Chapter 7: Following the Heart
-
Mario stood on the battlements of the castle and watched as the incoming miniature clown copter was coming in for a landing. Ever since he the news about Wendy and Luigi losing to the trio of heroes he had to watch for them. He did not speak to the princess about it, nor did he see his king. He did not particularly want to face Bowser at this time, not after what had happened the night before.
He released a sigh when the small copter touched down for a landing. “Excuse me,” he shoved past the soldiers to make his way down to the landing. From what he had seen both Luigi and Wendy were not at all hurt. They did appear to be as depressed as the others.
“Luigi, Wendy,” Mario paused to catch his breath. “I’m glad that you made it safely.”
“Of course we made it home safely,” Wendy slid out of the copter. “Luigi was flying us back. He is an excellent pilot.”
“Of course he is,” Mario tried to give his brother a reassuring smile but Luigi didn’t catch his eye. He was staring blankly at him.
“I’m going to have a doctor check me out,” Wendy stared her reflection in her hand held mirror. “Then I’m going to yell at daddy.”
“Why are you going to yell at him?” Mario had a feeling why she was going to yell, screech and possibly throw a tantrum. Her brothers have told her about Bowser kidnapping Peach and how they blamed him for the fact Maria and Pauline were fighting them again.
“Because he can’t keep his hands off that little baby doll,” Wendy balled her hands into fists. “He wants that sugary sweet little miss Peach. She is such a girly girl.”
“And you aint?” Roy had also decided to come see his sister return. “You are always talking about dresses and boys, and you are putting on make up and you act like a girl.”
“That’s because I am a girl,” Wendy glared at him. “Actually I’m becoming a lady.”
“So what is da difference between you and Peachy?” Roy asked.
“I can fight,” Wendy smiled. “You won’t see me getting kidnapped. Anyone so much as lay a hand on me will find their hands ripped off.”
“We don’t ever have to worry about finding people with missing hands,” Roy said. “Cause who would want to kidnap you?”
“Roy,” Wendy’s growl was accompanied by Luigi’s snarl.
Roy’s jaw dropped. “Okay, sorry I said anything. Time for me to start hitting the punchin’ bag anyway.”
“The princess isn’t that girly” Mario said as Roy ran back inside. “She likes to play tennis and go-kart racing.” Oh crap, he hadn’t said that. He shouldn’t have said it.
“How would you know?” Wendy asked.
He had to think of something fast. “I’ve seen her. The cameras around the castle that Iggy has installed revealed her activities. You know how your father likes to watch her.”
“Eww,” Wendy shuddered. “Daddy can be a real pervert sometimes. I’m going to yell at him about that too.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t lay into your father,” Mario suggested. “Maybe you should sleep on it first, do something that will take your mind off of it, and relax.”
“You want me to relax?” Wendy raised her eyebrows. “I just lost my castle. I just lost Chocolate Island.”
“Mario is right,” Luigi grabbed her hand, instantly changing her mood from angry to calm and pleased. “We can soak in hot mud or a Jacuzzi, or we can just sit back and watch some TV.”
“The Jacuzzi idea does sound tempting, except I feel too dirty for that. I’ll take a nice long bubble bath, then we can watch TV.” She gave Luigi a kiss and ran inside.
“You certainly calmed her down,” Mario rubbed his elbow against Luigi’s arm.
“Are you afraid Bowser will yell at you again?” Luigi raised an eyebrow.
“No,” Mario shook his head. “At this point I don’t really care what he does. I’m more concerned about you. You look like you have seen a ghost, and I don’t mean a Boo either.”
“Oh,” Luigi removed his hat. “How long have we had these?”
“Our hats?” Mario lifted his hat and scratched the top of his head before he set it down. “Since we’ve hatched.” Why was Luigi talking about that?
“Where did we get them?”
“Uncle Kamek got them for us as a gift.”
“Do you know where he got them?” Luigi shuddered. “I’ve been told by the Yoshi helping the girls that Kamek got them from Maria’s brothers.”
“How?” Mario felt acid burn in his stomach. The mention of Maria’s dead brothers had that effect on him.
“That Yoshi knew them. He was trying to reunite the twins. He had the human baby Mario with him and they went to rescue the human Luigi but the Yoshi failed.” Luigi cringed. “He said Uncle Kamek killed them.”
The acid doubled in amount. “He saw him do that?”
“No. He said that Uncle Kamek told him that he killed them.”
“Uncle Kamek couldn’t have done it.” The surge of bile had reached the back of his throat.
“I kept saying the same thing,” Luigi said. “The Yoshi said my hat smelled similar to your hat, I mean human Mario’s hat.”
