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| The Forgotten |
| Episode Twelve |
| It was about noon in Toad Town. Near the Forever Forest there was a large, recently built building. The building was almost as large as Princess Peach�s castle (which she was not very happy about). Inside were all sorts of ancient artifacts. Above the Romanesque style entryway was a large symbol engraved into the marble. The symbol was an archeologist�s brush over a Mushroom. The letters RAAM encircled it. The RAAM (Researching Ancient Areas of Mushroom Kingdom) building was very new. It was built the year after Bowser tried to steal the Star Rod. It was the biggest museum in all of Mushroom Kingdom. Near the building was a helipad. In the distance the sounds of helicopter blades could be heard. When the helicopter touched down, Axem Inferno and Goombario jumped out to see several Toads and a human awaiting them. There were all wearing expensive suits. TOAD #1: Well, hello Inferno. Is this one of the workers of the dig? HUMAN: Is Kolorado still trying to find the entrance? TOAD #2: Why are you back so soon? TOAD #3: Do you think there really is anything there to find? HUMAN: Should we keep funding the project? NOTE: Inferno has only been gone for 2 days. They do not know anything that has happened to him during this time period. AXEM INFERNO: Please, not so many questions at once. TOAD #1: Well, then tell us something. GOOMBARIO: This could take awhile. TOAD #2: Don�t speak unless you are spoken to. GOOMBARIO (thinking): Who does this Toad think he is? Since when can he treat me like a little two-year-old? AXEM INFERNO: Goombario is correct. This could take a while. Let�s go to the conference room. TOAD #3: Goombario, you can wait in the lobby. GOOMBARIO (thinking): Grrr� AXEM INFERNO: No, he can come with us. GOOMBARIO (thinking): Take that you stupid Toad! TOAD #2: You could be a little more respectful to your superiors Inferno. AXEM INFERNO: You aren�t my superiors. First off, you are only the curators, and secondly I don�t actually work for you. I volunteered for a chance to go to the Bone Dry dig. The Toads and the human all slightly frowned. They quickly replaced them with smiles or expressionless faces, but their displeasure was obvious. TOAD #1 (thinking): That Inferno has too big of a head. TOAD #3 (thinking): Who cares if he�s a volunteer? We still are higher in RAAM than him. They all walked through the elegant doorways into the RAAM building. They passed some artifacts dating back to the cavekoopa times. There were some weapons from the Toad Wars. A very old tapestry showed the first evidence of Boos. The museum was filled with all sorts of ancient things, including some fossils of the early Koopas, little different from turtles, really. They entered a side door that had a sign saying �Authorized Personnel Only�. The conference room had a large table and a computer with a projector. In the corner there was a large blackboard. The curators sat down in the largest chairs, leaving the most uncomfortable chair to Goombario. Axem Inferno rolled the blackboard to the head of the table. AXEM INFERNO: This is a rather long tale. When I first arrived at the dig, Kolorado was behind schedule� ELAPSE TIME: A few hours later: Inferno was finishing his speech. The blackboard was full of drawings, symbols, and equations. The curators were all sitting in their seats, with extremely skeptical faces. AXEM INFERNO: �And then I came straight here. HUMAN: You said your tale was long, but you forgot to mention tall. TOAD #2: We�re supposed to believe that? AXEM INFERNO: Why would I lie? TOAD #1: To support your crazy theory. Inferno and Goombario both rolled their eyes. AXEM INFERNO: Than why would I make such an easily disproved claim? And Goombario has verified my story. By the way, I think you should thank him. He made several observations and contributions to my report. Call the old Koopa at the dig if you still don�t believe us. TOAD #1: Kolorado? I will. The Toad walked to a phone that was on the table. He dialed some numbers and had a short conversation. He hung up the phone and sat back down. TOAD #1: He said it was true. Well, expect that he claims he did just about everything. Everyone chuckled. TOAD #2: This is�it�s just�. This is huge. HUMAN: We need to discuss what to do. You two may go now. Inferno and Goombario left. HUMAN: We need to verify this. Let�s send someone to check it out. TOAD #3: Agreed. We also need to tell the government. This could be a global security issue. The others agreed. ELAPSE TIME AND PLACE: In an office: HUMAN: And then he arrived on Aquador� The other person in the room, a woman who had a very high position in the government, interrupted. WOMAN: Quit wasting my time. There is no way something like that is real. I think you are either on some sort of drug, or you just want to get publicity. HUMAN: But� WOMAN: NO! Get out before I have you tested for drugs. If you don�t think you can find the door, I have some officers who could�escort you out. The man growled and stood. HUMAN: Don�t you realize how much danger you are putting everyone i� WOMAN: OUT! ELAPSE PLACE: Dry Dry Outpost: Inferno was walking down a side street. He turned onto a dirt path and started walking down it. He soon was a ways out from the town. The landscape had turned to sand dunes, cacti, and little else. Inferno liked the heat of the desert, which is why he chose to live there. He didn�t really have a house; him and wood didn�t mix well. Instead he had a tent. It only served to keep his body heat (quite a considerable amount) in at night. Little did Inferno realize that he wasn�t alone. Behind a sand dune there was a pair of eyes looking down at him. The figure was the same figure that had infiltrated the Great Chamber. It, or more accurately he, was eyeing Inferno. NOTE: See Episode 11. FIGURE (talking to himself): Now Inferno will pay. The figure stood up. FIGURE: Well, well. If it isn�t Inferno. Inferno spun around towards the sound. His eyes widened in surprise. FIGURE: Don�t think this will be an easy battle. I�ve got a score to settle. No one KO�s Bob and gets away with it. End of Episode 12 |