episode12

Episode 12: An overly elaborate and exotic death?!

Grodus turned on the communication monitor again and began to speak with the president once more. �Get me the president of the United States of America!� he bellowed.

At first, the monitor was just static until the president was visible on the screen, glaring as usual.

�Mr. President,� said Grodus. �Have you changed your mind yet?�

�Never!� the Toad fumed. �Over my dead body!�

�Oh, it�ll be dead alright,� remarked Grodus. �Once I�m done launching the nuclear warhead I have in my possession at your puny planet. Muahahaha!!�

�Warhead?!� asked the president. He was trembling in fear for the first time since he had conversed with Grodus. �I thought you were dragging the Earth into the Sun via a powerful Tractor Beam.�

�What�s the difference?� queried Lord Crump. �I don�t see why you�re so concerned. You�re dead either way!�

�You bluffed about that Tractor Beam, correct?� asked the president. Grodus and Crump nodded. �But now I can tell you�re not bluffing. You�ve got a freakin� nuclear weapon pointed at the planet and I�m not supposed to panic?! Hummph. I�ll get you your stinkin� ransom money. Grr. The though of your madness makes me sick!�

�Thank you for you compliance,� replied Grodus. �You will have approximately half an hour to get the money to me. Goodbye.� The intercom system went off once again.

�I can�t believe we�re actually gonna pay that madman!� fumed the president.

�There aren�t any other options,� said his adviser.

�Unless�,� thought the president hopefully.

�Sir, are you suggesting we blow up the Moon?� the assistant asked.

�Would you miss it?� the president queried. �Would you miss it?�

Back at Grodus�s lair��

�Excellent, excellent,� remarked Grodus happily. �The money will be ours after all. But Peach and Zelda. No one cares for your safety, so I�m afraid I must torture you and then kill you. You will be placed in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death. Peach, you will be placed in a chair that slowly approaches flames. Within five minutes, you will be burnt to a crisp. As for you, Zelda, you will be placed on a platform in the middle of a room filled with water. The platform will gradually sink until you drown. Or get eaten by the sharks that populate the water. Like Peach, the time you will have to live is�.five minutes. Muahahaha!!! Well, have a nice dip.�

�Hope you�re not burned up about this,� taunted Lord Crump.

�You�ll never get away with this!� threatened Zelda.

�Why?� asked Grodus. �Will (gasp) Link come and destroy me?�

�Or will it be (gasp) Mario?� taunted Crump turning to Peach and snickering.

�Muahahahaha!!!!!� laughed both villains, plus the others in the room, the way evil villains often laugh when they�ve got you trapped and the future looks bleak.

�Throw them in their positions to die. We haven�t got all day Crump.�

�.

�Metal Sonic equals piece of cake!� shouted Bowser, stomping the robot. �There, no problem,� he said, expecting to see a pile of rubble, but instead seeing Metal Sonic�.unharmed and feeling a sharp pain like a knife in his foot. �Shoot that hurts!� he yelped, hopping around the room in pain.

�Take-a this!� shouted Luigi bravely, showering Metal Sonic with fireballs, only to see that he was yet again unharmed. �Grr-a,� he said unhappily, hiding behind the rest of the group, no longer a brave and fearless warrior, but a scared little baby.

�Pull yourself together man,� said Ganondorf. �We can�t afford to blow our composure now. Once we defeat this metal fiend, we run through those doors and stop Grodus once and for all.�

�Not likely,� droned Metal Sonic, tossing spikes at the group, who dove out of the way, save Luigi, who got nailed by every single one. He was assaulted by a needle storm, pinning him to the wall.

�Mama-mia,� he cried.

�That�s harsh,� remarked Ganon.

�He should�ve dodged the attack like everyone else,� said Link.

�That�s gotta hurt,� added Yoshi.

�So will this!� cried Metal Sonic, so suddenly he caught everyone off guard. The robot delivered a swift kick, knocking the group to their feet, then a metallic stomp that stunned everyone.

Yoshi was the first one to get to his feet. He jumped at Metal Sonic, who shrunk into a spiny ball that resembled a porcupine. To avoid the spikes, Yoshi tossed an egg at the robot, causing him to withdraw from his defensive maneuver and become vulnerable to Yoshi�s Ground Pound. The attack smashed Metal Sonic really hard, but he was still standing nevertheless. Only one layer of his armor was damaged. He shrunk into a ball once again and spewed out spikes from every direction, nailing almost everyone in the group painfully.

�Ouch-a,� cried Mario.

�What pain,� remarked Ganon. �I myself have never endured such torment.�

�Shoot, I�m done for,� gasped Link.

Mario and Luigi launched a series of Bros. Attacks at their foe, but he was resisting all of them and putting up and excellent fight. Link unsheathed his sword and plunged it right into his foe�s metallic gut. He pulled it out and slashed at his foe, causing another layer of armor to fall off.

