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blluntrotation · 26 days ago

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Weapons World Chap 1 (A Rude Welcome)

Have you heard the legend,

about the seven stars?

How a giant sword fell from the sky,

and scattered them near and far?

Freakish soldiers forged from the king,

Poured from the gate.

They spread chaos across the land,

Made from iron and fueled by hate.

But the king had been opposed,

By a man clad in red.

With his little army of five,

Through the factory they tread.

An enormous explosion,

Blew through from the factory’s core.

And the king and his many heads,

Were no more.

The eyes of the factory,

Saw the battle unfold.

And now the heroes triumphant story,

Had now been told,

To the misfits and weirdos,

Of the kingdom lost and forgotten.

And it soon reached the ears,

Of another ruler, twice as rotten.

Their new agenda,

Now focused on the alien world.

Had planned something devilish,

A terrible scheme to unfurl.

And I think,

The time is ideal,

To tell you some stories,

From the kingdom of steel.

“Looks like another clear day… I guess I can go out for a walk or something. Still not sure yet.”

Mallow looked out the window from the statue room, leaning against its frame. It was yet another lovely day at Nimbus Land; clear blue skies, little to no wind, not too hot or cold. All the citizens were on the merry way doing their chores or engaging in conversations. Occasionally, folks from the Earth below would arrive and join in. Mallow always enjoyed meeting folks from all over the Mushroom Kingdom. Heck, there were even times when Princess Peach would stop by and he and his parents would have a pleasant time drinking tea and discussing important royal matters. (Or at least the adults would, Mallow was still trying to understand all the ins and outs of being a prince) There were even times when he would go to Tadpole Pond just so he can spend time with the Frog Sage. Even if they aren’t related by blood, Frog Sage would always consider Mallow his grandson, to which Mallow would always be thankful for him for.

But even then, he would have those days where he just felt bored.

It had been roughly half a year since that amazing adventure; defeating the nefarious Smithy Gang, and restoring the Star Road and all of the Mushroom Kingdom’s wishes. Now don’t get Mallow wrong. He was very happy with the life he had found. He was super happy he found his real parents. And he couldn’t be happier that things were at peace. I suppose the real reason he has these feeling from time to time is that he’s missing someone really important to him.

Mallow’s attention then turned to the golden statues that Garo made. All of them sparkled and gleamed from the sunlight through the windows. One statue in particular he focused on was the doll looking one. Facing forward, with a determined look on his face, the statue of Geno stood. Looking at it though made Mallow feel slightly melancholy.

Mallow is very aware that Geno had a duty to protect Star Road, but he couldn’t help but miss him dearly. He knows he can’t just pry Geno away from his job, as that would be a pretty selfish reason for doing so. But still, Mallow missed his wise musings, his amazing magic and guns, and how much of a big brother he felt to Mallow.

Just as he was about to leave and walk about the castle, a small flash of light from outside caught the corner of his eye. Mallow looked out the window again and scanned the sky. Finally he saw three small objects floating in the sky, or rather swimming in the sky? As Mallow squinted his eyes, the shapes started to remind him of the jellyfish near Seaside Town only… very odd looking. White and shiny, but their tentacles looked… inorganic, like flayed wires?

Before Mallow could even respond, the objects darted towards his direction at an unbelievable pace. Before he knew it, Mallow had ducked away from the window with his arms over his head, just as they crashed through the glass, spreading shards of glass and frame pieces everywhere. After the debris settled, Mallow looked up, only to see a trio of… very weird looking jellyfishes. Actually they looked akin to the small pieces from chess (Mallow wasn’t quite sure what they were called as never knew how to play chess, he was more of a checkers kind of kid). Their round heads sword left and right feverishly as they floated ominously, their red eyes emitting a red sort of light, as if scanning everything that came into view. Finally, all eyes and lights were on Mallow. They scanned… and scanned… until…

*BLEEP* *BLIP* TARGET CONFIRMED! *BLEEP* INITIATE CAPTURE! *BLIP* *BLORP*

Suddenly, one of the jellyfish lunged at Mallow, tentacles (that DEFINITELY looked like wires now) bared in front. Mallow panicked at the sudden intrusion and attack. He quickly grabbed some of the glass and frame pieces and threw them at the barreling creature. But it only managed to slow the thing down just a tad, but enough for Mallow to get out of the way. He looked around the statue room frantically. In the corner was his Sage Staff, the very same his Grandfather used when he was a child. With the robotic fish distracted, Mallow made a mad dash and grabbed his staff. Now full of determination, he aimed his staff towards the intruder.

