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Post by Prof. Zam on Oct 7, 2010 7:53:39 GMT -5
Chapter 17-The Dummy’s Guide to Infiltrating an Enemy Base
The next day, as Keenan and the gang awaken… “-yaaawwwwnnn- Oh man… That was one HELL of a night…” Keenan awakens to Wesley doing his usual back stretch and complain routine. He gets up, stretches, scratches his back, and looks around. He notices that Rose and Waria aren’t around. “Hey, Wesley.” “Yeah?” He says, yawning loudly. “Where’d the girls go?” Wesley, after another yawn, looks around and finally notices it as well. “I have no idea. Last time I checked Rose was getting up to replace me on guard duty.” He yawns yet again. “Man! Do we have any Joe?” Keenan shakes his head. “Nope. Just some water and make-it-yourself Kool-Aid.” Wesley shakes in disgust. “What flavor of Kool-Aid?” “Cherry” Keenan replies. Wesley shakes more violently. “Yeach… not a good flavor…” Keenan chuckles slightly. Just then the door opens to reveal Waria, who looks pale and terrified. Keenan notices this before Wesley, given the fact he is still yawning, and rushes over to see what the matter is. “Well, you see, me and Rose were heading out to town to get some more supplies, and well, I don’t know what to do! It came out of nowhere! And now Rose is…is…” She starts to sniffle. The next word she says in inaudible. Keenan asks for her to repeat it and again no one can tell what she is saying. Once more, Keenan asks her to repeat it. “I SAID DYING!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!?!” Keenan gasps and Wesley immediately gets up, mid-yawn, and rushes over to Waria. “Where at Waria? Do you remember where it happened? Maybe how it happened?” Waria sniffles again and sobs a little. “Alright. Okay. It started when we headed out for town this morning…” Cue flashback.
“But Rose, what if something happens while we’re gone?” I ask. “Relax. Nothing will happen to them. I put up a special barrier around the shack so that nothing can go in or out except you and me. Living things anyway.” Rose said this quite confidentally, but I still wasn’t completely satisfied with my answer. Anyway, later on down the road we got to the town. It was the same town we had spent the night at a few days back. We started shopping for the usual stuff, some mushrooms, some jammin’ jellies, the normal stuff. At that time I thought I saw something watching us from behind a bush. I turned quickly to see what it was, but I didn’t see anything, and the leaves didn’t rustle either. The first time it happened was when we were going for the food items. I thought nothing of it. That is until the second time. The next shop was on the other side of town, and we were shopping for some battle items, when I thought I saw the same thing from behind a tree. I got suspicious then and there. I knew I should have told Rose about it, but me being all groggy, I thought I was only seeing things. Later on, after the last shop, we decided that we had enough things, and started back to the shack. Once we made it to the portal pool clearing area, I thought I heard something behind us, and looked. I thought I saw something dive into the thick woods, but with me being sleepy, I just tossed the idea away. That was a bad decision. Right after we passed the pool is when I started to hear things. I clung to Rose’s leg and she told me not to worry. She heard them too. She grabbed me, lifted me up, and started to sprint down the path. We went so fast I couldn’t tell what we were passing! But behind us I could see perfectly clear our pursuers. More Shadow Stalkers. As Rose ran with me at her chest, I pulled out a few Ground-Pounds I bought and tossed them at the things. The earth quaked at their, I guess feet, and some fell into a giant crack that formed. The others manages to dodge it and one of the last two remaining made a gesture like as if drawing a bow. He “fired” a shot of an imaginary bow and arrow and a few seconds later Rose grunted in pain and fell to the ground. She quickly held me close to her chest and tucked into a ball before she hit the ground. We rolled for what felt like minutes before we finally stopped. She gave me a ring and told me to give it to Keenan so he would believe this. “But, what about you?” I asked her as the Stalkers approached us. “I’ll be fine. Just go and get the others. Tell them how to lower the barrier and then come to me. We can regroup then.” Then she winced in pain. That’s when I saw a spot that she was bleeding form and tried to touch it. She quickly grabbed my hand and tole me to not do that. “Those things use special arrows made up of the same energy Keenan uses. If you touch it, the arrow will dissapparate, thus making me bleed more and faster. Leave it and go get the others. You must do this for me Waria.” “But-but Rose…” I stammered. “Just go! Now! Before its too late for me…” Those words were the last I heard her say before I started running. I didn’t look back until I heard the Stalkers halting at her location. I ran on until I came up to the shack that we were staying at. I lowered the barrier by saying some odd foreign words Rose told me and ran inside.
“And that’s what happened. Every last detail.” Wesley pats her on the back and tells her it’ll be alright. He then turns to Keenan and sees he hasn’t moved an inch. “Keenan? Hello? Anyone there?” Wesley asks him. “I can’t believe this happened. And right after I told her my protecting vow!” He buries his face into his hands. Wesley shakes his head twice, grabs Keenan, twirls him around, and slaps him hard! “Shut up! You made a vow to protect the ones you love, and if she is still living, which it sounds like by Waria’s story she is, then you should get your pathetic ass up, get ready, and get out there and protect her from death itself! So what if you failed on harm? Do you want to fail on death? Do ya?” Keenan can not believe what just happened. He looks to the side, gulps, and whispers something. Wesley shakes him hard by the shoulders. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you!” Keenan whispers a little bit louder. “I still can’t hear you! Speak up!” Keenan shakes with anger and yells “LET GO SO I CAN HELP HER!!!” When he screams this, Wesley immediately lets go and Waluigi wakes up from his napping corner. He is startled so badly that he actually turns and tumbles off the bed yelling. “What the hell was that?!” He screams rubbing his head. He notices the little group and shrinks back. “I’ll be over here then…” He goes back into the corner. Keenan grabs a hat off the coat rack, adjusts it to be dramatic, and marches out the door. About five seconds out he bursts into a run. So fast that the hat flies off in the breeze. All he can think is how he’s going to help Rose when he gets there. That one thought is what kept him going all the way to her. But when he is about to leap out and try to help, some Shadow Stalkers reveal themselves by her body, and a bigger body next to them, humanoid definitely, is seeming to command them. He just snaps his fingers and they instantly return to his side. He then approaches Rose’s body, looks down at it, and he leans down next to it. Keenan can just make out what the man is saying. “Good work. You!” He whips his head towards one Stalker. “Get her back to base. And you!” He whips around to the other one. “Go scope out the area for any persona around and dispose of them properly.” The first Stalker goes to pick up the body of Rose while the second one starts zooming around the clearing looking around. Keenan quickly jumps up to the top of the tree he’s been hiding behind and waits for his chance. He watches as the first Stalker picks up Rose and opens a portal using some energy similar to Keenan’s. He can tell this by the way the energy feels to him. The only difference is that it has a much more darker, or evil feel to it. He watches closely and sees a place almost similar to what Waluigi had described to them before. He waits until the man enters the portal, followed by the Stalker, and as soon as they are inside, Keenan quickly and quietly sprints back to the shack.
