what’s going on here, then I’m going to terminate you!"
“Challenge acknowledged,” said Roboshi. “Target acquired, battle mode activated.”
With that, jets appeared where one could see wings on a rare winged Yoshi, and Roboshi started to fly. When he opened his mouth, one could see a flamethrower as well. If that wasn’t enough for Yoshi to deal with, he saw that Roboshi’s tail was now spinning extremely fast, and would probably tear through him like a drill if he touched it.
Roboshi swooped down quickly, breathing a steady, heavy wave of flames at Yoshi all the while. Yoshi ducked, narrowly avoiding Roboshi’s flare, only to have his tail scratched by Roboshi’s. Roboshi turned his head around, then the rest of his body, and stuck out his tail like a bee would its stinger. He then dived at Yoshi, much too fast for Yoshi to dodge the attack. Yoshi saw his life flash before his eyes, when all of a sudden, FLUDD sprayed Roboshi with such force that the robotic Yoshi stopped right in his tracks.
"Thank you!" Yoshi said.
“I regret to inform you that I do not recognize Yoshinese in my system files,” stated FLUDD. “However, I will help you in battle. Stay still for a second, I’ll jump onto your back!”
With that FLUDD did as he had said and then strapped himself onto Yoshi. Yoshi quickly jumped back, and FLUDD automatically shot a burst of water at Roboshi. Roboshi retaliated by spinning his hands at the wrists and shooting bullets out of his fingers with the speed of a machine gun. Yoshi took two hits, one to his tail and another to his right hand. Yoshi knew that he had to think of a way to defeat this thing, and he had to do it quick if he wanted to live to tell about it. He decided to try for the eyes, as he could tell that the glow they held was strange and eerie.
“FLUDD hit his eyes,” Yoshi said, now in broken English. “They weird.”
“My water wouldn’t harm something that hard,” FLUDD explained. “You’ll have to find something stronger.”
Yoshi then saw a rock that had been torn away from the wall when the bullets that didn’t hit Yoshi had hit the wall instead. He picked it up and tossed it into Roboshi’s left eye (really the white Chaos Emerald.)
“Operation reduced to 50 percent efficiency,” said Roboshi. “Determining best course of action; analysis complete. Initiating retreat mode.”
And with that, Roboshi tore through the roof (actually the floor, since E. Gadd’s lab was in the basement), and retreated through the rest of the castle unitl he was too high up to see.
“Is Professor okay?” Yoshi asked.
“Roboshi seemed to want some sort of
information from him,” FLUDD explained. “He tied him up over in his bedroom.”
Author's Note: This is me, MarioFanaticXV.
Wow! You’ve actually stayed for half of the story! The next part that you’ll
read is a short intermission. It has nothing to do with the story itself,
and is meant strictly to be funny. Feel free to skip it, but I highly recommend
reading it for a quick laugh or two, or at least a groan!
An Intermission with some of those that were left out of the story
Starring:
Shadow the Hedgehog
Wario
Waluigi
Bowser Jr.
Cream the Rabbit
Cheese the Chao
Giga Bowser
Master Hand
Crazy Hand
All the leftover characters are sitting down in a lobby, with the exception of Master Hand and Crazy Hand. Goombario is in the room as well. At the time everybody is just talking amongst themselves. The Intermission Complaints Club, or ICC, is gathered there to tell me how much they dislike my story.
Goombario: Why wasn't my name in the opening credits?
Giga Bowser: Why am I here? I'm in the story! I've been in the story since the first page of the prologue!
Goombario: So what? At least they mentioned you in the credits!
Giga Bowser: Why are you here, then?
Goombario: To complain about my name not being in the credits!
Cream: But Mister Goombario, if you had your name in the credits, then you wouldn't have had anything to complain about and then you wouldn't have come, and then they woulld just have taken your name out of the credits anyway.
Goombario: Well, why are you here then?
Cream: Because Cheese and I are tired of them telling him to act like the only thing he can say is "Chao!"
Goombario: So Chao aren't from the same game as that electric rodent?
Giga Bowser: I loved beating Pichu up in the Super Smash Bros. Tournament!
Cream: He speaks English suprisingly well.
Cheese: *clears throat* To be, or not to be? That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler to live or die in the minds of men!
Everybody claps.
Giga Bowser: But after that tournament, I'll never make fun of anhting pink, pudgy, or short... Not that I lost to Kirby or anything...
Shadow Mario: That's right, Papa! You smashed that little gumball into the next dimension!
Goombario: Is that what happened to my spot credits? Did Kirby eat it?
Shadow: *points to Shadow Mario, then to Wario* So if I'm a dark version of Sonic, then which one of you is a dark version of Mario?
Wario: I'm Wario, number one!!!
Waluigi: Yeah... right! The only thing you could do would be to sit on someone! ... Wait, never mind, that would be pretty frightening.
Wario: And what is that supposed to mean?
Master Hand and Crazy Hand enter.