“You better leave now! I got weather magic, and I’m not afraid to use it!” Mallow warned.

The warning fell on deaf ears, as the robot lunged at the prince once again. Mallow stood his ground and aimed his staff, unleashing a powerful bolt. It struck the robot, making is spasm and quake violently, but it quickly getting back up, frightening red electricity began to spark from the tentacles. It wrapped around Mallow’s wrist, and suddenly Mallow felt a painful burn. He yelped in pain as he tried to pull away, but the bot’s grip was pretty strong. With no signs of its grip weakening, Mallow chanted under his breath, unleashing a flurry of snow. The bot was caught in the chaotic wind and rolled up into a giant snow man. As the snow golem dispersed, so did the bot smacking against the wall, bolts and screws flying out of it in every direction. It slumped down and went silent. Mallow grunted triumphantly, but the feeling of victory was short lived as he forgot that there were more than one of those weird robots. He turned around, but they were nowhere to be found. Mallow felt his panic grew as he made a quick dash to the only open exit out of the statue room. He ran through the halls as fast as his little legs would let him with sweat beginning to form on his forehead…

“EEEEEEK!”

Mallow’s heart skipped a beat as he heard the familiar voice of his mother, quite clearly distressed. He ran towards the source; the throne room, and busted through the doors. He saw a very frightful sight: his father and mother tied up by the other two robots looking overwhelmed, the bots’ gazes darted toward Mallow, their tentacles now wielding syringes full of a grim looking liquid. Mallow was frozen in place.

“Dad! Mom!” Mallow cried out as he took another step forward, but he stopped in his tracks as the bots aimed their syringes closer to his parents, making the mother yelp in fear. Just then the pointed snout of one of the bots opened up, revealing a megaphone like device hidden underneath…

*kzzzrrt* “Now listen carefully, organic. These vials contain a powerful toxin that can kill within minutes, and will cause excruciating pain as it kills the victim. If you do no want me injecting this toxin into your parents, then you will do as I say.”

Mallow was quaking in fear as he listened to the monotone voice. The description of whatever was in the syringes and the thought of his parents getting injected with such a painful, deadly toxin nearly made him sick to his stomach. He weighed his options to the best of his ability…

“…what do you want?” he asked in a small, scared voice.

*kzzzzrrt* “Put down your weapon.”

Mallow did as the voice said and laid his staff down in front of his feet.

*kzzzrt* “Now raise your arms.”

Mallow was a little confused by this request, but to avoid possibly angering it, he did as instructed. He lifted his chubby hands to the sky…

*CLANG*

Mallow was caught by surprise to see his hands were now in chunky, sturdy looking cuffs. Not only that, but by the bot he could’ve sworn he destroyed in the statue room. (They were more durable than he thought they were.)

*kzrrt* “Now you will let my bots escort you out.”

At the order, the bot placed a tentacle forcefully against Mallow’s back, as if to get him walking. Mallow looked at his parents worriedly, whom sere still tied up by the other bots. Mallow sighed in defeat, and let the bot lead the way.

“Please! What are you gonna do to him!?” His father cried.

*kzzzrt* “That is not of your concern.”

Mallow was taken back by how blunt and careless that retort was, but he had to obey that voice. He was lead out of the throne room and through the halls.

*kzzzrt* “And remember, if you try any funny tactics, I will not hesitate in giving my bots the order to inject.”

Mallow winced, he was thinking of attempting some lightning magic of sorts, but he couldn’t if that put his parents at risk. Pretty soon, he was out of the castle an in the courtyard. The bot tossed two strange looking spheres in the air, and within seconds they formed an electric square frame. A dark portal began to form within the frame.

…a very familiar dark portal.

Eventually Mallow was ushered through the portal.

The room he entered was dark and dimly lit with many flickering screens. The air felt cold and thin, and the walls were covered in pipes and metal plates as was the floor. Next to the portal stood a large panel with many buttons and switches, with screens flickering all sorts of graphs and numbers. Behind the panel was someone… or something. It looked like the castle piece from a chess board. It toward over Mallow with piercing white eyes.