“No,” Mario felt his stomach lurch. “I’m gonna throw up.” He put his hand over his mouth and ran for the nearest bathroom.
-
Mario still felt shaky, even after he had emptied the contents of his stomach and started to throw up just pure bile. He had to remove his hat. He couldn’t wear the hat that once belonged to a murdered infant. He still held on to it while he leaned against the wall. Sweat glistened across his forehead and his claws had managed to claw through the stone surface of the wall.
“What time was it?” He was supposed to watch over the Princess again around dinnertime, and he had no idea how long till. When he went to wait for Luigi he had at least three hours to go. “Might as well make my way down there.”
The Magikoopa guarding the cell looked like he was about to fall asleep any second.
“At ease,” Mario greeted.
“Wha?” The Magikoopa sat up. His glasses fell of his beak. “Who goes there?”
“General Mario.”
“Oh,” the wizard fell off his chair and fumbled around for his glasses. “Sorry, General.” He placed the glasses back on. “I thought you weren’t do for another hour at least.”
“I decided to relieve you early,” Mario said. “Go take a power nap. I need you to be refreshed incase those girls do make their way to here. We need everyone to be in top shape.”
“Yes sir,” the Magikoopa saluted him and left.
“Man,” Mario shook his head and sat down.
“They are getting closer,” Peach stated. “It won’t be long and they will be here.”
“I hope you let them know your confidence,” Mario placed the hat on his lap. “Man.” He rubbed his scalp.
“What’s wrong, are you sore again?”
“No,” he tried not to think about what he had just heard. He didn’t need his stomach to react again.
“Can you tell me what is wrong?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” he stared at his hat. He couldn’t remember a time when he was without it. He remembered using as a weapon to smack Luigi with when they were younger and Luigi had smacked him back. He remembered the day when he his horns started to sprout and his mom put holes in his hat for his horns. He still couldn’t believe this was the same hat that had belonged to Maria’s slain brother, who also had the same name as him.
“How would you know?” Peach asked.
“I doubt you have ever been betrayed by someone you have loved. Have you ever discovered a secret about someone you were close to and have it revealed to be something so frightening that it made you literally ill?”
“No,” Peach reached through the bars and ran her fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry.”
“Then-“ he picked up the scent of Bowser. “The king is approaching.” He stood up and stepped away from her.
They heard Bowser’s growl before the Koopa King entered the dungeon. His claws were filled with splinters and he was holding onto more pieces of his throne. His red mane had fluffed out into a large flame, resembling Ludwig’s hair.
“Mario,” Bowser growled at the site of him. “What are you doing down here?”
“I’m guarding the princess, sir.” Mario said.
“I can see that, but it is not your turn yet.” His scowl faded. “I see, you figured that since our enemies are getting close you felt the princess would be better protected by yourself?”
“Yes,” Mario nodded. He didn’t have to try and explain himself out of this one.”
“We are moving her,” Bowser held out a key. “I have a cage set up on one of the turrets. “
“Why are you moving me?” Peach asked.
“They are coming to rescue you,” Bowser said. “Once they see were you are they are going to have to get through the troop to rescue you, and if they do get past all that then they will have to get past Mario and me.”
“Mario?” Peach had that pleading look in her eyes.
“You heard him,” Mario wasn’t sure where he stood. He felt like a zombie that was just following basic orders. “We are taking you up stairs.”
-
Maria was the first one to enter the castle. “Here we are,” she ran inside. She knew that no matter what she was not going to lose her fire ability this time. “And Pauline, try not to allow yourself to get surrounded.
“Why do they keep doing that to me?” Pauline asked. “First it was a bunch of them on Yoshi’s isle, then those spiked beetles at the vanilla dome, then it was those fish in that lake, then the Wrigglers, then the Dino Rhinos, and those ghosts on that sunken ship.”
“I have no idea why,” Yoshi said. “Maybe they are attracted to your red dress.”
“My dress?” Pauline tugged at the material. “This is my favorite dress. Its pretty and stylish and made of cotton so I can just put it in the washer.”
“Now is not important,” Maria pointed at what was a head of them. There were several troopas, bony beetles, and dry bones heading their way. Beyond them were more of those Twomps and the mini thwomps and that lead to the stairs. “Time to jump and cook.”
“Time to flick our capes,” Pauline smacked her palm with her fist.
“Time to eat” Yoshi added.
Maria ran up to the skeleton creatures and jumped on each one until they were piles of crushed bones before she avoided being hit by a Thwomp. Pauline and Yoshi were right behind.
