Vol. 6, Ch. 8 - Timed Out.

This is the last story that will be released here on the old blog.  New chapters and stories can be found at www.marioserials.com



    "Mario!" shouted Luigi,  "C'mon!  You didn't answer my question!"

     Mario shook his head confusedly.  Why did that sound seem so familiar?  He looked up and saw his brother's impatient face.

     "Let's a-go," he said, gesturing towards the dock house.  It seemed safe to wait there, as no one would be nearby.  Perhaps they'd find another clue to getting back home.

     "So...locks.  How good are you with those?" asked Waluigi as he and Wario stumbled along through the darkness looking for an exit.

     Wario scoffed.  "There isn't a chest I can't break into!  Locks are no match for the mighty might of Wario!"

     "Wah-huh."  Waluigi looked doubtful, but it was too dark for Wario to notice.

     Suddenly they came upon a door.  Next to the door was a kiosk with Bowser's signature silhouette plastered upon the screen.  Waluigi reached over and touched it, only to receive a small shock!  He pulled his arm back quickly and with surprising calmness said:

     "They electrocuted it, Wario.  No one can touch that screen for long without getting a pretty bad burn, or worse.  I'll bet it's the thing we need, though."

     "Good thing I have my wooden gloves!  Always be prepared for a heist, that's-a my motto!"

     "Wooden gloves?  What in the world..."

     "They don't conduct electricity!"

     "They don't have any flexibility, either!"

     "Shows how smart you are, Mustachi-no!  I had these made out of bamboo!  They'll protect my hands and be flexible enough!"

     Waluigi rolled his eyes, but looked on with interest as Wario tapped the screen again.  The gloves evidently fooled the device into thinking the safeguards had been removed, because a menu popped up where the silhouette had been.

      "I bet you need to use the 'Castle Operations' menu," began Waluigi.

      "Hold your horses," snapped Wario angrily.  "I'll go through this at my own pace and speed.  You back off!"

      Waluigi grumbled something under his breath about how "that Yoshi told us to do our job or we'd catch it" but otherwise held his peace.

     "You see?" Wario grinned triumphantly.  "The 'Castle Finance' tab!  I bet Bowser's got a boatload of loot just a door away!"

     He pushed the button, and suddenly alarms began blaring.  Lights flashed bright red everywhere, and a notice appeared on screen that said "Minutes Remaining Until Lava Pool Fills this Room: 4.

     "Well, now you've done it!" Waluigi practically jumped up and down in rage.  "Why can't you just follow instructions?  You've set off the booby trap!  Now we're both going to die outside of our own time!"

     "Shaddup!" Wario barked back in response.  Among Wario's few good qualities was the ability to become intensely focused after making a critical mistake.  He had already navigated to the 'Castle Operations' menu and found a 'Doors and Locks' option.  Suddenly he was presented with a password request.  Now it was his turn to rage.

     "Blasts and flaming curses!  Why didn't that Red Yoshi give us a password!?"

     "He expected us to do the right thing the first time, probably!" barked Waluigi in response.

     The Mario Bros. looked out upon the ocean as they dangled their feet from the dock.

     "You think we'll find our way home soon?" asked Luigi.  "I'm kind of a-stumped."

    Mario didn't answer.  He was a little homesick, but he knew his brother's voice meant he was frightened, and he wasn't sure what comforting word he could say.

    "You might, yet," came a voice from behind.  Startled, the two turned around, but there was no one there.

     "Sounded an awful lot like Yoshi, but that's impossible!" remarked Luigi.  "He can't be here yet, and he'd have recognized us if he was!"

     Mario leaned back and tried to remember a dream he thought he'd once had.  The voice was a lot like Yoshi's, but it sounded different - older, wiser, kinder, sadder.  He pondered, but couldn't place it, and at last placed his hand on Luigi's shoulder.

     Wario tried combination after combination.  Nothing worked.  The room was beginning to heat up, and the magma was becoming visible from the far side of the room.  The door, locked from the outside, wouldn't budge, even when both of them heaved all their strength against it.

     Suddenly Waluigi looked up with a stunned expression and began rubbing his hands gleefully.  "I've got it!"

     "What?  How?"

     "It asked for a password!"

     "So, if you're building a castle on foreign soil, what kind of names do you use for your stuff?"

     "I probably names related to the area I'm in.  Why?"

     "Because Bowser would likely do the same!" The counter was at forty-five seconds now.  "He would use a password indicative of the island and its inhabitants!  The password is 'Yoshi!'"  

     "That's ridiculous!  It's too easy, too simple, not devious enough!"

     "JUST TRY IT OR WE'RE BOTH GONNA FEEL IT IN A MOMENT!"

    Wario turned to the kiosk and punched in Waluigi's suggestion, then stood with dropped jaw as the kiosk flashed an acceptance message.  It then displayed several buttons about doors, one of which was 'Permanent Castle Lock Break (for Emergencies Only)'.  He pushed it with seven seconds to go.  Suddenly the orb became so brilliantly bright that the light illuminated the entire room.