“You have made a wise choice. Now follow me.”

The giant ushered Mallow towards the open entryway. It clutched Mallow’s head, rather tightly.

“And remember, my bots are still with your parents. I can still give the word if you try anything rash.”

They lead Mallow out of the portal room and through the metallic halls of… wherever they were. The halls, like the portal room, were covered in pipes and panels, with occasional button panels alongside the doors. The ceiling lights would occasionally flicker and sometimes he could hear the hum of electricity or air flowing though the pipes. Once in a while, Mallow would spot a window, but every time he looked out all he could see was the familiar dark blue fog. Eventually, they stopped at a big door. It slid open. The giant room was dimly lit in an ominous red light, giant screens covered the walls, some showing various old buildings, some showing graphs and walls of texts, and then some of them were showing images of him and his friends. Some with a giant ‘X’ over them or a giant ‘?’. Near the back of the room was another control panel, and something enormous hunched over it. Small wires emerged from it, wavering about and pressing random buttons or inserting themselves into screens.

“I have one of the organic perpetrators in hand, sire”

The castle creature pushed Mallow forward. Mallow winced at the sudden aggression and began to shiver a little as he saw a head peer over from behind the lurking form.

Then it slowly turned around.

Mallow jaw slowly fell as the bulking mass slowly inched forward from the shadows. It wore a fancy looking crown and was draped in white cloaks. Giant cables dragged the being forward, making him slither, almost like a snake standing up. Weird pieces of machinery stuck out of its hunched back and hummed and buzzed. Its small yellow eye pierced through Mallow, and then… his neck began to stretch out with his head moving closer to Mallow’s face, again much like a snake. Its head was only a few inches from Mallow’s face, which had begun to seat. The being tilted its head from side to side, as if curious, its eye growing and shrinking. Until finally, pulling back…

A cable hovered over Mallow and was carefully placed on his forehead. Suddenly, it began to glow, and Mallow began to feel a sharp pain go through his head, almost like a migraine. He groaned and seethed until the cable lifted up, and pulled what looked like orbs or light from Mallow’s forehead. Mallow yelped in pain as each orb left his head, until finally he slumped over backwards, dizzy from the pain. The mechanical mass held the orbs in its hand like wires.

“LIGEFORM NERFED. ADD THESE TO MY BISHOPS, PROFESSOR DERECHO.”

The other giant, who Mallow know knew was name Derecho, put a firm grip on top of Mallow’s head.

“What shall we do with him, sire?”

“TAKE HIM TO CELL BLOCK 3-14. WE WILL HAVE HIM TRANSFERRED TO THE IRON GRIP IN DUE TIME. HOWEVER, WE MUST KEEP HIM HERE FOR NOW. I HAVE OTHER PLANS FOR HIM.”

“Understood, sire.”

Derecho pulled Mallow towards the exit, to what he was assuming the prison cells.

Mallow was shoved into a dingy looking cell. Walls and floors made of concrete with a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, and a bed and sink in the respective spots. Before Mallow could turn around, the cell door shut behind him. Derecho placed her hand on the panel near Mallow’s cell. It blipped and bleeped until a locking noise was heard. Derecho then turned to Mallow, with a pen looking device in her hand, and then pressed the button.

“If it is any consolation, I am bringing back my Knights, so your parents are safe. For now that is.”

And with that, she walked away. Once she was gone, Mallow walked towards his cell door. All he could see were five floors of cell doors and stairs to each floor. The ceiling appeared to be made of glass, and still all he could see was the blue fog. Mallow grunted in frustration, now that his parents were safe, what was stopping him now? With that, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate hard, and then…

“Star Rain!”

…

…wait. How did it go again?

Mallow tried his darnedest to remember how to cast the Star Rain spell, but he couldn’t remember anything about the spell, only its name. The harder he tried, the more his head began to hurt. So for the time being, he decided on another spell.

“Snowy!”

…

…why couldn’t her remember that one either??

Mallow became frantic, trying desperately to remember any of his spells. But all he could remember was his simple Lightning spell. But why? How could he forget all his magic spells?

