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| The Forgotten |
| Episode One |
| The dust swirled as the feet of the archeologist stopped in front of a large pit. In the pit were several Toads, one Goomba and a few Koopas, including the famous Kolorado. Kolorado was working on an archeological dig in Bone Dry Desert, and even hotter and drier place than Dry Dry Desert. Kolorado was not doing any of the actual work, as usual. He was �supervising,� which looked a lot like drinking Koopa Iced Tea Leaves. The archeologist looked at the progress of the dig and was disgusted. ARCHEOLOGIST: Kolorado! Shouldn�t you have reached the entrance yet? Kolorado, hearing his name, and fearing it was one of his financial supporters immediately jumped up and began barking orders. The archeologist began walking down into the pit. KOLORADO: Put some back into that digging, you lazy Toad! You call that a hole? You�re the worst Koopa digger I�ve ever seen! ARCHEOLOGIST: Relax, Kolorado. I�m not one of the members of RAAM, or the person who actually found this dig, here to claim credit for my work. RAAM stood for Researching Ancient Areas of Mushroom Kingdom. It was the group funding Kolorado�s expedition. Kooper had founded it, after he returned from the expedition to Crystal Palace. KOLORADO: Are you saying I didn�t find this place myself? How dare yo�. The archeologist was finally close enough for Kolorado to recognize him. KOLORADO: Well; now I know why you dared say that. I swear by the ancient vase of Lava Lava Mountain that I found this place, just like I found its counterpart in Dry Dry Desert. ARCHEOLOGIST: Mario found that place. KOLORADO: No he didn�t! Besides, you weren�t even there! ARCHEOLOGIST: His exploits are well known, even among us Axems. Just then, the Goomba, who was quite familiar with both Kolorado and Dry Dry Ruins, yelled. GOOMBA: Kolorado sir! I think I�ve found the entrance to the ruins! KOLORADO: Good work, my boy! I knew you would be a great assistant the moment I saw you with Mario. (To the archeologist) Now, my fellow archeologist, what do you think of my work? (To the Goomba) I told the boy right where to dig; didn�t I old chum? GOOMBA: Um�Actually you told me to dig over there, by that rock. KOLORADO: Then why aren�t you digging there? ARCHEOLOGIST: You do realize that he found the entrance, don�t you? Anyway, I think I should tell you what I came here for. The members of RAAM decided that I should come to take over the dig, as you don�t seem to be getting any results. Plus, they think your ego is getting a little big� KOLORADO: Me? A big ego? Why, I am the most modest Koopa to walk the Mushroom Kingdom! GOOMBA: And I�m Mario. KOLORADO: Be quiet, Goombario. ARCHEOLOGIST: Let�s go into the Ruins now, I�m anxious to see what treasures we will find in there. KOLORADO: Treasure, my dear boy? Kolorado got really excited at the mention of treasure and was immediately trying to force the large column-like rock out of the way. ARCHEOLOGIST: By treasure I didn�t mean gold. I meant the technology of an ancient race, long since forgotten. My research shows the people who built these ruins have a connection to the people of Atlantis. On one of the few remaining tablets of the area, there is even a legend of some sort of transportation device, capable of going to other planets. KOLORADO: No gold, huh? I guess, a highly advanced civilization is interesting too. Kolorado is still trying to force the rock to move. GOOMBARIO: When Mario found Dry Dry Ruins� Kolorado grunted but Goombario continued. GOOMBARIO: There was a stone almost identical to this. He put the Pulse Stone in the top and it revealed the ruins. ARCHEOLOGIST: And that�s why I tracked down this, the Pulse Gem. The archeologist pulled out a large gem that looked a lot like the Pulse Stone, only larger and green. He put it in the spot on top of the column. The ground started to rumble and all the workers ran to escape the pit. Kolorado tripped and hit his face on a rock, giving himself the beginnings of a black eye. The ruins rose out the sands. The ruins themselves looked much more magnificent than Dry Dry Ruins. The walls were made out of some sort of stone, resembling granite. No one, even Kolorado had seen anything like it. ARCHEOLOGIST: Well, are you going to stand there staring like a Fuzzy just stole your breakfast? Let�s move! With that, he dashed into the Bone Dry Ruins. There were some booby traps, but not nearly as many as there normally are in ancient ruins. The archaeologist avoided all of the traps, although his Axem reflexes did help him slip by a few. Kolorado followed him, needing to be helped out of a pit here and there by Goombario. After passing through several tunnels, chambers, and caverns, the archeologist stopped at one end of the largest room they had seen yet. It looked like it could easily hold the entire Tournament of Heroes arena inside, with room to spare. There were massive columns, each at least as large as two or three redwood trees. On some of these columns were stone gargoyles that seemed strangely alive. Goombario shuddered. This was the Great Chamber of the ruins. At the far end, highlighted by a beam of light coming down from the roof, was a large arch. It looked like any other arch doorway they had gone through so far, except for its size and the fact that there actually was a door in the frame. It was no door, though, and it was big enough for a blade to pass through, with at least 10 feet on either side. On the archway were lots of strange symbols. In front of the arch was something that looked strikingly similar to a computer. ARCHEOLOGIST (thinking): Is that a computer? I know this is supposed to be a highly advanced race, but�a computer? Maybe some of the legends about this place are true�like that the creators of it weren�t humans, Toads, Koopas, Goombas, or any other race that is now known on earth. Those symbols must be the directions for how to work the Arch, they are the same as the ones on the tablet I found. Perhaps this device really does work� KOLORADO: What is that�uh� thing? ARCHEOLOGIST: It is the Arch of Aquador. It is supposedly the transportation device I spoke of before. It is rumored to lead to a planet called Aquador, where the creators of it fled when some sort of disaster struck. It can also go to other planets that have another Arch, if you know the correct �address�. He started to walk towards the �computer� and continued telling Kolorado some of what he knew of the Arch. ARCHEOLOGIST: Apparently this was created long before any known structure, around 8000 years ago. The depth and rock layers seem to support this timeline but� Even his Axem�s reflexes could not save him from the trap he had just walked into. As he passed between two of the columns, the gargoyles shot flame from their mouths. There was no way to avoid the massive beams of flame. The archaeologist was hit by both. Kolorado and Goombario were both behind him by enough of a space that they had time to avoid it. KOLORADO: Aaaaahhhhhh! Run for it my boy! No time to waste! He�s done for! He and Goombario darted for the exit, just as they passed though it red beams of light that looked almost like lasers crisscrossed the archway. There was no way back in the Great Chamber without going through the lasers and neither wanted to do that. Even if the lasers weren�t there, the gargoyles were, and the flame was just now dying down. End of Episode 1 |