episode10b

Episode 10: Escape, Destruction and Rescue

�Hey-a,� remarked Mario. �There�s-a nothing in here-a!�

�Yeah-a,� added Luigi. �It�s-a just the boiler room-a!�

�You got that right,� smirked Beldam, slamming the door shut and locking it. �I knew you�d fall into this trap, so we pretended there was something useful behind this door by guarding it.�

�Grr-a,� grumbled Mario. �And it-a worked too-a.�

�See you around, Mario Bros.,� she said. �Or not!� Beldam added, increasing the temperature in the boiler room to 100 degrees Celsius.

�Oh no-a! it�s-a too hot!,� panicked Luigi. �How are we-a going to get out-a?�

Mario shook his head before glancing around the room to see if there was a solution to their problem. Sure enough there was: Mario spotted a small hole in the wall through which one of the brothers could squeeze if the other pounded him with a hammer.

�There-a!� exclaimed Mario pointing to the hole.

Luigi knew what to do and struck Mario with his hammer, cutting his size in half. Mario then crept through the hole and saw a switch. He returned to normal size and pulled it. The moment he pulled the switch, the wall between the brothers crumbled and a door materialized in the room with the switch.

�Yes-a!� said Luigi excitedly. �We�re free-a!�

�Good-a job, Luigi,� said Mario. �Now let�s-a find that weapon-a.�

Mario and Luigi headed out the newly formed door and found themselves in another hallway that was connected to the one with the boiler room. Mario peered around to see if Beldam was still around. She had left, so the brothers began to search around the hallway. Luigi found a door with a piece of paper that said �Top Secret� on it. Mario removed the paper and saw the words �Phazon Tractor Beam� scribbled under the sign on the door.

�This is it-a,� said Luigi.

�Yep-a,� replied Mario. �You stand guard outside-a, in case-a someone else-a tries to lock us in-a.�

�Okey dokey,� remarked Luigi.

Mario entered the room and saw, completely unguarded, prototypes and schematics for Grodus�s secret project lying around the room.

�I would�ve thought-a there would-a be guards-a,� thought Mario aloud.

�No-a one�s supposed to know-a about this room-a,� replied Luigi. �Only we-a can access it-a with our hammer skills-a and stuff-a.�

�Right,� answered Mario. �Here it is-a.�

�Quick-a,� said Luigi. �Let�s-a get rid of it-a!�

�.

�Wake up, you big lug!� shouted Samus. �Let�s try to get out of here.�

�Hold on,� yawned Bowser. �When I�m read, when I�m ready.�

The two sat in a dungeon of Grodus�s lair, wrists and ankles shackled to the wall.

�Ok Bowser, you win!� said Samus. �Five more minutes. Just hurry up. If they�re dead by now, don�t look at me.�

�Don�t be silly, woman, I�m ready to go now!� protested Bowser. �Let�s go kick some butt!�

�And how do you suggest we�re going to get out of here?� pondered Samus.

In answer to her question, Bowser pulled away from the wall with all his might, breaking the chains. As they fell harmlessly to the floor, Bowser next grabbed Samus and pried her free from the wall.

�Impressive,� muttered Samus.

�It�s no big deal, really,� replied Bowser.

�They ought to have better chains,� remarked Samus.

�Better for us,� commented Bowser.

�Yes it is,� said Samus. �Bowser, get off your fat butt! We have a madman to stop!�

�.

�Condition critical! Two minutes until detonation! Repeat, two minutes until planetary collapse! Tallon IV is set to explode in T-minus two minutes!�

�Would you shut up already?� asked Ganondorf, smacking the Chozo statue, but merely hurting his hand and inflicting no harm on the relic itself.

�It�s gonna blow!� shouted Link.