Meanwhile, back at the shack…
Wesley is snoozing while Waria is adjusting her shockwave cannon. Waluigi is sitting by the fireplace, finishing up a crossword, as Keenan bursts through the door. This makes Waluigi jump out of his skin and Waria yelp. Wesley keeps on snoozing. Waria gets off her bed and runs over to him. “Where is Rose?” She asks him as he quickly dashes through the doorway and on to his bed. He gathers up all of his stuff. “Everybody gather your things up, now. We’ll be leaving very soon. It’ll take less time if I tell you why after we leave. Now quickly! Pack up!” Waria starts to question why, but shakes it off and starts together her things up as told. Wesley immediately gets up and does as told as well. He wasn’t very far into dream land when Keenan burst through the door. Waluigi grabs a nearby water bottle and says he’s done. Soon as everybody is finished, Keenan leads them out the front door, and tells them to follow him and he would explain on the way. Half a minute down the path Keenan starts to explain the situation. “You see, when I found Rose passed out on the path…”
Meanwhile, back with Rose…
She leans up and shakes her head around. “Oh man that hurt! Whe-where am I?” She looks around and sees she is in a very dark room. Around her is a bed that she is laying on, a sink, a toilet… “Am I in jail?!” She yells. “No you aren’t in jail my pretty” a voice to her left says. She walks towards it. She almost immediately hits some iron bars. “Ow! My head!” Her eyes adjust a little bit and she sees that surely enough, iron bars are in her path, and her room is as dirty as the average jail cell. She squinces her eyes together and sees a soft silhouette a few yards away. “Who’s there?” She calls. “My name is of no concern to you! If you want to live then you will have to break free of your containment now!” The shape is moving around frantically and panicky. Rose peers towards the shape as it moves. “How do I know I can trust you?” The shape stops moving and approaches her. Iron bars stop it as well. “First off, I don’t want a beauty like you in the hands of those Shadow-folk; and secondly, I was hoping if you could escape, then maybe you would help me escape with you…” Rose sees a ParaTroopa with a red shell and it’s wings have been clipped. She can’t help but feel sorry for it. “Alright, deal. You help me get out then I’ll help you escape along with me.” The ParaTroopa almost jumps for joy. “Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU! You can start by grabbing the soap bar that’s hidden underneath the bed. Grab that…” Rose looks and reaches under her bed. She pulls out a small white bar of soap. It has a blue tint to it. “This one?” The ParaTroopa nods. “Yes that one! Now take that bar, and make a mold of the faucet to the sink. Make it all the way through the bar of soap. Then show me it.” Rose does as instructed and soon a piece of the soap, being screwed completely out, pops out of the bar. She takes it and shows it to the ParaTroopa. He then tells her to take that same piece and stick it into the lock. It’ll unlock by it. She shrugs, not sure to believe it or not, but does so. And poof! The door’s unlocked! She slides it open and helps to unlock the ParaTroopa’s Cage, but the soap key doesn’t work! “It won’t open! What do I do now?” The ParaTroopa thinks about it. “I don’t know! Nobody ever got this far without getting caught! I don’t know how to unlock MY cage!” Rose thinks for a little while. She has a sudden idea so good that she snaps her fingers together. She reaches behind her hair, which has been in a ponytail ever since she went out for groceries with Waria, which she was going to surprise Keenan with, and takes out a pin. She takes her pin and uses it to pick the lock. It takes a long while, but after a bit of working, it unlocks! The ParaTroopa thanks her with a handshake. “Thanks a lot miss…” “Rose. Call me Rose.” “Ah. You can call me Para. I know it’s a lazy name but I like it.” Rose nods. “Para. Alright, I got it. Let’s go Para.” She grabs a hold of his hand and pulls him forward so fast he loses his balance. “Slow down will ya?!”
