Post by bobsnicket on Apr 5, 2008 14:21:49 GMT -5
[glow=purple,2,300]Book 3: The Hand of Fate[/glow]
Chapter 11: The Dimension Theory
www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/index-classic.html (Donkey Kong 64: Crystal Caves (2))
For about 20 minutes, they followed the narrow tunnel, feeling wet rock walls, and marveling at intricate stalactite and stalagmite formations. Water dripped from above, occasionally landing on their heads. Even with the light of the R.O.B.’s, the majority of the surrounding area was covered in thick darkness. The air was cold and humid. Popo and Nana in particular tried not to imagine what would happen if the R.O.B.’s somehow stopped working, and resulted in them being surrounded in pitch black with no idea of where they were.
Then, some way into the cave, they reached a fork, with one path veering left and the other curving to the right. After a few second’s hesitation, the professor led them down the right tunnel. However, after a minute or two of going down this passage, they seemed to reach a dead end.
The R.O.B.’s shone their illuminating beams everywhere, revealing the skeletons of countless creatures and people scattered along the spacious floor. Rats, at the shine of the bright lights, fled from the rotting bones.
But when Professor E. Gadd directed one of the R.O.B.’s pair of beams in the upward direction, the quiet was disrupted.
Hundreds of Swoopulas, dark green in color, were awoken by the lights, and left their perches, shrieking loudly, and diving down at random areas. The group of five cried out in surprise and fear, and fled back towards the tunnel they had gone down. Mr. Game & Watch, who was the last to leave the bone-littered and bat infested cavern, was suddenly confronted by a huge dark gray bat, known as a Swampire, It swooped towards the 2-D character, its fangs bared menacingly, aching to bite someone. Mr. Game & Watch, startled, stopped, and when the bat was but a couple feet away from his face, drew out his black rod with a burning black flame on the end.
The Swampire screeched in pain as it passed through the flame, and fell writhing to the ground. Mr. Game & Watch maneuvered around it and followed the others into the tunnel.
The bats, apparently satisfied and sleepy, did not follow, but returned to their perches. Regardless, the party of five ran until they were back at the fork, where they stopped to catch their breath.
“Whew, do you think that was what attacked Slippy and Peppy?” Nana asked, panting.
“I, huff, don’t think so. There was no pile of objects, and I don’t think those bats would have mangled Peppy’s leg, do you?” the professor replied. The others shook their heads in agreement, and the started down the left tunnel.
After a couple minutes of more walking, they reached another cavern, and this cave appeared to fit Slippy’s description.
It was approximately the same size and shape as the bat-infested one, but further examination showed that the ceiling was bat-free, and there were no rats in sight either. Bones still littered the ground in perhaps a larger quantity, and on the right side was a tall ledge that they could not see over, from which a loud snoring noise was coming. Hanging from the ceiling, creaking with each swing menacingly, were two empty iron cages that added additional tension and fear to the small group. Finally, in the center of the room was a large pile of objects, just like Slippy had claimed. So many different objects were in this heap that it would not be worth listing them all, but they all appeared to be shiny or valuable in some way, including lots of gold coins, jewels, pearl necklaces, silver goblets, a very long Goron-made sword with a ruby set in its hilt, broken pieces of colorful glass and crystal, some of which might have previously been part of a valuable star, and even a familiar magical paintbrush that appeared to be broken in half.
And near the top on the side facing them was a small chrome object, shining very brightly despite its age and size.
“There it is!” Professor E. Gadd cried. “That’s the Dimension key! I’m sure of it! I can almost see the letters sticking out of the sides!”
Unfortunately, in his excitement, the professor had forgotten all about the deadly guardian that had maimed Peppy. The snoring suddenly stopped, and whatever was on the ledge appeared to be moving, grunting angrily. The group huddled in fear and silence as something huge stood up in the statues, its enormous head appearing above the ledge.
Everyone was too afraid to point at it to see what it was, but when it began moving towards them, with only the head visible, Mario shakily and reluctantly lifted his arming, his gloved finger pointing towards the creature. Obediently, one of the R.O.B.’s pairs of light beams shifted to the object, revealing its head.
gh.ffshrine.org/song/7298/104
It was the flower-like Piranha Plant, Petey Piranha, with yellow flowers around its head, which was red with white polka dots. Its large green lips bordered its huge, gaping mouth and its sharp white teeth. It turned towards the intruders, and let out a long, deafening, and fearsome roar.
Mario, however, as well as the others, was very relieved. “Mama-mia! I thought it a-would be a-something actually competent. Don’t a-worry, I’ve a-fought this a-thing several times. All you a-have to do is knock it over and a-stomp its--”
But he stopped mid-speech as the rest of Petey’s body came into view. Instead of leafy arms, a plump stomach, red and white polka dotted shorts, and stubby green legs, was…something else. Eight giant hairy spider legs protruded from the sides of his horizontally positioned body, which now had no leafy arms or feet. His stomach area resembled the abdomen of a spider, and-- this was the biggest shock of all--a huge glaring yellow eye opened up in the middle of Petey’s polka dotted forehead.