Giga Bowser: It means that until just now, this whole room weighed less then you!
Master Hand and Crazy Hand: (in sign language: Actually, no, this room still doesn't have enough weight... because we're not touching the ground!)
Everybody but Wario laughs.
Waluigi: If you think he's bad now, you should see him after he eats a piece of cake!
Goombario: I'd like to see my name in the credits after he eats!
MH&CH: (Then he'd weigh more than Bowser did that time when he was a baby and Kamek turned him into a giant!)
Cheese: Thank you, fine sirs, or perhaps not so fine; you have done well in your efforts to alleviate me of my anger, so, if Cream doesn't mind being by herself for a while, I wish to excuse myself from this meeting.
Cream: No, I'm just here for you, so I'll just go with you.
Cheese nods in consent.
Giga Bowser: For someone that can only say "Chao", he speaks English very good.
Cheese: (while exiting the room) I speak English very well, not "very good".
Shadow: I've got to be on the other side of town in five minutes, so can we hurry up and get this over with in 299 seconds?
Giga Bowser: No more complaints from anyone? Okay then! I officially call this meeting to an end!
Ending Credits:
Shadow as himself
Cream as herself
Cheese as himself
Giga Bowser as himself
Bowser Jr. as Shadow Mario
Master Hand as the right hand of ???
Crazy Hand as the left hand of ???
Goombario: Why isn't my name in the credits?! Hey, whoever you are, MarioFanaticXV, you'd better put my name in the credits, or else I'll make sure Nintendo puts me in every Mario game made from now on!
Some idiot as Goombario
Goombario: That's not very nice!
Goombario cries as he runs offstage.
Chapter 6: Found Something Useful
Tails was still in the forest where the battle between him and Grodus had taken place just moments ago.
"Thanks," Tails said to Trump. "You saved my life. Usually, whenever that happens, Sonic, Knuckles, and I all save each other at the same time!'
"Although I don't know who you are talking about, you did save mine as well," Trump reminded him. "And you also saved the life of one of my men. What is your name, little hero?"
"Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails," he explained. "But I have to ask you a favor."
"Well, I can't guarentee nor deny any request until I hear it," Trump said. "What do you need, Tails?"
"The Power Star," Tails started. "I have to protect it, that way we can defeat an evil tyrant of our own... Sonic, Knuckles, and I, I mean."
"I think that you've proven yourself trustworthy enough," agreed Trump. "Victor, would you please get the 'Grodus bait' please?"
"Sure thing!" said the X-Naut that had been handing the Power Star to Grodus earlier. He walked into the forest, and then came back a few seconds later with the Power Star.
"Here ya go, kid!" said Victor. "And sorry about running off like that earlier, but I had to tell the rest of the militia."
"Thanks!" said Tails. "And don't worry about earlier, I'm still kind of confused about this Grodus guy anyway."
"If you have the time, we could explain," said Victor. "We should be safe for a while, I don't think anyone has ever been able to crack Grodus's dome before! You and the general make a great team! Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't you join up and help us?"
Tails frowned and then said, "I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I've got to help Sonic stop a mad scientist named Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik. And trust me, Eggman is one tough egg to crack."
"We understand," said Trump. "You've helped us a lot already anyway. Thanks again, and good luck on your journey, young hero."
"Thanks everyone, and good luck to you
guys as well!" Tails said as he left, waving to his newfound freinds.
Yoshi entered Gadd's bedroom and found the professor tied up and hanging from his feet, which were suspended on a coat rack.
"Are you okay?" FLUDD asked his inventor. "Yoshi defeated that evil robot, but I regret to inform you that it got away."
Yoshi carefully got Gadd down and then untied him.
"I'm fine, thanks to you two," Gadd said thankfully. "But I'm afraid I can't remember anything before I was tied up."
"What do you mean, Professor?" FLUDD asked. "I heard you the whole time, although I couldn't make out much of what you were saying."
"I remember Mario and Luigi leaving to find an evil hedgehog named Sonic, then I remember checking on you to see how far along the installation of the upgrades I had designed were, then I remember starting to work on the Poltergust 3002 for about an hour. If I remember correctly, it still has lots of bugs to work out."
"Then what happen?" Yoshi asked.
"I remember hearing Dr. Eggman yelling for help, and then... the next thing I can remember is seeing that mechanical Yoshi trying to ask me about something called an IDMET, an InterDemensional Mass and Energy Transporter. I must say, as much as I like to call myself a genius, creating an interdemensional gateway just isn't my area of expertise!"
"The robot had two power sources, one in each eye," explained FLUDD. "Yoshi managed to remove one of them from the machine before it escaped."
"Oh! That's right, his eyes were Chaos Emeralds!" Gadd said. "They're very important and- perhaps I should just explain from the beginning."
With that, Gadd explained everything that he and Dr. Robotnik had told Mario and Luigi.
"What ever happened to Dr. Robotnik anyway?" Gadd asked himself after finishing his summary.