Meanwhile, back with Keenan…
“And that’s what happened. It all occurred right here.” Keenan is pointing to the spot where Rose once was. Wesley walks up to it and sniffs. “That is most definitely Shadow Stalker, but there is something else there too. Hang on.” He sniffs again. Once. Twice. A third time much deeper. “It smells like a Koopa. A Koopa was here with them.” Waria asks quite the intelligent question. “But what about Keenan? He was here, maybe you’re smelling him?” Wesley stands back up. “I don’t know. It’s human, I’m sure about that, but I can’t tell who it is. Just its species type.” Wesley walks over to Waria. “do me a favor and hand me your tattle log real quick.” She reaches inside Wesley’s side pouch and grabs the book. He takes it and flips through the pages. “I highly doubt it, but if my shnauz is working right, then it should be…” He continues to flip through the pages. He stops suddenly and holds it out for all of them to see. “This guy. I’m not 100% sure though…” He shows them a picture in the tattle log. It’s of a small Koopa Troopa still in it’s shell, only head and arms protruding out, and somehow it’s feet as well. It has a mean look on him, a spike on top of its shell which it uses as a helmet, and wings like that of a bat. It is also holding onto a wand. “If what I’m smelling is what I think it is, then what that humanoid was, was Troopa Jr.” Waria laughs. “You had me scared for a minute there! It’s just Troopa Jr.? Alright! We can take him easy!” Wesley stops her jumping for joy. “True. However, this book was updated about 25 years ago. He may be more powerful than Bowser now. He may not be either. We don’t know for certain. But one thing I am almost sure about is that it’s this guy with those Stalkers.” Keenan turns away from the group and walks over to the spot where the portal opened up at. “The portal opened up right here. When it opened, I thought I felt the presence of a power similar to mine, so if my hunch is correct, then I should also be able to open up a portal. I have no clue if I can do it so stay back in case my try blows.” Waria and Wesley step back towards the portal pool they stayed near about a week ago and take cover. By this time Waluigi finally catches up to them and runs up to Keenan. “Finally I caught up to ya!” When he pats him on the back, the ball of energy he was making, which was beginning to form an elliptical shape similar to the portal he saw, starts to grow unstable. Keenan panics and braces himself. Waluigi, however, has no clue what is about to happen, and when the orb explodes, he is sent flying back into the tree that Waria was hiding behind. She jumps out of the way just as it topples by her. Keenan opens his eyes, his psychic shield still up, and looks around. “I’m surprised that did so little damage!” He says joyfully, lowering his shield. “now this time Waluigi, please stay back.” Waluigi, getting up from the perfect Waluigi-shaped hole in the tree, puts a thumbs-up in the air. “Will do bud, will do!” He then topples down and faints. Waria snickers. “Well, Keenan did say that it may blow, and BOY did it blow!” Wesley even manages to sneak a smile. Keenan walks back to the spot that the portal was and tries again. This time, instead of trying, he simply relaxes his entire body. He makes a prayer like pose with his hands; making a “V” shape with space between his hands, and the palms not touching. He slows bis breathing and shuts his eyes. An orb almost instantly forms ans grows to the size of his palm. He concentrates without straining himself and it steadily grows bigger and bigger. It grows to the size of Waluigi’s head; and that’s a big size! He then concentrates on Rose. Once he thinks her name the orb becomes instantly flat and like a mirror. He opens his eyes and in the “mirror” he can see Rose running in a dark hallway. He screams out her name but she doesn’t seem to be able to hear him. He begins to lose the mirror so he calms down and concentrates. The mirror stops shaking and stills. He focuses on five little words in his mind; chanting it like a mantra in his mind. “Show me where Rose is. Show me where Rose is.” Soon the mirror he holds on to becomes a rippling pool and it seems to zoom out. Soon it shows a large red and gold trimmed door with seven stars etched into it in an arc shape. He opens his eyes once more and sees this. He exhales deeply and releases the energy, which rises into the air and turns to blue and white mist. “I know where she is” he exclaims. “Gather your things, we’re going inside the Thousand-Year Door!”
END OF CHAPTER
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Post by Prof. Zam on Oct 12, 2010 11:10:12 GMT -5
Chapter 18-Regrouping for Battle
Rose and Para dive back behind a crack in the wall. Just as they get scooted back inside it some Shadow Stalkers dash by. They’re howling like bloodhounds after the scent of a rabbit and following them by leash are their masters. Rose only knows that they are not human but more like Koopa; only taller. She holds a hand up to Para’s mouth so his whimpering doesn’t give their position away. They wait silently as two Stalkers on leashes walk by them along with their masters behind them, and when they think that they’re gone, a third one approaches their little hidey-hole. They scoot back as quietly as possible, but the Stalker continues sniffing, slowly going deeper into the crack. Right as it is next to them, it’s master yanks on the leash. It retreats and sits down at the feet of a tall humanoid. It’s wearing all white: white shoes, white fedora, white gloves, and a white jean-jacket. He pets the Stalker and tells it that they’ll find them further up ahead. Rose notices that something is familiar about this man. He begins to walk ahead, but quickly glances toward the crack, and Rose swears that he looked right into her eyes; that they made eye-contact for a moment. He then continues ahead looking toward the other side of the hallway as they join back up with the others. She waits until she hears the door open and close. She silently creeps out of the crack and helps Para out. “What was that all about?” He asks Rose, referring to the man in white. “What are you talking about?” She asks. “That man in white. It seemed to me that you think you know him.” “I don’t know. He did seem familiar, but I can’t remember where from.” Para shrugs. “Well, if we are going to escape, then we should get going in this direction” he says walking towards a door to his right. Rose quickly runs up to him and joins him at his side. “You sure the exit is this way?” Para scoffs. “Of course! I have a perfect visual memory! I remember the route they took me there with so I simply reverse that and boom! Instant exit route!” Rose is impressed. “That’s impressive!” Para exhales on his fist and rubs it against his chest. “I know it is” he says cockily.
