Chapter 7: Ice Ice Baby!
Mario and Rus finished soaring through the sky, sun piece still grasped firmly in Mario's hand, and landed on ice outside E. Gadd's lab. They went sliding on the ice and crashed though the door into E. Gadd's lab. The two looked back at the icy trail behind them.
"What the…" started Rus.
"Mario and Rus, you've returned," said E. Gadd. E. Gadd gazed at Mario's hand. "Ah, nice, you got the sun piece," said E. Gadd. "Only two more!"
"Two more?!" said Mario in astonishment. "Wow, I almost have them all."
"E. Gadd, why there be tons of ice out in front of your's lab?" asked Rus, anxious to get an answer.
"Oh, it was another terrible invention by Lord Bowser," said E. Gadd. "For a split second all the snow melted and was water. Then in another second, it all froze, and tons of people, as well as items, are trapped in ice."
"That is terrible!" exclaimed Mario.
"This Bowser person is one vile man," said Rus. "If I ever met him, I would give him a good sense of justice."
"Chances are you will," said Mario. "On every adventure I go on, I always meet Bowser."
"And you always win," added E. Gadd.
"Yeah!" Mario laughed at how true that statement was.
"So where be the next sun piece?" asked Rus.
"Let me take a look," said E. Gadd. E. Gadd went into the back of his lab to take a look at the sun piece.
"So Mario," said Rus, "once we gather all the sun pieces, what do we do with them?"
"We have to stand at the highest point on Plit and point them toward the sky," said Mario. "Their magnetic properties will be attracted to the sun, they will reattach to it, and then the sun will melt all the snow and return warmth to Plit."
"I see," said Rus.
E. Gadd walkrf back from the back of his lab. He seemed to have a peculiar look on his face.
"Is there a problem?" asked Mario.
"Well, you see…" said E. Gadd. E. Gadd paused for a minute. "The next sun piece is right in this very town," said E. Gadd.
"What?" said Mario and Rus simultaneously, puzzled looks on their faces.
"Indeed," said E. Gadd.
"Why hasn't anyone noticed it?" asked Mario.
"That is the thing," said E. Gadd. "I have determined that the sun piece is frozen in a very large block of ice."
"My hammer can break it," said Rus..
"No," said E. Gadd. "I mean, so big that it could be unbreakable…"
"Do you have any idea where in town it is?" asked Mario.
"No," said E. Gadd. "Would you guys mind searching though town?"
"’Course not," said Rus. "It be for the good of the planet. We's got's to do it."
"You are very right, me friend," said Mario to Rus. "Very right indeed."
"You guys are true heroes," said E. Gadd.
With that, Mario and Rus left the lab. "He don't know what he be talking about's," said Rus.
"What do you mean?" asked Mario, a tad bit puzzled.
"This hammer has broken everything," said Rus. "Including my heart," whispered Rus so quietly it was barely hearable."
"Did I just hear right?" asked Mario. "How so did that hammer break your heart?"
Rus sat down and began balling his eyes out.
"Rus?" asked Mario.
Rus began weeping like there was no tomorrow. His tears ran down his cheeks and froze to form tiny icicles.
"Are you all right?" asked Mario.
"Sit down, Mario," said Rus. "Come and hear the tale of an old, sad man."
Mario sat down next to Rus, putting his arm around Rus in an attempt to comfort him.
"Ages ago I lived in a small town by the sea," said Rus. "I had been given the hammer for my tenth birthday to use for breaking into the frozen seas of the north for fish. My family was poor. We were fishers. We needed to break through ice in the midst of winter in order to survive. So, we did. When I turned 16, there was this young maiden who I was dearly in love with; I vowed I would never say her name again. Now, I was a shy kid, so I never really talked to her. I watched her from a distance. One day I went to go ask her to the high school prom. At the time she had no clue who I was, despite the fact I sat next to her in history class. So when I approached her, she shrieked at the sight of my hammer. She ran away to the principal, and sent the school into lockdown, and I was thought to be a crazed murderer due to the fact that she told the principal that I was trying to kill her. It broke me heart seeing the love of my life disregard me and merely treat me like dust in the wind. That's how I went to the Vikiles. I went there because they weren't afraid of my hammer. They liked me for what was on the inside of me, not on the outside. And that, my friend, is how this hammer broke me heart."
"Wow," said Mario in amazement. "That was a very touching tale."
"Enough of this foolishness," said Rus. "We's got a world to save. Let's go look for the block of ice with the sun piece!"
