episode4b

Episode 4: Allied with Evil

A deafening explosion, so loud it could be heard all over the world, echoed from the point where Bowser�s castle once floated. There were particles of debris scattering in all directions and flames violently expanding throughout the sky. Bowser and Ganondorf were falling from the control room at the top of the castle. On the other hand, Mario, Luigi and Link plummeted from the castle dungeons at its bottom, giving them less reaction time. All five of them began to struggle to think of a plan to save themselves as they fell towards the ground below them. Suddenly, a streak of red zoomed past the castle wreckage and swept up Mario, Luigi and Link before they hit the ground. Bowser and Ganondorf were not as fortunate to be rescued, however. Ganondorf hit the smooth sands of Gelato Beach face-first, arms and legs all sprawled out on the ground and Bowser landed on top of him, his fall broken slightly by Ganon.

�Whew,� said Bowser. �We actually survived that one? That didn�t feel that bad at all, now did it, Ganon?� He looked around for Ganondorf, but could not find him and began to panic. �Ganon, where are you?� he said, now a little worried.

�Right underneath you, you idiot,� mumbled a voice.

�Oh there you are,� said Bowser surprised, standing up and looking at the spot beneath him intently where a flattened Ganon was sprawled out across the beach.

�Where did they go?� asked Ganon.

�Who, Grodus?� replied Bowser. �He and the X-Nauts managed to escape the explosion.�

�No, not him!� said Ganondorf furiously. �Mario, Luigi and Link.�

�Oh them,� said Bowser. �Well they�re locked in the dungeons of my castle.�

�Bowser, you idiot!� shouted Ganon. �You�re castle just blew up! How could they possibly be there?�

�Well then, they�re either dead, or they survived the explosion like us,� reasoned Bowser.

�No kidding, you fool,� replied Ganondorf. �Which do you think it was?�

�They must�ve escaped,� said Bowser. �The author wouldn�t kill off a major character this early in the series, let alone three of them.�

�Good point,� remarked Ganon. �I guess I was wrong; you DO have a brain.�

�Yep,� said Bowser happily. �Here�s a picture of it,� he said, pulling out a wallet-size photo.

�That must be actual size,� remarked Ganondorf. Bowser gave him a slight jab in the ribs. �Ouch, that hurt. I was just kidding man.�

�So what do you think we should do now?� asked Bowser.

�Get off this stupid beach for starters,� replied Ganondorf.

�We should try to take down Grodus.�

�And how do you recommend we do that? He beat us twice, remember? Or did you and your tiny brain forget already?�

�I remember. That�s why I think we need to get help. The Mario Bros. would be perfect reinforcements!�

�That�s a great idea.,� Ganon remarked sarcastically. �We�d just get along fine except for the fact that we just captured them.�

�Of course they�ll still be angry with us,� said Bowser. �But we could forge a temporary alliance with them and then break it when the time is right.�

�That may work,� thought Ganon aloud. �Their desire to defeat evil may overpower their hatred of us and perhaps they�ll lend us a hand.�

�We�ll need it too, because we can�t rule the world with Grodus dominating it.� said Bowser.

�Where exactly are Grodus�s headquarters?� queried Ganon.

�On the Moon,� said Bowser.

�Oh,� said Ganondorf calmly, before proceeding to yell at Bowser. �AND HOW THE HECK DO YOU SUPPOSE WE�RE GOING TO GET UP THERE???� he bellowed.

�The Mario Bros. and Link have allied themselves with a female bounty hunter by the name of Samus Aran.� stated Bowser. �She has a spaceship. We�ll take it to the Moon.�

�Excellent,� complimented Ganon. �You�re not as dumb as I suspected.�

�I�ve been watching videos: �How to appear and become intelligent�,� said Bowser in a voice of false intelligence, putting on a pair of glasses.

�I stand corrected,� said Ganon stupefied in utter disbelief. �Take these damn things off,� he said, removing the spectacles Bowser had pushed halfway down his nose and tossing them into the ocean.