Back with Keenan…
The gang has been going through the sewers for what feels like hours now with no sign of the door. “Ugh! Keenan, are you absolutely SURE the door is this way?” Waria pants. Keenan nods. “Yes, Waria, for the thirteenth time, I am sure.” Waria gasps for air deliberately. “Because I swear that we’ve passed by that bush five times now!” Keenan looks back at Waria and sees a bush there right next to her. “Quit your exagerating; we have not passed it that many times!” “Fine Thrice then.” Keenan glares back at her. As he does so Wesley runs up to the front with Keenan from the rear. “Seriously though Keenan, how much farther?” Keenan takes out a map. “Well, if I’m reading this correctly, then it should be right around this next corner on the right.” He puts the map up and runs ahead past the corner. He quickly comes back and stops the two. “Quickly! Turn back! Follow me!” He yells as he runs past them. Wesley continues on and turns the corner. Waria waits for him to come back. Not even three seconds after he turned he is running past Waria yelling “He was right! Run for it!” Waria turns to the corner and sees a huge mass made of individual black puff balls with yellow eyes. It’s the Smorg. Waria turns and runs up ahead to Keenan and stops him dead in his tracks. “What are you thinking?! You can take that thing easy!” Keenan pulls her off. “Are you nuts?! Do you know what that thing does to Koopas?!” Waria facepalms loudly. “Keenan, you can turn into a human, remember?” Keenan hesitates to object, facepalms, then flips the switch to on. The flash of white light occurs, temporarily blinding the Smorg which was tight on Waria’s heels, and is kicked so hard, it’s knocked away flying into a nearby building, destroying it’s top half! It shows a Toad taking a shower, and when she notices the wall gone, she screams and pulls the curtain closed. She screams even louder “PERVERTS!!!” Keenan yells back “SORRY ABOUT THAT!” Ths Smorg shakes off the kick and goes in to attack Keenan. But as soon as it sees a human there instead, it looks around confused. Keenan approaches it and it looks down at him. “Remember me?” The Smorg recognizes the Koopa’s voice and goes in to attack. Keenan tosses a weak energy ball about the size of a bread crumb and hits the red Smorg in the center of the giant mass of black and yellow. It hits dead-center and causes the mass to completely dissasemble. Each black Smorg runs away as soon as they get their chances. The red one is all that’s left now. Keenan walks up to it, picks it up menacingly, and asks one question. “Are you alright?” The Smorg opens it eyes after cringing in fear and says “yes I am. Thank you for sparing me. How could I possibly repay the favor?” Keenan looks at the others, then back to the Smorg, and says “do you possibly know the way to the Thousand-Year Door?” “If you mean that big red one then yes. It is…” It hops down off Keenan’s palm. “…this way. Follow me!” It’s mood changed from fear, to confused, and now it’s completely joyful. Keenan motions to the others to follow and they follow the Smorg. Now they have a guide to the door. They should arrive soon.
The previous day…
Waluigi wakes up to his vibrating cell phone alarm. He gets up, stretches, and takes it out to shut it off. He keeps it on vibrates and puts it back in his pants pocket. He gets off the bed and gets his stuff gathered up. At this time everyone is still in the shack-minus Rose of course-and he needs to get going as was the deal they made. He is still against his only daughter going, but knowing how strong she is, he feels that she’ll be safe. After gathering all his stuff, he takes out a small cube from his other pocket and hits a button that’s protruding from the top. He tosses it onto the floor and it starts to unfold. It unfolds from a 3x3x4 inch cube (4 due to the button) into a 30x30x30 cube and opens a hole on the top. He puts his stuff onto the center of the unfolded cube and hits the button underneath the farthest unfolded flap and it refolds into a 3x3x4 cube. He walks over to it and picks it up. “I love being a genius” he chuckles. He puts the cube back into his pocket and silently goes out the door. “I wish I could go with them…” He says out loud. “…that way I could spend more time with my daughter and her friends.” He walks towards town where the blue pipe that’ll take him home is located. “Almost there! I wonder how Wario will react when he sees me coming through the door?” He continues until he reaches the portal pool and he decides to take a short break. He puts his stuff behind a tree which he climbs up and gets comfortable in a nest that was pre-made. He is half asleep, when he hears a scream. He looks down through the canopy to see Rose and his daughter. He goes to help them, but stops himself once he sees the Stalkers. He gets closer but stays hidden. He listens to what’s going on. What he hears is the entire thing when Rose got shot and sends Waria to get help. He starts to go with her, but the Stalkers howling stops him from revealing himself. He sees a portal purple in color but dark in energy slowly open next to Rose. He stays hidden to watch what happens. What he sees are three figures emerging from the portal. Two Stalkers and one tall humanoid. He focuses his attention on this newcomer. He’s dressed entirely in black, from head to toe, and seems to be the boss of the Stalkers. He assumes this since when he gives an order to the Stalkers, they immediately do as told. The black figure tells one Stalker to take the body back to base and the other one to scope out the area. Once the one with Rose’s body goes through the portal, Waluigi notices Keenan watching this unfold, and-not wanting to be spotted-Waluigi makes a path back to the shack around the portal and down the path. Soon as Waluigi gets back to the shack, he sees Wesley snoozing and Waria working on her gun thing. He enters the shack and sits by the fireplace and pulls out a crossword that he almost has done. Two minutes after Waluigi pulls it out Keenan bursts through the door. He tells them that he’ll explain everything on the way and they should get packed up right away. Waluigi grabs a water bottle next to him and waits outside the door. Soon as the others are done, they start to head down