�Forget the statue!� bellowed Yoshi, �Run!!!�

�Hurry up Lord Crump,� panicked Grodus. �We haven�t much time. The planet�s gonna blow in less than two minutes.�

�Back to the rocket!� ordered Crump, pressing a few buttons and causing their rocket to appear right in front of them. The two villains climbed into the rocket and took off for the skies.

�Later losers!� shouted Grodus, shelling the planet with bombs.

�NO!!!� shouted lord Crump. �You can�t bomb the planet while we�re still in its atmosphere!�

�Oopsie,� cried Grodus.

�Nooo!!!� shouted Yoshi.

At that moment, a red blur swept them up and carried them out of the atmosphere of Tallon IV. Grodus shifted gears and sped away from the planet as well. Luckily, everyone left the planet before the bombs touched the surface and the planet exploded.

�How�d we swing that one?� asked Link, once in Samus�s ship.

�I put it on auto-pilot,� replied Ganondorf.

�You can do that?� asked Yoshi,

�So much to learn, my young friends,� said Ganon, as Yoshi and Link breathed a sigh of relief in amazement.

�I�m just glad we got out of that alive!� remarked Link. �Things were getting pretty ugly down there.�

�Did they get the phazon?� queried Yoshi.

�Unfortunately, I think they got away with the phazon.,� stated Ganon. �But we can still stop them. I got in touch with Bowser at the lair, and he and Samus are awaiting Grodus�s arrival.�

�Mario and Luigi are also disarming his weapon, so I guess we�ve got this thing in the bag,� added Link.

�..

�That was a close one!� remarked Lord Crump.

�I�m surprised we made that one, dude,� said Grodus.

�Yeah man, I know what you mean!� replied Crump.

�The good news: We�ve retrieved the phazon. But next time, I�m gonna hire someone else to do it because my back hurts so damn much. I wasn�t what I used to be, Crump. Old age, I�m afraid.�

�I know what you mean sir, I�m also getting a little up there in the years.�

�You couldn�t possibly understand, Lord Crump, for you are not as old as I. Age as great as mine comes with great slowness and stuff, if you know what I mean.�

The intercom went on once again in the rocket, alarming Crump and Grodus.

�Again, Beldam?� asked Grodus. �What is it now?�

�The Mario Bros. have found your weapon and are trying to destroy it,� stated Beldam. �As for our prisoners, Bowser and Samus, they�ve escaped.�

�Find them!� bellowed Grodus. �As for the Mario Bros., DON�T LET THEM TOUCH THAT!!! If they so much as lay a finger on it, it�ll be your neck, Beldam. Understand?�

�Yes sir,� replied Beldam. �Did you acquire any phazon?�

�Yes, plenty,� answered Grodus. �Everything is going according to plan.�

�That�s great, sir. I shall see you when you return,� said Beldam.

�Yes you shall,� said Grodus. �And vanquish our enemies once and for all!� he added.

�.

�Which-a one�s the weapon-?� asked Luigi in panic, since there were so many prototypes, goof-ups, and fakes that finding the real weapon was impossible.

�Don�t-a worry-a,� assured Mario. �If we-a destroy them all-a, we�ll get-a rid of it.�

�Smart move-a,� replied Luigi. �Let�s-a do it!�

The Mario Bros. began to run around the room jumping, hammering, and fireballing all the machines in sight. Most of them were shattered or burst into flames upon contact with the fireballs.

�Well, well, well,� screeched a familiar cold high-pitched voice. �You�re not as dumb as you look.�

Luigi looked over his shoulder to see Cackletta and screamed. Mario, already recognizing her voice, merely glanced in her direction indifferently.

�So I�ve been told-a,� replied Mario. �You�re-a not so dumb-a yourself.�

�But if-a that is the case-a, why-a did you come alone-a?� added Luigi.

�Yeah-a, where are-a your �Shadow Cronies�-a?� queried Mario.