"Yoshi no know," Yoshi said, "but Toadsworth say that this letter make you worry."
Yoshi handed the letter to Gadd, who read it over.
"Well, I must say, I don't remember reading this at all," Gadd said. "However, you should take it to Mario and Luigi immediately."
Yoshi nodded and asked, "I go tell them now."
Yoshi started to take FLUDD off when Gadd said, "Take him with you, he's very helpful in almost any situation. Just make sure you take these as well."
Gadd handed Yoshi the hover, turbo, and rocket nozzels. He then gave them a fifth nozzel that looked like the rocket nozzel, but the place where the water was shot out was much smaller.
"Use this one only in case of emergencies," Gadd warned them. "It hasn't been field tested, and I'm afraid it may backfire. However, if it works, it will shoot out a stream of water more powerful then anything else I've seen!"
"Okay," Yoshi said. "Me just realize, Yoshi don't know way to Monstrotown."
"FLUDD has a built in map of all the known areas of the Mushroom Kingdom, as well as most of Delfino Island," Gadd said. "He'll be able to get you there in no time!"
Yoshi thanked the professor, and then
left for Monstrotown.
Knuckles and Sonic had found Seaside Town at the edge of the Koopahari Desert. They, like the Mario Bros, had been tending to their wounds for the past few days. Sonic, ready for more, decided to hurry back to Bowser's castle and ask him if he knew what was going on. When he arrived, Tails was there to greet him.
"Sonic, we found one of the missing Power Stars!" Tails explained. "But I couldn't find any sign of Amy anywhere!"
"Good, now we just need two more!" Sonic said. "Nice job, Tails!"
"Wish that things went as well on our end," Knuckles said.
"What do you mean?" Tails asked. Then he saw the scar on Sonic's leg. "You weren't able to stop them?"
"We'll get them next time," Sonic said. "I've seen worse."
Bowser walked into the room, and grinned. "It's a good thing you're back!" Bowser said. "I'm afraid that I've got some bad news."
"We didn't exactly bring back a victory ourselves," explained Knuckles.
The idiots! They were supposed to take care of Mario for me! thought Bowser. "Well, I'm sure you'll have better luck next time. However, someone named, er, what was it again, Omelett I think his name was? Anyway, he left this letter for you."
Sonic opened the letter and read it aloud.
Hey! Sonic!
I see you've met my newest servant, Mario! Seems to me that you're having a bit of trouble keeping up with him! So much for you being the world's fastest hedgehog! You'll never win! If you really think you can, then come to Monstrotown and we'll see who is truly stronger, you or Mario!
Future King of Mobeus,
Doctor Ivo Robotnik
Below the signature was a map of all of the Mushroom Kingdom, including both the castles and Monstrotown.
"If it's a fight Robuttnik wants, it's a fight he'll get!" said Sonic.
"This isn't good," said Tails. "What if it's a trap?"
"What do you mean 'if'?" asked Knuckles. "It's always a trap!"
"You coming, Tails?" Sonic asked. "We'll need all the help we can get!"
"Have I ever missed out on an adventure?" Tails asked. "Of course I'm coming!"
With that, the three of them left.
Robotnik entered the room. "Mario seems to have given Sonic quite a nasty wound," Eggman chuckled. "Now we just have to let them injure each other some more, and then, when they're both too weak to go on, we strike!"
"What are you doing here?" Bowser asked. "You're supposed to be making sure that Mario gets the letter that you wrote!"
"It's already taken care of," Eggman reassured him. "And the fools think that you have me held captive!"
"It's too risky!" Bowser argued. "We should strike now while they least expect it! It would be simple: I ask Sonic to take my daughter Wendy out on a date, and then, when he has his back turned, she tears him to shreads with her claws!"
"And you wonder why you've never taken control of this universe?" Eggman said mockingly. "Besides, I've already begun construction on the final marvel of the E-100 series, E-124 Alpha!"
"And that will help us how?" Bowser said. "That peice of junk is nothing compared to MechaBowser II!"
"Be careful what you say, Koopa," Eggman said threateningly, "or you may become his first target!"
"You wouldn't be dumb if you'd stop insulting me!" Bowser tried to make a comeback. "Besides, I don't need a machine to destroy you!"
"Don't push your luck!" Eggman said
as he left. "It would be unwise to turn on me!"
Back in the Forest of Illusion, the two mysterious figures were discussing their plans.
"Perfect," said the first mysterious figure. "Has Roboshi fulfilled his purpose?"
"Indeed," said the other shadow. "And I've taken the remaining emerald from him."
"Excellent," said the first. "Now to give them away."
"Yes," agreed the second, "and no one
shall stand in our way!"
Mario and Luigi, just like Sonic and Knuckles, were both well rested and ready to go. Right as they were about to leave for the Forest of Illusion, they were stopped by a familiar voice.
"Mario! I challenge you in a fight to reclaim my dojo!"