the path, and Waluigi starts to think about the man in black. He doesn’t notice the others speeding up slightly nor Keenan talking. He is too busy thinking about who the guy in black was. Who would want to work for Cackletta or Shadow Queen? Who in their right mind would want to team up with them? As he thinks these, he finally notices that everyone is WAY up ahead and he sprints ahead to catch up. He runs up to Keenan, tries to talk to him, and next thing he knows, he is soaring through the air right into a tree! He gets up and rubs his head. “I’m okay!” He says, giving them a thumbs-up. He stays way back as he notices Keenan focusing on something, and as he watches, he notices the mirror he makes. He sees Rose in it and it begins to ripple. A few seconds later the image in the energy mirror zooms out to show a door of red and golden trim. He stays back as Keenan takes Wesley and his daughter into the portal to the sewers of Rougeport, as shown in the now much larger mirror, and he hatches a plan of his own. He watches the three go through, but Keenan forgets to shut the portal. Waluigi, curious, walks up to it and tries to focus his mind. He simply thinks “my house” and instantly thr portal zooms across green fields and orange deserts to his home! He sees Wario just coming home with some groceries. He jumps in the portal and comes out right next to his brother. He sneaks up to Wario, taps him on the shoulder, and Wario slowly turns around. Soon as he sees the purple he drops the groceries and goes in for a hard punch to Waluigi’s face! He goes flying into a nearby tree, which topples over, just like earlier. “What was that for?!” He screams at his brother. “You have been gone for over two months! I need you around here for when the bills come! You deserved that for ditching your own brother!” He’s sobbing as he says this. Waluigi notices his brother’s emotional state and calmly walks over to him. He pats him on the back to reassure him. “Don’t worry brother, I didn’t leave you on purpose, and I don’t intend to unless a dire reason is given.” Waria wipes his eyes. “I know, it’s just that –sniff- well, it’s rather lonely without you here…” Waluigi slaps him on the back. “Well no need to fear older brother! I am back and that’s all that matters!” Wario goes to hug him, but then notices the portal behind him. “Uh, what’s that?” He says pointing to it. Waluigi looks behind him and sees the portal. It shows a dark room with two cells. “That’s the way I came home.” He shakes his head. “No, I meant, what is that IN it?” Waluigi turns back to the portal and looks closely. It shows Rose asleep in one of the cells and a ParaTroopa with no wings watching Rose. Just then, the man in all black shows up, and the ParaTroopa watches with fear at the man while he goes over to Rose’s cell. Waluigi can hear what he says. “So, you are the infamous Rose Mario eh? You don’t seem like much of a threat now. I know that you are traveling with four companions, am I not correct? One female, three male, one human. I wonder if you would consider joining us…?” He walks over to the other cell facing away from Rose. “…I assume not. But, if there were no distractions, like say, maybe friends… electronics… love…” When he says love, the body of Rose seems to twitch. At that exact instant the man turns around so fast that his jacket twirls around like a cape. “So! You are awake! Heh heh heh!” When he laughs, it is so deep, the very room seems to echoes like a subwoofer. His laugh sounds perfectly evil. It is low, deep, hearty-in the bad way-and he knows how to use it. It somewhat resembles Ganondorf’s laugh from Wind Waker just before the final fight. “As I suspected! You have been concious the entire time! You may fool the others princess but not me! You WILL join us, weather you want to or not! With you at our side, even the famous Killer Koopa won’t be able to stop us!” He pauses. “Wait a moment… that’s right, the very same Killer Koopa is your fiancé, am I right?” Rose’s body moves slightly, then rises from the bed. “Even if it is, you can’t do anything to him. He is unstoppable! Unbeatable! And virtually invincible! You can not beat him! Trust me, even your precious Beldam projecy failed to defeat him! Even with her immense power she failed to beat him. He was too fast!” The man in black slowly walks over to her cell as she speaks. When she’s done, he is at the edge of her cell, breathing softly. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tounge? Or have you realized that you can not win?” The man holds out a hand, palm open, and makes a rising motion. Rose rises into the air, struggling to regain her control, and she flies over towards the bars. She stops one inch away from hitting them! The man leans in towards her face, and whispers, “WE may not be able to defeat him, not alone, however…” He rises again. “…but, maybe, just maybe, YOU can!” Rose gasps. “That’s right my beauty! WE might not be able to, but if YOU were to fight him…” “You wouldn’t dare! He’d kill you on the spot!” He leans back into her face. “Oh contrare, I think he wouldn’t DARE come near me… not with you guarding me!” Rose is speechless. Then the MIB fellow makes a tossing motion towards Rose’s bed and she flies over and hits the wall above it. She falls unconcious onto the bed. The man laughs and walks away. “Besides, even if he does get to me,” he forms a ball of energy in his right palm, similar to Keenan’s energy. “He wouldn’t last ten seconds.” He walks off screen of the portal and Waluigi hears a door open and shut. Waluigi turns to his brother. “That was Princess Rose of Sarasaland! One of my new friends! I got to help her!” Wario tries to stop him. “But you just got home! Rest a while, please, for my sake.” Waluigi sees the expression on his brother’s face and sighs. “Fine. Ten minutes, then I’m going. I’m sorry I have to leave so soon but I HAVE to help her!” Wario nods. “I can understand that. I may not be the brightest or the smartes, but I know when something important needs to be done! You rest, get ready, and set out when you feel it’s time.” Waluigi goes inside with his brother and lays on the couch. He notices the place is a total pig-sty! It’s in terrible condition! “I’ll have to clean this up before I go…” He thinks to himself.