“That’s strange,” Mr. Game & Watch remarked. “It looks like a com-bin-a-tion of Pet-ey Pir-an-ha and Goh-ma from the Tem-ple of Time.”
At these words, Professor E. Gadd’s eyes widened in horror. He whispered fearful words to himself. “Could it…? No, it’s not possible…is it? He couldn’t have returned…”
Then Piranha Gohma began to charge, bellowing in Petey’s deep voice.
“Danger!” the professor yelled to the R.O.B.’s, which reacted by firing laser bursts at the monster. The lasers scorched Piranha Gohma’s head and legs, but did not seem to hinder it much. It responded by shooting goopy blobs out of its mouth, destroying first one and then another of the R.O.B.’s, which critically decreased the lighting.
“Stop!” Gadd yelled, and, realizing what would happen if all the R.O.B.’s were destroyed, grabbed one of the remaining ones (both had stopped firing) and began running towards the pile of treasure. The other R.O.B. remained with Mario, Mr. Game & Watch, and the Ice Climbers, and shone at the hideous monstrosity approaching them.
It spotted Gadd heading for the pile, and turned towards him instead, so the Ice Climbers chucked two Freezies at it to get its attention. Piranha Gohma roared again, and turned back to them, advancing on its spider legs in a renewed fury.
Mario shot fireballs at it, Mr. Game & Watch threw burning black bacon, and the Ice Climbers threw Freezies, but none of their attacks had much of an affect. The creature slammed into the Ice Climbers with its head, knocking them into the far wall. It then turned to Mario, and before he could react, trapped him in a pile of goop-like muck, also destroying the second-to-last R.O.B. It lifted the goop-covered Mario with a hairy leg, brought it towards its huge mouth, and…
Mr. Game & Watch, not drawing attention with his completely black figure, thought about what Mario had said about Petey Piranha. He leaped high over Piranha Gohma, and slammed into the stomach/abdomen with his black key, piercing the plant-like flesh.
Piranha Gohma bellowed with pain, and its spider legs collapsed to the ground, dropping Mario. It groaned weakly, its harsh breath growing steadily weaker. Mr. Game & Watch let go of the key, and jumped down to the ground, walking over to help Mario out of the goop. Piranha Gohma’s hot breath blew past them, growing weaker and weaker.
And suddenly, it roared even louder, while simultaneously lunging forward with its mouth to clamp down on Mario and Mr. Game & Watch. And when the two heroes braced themselves for their painful deaths, there was another screech from Piranha Gohma, and it collapsed again, definitely dead this time.
Professor E. Gadd was standing next to them, one hand holding the shiny chrome key, and the other holding the Biggoron Sword that he had plunged into the yellow Gohma eye on Piranha Gohma’s forehead, black blood/eye fluid trickling down the blade.
“Whew!” the professor said, laughing. “I guess this old geezer’s still got some juice left in him, eh? Now let’s help the Ice Climbers and get out of here before our last R.O.B.’s battery runs out!”
(stop music)
Bowser was sitting on a large throne at the end of the throne room. He looked out the nearest window of his hovering castle at the destroyed city below.
“General?” he bellowed.
“Yes, King Bowser?” A Hammer Bro. with four yellow stars emblazed on the front of his helmet spoke from his left-hand side.
“Are your troops on their way? There’s no telling when Master Hand will strike again.”
The distinguished Hammer Bro. nodded. “Affirmative. And with them are Sergeant Goombob’s, Colonel Koopriko’s, Master Kamek’s and Lieutenant Spinelli’s troops as well.”
“What about King Boo’s?”
The hardy Hammer Bro. hesitated. “Erm…well, the Boos’ situation is somewhat unknown. I mean, they were all vacuumed up by that Luigi a couple years ago, but just a month or so ago, someone let all the ghosts out again; only thing is, nobody knows where the Boos are; Boolossus was temporarily sighted at the tournament, but he ran off as well. The rest of the ghosts just went back to haunting their mansion.”
Bowser gave a low growl. “Well, when they do show up, King Boo will have some explaining to do. No matter. Where is Pichu? I wish to speak with him.”
“I’ll go and fetch him, my lord,” the General volunteered, and he ran off and through the big doors at the other end of the throne room.