Bowser breathed fire at Metal Sonic. The flames hit him full-force, relentlessly engulfing his metal shell. He emerged untouched once again however.

�Shoot, fireproof,� remarked Bowser.

�What do-a we do now-a?� whined Luigi.

�Shut up and help me think!� demanded Link.

�Every piece-a of armor must have a different purpose-a,� reasoned Mario. �Once-a we find the fireproof one-a, we knock it off-a, then scorch this fool.�

�Great idea, except, how can we tell which one�s the fireproof one?� commented Yoshi.

�We keep hitting him, then burning him, hit then burn in a pattern,� suggested Link. �Once the fireproof one is gone, we�s vulnerable to Bowser�s flames or the Mario Bros.�s fireballs.�

�Excellent!� replied Ganon, slapping him five in approval.

�It might�ve worked,� droned Metal Sonic. �Except for the fact that you forgot that I can hear you.�

�Oh crap,� said Bowser. �This stinks.�

�Engage Double-Dash Mode!� droned the robot, instantly doubling his foot speed.

�Oh no-a, how do we hit him now-a?� wailed Luigi, with Metal Sonic zipping past him out of his reach at the speed of light.

�Must you always complain?� asked Ganondorf. �We�ve got this in the bag.�

Yoshi tossed an egg at Metal Sonic, disengaging one piece of armor.

�Double-Dash malfunction,� droned Metal Sonic�s internal computer. �Double-Dash offline.�

�Oh @#$%!� cursed the robot. �This can�t be good.�

Ganondorf quickly delivered a shadowy punch to the robot, stopping it in its tracks. Bowser then breathed fire at it, setting it aflame and melting the Sonic replica to nothing.

�Yes,� bellowed Bowser. �I�m the man!�

�Don�t get full of yourself!� commented Link. �We still have a lot of work ahead of us.�

�You�re just jealous,� whined Bowser.

�Sure�,� remarked Samus sarcastically. �Jealous, that�s the word alright.�

�Guess that fireproof armor fell off easier than we thought,� added Yoshi.

�Let�s take down this freak-show,� said Ganon.

The group pushed marched up to the door to Grodus�s lair. It was unlocked, easily opened at their convenience. While they formulated a plan, they overheard what was going on in the fortress�s inner sanctum.

�Oh no,� squealed Peach, the chair drawing closer to the flames that lied ahead waiting.

�I really don�t want to die this way,� remarked Zelda.

�I don�t think you�ve got any choice in the matter, now do you?� taunted Grodus.

�If only I could get out of this chair,� complained Peach.

�That ledge is too far away to reach,� reasoned Zelda. �Darn it, I�m trapped. Hopefully, Link and the rest of the guys will rescue me,� she thought to herself. �Oh shoot, shark!� she cried, as a leaping shark narrowly missed her.

�Two minutes left, ladies,� said Lord Crump. �Sorry you couldn�t stick around. We�re just about to annihilate some people who happen to be spying on us right through our own doors.�

�Well they know we�re here,� stated Samus. �We might as well attack.�

The door was melted instantly by one of Samus�s plasma shots and the seven heroes barged into the lair and began to violently assail Grodus and his minions that were in the room.

�Well, well, well,� taunted Grodus. �So good of you to come. But I think you�re too late. In less than two minutes, your princess friends will be dead.� He ran over to the wall and pressed the self-destruct button, which will cause the Moon Base to explode in two minutes. To add to the tension, Grodus fired the nuclear warhead right at Earth. He hopped in a rocket and took off with his followers. �So long suckers,� he taunted. �From where I�m standing, you fools look just about screwed. Muahahahahah!!!!!! Now let�s get that Hand of Glory,� he whispered quietly to Lord Crump.

�Excellent idea, sir,� complimented Crump. �It was nice seeing you again fools. Too bad that experience won�t come again.�

The rocket took off into the sky, leaving the heroes in quite a dilemma.

�Help!� squealed Peach.

�Hurry up!� ordered Zelda. �This place is gonna blow in less than two minutes.�

�And we�re dead in less than that,� added Peach.

�Hey I just thought of something,� said Lord Crump, safely in Grodus�s rocket. �The Hand of Glory is on Earth.�

�So,� said Grodus uninterested. �We�ll get it later.�

�Sir, that warhead will destroy Earth,� Lord Crump pointed out.

�Amateur,� remarked Grodus. �The heroes will stop the warhead, I guarantee it. While they�re doing that, the Hand of Glory and its infinite power will be mine.�

�Ours, sir. It will be ours,� argued Crump.

�Shut up!�

Last time.............
The heroes, now all together, encounter Grodus's latest toy, Metal Sonic Version 2.0 XX. The princesses have been captured and Grodus has tried to make negotiations with the president, who has proven stubborn as a mule. With the fate of their friends and the world hanging in the balance, will the heores prevail in their fight against evil, or will Grodus kill thier friends and rule the world (or whatever's left of it).