Meanwhile, back with Rose and Para…
“Para, we’ve been running forever! How much farther is it?” “It’s just up ahead here! You can see the door from here! Look!” They’re running down a path with stairs on both ends. The path is dangling above a huge lake-like area. Up ahead, surely enough, a large door can be seen. “It’s just passed this door! The front door is in the very next room! We’re almost out of this godforsaken place!” Para explains to Rose. Soon as they get to the door, they look back to see if they were being followed. Far at the other end of the room, just entering through the door, they see a small pack of Stalkers and their masters close behind them. The first two are normal, dressed all in purple jackets and pants; green shirts and shoes; and finally a black tie. They really clash badly. At the back of the pack, the man in all white is following them. The first stalker sees the two at the door, and starts howling, sounding the alarm. The others soon starts howling as well. They try to dash, but their masters hold them back. The front master tells them to unleash their Stalkers. They all do as such, the one in white hesitating to, but does as told. The three Stalkers starts dashing through the shadows right for Rose and Para. The two struggle to get the door open, and when it finally starts to budge, the Stalkers are already half way to them! They push harder, and as it opens more, the Stalkers close in on them! “Push harder!” Para screams, panicking. Rose yells back at him. “I’m pushing as hard as I can!” They push harder as the Stalkers approach them ever closer. But, when the Stalkers make a leap for an attack right at their throats, the door bursts open so fast it knocks the Stalkers back slightly. The light coming from the door also stuns them for a few seconds. Once the light vanishes, Keenan and the gang is standing in the doorway. Soon as the Stalkers see this human they attack him without warning. He shakes his head, chuckling, and grabs thw two that tried to attack him from both sides! He head-bangs them together and tosses them towards the third Stalker. It quickly dodges and goes in to attack. It makes it about two inches away from Keenan’s smiling face, then starts slowly rising. It looks down to see Keenan’s glowing fist right below it. It looks Keenan in the eyes and whimpers. “I’m sorry, but I’m all out of mercy.” He says while he uppercuts the Stalker. The power climbs up to five-fold of what he was using and it shoots up so high it creates a skylight all the way to the surface! Rose watches this spectacular fight with Para, who is completely dumbstruck, and once it is finished, she climbs out of the miniature stairs at the side of the giant door. She walks up to Keenan, gives him a kiss on the cheek, and hugs him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Keenan hugs her back. “Like I would ever leave you alone on purpose. I’d have to be absolutely heartless to do such a thing!” Rose looks up and into his eyes; they are sparkling a bright saphire blue in the glistening light from the torches in the darkness. Para approaches the human. “Uh… I’m going to assume that you are this Keenan guy she’s been talking about…” Keenan nods. “Yeah that’s me.” “Huh. She said Koopa, not human.” Keenan’s expression changes to slight shock, then chuckles. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a remote. He flips the switch and he is enveloped by a bright light. Soon as it settles a yellow Koopa is standing in Keenan’s place. Para is staring; mouth agape; unbelieving what he just saw. Suddenly, a Shadow Stalker jumps down from the ceiling and grabs the remote! It quickly dashes into the shadows before Keenan can catch it. It scurries over to it’s master at the other side of the room. The master takes it and lifts it up into the air, waving it around, teasing Keenan with it. “Look who’s now in control!” He says. The other two, one being the white one, masters behind him laughing along. He starts to go flip the switch. He looks up to Keenan, who has a look that says “mercy”, and smiles. He flips the switch. Keenan blazes white light again, and soon, a human is standing there again. He grows angry and tries to charge in at him. He throws the switch again and he becomes a Koopa. This continues on until Keenan is halfway to him. The master flips the switch and nothing happens. The human before him stays a human. Keenan shrugs. “Huh. The batteries must have died.” “The… batteries?” The master says in a deep voice; hinted with a bit of fear. He looks up to the human, who is now right next to him, eye-to-eye, an inch away, and he is smiling almost evilly. “Now, you still think it’s funny to make me change against my will repeatedly?” The master shakes his head. “Not really…” Keenan winds up for a second and tosses a punch infused with power! It knocks the guy flying back, making holes through the doors and walls as he goes, all the way to the third room back. Keenan blows on his fist, which is steaming energy, and “cocks” it like a machine gun. He makes a gun with his fore-finger and middle finger out and his thumb down, making a fist, and aims at the other masters. “I am warning you, this thing is loaded, and I know how to use it!” One master takes a single step forward when a bullet the size of his head, plus some, hits the floor a centimeter away from his foot! He jumps back from flinching. “My next shot…” He cocks his arm and makes a full fist. “…won’t miss!” The masters back up a few steps, and Keenan shoots a couple of shots that land behind their feet through their legs! “No. There is no escape.” He charges in, arm now glowing with energy, at the masters! They flinch in fear, but as Keenan grows nearer, he notices their faces change over to evil smiles. He stops, confused, and suddenly something falls and hits him on the head; knocking him out cold. Rose sees this and runs up the stairs to get to him, but she gets hit by something that knocks her out as well. This is the last thing Keenan sees before he faints completely.
Later…