�Hey,� whined Bowser. �I liked those. They make me look like, as they say, �an intellectual.��

�They made you look like a big doofus!� said Ganondorf.

�You�re just jealous you�re not as smart as I am!� protested Bowser. Ganon just stared at him incredulously. �It�s really sad how we all can�t be intelligent beings, quite unfortunate,� he said, his tone changing slightly.

�Yeah Bowser, I wish I could be as smart as you,� mocked Ganon.

�Many do,� replied Bowser. Ganondorf was now becoming very annoyed with Bowser and was fuming with rage.

�Forget it,� he said. �Let�s just track down Samus.�

�Works for me,� agreed Bowser.

�.

�That-a was close-a,� said Mario in a sigh of relief.

�Yeah-a,� gasped Luigi.

�Good thing I spotted you guys,� said Samus triumphantly. �I arrived in the nick of time.�

�Yeah, I�ll say,� said Link. �How�d you reach us so fast?�

�Shifted into hyper-speed,� she said. �But don�t worry about that.�

�So-a,� began Mario. �What-a were you-a doing here-a?� I thought-a you had a whole-a galaxy to patrol-a,�

�The Federation asked me to check out the unusual orbit pattern of Aether,� said Samus. �Then, when I was battling the Space Pirates, they struck Aether and a dark portion of it collided with your planet, so I went down to check it out. When I was there, I saw you guys.�

�Why didn�t you help us?� asked Link angrily.

�I didn�t want to attack outright,� said Samus. �I was into a more stealthy approach. You see, Bowser and Ganondorf may have captured me too if I appeared to be on your side. And their army of dark creatures outnumbered me. There was no chance of my victory.�

�Oh, I see,� grumbled Link. �Pure cowardice.�

�No, not at all,� protested Samus. �I already told you, Link, rescuing you would be foolish. I had planned to rescue you, after receiving a message via Mario�s communication device, while Bowser and Ganondorf left to make a trip to talk to Dr. Eggman. But unfortunately, the castle blew up and I couldn�t. At least I caught you in my ship before you fell to the ground.�

�It�s ok-a, Link,� said Luigi.� The point is we�re safe.�

Link seemed satisfied with this, so they began to talk about other things.

�So anyway,� began Samus. �The Federation asked me to put a stop to any dark activity and I will. You guys have any information?�

�Yes-a,� said Mario. �Bowser and-a Ganondorf plan-a to take over the world-a using the dark power-a of their-a army.�

�We must put a stop to this,� said Samus. �Our first order of business will be to liberate any and all people possessed by this dark matter. Have you guys seen any?�

�There�s some down in Toad Town Square!� exclaimed Link.

�Excellent, let�s head down there now,� said Samus, descending the gunship.

�.

Two large and hulking figures trudged towards the Gelato Beach cabana. As they approached, people ran away and screamed at the sight of them. In moments, the beach was deserted and the two figures made their way into the back of the cabana.

�Where are the Mario Bros.?� shouted Bowser to no one.

�Why don�t you try looking?� suggested Ganondorf. �You did plant a homing-device on Mario, right?�

�Oh yeah,� grumbled Bowser. �According to my map,� said Bowser. �they�re in Toad Town.�

�Excellent,� said Ganon. �Let�s get �em!�

A high-pitched whistling sound could be heard as Bowser summoned the Koopa Clown Copter. Bowser and Ganondorf hopped in, set their destination to Toad Town and took off into the horizon.

�.

A small red gunship landed in the center of Toad Town. People gaped in awe at the sight of the ship, Samus modestly telling them it was nothing. Mario, Luigi and Link emerged from the ship next. People crowded around them the instant they got out, demanding autographs. Samus pushed them aside, saying it was official business. Luigi, on the other hand, became so absorbed in the attention that his head began to swell to a precarious size before Mario dragged him away. The Mario Bros. were leading everyone towards a hut in the tropical region of the Mushroom Kingdom, and out of Toad Town.