"Yeah!" Mario shouted triumphantly.
And so, the two went off into the town to find the location of the sun piece. The two begin walking across town when something caught Rus's eye. "Holy mackerel," said Rus. Rus pointed to a giant ice block that was several times larger than your typical skyscraper.
"Hey, there's a sign," said Mario. The two approached the sign. It read "Town snow disposal. Dump off your snow here to get it out of your way."
"But of course," said Mario. "There must have been a ton of snow here."
"And when it melted, it all became ice," said Rus.
"Wow," said Mario. "That is the most ice in one spot I've ever seen. How in the world are we going to break it?"
"Let me take a whack at it," said Rus. "Literally."
Rus gave his hammer a big swing, but when it collided with the ice, maybe a shaving of ice, at the most, came off.
"That isn't going to work well," said Rus.
"We need something to get though this," said Mario.
Rus and Mario sat for a moment, thinking. "Meh, I got's nothing," said Rus..
"Me neither," said Mario.
"This is going to be tough," said Rus with a lack of confidence.
"We'll find a way," said Mario. "It will just take a lot more thinking than normal. Maybe we should take another minute to think about this."
Mario and Rus sat tight for a minute. "What if we were to get fire somehow?" suggested Rus.
"Where are we going to find fire?" asked Mario.
"We could make it," said Rus.
"The ground is all ice, no place to start it," said Mario.
"This isn't good," said Rus.
Just then, a Toad came sliding on the ice into Mario, looking very scared. "What be the matter?" asked Rus.
"T-t-they…" started the Toad.
"Who is they?" asked Mario.
"C-c-creepy people with torches," said the Toad.
"That's fire," Mario mused.
"What were they doing?" asked Rus.
"They burnt my house down!" cried the Toad, bursting into tears.
"What?" asked Mario.
"Mario, we got to find them," said Rus. "We can stop them from destroying the town, and we can take their torches and use them to melt the ice."
"Nice!" shouted Mario. "Let's-a go!"
Mario and Rus went running on the ice. Well, to be more precise, they started running, but slipped, and just slid into the center of town. There they saw a group of strangers in hoods and masks and carrying torches. "Let's burn this place down, boys!" said one of the figures.
Mario and Rus jumped in their faces as they headed toward another house to burn. "Not so fast!" shouted Mario.
"You'se ain't getting away with this," cried Rus.
"Woah, who are you guys?" asked the same figure.
"I'm Mario," said Mario. "And this here is Rus."
"That's the name, stopping you guys be the game," said Rus.
"Rus?" said the figure in astonishment. "Do you mean the Rus from the Vikiles?"
"Yes," said Rus. "How did you guys know that?"
The figures removed their hoods and masks.
"What?" gasped Rus in astonishment.
"That's right," said the figure.
"Who are they?" asked Mario to Rus.
"They be the Pyrotics," said Rus. "And that be their leader, Pathone."
"You guessed right," said Pathone. "Been a long time, ey Rus?"
"How do you know these guys?" asked Mario.
"They be the Vikiles’ arch-rivals," said Rus. "Pathone is one big jerk. He's just a big bully who thinks he's the best."
"We're the best because we beat you guys up," said Pathone. "We were the ones who sunk your ship in the ocean."
"You guys got lucky," said Rus. "I swear, I'm going to give you the biggest beating ever."
"You wish," said Pathone.
"Come Mario," said Rus. "Let's get Pathone!"
While Rus was talking, Pathone and the Pyrotics starting fleeing. As they ran through the ally they burning the houses on their way.
"They're running!" shouted Mario.
"I knew they be cowards," said Rus. "After them!"
Mario and Rus followed them off into the narrow maze of allies in town. Mario and Rus were able to keep on the path by following the scent of smoke and fire. "These guys are burning half the town down," said Mario.
"These guys are going to get it," said Rus.
Mario and Rus rounded a few more corners, and then found them, stuck in a dead end. "I knew you be a coward," taunted Rus.
"Coward, huh?" said Pathone. "I'll show you a coward!"
Pathone HP: 70/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 65/65
Rus HP: 20/20
"This guy don't look too hard," said Mario.
"He's tougher than he looks," said Rus. "Surprisingly, he's somewhat intelligent, so don't let your guard down."
"All right," said Mario. Mario slid on the ice toward Pathone and jumed on him with the snowboard.
"You're weak," said Pathone.