“LIFEFORM NERFED.”

Mallow remember that line from the big monster, and those colorful orbs of light that came from his forehead.

“Did he… did that guy take my spells??” Mallow muttered to himself. It seemed the case, the fact he was dubbed nerfed, weakened.

“That guy… he took my spells! I worked so hard to learn those and he just steals them in like a few seconds. That’s so… lame.”

Mallow slumped against the wall overwhelmed. He was in handcuffs in a prison with hardly any magic. This was more excitement than he would’ve wanted, now he just wishes he could take back what he wished for. Just then, her heard one of the many cell doors open. Mallow shuffled over to see what was happening, he saw another giant robot that looked like Derecho, but the gestures and postures seemed off, almost a lot more casual and relaxed. This might’ve been a different lackey. And they appeared to have more of those jellyfish looking bots who have just tossed someone in. Mallow squinted his eyes to make out who got imprisoned, and soon they became as wide as dinner plates when he saw who it was.

“Please! I wanna go home! I sacred!”

Gaz’s tiny voice rang from the cell across from Mallow’s. The little toad was sitting on the floor, clutching his doll for dear life, looking like he was about to start crying.

“I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry! Can I go home now? Please??”

The giant slammed his hand against the cell door, making a sound CLANG.

“Shut your trap, kid! If you want your hiney in tact, you better start cooperating with us by telling us where HE is!”

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Gaz whimpered.

“Listen kid, the last thing you wanna do in be an inconvenience to us Rooks. We can snuff out chumps in a heartbeat. So you better start talking. Right. Now.”

Mallow could feel his anger start to bubble over. It was one thing to blackmail him into coming here, but now they kidnapped Gaz. Mallow banged his cuffs on his cell door.

“You leave him alone!” Mallow yelled “He has nothing to do with whatever this is!”

“CAN IT, COTTON WAD! I’M INTERROGATING HERE”

…

“ENOUGH.”

The Rook flinched at the sound of that voice.

“Ah… of course, my lord. My bad. I got a little heated back there didn’t I?”

“SILENCE”

The giant cable mass creature had slithered its way into the prison, alongside another Rook. It looked inside the cell, at Gaz. Its neck stretched out and closed in on Gaz, who was shaking in fear. Out of its back, a TV screen unfolded itself and faced Gaz.

“IDENTIFY.”

Gaz tilted his head confused.

“…WHO IS THIS?”

Mallow could see some wires fiddling around with the screen, after a few seconds Gas’s eyes perked up.

“Geno?”

“SO YOU KNOW THE IDENTITY OF LIFE FORM 0-3.”

The Rook next to the cable mass produced some thin strings with little suction cups at their ends. The wires attached themselves to Gaz’s mushroom head.

“STATE HIS LOCATION.”

“I-I don’t know, he left to get star pieces, a-and he came back like this! Honest!” Gaz confessed while showing him a very familiar doll. The mass turned to the Rook.

“CONCLUSION, APEGA.”

Whirs and blips can be heard until the Rook, Apega, muttered “Checks out, my lord.” It seemed like it was a lie detector test they did, and it seems like they were trying to find Geno. The second Rook groaned.

“Ugh! We’re still not any closer to finding this bozo.”

“PATIENCE, DR. MARROW. WE HAVE CAPTURED 3 OUT OF 5, WE WILL FIND THE OTHERS”

Mallow winced at the statement. Three out of five? He was part of a five man team. Who else got captured? And what was on that TV screen they showed Gaz?

The cable mass stretched out a cable arm and yanked the Geno doll out of Gaz’s arms. It blinked at the doll curiously, his eye contracting and expanding. And finally, handing over the doll to the Rook, AKA Dr. Marrow.

“PUT THIS IN STORAGE ROOM 24.”

“Why bother keeping a toy?”

“…”

“Ah right, sorry, my lord.”

Dr. Marrow quickly left with the Geno doll in hand. Pretty soon, all of the big monsters had left, and all that was left was Mallow and Gaz.

“Are you OK, Gaz?” Mallow yelled from his cell, “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No… I don’t think so! Where are we?”

“Uh… good question! But don’t worry! We’ll get out of here! …somehow…”

Although, that was a heck of a promise Mallow made. He wasn’t sure how to get himself out of his own cell, let along get Gaz out as well…

…no! No! He can’t think like that! There had to be a way.

Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a white gloved hand waving to him from his left side, 3 cells down. He heard a low *pssst*. The voice sounded pretty familiar.

“…Mario?” Mallow asked quietly.

The glove responded by giving a thumbs up. Mallow felt a spark of joy and hope, now knowing Mario was here, meaning there IS a way out now.

“I’m glad to see you! Uh… you wouldn’t happen to have a plan on busting out, would you?”

The glove tapped the cell door bar thoughtfully for a minute, then it began tapping on the button panel next to the door. Then began pointing at Mallow’s cell door. Mallow did his best to look at his panel. But he knew what Mario meant; they needed their codes. But how to get them… It was then Mallow noticed a much smaller bot walking along the cells on their floor, looking like another chess piece. Mallow wondered, maybe it knew the codes. Mallow pondered some more… does he still know how to do that spell?

…

“Thought Peak.” Mallow whispered. Focusing his magic onto the walking droid as it walk past…

“0123…6391…4921…3029… 9875… 1945…3176…2909…”

“Bingo!” Mallow thought to himself, and waited for the droid to float past them and make their way down the stair to the next floor under. Once he was out of sight, he typed in the code for his cell, and will a blip and bleep the cell door unlocked.

“Mario! 3029! That’s your code!” Mallow whispered loudly.

Mallow smiled as the door opened, and he made a quick dash towards Mario cell as the plumber typed in the code, and with another blip and bleep the cell door unlocked. Mallow’s grin grew bigger at the sight of one of his old friends. He wouldn’t hesitate in giving Mario a big hug then and there, but now wasn’t the time! They were on a mission to escape. Mario though sense his little fluffy friend’s enthusiasm, and gave his a gentle pat on the head, making Mallow smile a big ol’ smile.

“Come on, Mario! We gotta get Gaz out of here!” Mallow exclaimed as they both exited Mario’s cell.

“Fiddle sticks! All this trouble of sending knights through our portals, and for what? A measly wooden doll?”

Dr. Marrow mumbled to himself as he and a few of his knights walked to one of the many, many storage rooms with the Geno doll in his grasp. He approach a large safe with a round door, opened it up, and chucked the doll inside. Then he turned to his knights.

“You two! Guard this room! I gonna recharge with some olive oil.”

And with that, Dr Marrow left, leaving the two knights with the giant room full of steal plated boxes, important documents, and of course the large safe. Even so, it was quite a shame none of them, not even Dr. Marrow, noticed a small glow zipping and flying through the small crevices and into the safe. Suddenly, the two knights hear a strange sound coming from within the safe. They observe the safe door curiously until they, along with the dafe door itself, was blown away by a blast of blinding magic.

“OK, Mario. Just hold it still while I read its thoughts” Mallow said as Mario held the small droid still in front of Gaz’s cell. Mallow focused his magic on the droid and…

*DEET DOOT* DEETLEET DEET DOOT* “WARNING! TELEPATHIC POWERS DETECTED!” “DEPLOYING APPROPRIATE COUNTER MEASURES!”

Suddenly the droid’s head began to smoke something fierce, so much so that Mario had to let it go. And then the droid toppled over, unmoving. Mario gently tapped it with his foot, but it gave no response.

“Aw geez. I think he overheated himself.” Mallow said, “I can’t get the code from him like this.”

Mario sighed in frustration, as did Mallow. No code meant no easy way to open the door. Mallow shifted though his pockets to see if he has anything useful (that Derecho forgot to check, thankfully). He searched around and low and behold, he found his old Ribbit Stick. He nodded at Mario and forced his staff between the gaps of Gaz’s cell door. Then, he and Mario pushed against the stick with all their might, but the door wouldn’t budge. Eventually, they had to take the stick out, exhausted. Mario scratched his head tiredly, trying to figure out what to try next, and Mallow sat next to the door trying to catch his breath. When all of the sudden, they heard an explosion for afar. Mario and Mallow turned their heads curiously towards the direction, only to see the jail doors swing open with great force. Smoke bellowed out of the entry way, and a figure stepped out into view.

“Heh, they thought a simple safe could stop me.”