They made their way up the stairs and into the next room where there was even more lava and long metal grated fence over it, beyond the fence they could see various piranha plants and more of the pillars that would shoot down and smash them if they didn’t duck in time.
“Maybe it would be better if we take an elevator,” Pauline suggested as they used the fence to make their way across the lava. “Although I doubt there is one.”
“I don’t think we have ever looked,” Maria said. “Once we clear these guys we can check out and see if there is one.” She jumped off the fence and onto the stone floor. “Now about these plants.” She threw the fireballs at the plants.
Once the plants were cleared they jumped over them and ran towards the pillars, which had already come down. They waited until they had retracted before they ran and when they heard the sound of them about to fall again they curled up in a gap and waited until the pillar had retracted before they continued on.
“Maria look,” Pauline pointed at one of the doors in the walls. It had the familiar up and down buttons of an elevator.
“This is one of the elevators you were talking about?” Yoshi asked.
“The one and the same” Maria pressed the button for up. “Lets see what horrors we are going to have to face.”
The first horror was near tragic. It was the music in the elevator. Maria couldn’t pinpoint the name of the song, but she was certain this version had butchered it.
“Thank God,” Pauline said as soon as the doors had opened. They had stepped outside onto one of the parapets. Up ahead they saw Princess Peach in a cage guarded by Mario. “Do you think it’s a trap?”
“He has Mario’s hat,” Yoshi pointed at the red Koopa.
“Watch out,” Peach shouted.
Maria looked up to see a large metal ball being dropped on them. “Duck.” She flattened herself on the stone floor and covered her head. She heard the crash of steel against stone and felt the castle shake and heard the metal ball roll against the top of the battlements.
“You have a flaw in your plan, Bowser.” Peach shouted. “Your car’s weapon isn’t going to fit in the parapets.”
“Not to mention it is causing some damage to the castle.” Mario was looking down.
“Comment about the castle later, general.” Bowser ordered. He was floating around in a large floating chariot that had the bottom decorated to resemble a clown. “I need your help in dealing with these girls.”
Mario growled and charged for them.
“Mario wait,” Maria shouted. “Do you know where you got your hat?”
“He won’t listen to you.” Bowser threw several large wind up machines at them. “Don’t try to tempt him.”
“What are these things?” Pauline asked as they landed. The wind ups marched straight for her. Their teeth were constantly snapping. “The look like giant toys.” She jumped on one and it stopped moving.
“You take care of Bowser,” Yoshi ran past them. “I’ll take care of him.”
“So you are the lizard that has been giving us trouble,” Mario said.
“And you are wearing the hat of a murdered baby,” Yoshi growled.
Mario stopped. “I know, Luigi told me. I had no idea.”
“That your uncle could do such evil?” Yoshi asked.” Because of some stupid prophesy that he believed in? You weren’t there. You didn’t hold him, or feel him on your back, or heard him crying.” He sniffled. “That is his hat. I can smell it.” He sniffled. “And you smell like him.” He stopped and continued to sniff. “You smell just like him, except you also smell like a Koopa.”
“Enough of this,” Bowser had two more of the mechanical Koopas in his claws.
“Is that all you are going to do?” Maria asked. She stopped watching Yoshi and Mario. “You just going to throw your toys at us?”
“These are very special toys,” Bowser threw the two in hands down. “They reanimate, just like my bony beasts.”
“Uh Maria,” Pauline had a sheepish smile on her face. The five machines had surrounded her. “I’ll take care of it this time.” She spun around and used her cape to knock the machines on their backs. “Now for Bowser.” She picked one up and threw it at the clown car. It struck the bottom of it.
“Good idea,” Maria grabbed another and threw it at Bowser’s head. He ducked at the last second.
“You missed,” he stuck his tongue out and was struck on the head by another tossed by Pauline.
“Why don’t you just give up?” Maria picked up another machine and threw it at him.
“Because I am going to win.” He threw two more down as Maria threw another at him. The mechanical Koopas struck each other.
“No you are no,” Pauline said. “How many times has this happened? You take over a world and you kidnap the princess and we come and kick your butt. It’s always the same. If you don’t want to get hurt then give up.”
“The only way I will allow Peach to go free is if one of you kissed me,” Bowser said.
“Well if that is what it takes then,” Maria jumped on another robot and launched herself up to the cart. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself inside. The chariot had begun to wobble.
“What do you think you are doing?” Bowser asked. “A battle car isn’t suited for two people.”