"I ain't weak," said Rus. Rus ran up
and gave Pathone a hard whack with his hammer.
"Boy, I've felt that hammer tons of
times in my life," said Pathone. "And I've become used to the feeling of
getting hit with it. It don't hurt that much." Pathone threw a burning
torch at Mario, and it hit him.
"Ouch!" cried Mario.
Pathone HP: 64/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 60/65
Rus HP: 20/20
"I think we ought to try a combo attack," said Mario.
"Ah, yes," said Rus.
Mario stood in front of Rus. Rus whacked Mario with this hammer, and sent Mario crashing into Pathone.
"Not bad," said Pathone. "I guess you still have a few moves left in you. But I have more. Prepare for your diminish, just like old time." Pathone lifted a hand, and his coat whipped Mario and Rus.
Pathone HP: 58/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 56/65
Rus HP: 16/20
"Mario, I got's a great idea!" shouted Rus. Rus ran up and starts whispering in Mario's ear.
"Wow, I like that a lot," said Mario.
"Shall we try it?" asked Rus.
"Certainly," said Mario. Rus stood on Mario's snowboard with Mario, and Mario started sliding toward Pathone. Mario rammed into him on the snowboard, and while he was falling back to the ground, Rus crushed him with the hammer. "That worked well," said Mario.
"You kids just don't know who you're messing with," said Pathone. Pathone opened up his jacket and started charging up a shadow ball, which got launched at Mario and hit him square on.
Pathone HP: 51/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 51/65
Rus HP: 16/20
"Let's just attack him solo," said Mario.
"Sounds good," said Rus. "That last attack took a lot out of me anyways."
Mario whacked the ice in front of Pathone, which sent him shooting up into the air before crashing back down into the hard ice.
"Now it be my turn to hurt this little jerk," said Rus. Rus started spinning in circles, and let his hammer go, and it went flying into Pathone.
"Tougher than you look," said Pathone. Pathone looked up at the sky and opened his arms. Small shadow balls came raining down on Mario and Rus. The two of them couldonly bat away a few of the shadow balls, as the majority of them hit.
Pathone HP: 43/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 46/65
Rus HP: 11/20
"I got's another idea!" exclaimed Rus. Rus whispered in Mario's ear.
"That might just work," said Mario. "Let's try it." Mario started sliding on his snowboard toward Pathone. When he ran Pathone over, he kicked him sliding on the ice toward Rus. Rus then gave him a swing of his hammer and sent him flying back toward Mario. Mario whacked him with the snowboard, and again sent him back to Rus. Rus then crunched him into the ice with one mighty swing.
"Wow, that hurt a lot," said Pathone. "But this is going to hurt much more. Much, much more."
Pathone lit up and created a giant hole in front of Mario and Rus. Out shot shadow balls that pummeled Mario and Rus.
Pathone HP: 27/70
Vs.
Mario HP: 40/65
Rus HP: 5/20
"I’ve got to leave with some dignity," said Pathone.
Pathone fled.
"Get him!" cried Rus. Rus went to chase, but Mario stopped him.
"They're leaving," said Mario, as he watched Pathone and the Pyrotics take off into the hills.
"Hey, they left a burning torch behind," said Rus.
"That's what we need!" exclaimed Mario. Mario picked up the torch.
"Let's go to that block of ice," said Rus.
"Of course," said Mario.
The two walked back to the ice block. Mario was carefully holding the torch to keep the fire as strong as possible.
"Well, let's let her rip," said Rus.
Mario led the torch to the ice. The flame caught the ice, and the ice began to melt into water. "It's working!" cheered Mario. Mario continued to move closer to the sun piece, until he had melted enough ice to be able to stand with his face against it in the ice.
"We's reached it!" exclaimed Rus.
Mario put the torch right in front of the frozen sun piece, the ice melted, and the sun piece came falling out. Rus picked it up. "We's got it!" cheered Rus.
"Only one more left!" shouted Mario.
The two took off toward E. Gadd's lab.
***
"So far so good," said Bowser.
"I think this might have done it," said Ludwig.
"Don't celebrate," said Bowser. "You never know what might happen next."
***
"We're failures," said a voice.
"Indeed," replied the second voice.
"I can't believe we let another sun piece get away," said the first voice.
"This is chaotic," said the second voice.
"All we can hope is that someone finds them all and comes here," said the first voice.
"That seems unlikely," said the second voice.
"Fear not," replied the first voice. "I can sense that someone will soon find them all and come here."