Now there had been many friendships made the night before. But the strangest, most awkward one, even the one Bowser had with Sonic, was a bond made between him and the small yellow mouse. During the tournament, Pichu watched the battles from on top of Bowser’s head, on the condition that he used his exemplary hearing to repeat to Bowser everything that was said on the field. But that was just the beginning. During the Battle of Fourside City, Pichu had saved Bowser’s life by warning him of a particularly nasty-looking clawed Wire-Frame, and while Bowser was attacking the sneak, he took Bowser’s place on the battlefield, holding back many other Wire Frames from attempting another sneak attack (obviously this meant that Pichu had not remained in the infirmary for at least part of the battle). And when Pichu was being carried off into the throng of Wire Frames, Bowser charged through all in his way and returned the favor. So began a bizarre yet effective friendship.
A few moments later, Pichu came pouncing through the doors, stopping at the foot of Bowser’s throne.
“Pichu?” he asked inquiringly.
Bowser sighed and smiled at his little friend. “I don’t really know why I called you here; I guess I was just longing for some friendly company.” Bowser, amazingly, somehow had the gift to understand the speech of Pichu, but not of any other Pokemon.
“Pi-Pichu-Pi! Pichu Pi-Pichu!” Pichu urged, which meant something along the lines of, “Have you told anyone about what we heard about Shadow and the Shadow Queen at the tournament?”
Bowser was dumbfounded by the simplicity and stupidity of what he had failed yet to do. He smacked himself in his forehead with his right claw. “Crap! I haven’t told anyone! I completely forgot about all that! I guess I should, shouldn’t I?”
Pichu nodded.
“Thanks, Pichu! You can leave now, if you want. I’m going to go find that Gadd person…” And Bowser leaped off his throne and began thumping towards the launch pad of his Koopa Clown Car.
“Well, without further ado, farewell! Mario, Mr. Game and Watch, and Ice Climbers, the fate of the Nintendo World rests in your…er… (Professor E. Gadd glanced at the two things at the end of Mr. Game and Watch’s arms) …hands. We are all counting on your success in obtaining the power we need to defeat Master Hand. Good luck--” The professor cut himself off as he saw something move in the storage room beyond the right door through the window.
“Wait just a minute, here,” Gadd whispered. “Mario, here’s the right door key, go in and see who or what that was.”
Mario took the key, turned it in the chipped old doorknob, and opened the door inward, causing light to enter the room and reveal the wounded figure crawling towards them.
“Orca! What happened?” Professor E. Gadd’s eyes were wide with shock (behind his perplexing glasses).
The warrior dragged himself closer towards them, stopped, and looked up with his weary old eyes, the fire in them clearly dying away. His bare torso looked terrible; most of the ribs were clearly broken (it could be seen through his skin), and the damage was evidently harming his respiratory and circulatory systems.
“Mario! Get the medics, right away!” Professor E. Gadd ordered. Mario left. “Orca, what happened to you? Who did this?”
Orca groaned. His voice was soft and harsh. “M-Master…Hand…attacked…headquarters…everyone…killed or captured…m-may have been…three escaped…” Orca stopped and wheezed for several seconds before continuing. “I…Metal Bowser…crushed…hid…came to warn…cannot be stopped…”
“They attacked headquarters? Did you find out anything?”
Orca hesitated, still wheezing. “Like…like what?”
Professor E. Gadd considered his thoughts for a moment. “Like…is there anyone besides Master Hand and Crazy Hand behind this? Or are they alone? A professor, perhaps?”
Orca’s voice was now very slow and extremely soft, so the professor, Mr. Game and Watch, and the Ice Climbers had to lean forward to hear the faint words.
“Didn’t see…a professor…not sure…but Master Hand…”
“Yes, yes?” Professor E. Gadd urged on apprehensively. Was there an even greater enemy behind Master Hand, even?
“Master Hand…may be…a master…but he…is also…a…” Orca’s voice was dying away.
“Please, Orca, what is Master Hand besides a master?”
“…a hand.” Orca’s strained voice died away at the end of his last word. His lifted head fell forward, and his body became limp. The wheezing stopped.
akuk1231.imeem.com/music/ijRiWf3B/performed_by_ladd_mcintosh_bill_liston_conrad_pope_su/
“No!” Tears crept down from behind the professor’s glasses. The Ice Climbers and Mr. Game and Watch stared sadly at Orca’s body. Gadd was slightly disappointed at Orca’s obvious last words. Of course Master Hand was a hand! But had this been a tip for fighting him, a weakness, or what? The fallen warrior’s strained words seemed to have little meaning.
A low, growling voice came from behind them. “Yes, but soon he won’t even be a hand, or a living thing, for that matter. Those gloves have been white for far too long!”
The four characters turned around. Bowser was standing there, arms folded solemnly, his big dark eyes burning with anger. They could tell he knew what had transpired, that more lives had been lost to Master Hand. Then Bowser turned specifically towards Professor E. Gadd.
“Professor, um…Pichu repeated to me some things that were said at the tournament that I think you should know.”