�I don�t need them!� she shouted. �I don�t need anyone. Not them, Fawful, or even Grodus. They can all go to heck because I�m done with them. I�m doing things for me, myself, and I only from here on out! Why, you may ask. It is true that Grodus helped revive me to the powerful form you see before you, but he�s served his purpose: He�s helped me. An alliance with him is therefore no longer necessary, Mario Bros.�

�You scum-a!� cried Mario.

�But-a one question,� prompted Luigi. �Why-a do you-a care about us-a destroying that weapon-a if you no longer work for-a Grodus?�

�An excellent question, boy, but the answer is quite simple,� shrieked Cackletta. �My desire to kill you overrides my hate for Grodus. Any questions? No? Ok, I�ll be killing you now!�

Cackletta hurled a lightning bolt at the brothers. They both jumped it and launched fireballs at her and jumped at her at the same time. Cackletta was baffled and unsure which attack to dodge. She took the jumps and then magically absorbed the fireballs to restore her health.

�Nice try fools,� she remarked. �That won�t work, though.�

�What about this-a?� asked Mario, raising his hammer.

�Nope,� replied Cackletta.

�Wanna bet-a?� asked Luigi, chucking his hammer at her from behind. He caught the witch off guard and nailed her right in the head, knocking her out.

�Nice move-a,� commented Mario.

�Learned it all-a from you-a bro,� said Luigi, slapping him five.

�You couldn�t have-a,� joked Mario. �I�m-a not that spineless.�

�Hey it worked-a,� said Luigi. �Not only that-a, but I think-a Cackletta destroyed the weapon with-a her lightning bolts-a..

�Less work-a for us-a,� remarked Mario.

�Let�s-a rescue the others-a!� exclaimed Luigi.

�.

Grodus and Lord Crump returned to the Moon via their rocket and filed into the main hall. Grodus peered at the surveillance camera and was shocked at what he was seeing.

�No way,� said Grodus outraged. �How�d they break in?�

�The secret switch,� gaped Lord Crump. �I knew we shouldn�t have left it that obvious!�

�Cackletta,� mumbled Grodus. �How�d they beat her?�

�Never mind that, sir,� added Lord Crump. �Look what�s she saying.�

Grodus popped the disc from his camera into a DVD player and watched what had transpired in the room.

�Oh gosh!� exclaimed Grodus. �She wouldn�t, she couldn�t-- she�s fired!� he said, changing his tone quickly.

�What shall we do sir?� asked Crump panicking. �We have no weapon, which means all that phazon is useless.�

�That is no matter,� said Grodus indifferently.

�Are you suggesting we bluff?� gaped Crump in horror.

�Yes.�

�But they�ll never buy it!�

�Oh they will,� stated Grodus. �And here�s something to help persuade them.� He pushed a button on a remote control and the wall rotated, unveiling Peach and Zelda tied up to it, stirring in semi-consciousness. �Zelda and Peach, ten million dollars each. And if no one cares enough to save them, I shall take pleasure in killing them both. Muahahahaha!!!! We win either way, Crump. We may have lost our weapon, but we�re still in business.�

�Excellent sir,� praised Crump, sharpening a knife, then glancing at Peach and Zelda maliciously. �Excellent.�

�Are we bad or what?� laughed Grodus maliciously.

�You won�t pull this off,� warned Zelda.

�Mario will come,� added Peach.

�Will he?� smirked Lord Crump. �I think not. Mario and Luigi are a little tied up right now.� He summoned a horde of robots to the hallway where they stood. �As for you Zelda we will pull this off, so read this and weep: You�re finished and there�s absolutely nothing you can do about it!�

Last time..........
Yoshi, Luigi and Ganondorf flew to Tallon IV to stop Lord Crump from mining phazon for his evil purposes. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi aim to destroy the secret weapon that lurks in Grodus's lair once and for all. Unfortunately for Yoshi and company, Grodus and Crump trip a Chozo security alarm that activates a countdown until the planet blows up in ten minutes. Can the group escape under such pressure? Read on to find out!.