“Then land, so I can do this.” She grabbed his shoulders and hoisted herself up. ‘Here goes nothing,’ she thought and planted one right on his lips. She could tell he was tense at first, but relaxed after a second. He wasn’t a bad kisser. His lips did not feel scaly; they were soft and warm. She felt his hands against her back and she tried to embrace him while avoiding the spikes on his shell.
She didn’t open her eyes until the car struck something and the two of them tumbled out onto the parapets. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Bowser had a sheepish smile on his face. It faded when he heard the sound of the cage being opened. “What is going on?”
“What does it look like?” Mario had released the princess.
“What the hell are you doing?” Bowser demanded. “Put her back.”
“You said you would release her if one of the girls kissed you.”
“You thought I would keep my word?” Bowser growled. “Put her back in her cage.”
“No,” Mario glared. “She shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.”
“What have I said about defying me?” Bowser snarled. “What have I said about you questioning my commands?”
“Maybe someone needs to tell you that you are wrong, besides your own children.”
Bowser growled and swiped at him. His claws cut into Mario’s arm before the shorter Koopa had time to duck.
“Leave him alone,” Maria threw another mechanical Koopa at Bowser. The machine landed on Bowser’s head.
The Koopa king groaned and wobbled to the edge.
“Now,” Maria shouted and pushed at the beast. It took the combined effort of her, Pauline, Yoshi and Peach to shove Bowser over the edge. ‘I think now its time to go home.
“Home,” Mario sighed and stared at his scratches.
“My home will be your home,” Peach took his hands into hers. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be.”
-
Mario sat on one of the rocks outside the large cave entrance that resembled his king, correction his former king. He watched the sky as several Air Ships were leaving to take everyone home. What has he done? He disobeyed his king, this was not the first time, but it was the first time in his face.
Peach sat on another stone. She did not say anything. She watched the ships leave before she said anything. “I don’t know what to say, but sorry.”
“You have already said everything you could,” he stared at the scratches on his arm. They stopped bleeding, but were starting to itch. He gave them a few licks.
“Stop that,” Peach said. “I know it might be instincts, but there is a better way.”
“There always is,” Mario sighed.
“It’s done,” Maria said. She, Pauline and Yoshi climbed out of the mouth. “As much as I hate destroying architect we had to get rid of it.”
“How do we get back to the balloon?” Peach asked.
“Easy,” Yoshi whistled. Several dolphins had swum up to them. “We ride on their backs to Yoshi’s isle.”
Mario wasn’t sure how the dolphins would accept him, but they had and he climbed on one and held on as they carried him and the others back. Once he had slid off he thanked them and licked the wounds on his arm again.
“Mario please,” Peach grabbed his hand. “We don’t want you to get infected.”
“Our saliva is very clean,” Mario said. “Although I used to get my scratches under a sink and cleaned, had medicine put on it, and bandaged before I even felt an urge to lick.”
“I’ll be right back,” Yoshi ran into woods.
“Let me take care of this,” Maria poured a little bit of water from her canteen onto the wounds. “That should keep them clean.”
“I’m back,” Yoshi returned with a flower and a couple of berries. “This helps with the pain and fights germs.” He sprinkled pollen onto Mario’s wounds before squeezing juice on them.
Mario grunted. The juice stung his scratches.
“Sorry,” Yoshi apologized.
“No, that’s okay.”
“I know this won’t help with the pain inside,” Peach had removed a strip of cloth from the hem of her dress. “But this should help with the ones on your arm.”
“Thank you,” Mario said as she wrapped the cloth around her arm. “I guess we going to the mushroom kingdom next?”
“I’ll tell them what you have done,” Peach kissed his cheek.
“Anyone tries to take you to the dungeon will have to go through us first,” Maria said.
Mario lit the fire for them and helped get the balloon going. He held onto the ropes and waited for the ladies to climb inside first.
“My people want to thank all of you for what you have done,” Yoshi said as he and a few others of his kind held onto the ropes so Mario could climb inside.
“Don’t mention it,” Pauline said. “We do this thing all the time.”
“Beats dealing with coffee snobs,” Maria nodded and frowned. “Aw man, I have to be at work at six in the morning tomorrow.”
“Are you certain that wasn’t yesterday?” Pauline asked.
“Crap.”
“I still don’t know why you smell like baby Mario,” Yoshi said once Mario had climbed inside. “Unless being trapped in my fortress had done something to my sense of smell.”
“That might be it,” Mario said. He felt a hand take his. It was Peach. “How long will it be?”
“A few hours,” Peach said and gave him another kiss.
The balloon rose into the sky and Yoshi and his kind were gradually getting smaller. Mario turned away from them and turned towards the direction of the Mushroom Kingdom, his new home.
-