The sad scientist nodded slowly, still looking gravely at Orca. “I would be very interested in hearing what he heard, but I don’t think there is time for the rest of us to hear it. We must wait for Mario to return, and then another journey must begin. Time is even shorter than I realized. Training and preparations for battle must be made immediately, and this door must be sealed off after I and a small battalion search the fallen headquarters for the three survivors Orca mentioned.”
Bowser looked annoyed. “But, Professor…why Mario? I’d be just as good at any mission he goes on! Oh, but I suppose I’m needed to gather troops…”
“Yes,” E. Gadd agreed thoughtfully. “You will be needed here. Still, you are just as experienced with dimensional change as he is…and they may need some additional help defending themselves…Bowser, while we wait for Mario, take me to your Koopa Clown Car…”
A professor and his master looked out as the massive, incredibly strong army they had always dreamed of creating began to take shape. This section of the Battlefields, next to Master Hand’s room, happened to be very flat. But what weren’t flat were the dozens of jelly-like domes dotted along the ground perpendicularly. The jelly-like substance looked just like the substance the Wire Frames were made of; in fact, that was what was coming out of them.
Many small metal flying machines with long needle-like points flew over the jelly domes, dropping small drops of a strange green formula into them. With each drop, a still-solidifying Wire Frame stepped or crawled out of the dome. Each one solidified into one of 25 unique forms (one being in two parts), then joined one of the many growing blocks of troops, lining up in an orderly fashion. As previously mentioned, they blended in somewhat with the Battlefield’s flashing purple nature. They were just lighter in color, and each had a beating heart somewhere in the center, depending on what form they took.
“Master?” Professor U. Reeka asked.
“What is it, U. Reeka?” Master Hand replied. They spoke still staring out at the growing army in front of them, the professor with his arms behind his back.
“What if they use the Star Rod again, Master? It obliterated hundreds of troops with one strike!”
Master Hand began to laugh. “Yes, the Star Rod, the power of the stars, the Wish-Granter of the heavens. I’m afraid my good brother Crazy Hand made a mistake in overestimating its abilities. The Star Spirits used so much energy with one attack, they surely wouldn’t have been able to strike again. In fact, unless I am much mistaken, it will take at least a year for the Rod’s power to regenerate, by which time the Nintendo World will be under our control, including the Heavens. We needn’t worry about it.”
“Yes, very good, master!” But U. Reeka’s thoughts then drifted to an even greater energy source that Master Hand had wanted but had been unable to locate. It wouldn’t help for the Rebels to get a hold of that, either.
Twenty minutes later, everyone was back at the doors, with the addition of fifty trained Hammer Bros. under the direction of General Hammo.
“Good luck, Mario, Mr. Game and Watch, and Ice Climbers! Good luck, troops!” E. Gadd nodded towards the Hammer Bros. “Like I said before, the fate of the Nintendo World depends on your success. I have no idea what kind of challenges you’ll come across, but remember: always look for friendly faces! I’ll leave the key with you so that you have a way back, and I’ll keep this place well guarded until you return. Goodbye!”
Mario turned the chrome key in the old lock, and it clicked. Mario pulled the heavy door inward, revealing nothing but an extremely bright whiteness, and a strangely magnificent sound that is often associated with bright light. After bracing themselves, the five heroes, one by one, jumped into the light, followed by the sequence of Hammer Bros. Bowser and Professor E. Gadd waved as they left, then closed the door behind them. They left for the Koopa Clown Car, for the professor was ready to hear what Bowser had heard from Pichu that he had heard.
But the guarding of the door was not set up quickly enough, for three additional figures who had been spying on them opened and slipped through the door after the party when Bowser and E. Gadd were gone.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Character Locations
Inside Dimension Door: Mario, Mr. Game & Watch, Ice Climbers
Fourside City: Slippy Toad, Peppy Hare, Bowser, Yoshi, Young Link, Lanky Kong, Kirby, Fox, Ganondorf, Bomberman, Falco, Goombario, Banjo and Kazooie, Pit, Pichu, Tiny Kong, Dixie Kong, Young Link, Professor E. Gadd
Messengers: Prince Peasley, Jigglypuff, Parakeet, Toad, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Meta Knight, Roy, Toadsworth, Luigi, Star Wolf, Rito Postman?
: The Shadow Sirens, Shadow
[glow=yellow,2,300]Trophy:[/glow] Pikachu, Princess Peach, Samus, Chunky Kong, Sonic, Wario, Waluigi, Captain Falcon[glow=purple,2,300]Captive:[/glow] Marth, Ness, Goombella, Toadette, Princess Zelda
[glow=gray,2,300]DECEASED:[/glow] The Shadow Hand, Bottles, Orca
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End of chapter 11...hope you are enjoying it!
...just remember...how likely your guesses have been to be right... 