�Huh, where are we going?� asked Link.

�Yeah, the dark energy is coming from the center of town,� said Samus.

�Oh, we�re-a just getting-a some help-a,� said Luigi.

�Who?� asked Link.

�Yoshi,� said the Mario Bros. in unity.

�This-a is the place-a,� said Mario, knocking on the door to Yoshi�s hut.

�Hey Mario, what�s up?� said Yoshi. �What is everyone doing here?�

�Well, in case you haven�t noticed, Bowser and Ganondorf have an army of dark minions that are threatening to destroy the world,� said Link.

�You bet I have,� said Yoshi. �Several of my friends have been possessed by the darkness. I only just escaped the attack actually.�

�Then you are no doubt aware of the threat these guys pose,� stated Samus.

�Yes, I am,� said Yoshi, not liking where this is going.

�Then-a you wouldn�t-a mind helping us-a?� asked Mario.

�You mean, like join up with you to go on another adventure?� said Yoshi frowning.

�Yes-a,� said Luigi.

�I�d really love to go and all,� began Yoshi. �but this is my vacation week. My week off!�

�Oh,� said Mario. �I understand-a. It would-a just help-a if you-a would come-a with us-a.�

�You know what, I�ll go,� said Yoshi.

�Really?� asked the group.

�Sure, I could use some adventure in my life,� remarked Yoshi.

�Excellent-a,� said Mario. �Let�s-a go!�

�And where do you think you�re going?� boomed a loud voice overhead.

�Oh crap, it�s Bowser and Ganondorf,� said Link, looking up. �Fight. Run. Whatever.�

The five heroes poised themselves for battle, but Bowser and Ganondorf began to wave tiny white flags in the air helplessly.

�Wait, wait,� said Ganon. �We don�t want to hurt you. We need your help.�

�Why would we help you fiends?� asked Link, unsheathing his sword and rushing at the two villains. Samus grabbed his arm and held him back.

�No, Link. Let�s see what they�ve got to say,� advised Samus.

�We�re listening,� grumbled Link.

�Anyway, since you�ve been captive in my lair,� said Bowser. �a new more powerful threat has arisen.�

�Yeah,� said Ganondorf. �Grodus is at large once again.�

�He has taken residence on the Moon,� stated Bowser.

�What�s he planning?� asked Yoshi.

�I don�t know, but it can�t be good,� said Ganon.

�We need to get there as soon as possible and take him down before he puts the world in real danger,� said Samus.

�Hey wait,� growled Link. �Why the hell are we helping them? They�re just going to trick us and use us for their own benefit.�

�C�mon Link,� said Yoshi. �They need our help and we need theirs.�

�Yeah, the dinosaur�s right,� added Ganondorf. �Let�s shake on it, dude.� Ganon extended his right hand and Link reluctantly shook it.

�There�s-a one problem,� pointed out Luigi.

�What is it?� asked the others.

�How-a are we-a going to-a get to the Moon-a?� he asked.

�We�ve gone over this already,� said Samus. �We can take my gunship.�

�Excellent,� said Yoshi. Let�s head for the Moon now. We can�t wait and see what Grodus is planning. We�ll have to take him down before he does it!�

�Umm guys,� said Samus. The group turned to face her. �We�ve got a bigger problem on our hands.� She glanced around to find a squad of darkling-possessed minions heading right for them.

�Call �em off Bowser,� demanded Yoshi.

�Stop!� shouted Bowser. �STOP! STOP! STOP!�

The darklings did not hesitate for a second as they approached the group.

�Why aren�t they listening to us?� asked Ganon.

�Your minions serve a new master now,� said a cold high-pitched voice. �Kill them.�

Last time.............
Bowser and Ganondorf encountered Grodus in Emerald City. Unfortunately for them, he waged an all-out aerial assault against Bowser's castle and ended up destroying it in a violent explosion that threatens the lives of Mario, Luigi and Link, as well as Bowser and Ganondorf themselves.