      At the same time Mario and Luigi sat stunned as the world around them seemed to dissolve away into darkness.  A second later their living room seemed to flash back into view.  They were standing exactly where they were when the argument with Wario and Waluigi began, and Wario and Waluigi were too.  The orb was gone.  They all looked around stunned until Wario said with a huff "I'm going home."  Waluigi followed him out the door and the Bros. looked at each other for a second before breaking out laughing.

     "I guess we can start that yard sale now, right?" Luigi asked.

     Mario nodded.  As Luigi started handing him boxes he suddenly paused.

     "Hey, Mario!  Do you hear a sort of wheezing, groaning sound?  I think it might be time to clean the pipes!"

     Mario shook his head and smiled.  "See you next time," he whispered.

Vol. 6, Ch. 7 - Turn for the Burst.

     "Believe it or not, you two aren't here by accident.  At this time in your lives Mario has actually just met you, Wario, and Luigi hasn't met you at all.  Neither one of them has met Waluigi."

     "So?" snarled Waluigi.  "What makes you think we care?"

     "You have to sabotage Bowser's Castle."

     Wario glared with rage and surprise.  "Right.  Sure.  What-a makes you think we have any interest in doing that?"

     "I didn't say you had an interest.  I said you have to do it.  You and Waluigi must find a way to disable the locks on the doors to the castle.  That's the only way Mario and Luigi can get inside."

     "Who cares if they get inside?"

     "If they don't, rescuing the Princess will be next to impossible."

     "What makes you think Bowser locks his doors?" snapped Wario.

     "Don't be silly, Wario.  If you had a dungeon full of treasure would you leave everything unlocked?"

     Wario's eyes widened.  "You mean there's treasure here?"

     "Now hold on, I didn't say-"

     "Where is it?"  As Wario edged closer to the slightly nervous looking Yoshi, Waluigi gazed at the orb he held.  It shone like a beacon in that dark dungeon, and suddenly Waluigi had an extreme urge to seize it.  He grabbed at it but their dinosaur companion spotted the move and jumped over the duo's heads, landing safely a few feet away.

     "I'm quicker than that, fellows.  You'll need to try harder if you're going to outsmart Bowser and his minions.  It's just as well," he added, looking at the orb, "that you didn't touch it, Waluigi.  It would have hurt quite a bit if you had."

     "You tell us where we find treasure," said Wario, "and we'll blow this castle up if that's what it takes."

     Now it was the Yoshi's turn to look stunned.  "NO!  For heaven's sake, don't blow up anything!  This castle collapses, and everyone inside goes with it.  You, the Princess, Bowser, the Koopa Troop the whole shebang will go sha-BOOM!"

     Waluigi sneered at him.  "So, Yoshi, you won't tell us anything about treasure, or the castle, or why you brought us here?  You just want us to spring you out!  That's it, isn't it?  You aren't worried about Mario or Luigi or Peach or anyone but yourself!"

     The Yoshi looked at Waluigi, his eyes suddenly flashing with anger, and opened his mouth as if to speak.  The room filled with a blinding light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.  The two stared at their Red companion fearfully, only he seemed to have turned golden.  Then, just as suddenly, all the light suddenly went back out, and the again Red Yoshi paused a moment, whispering to himself.  "That's not what I was taught, was it?  Never strike without need and never be cruel...those are the lessons I learned.  I doubt he'd like it if I it forgot on the very first try."  With an effort he straightened himself and looked at the two, the rage gone from his eyes and replaced with a quiet kindness.  "Believe me," he said in a gentle tone, "I can leave here whenever I want.  I'm not trying to fool you.  I'm trying to help you.  For your sake, as well as everyone else's, you've got to break this castle's locks."

     The two looked at one another.  Neither one liked the idea of rampaging around Bowser's castle in broad daylight, but the idea of staying around this strange Red Yoshi was just as unsettling.  With a shared nod they turned back to him.

     "We'll do it.  Where do you want us to start?"

     "That is up to you.  By disabling the locks in the castle you will gain your freedom from this dungeon, and as soon as you're back in the daylight this orb will take you back where you came from.  See that you complete your task!  Stray from your course, and I cannot say what will happen- but it will be terrible!"  He shuddered, then looked at them again.  "I can not stay longer- the danger increases the longer I remain here.  I will hand you the orb, Waluigi.  I wish you both the best.  Farewell!"

     They blinked, and he was gone.

     "When I said we needed to get going, Mario, I forgot to ask where we would go."

     The Mario Bros. were running in the opposite direction from which they'd come, trying to make space between them and the Bros. they knew would appear any minute at the point where they had placed the block.

     Mario didn't answer.  He was distracted by the sound of the same wheezing, groaning noise he'd heard on the island once before.