Keenan awakens to a throbbing headache. “Ow… did anybody get the tags on what hit me?” He rubs his head as he gets up. He notices now he is on some kind of a hard bed. He looks around. It is pitch black. He snaps a finger and uses his power to light up the room a little bit. He sees a cell complete with iron bars, an old toilet and sink, even the cracked mirror is there hanging above the sink. He gets up and goes over to the iron bars. He sees a few other cells across from him and beside him. “Rose, Wesley, Waria, anybody here?” Silence. “Hello? Is anyone here?” “About time you woke up. You were out for a while.” Keenan hears this voice to his left. He shines his finger-light over there and sees a black arm waving at him. “Wesley? Is that you?” “No, it’s Santa Claus-OF COURSE IT’S ME!” Keenan chuckles softly. “What happened after they knocked me out?” Wesley sighs. “Well, Rose came running for ya, but then she got knocked out too. After that, Waria and I went in, Waria got knocked, I got hit, and Para decided to try to help. He got knocked out too. I was the only one concious to witness this before I, too, fainted. Next think I knew I was in this dark damp cell. You are now officially up to speed.” Keenan sighs. “I should have seen that attack coming! How could I have been so stupid!” He bangs his head against the wall. He then exclaims in pain. “Ow!” Wesley chuckles. “You are a human right now, remember? You don’t have the hard head of a Koopa at the moment.” Keenan chuckles sarcastically. “Ha ha ha. Very funny.” Wesley chuckles. “So. Any idea how we’re gonna get out of here?” Keenan sighs. “Sadly no I don’t. I don’t even know where we are.” I can answer that for you. Keenan looks around. “Hey, Wesley, was that you?” “Was what me?” I am not Wesley. “That! Did you hear voice?” Wesley laughs sarcastically. “What voice? Have you finally gone more loopy than a Mobian street?” Allow me to explain. Only the ones with the Medallion of the Masters can hear me. That, and the ones who posess the mind power. You have both, therefore you can hear me perfectly clear. Keenan sighs. “Never mind Wesley. You can’t hear it because you don’t have my pendant and you don’t have mind powers. Only I can hear him.” Wesley laughs. “So! You really have gone more bonkers than Conker! Ha!” “You know, right, that you don’t have to use video game characters to compare me to…” “Yeah I know. It’s just funnier that way.” He laughs harder. Anyway, Keenan, you must listen to me. “Why must I-“ If you wish, you could just think what you want to say. I have the mind power too you know. Keenan chuckles nervously and does so. SO, WHO ARE YOU? My name is not important right now. BUT YOU SOUND SO FAMILIAR… Like I said, my name isn’t important. Unless you don’t want to rescue your friends and your fiancé Rose. HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT- I have been watching you for some time. Killer Keenan the Koopa, I believe was your GP name, am I right? YEAH, BUT WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT? It’s not. I was checking to see if you were the right Keenan. Keenan remains silent for some time. Are you still there? YEAH I’M HERE. NOW PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO ESCAPE. Well, if you look by the sink, you will see a hole near the pipe underneath it. Go there and put your finger in it. …WHAT?... Just do it and you’ll see why. Keenan walks over to the sink, sees the hole, and does as told. He feels something cold and metallic. He manages to fish it out. It’s a silver key. Good. Now tell Wesley to unlock his cell with that key, and that the bronze key is over on the wall will unlock your cell. The golden key there will unlock Rose’s cell. Keenan walks over to the wall where he saw Wesley’s hand. “Hey, Wesley, I got something for ya.” He sees his arm. “What is it now?” “Here. I found a key that will unlock your cell. My key and Rose’s key are over there near the door on the wall.” He hands the key over to Wesley, who takes it, and tries to unlock his cell. A single turn and it clicks. He slides the door open. He walks over to the door, takes the keys, and unlocks Keenan’s cell. “How did you find this out?” “The voice told me.” He says cheerfully. Wesley sighs. “Right.” If you are wondering how to escape, then don’t bother. You can’t leave even if you wanted to. WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN’T?! Well, first off, I would have been able to explain why if you hadn’t interrupted me. Second, you need a card key to leave. Only members of the Shadow Witch have these cards and are near impossible to steal. WELL, IF IT’S BASICALLY IMPOSSIBLE, THEN HOW DO WE ESCAPE? “Hey Keenan, what are you doing?” To escape, you must come and meet me. I will help you escape. You will know me when we meet. “Keenan? Hello, anyone home?” I WILL KNOW YOU? HOW- Not enough time to explain. Just come to me. Exit the room you are in now, and turn right. A staircase is there. Go all the way up and third door on your right. I’ll be waiting! NO DON’T GO JUST YET! Silence. “KEENAN! ARE YOU DOING OKAY?!” Keenan’s ears are pounding. “Ow! Yes! I’m fine!” Wesley sighs. “You were zoning out there. You just shut your eyes and stopped moving.” “I was speaking with the voice.” Wesley sighs. “Alright, fine. Did by any chance this voice tell you how to escape?” Keenan explains the directions he was told. “And you are absolutely sure we can trust this guy?” Keenan shrugs. “No clue. But it’s the only lead we have to go on.” Wesley shrugs back. “What about Waria?” Keenan gasps. “I have no idea where she’s at!” Suddenly, someone AH-HEM’s behind them. The two look back. They see Waria holding onto an iron bar and a destroyed cage door behind them. Wesley looks at Keenan. “How did we not hear that happen?” Keenan can only shrug. Waria walks up to them. “Now, we gonna get going or what?” She opens the front door and the boys follow. They turn right and, as Keenan as told, there is a staircase. A spiral one to be precise. They go up and Waria notices something unusual. “There aren’t any guards around here. You’d think that at least one guard would be just outside the prison holding room.” Keenan notices this as well. “Yeah, that is a little odd.” Wesley instantly pipes in. “I sense a trap Keenan.” “Don’t be so…actually…you could be right. We’ll take is nice and slow.” Soon they reacht the top of the stairs, and just as they were told, the third room on the right was there. They head on ahead and Keenan tells them that he’ll go in solo this time. Wesley tries to argue, but Keenan shuts him up. “This way, if I need a fast escape, you guys will be here and ready. I don’t want you two to get hurt either.” Even Wesley can not argue to this point. He nods and Waria tells him they’ll be listening to what goes on inside through the door. “Alright. You just be ready for when I need to come bursting through that door. Hopefully it will not come to that however…” Keenan slowly turns the door handle, and suddenly, the door opens by itself! Keenan walks in and it shuts by itself as well! Keenan looks around the dark room. He lights it up a little bit with his finger-light and he sees he is in a den. It is similar to that of a top trophy game hunter that just came home from Africa. He sees a chair by the fireplace, with it’s twin next to it, and he sees that someone is sitting in the left chair. He walks over, and before he can get there, he hears a voice. About time you got here. I have been waiting for you. The person in the chair stands up and is only about half the size of Keenan. He knows this figure all too well! “Just come out with it. Why do you want to help me and my friends anyway Fawful clone?” The figure claps twice and the entire room is engulfed with light. The room goes a bright white as the blinding light fills Keenan’s eyes. Once they fully adjust, he sees that his assumption was correct. It was the clone of Fawful. “Do you rememberwhat you said to me? That I was a fun challenge to you and you wished for me to get stronger? Well, I took your advice.” He turns dramatically from the fireplace to Keenan. “I got stronger. And while I trained, I found something out.” He begins to approach Keenan, who prepares for a tough fight. “I found out that my side sucks!” Keenan stares at him, mouth dropped open, unbelieving of what he just heard. “I…don’t think I heard you right…” “Oh no! You heard me right! I hate my side! I want to-uh…ah-hem…that is, I wish to join your side. Become a good guy. If you will have me.” He actually bows before Keenan like a begger sucking up for food. “……….” Fawful clone looks at him from the floor. “Is that alright with you?” “……heh…heh-heh…ha ha ha!” Fawful seems confused at Keenan’s sudden laughing fit. “I don’t understand what is so funny.” Keenan calms down, wipes a tear from his eye, and sighs. “Oh man! That is just too funny!” Fawful clone glares at him. “I was being quite serious; let me assure you.” Keenan stares at him. “Oh. Eh, sure.” Now it’s Fawful clone’s turn to stare mouth to the ground. “That’s it? No test? No prank? Nothing?” “Nah. Your on the team dude!” Fawful clone, mouth still agape, stares at him longer. “But-but it is so sudden! How do you know it’s not a trap or anything?!” Keenan shakes his head. “No, I just don’t see you doing anything like that. It’s that simple!” Fawful clone still can not believe this. “Alright…well…I suppose I should take you to where Rose is being held…” Keenan nods. “Yeah, I suppose so!” He continues to laugh heartily. This laughter makes Fawful clone smile. “However!” Fawful clone freezes. “What? What is it?” Keenan circles him. “Fawful clone is a little long for a name, don’t you think?” He looks down. “Well, what else could I possibly go by?” Keenan thinks about this for a few moments. “Well, you are the clone of Fawful, who was awful, hence his name. But you are awesome, so how about…Fool!” The clone looks at him. “Fool?” “Yeah! An awesome combination of Fawful and Cool! Fool!” “Um…how about Fred?” Keenan looks at him. “Fred? Why Fred?” The clone shrugs. “I like Fred. Plus it starts with an F so it can work.” Keenan shrugs. “Alright Fred. Let’s go.” Fred walks through the door and claps twice to turn the lights off. Keenan follows him. But as soon as he gets outside, he sees his friends trying to pin down Fred. “Guys stop! He’s on our side now!” Wesley, holding onto his arm, and Waria, holding onto one of his legs, stop moving. Mid wrestle. “What do you mean on our side?” Wesley asks. Keenan explains what happened in the room. “…so we came up with Fred. But you two should know this all since you wee listening through the door.” Wesley and Waria exchange nervous glances. Waria talks first. “Well, it was so quiet for so long, we got bored and tried to pass the time.” “With Tic-Tac-Toe!” Wesley pipes in holding up a pencil and paper with Tic-Tac-Toe boards drawn on it. Keenan facepalms and shakes his head. “Be that as it may, we have another job to do before we leave.” “Right. We have to free Rose.” Fred says. “Thank you Fred. Now which way is it to her?” “Well, can’t you figure that out with your powers?” Keenan stares at him with a blank exprssion. Fred sighs. “I mean, how did you know she was here in the first place? You saw her in a mirror of energy, am I right?” Keenan slowly changes from blank to idea expressions. He tries to make another mirror, but all that happens is a little ball of energy that “poofs” as soon as it is created. “I don’t remember how I did it. I can’t make one anymore.” “Maybe this would help?” Keenan turns around and sees a map being held out in front of him. “Oh yeah, thanks man.” “No problem Keenan.” Keenan opens the map, and he is able to find where they are at. “Yes, this map helps out a lot! Thanks a lot Waria.” Waria pulls on Keenan sleeve. The right sleeve. “Uh, Keenan, I never found a map.” Keenan looks at Wesley. He shakes his head. “Not me bro. Him.” He says this while pointing to Keenan’s left. Keenan turns around to see all white. He looks more up and sees the man that was in all white before them. “Your welcome for the map by the way.” Keena jumps back and prepares for battle. “Bring it on you Shadow Stalker master!” The man in all white laughs. “Don’t recognize me, do ya? Maybe this will help.” He pulls off a white glove to show a yellow L. It’s printed backwards though. Waria runs over and hugs the man. “Daddy! I didn’t know you were here!” The guy pulls off the white fedora and shows that it is indeed Waluigi. “I didn’t think you would escape by yourselves. I was on my way to your cells with the master key to free you. Yet you were already gone when I got there. So, I came up here to talk to Fawful’s clone about your whereabouts since he seemes very interested in it, and what do I find? Exactly what I was looking for!” Waria lets go of her father and looks up into his eyes. Waluigi stares into hers. Then… SLAP! “Ow! What was that for?!” Waria puts her glove back on. “We told you not to come here and I told you to go home to Wario!” “I did, and then I saw you guys were in trouble, so I rested up a bit, cleaned the house, then came here to rescue you!” Keenan stops him there. “Wait, how did you manage to get home, rest, clean the entire house-knowing Wario-AND be able to get here before us?” Waluigi explains how he was able to use the portal that Keenan never closed. Keenan stares blankly. “…ah…” “Yeah. Next time, in case of any enemies, you may want to shut the portal. Now to get back on topic, where is Rose located?” “Well we don’t know that. Otherwise we’d be there already busting her out!” Waluigi chuckles. “Well I do.” Keenan looks at him. Waria and Wesley stare at him as well. “You do?” Keenan asks. “Yeah. Sadly, I was the one who helped to bring her in, but I had to in order to stay covert. You know the drill.” Keenan nods. “Right. Now, you mind leading the way old friend?” Waluigi walks up ahead. “She is just this way. But to keep things safe, might I recommend a suggestion?” Keenan nods. “Sure. Shoot.” Waluigi smiles almost evilly. Keenan frowns upon seeing this. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”
Yes, I realize I have more spelling errors, but this is all the rough draft. I will revise and re edit and etc. later on. END OF CHAPTER
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