“Geno!” Mallow and Gaz exclaimed as the now fully grown star doll made quick dash up the stairs to their location. As he arrived, he looked at his familiar partners and smiled warmly.

“Although, it nice to see you guys again. I just wish it wasn’t under these circumstances.”

Mario could only chuckle at the statement and Mallow had a big smile on his face. Geno then turned his attention to Gaz, who was bouncing up and down at the sight of his hero standing in front of him.

“Are you alright, Gaz? Those fiends didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Yeah, I’m OK. But we gotta get this door open!”

“I see. I got one idea, but I need you to step away from the door”

“You got it, Geno.” Gaz said as he made his way towards the wall. Geno took a few steps back and began to charge up another magic spell. And then, he unleashed a Geno Whirl towards the door. The spinning disc of light sawed thought the thick iron bars and into the concrete wall. Mario understood Geno’s plan, and kicked the bars out of place, making a small opening for Gaz, who was quick to run out towards Geno and tightly hug his legs.

“Geno, I KNEW you’d come back someday!”

“It’s good to see you too, Gaz” Geno said as he patted the little toad’s head.”But Mario, we gotta get out of here. They’ll be back any minute.”

Mario and Mallow nodded and the four of them exited the jail room.

Through the winding tunnels of pipes and wires and lights, the group ran and ran. With each turn, with each long stretch of hallways, they weren’t any closer to finding an exit. Mario stopped the group to look at a one of the walls. There upon the wall was a map, and from the looks of it they weren’t in a castle, but a giant aircraft with four giant towers and each side with propellors on the bottom of each one, allowing this behemoth the fly. Mario carefully studied the map, looking at every possible route, until he found a decent path that seemed to lead to an exit. After that, Mario lead the group down a straightforward path and towards a heavily bolted door at the end of the hallway. Geno nodded towards Mario and began to charge up for a Geno Beam…

“URGH!”

Geno felt a sharp pain from the back of his head, and could feel something getting pulled out as a couple of wires entangle in the same glowing orbs Mallow saw before, until they grabbed three orbs and retreated backwards. The group turns around and their blood runs cold as the giant living mass of cable stood in the hallway, blocking their only other exit and holding the orbs close.

“IDENTIFIED. LIFEFORM 0-3 CONFIRMED. LIFEFORM CONFIRMED NERFED.”

Geno, still grunting in pain, attempted to perform a Geno Whirl… but alas, he couldn’t remember how to do it.

“Geno!” Mallow cried out. “Our spells! It think this guy looks our spells!”

Geno looked at Mallow flabbergasted, then he turned to Mario, who sadly nodded in agreement. To demonstrate, he attempted to launch some Fireballs, only for nothing to happen.

“…you’re telling me we got nerfed?” Geno exclaimed.

“CORRECT. I HAVE CAREFULLY STUDIED THE SECURITY FOOTAGE FROM THE FACTORY.” The mass of cables said as it started to slither closer. “THE KING MIGHT HAVE UNDERESTIMATED YOU, BUT I KNOW ALL YOUR TRICKS NOW. I KNOW ALL YOUR SPELLS, YOUR TACTICS, EVEN NOW I AM STUDYING YOUR WORLD. FROM GROUND YOU TREAD, TO YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.”

That last part sent a cold chill up the group’s spine. If this guy was willing to hurt their loved ones just to get them imprisoned, there was no telling what else he would do to their world.

“FOR NOW THOUGH, YOU WILL GO BACK TO YOUR CELLS AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS. DO NO FRET, FOR I WILL NOT KILL YOU.”

The mass lifted one of his more giant cables up and it began snaking towards the group.

*KABLAM!*

“WARNING! WARNING! UNIDENTIFIED AIRCRAFT ATTACK! PREPARE FOR COUNTER ATTACK!”

The entire hall began to shake violently, sending everyone wobbling from side to side. From outside the door, everyone could hear explosions and metal scraping against metal. A sudden blast hit the door and it ripped off its hinges and was blown away. The suction of the air caught everyone, pulling them towards the exit. Mallow was nearly sucked away, but Mario and Geno held his hand as tight as they could. Before he knew it Mallow was outside, as saw they were definitely NOT on the ground, but way up high in the sky, above dark blue clouds. He couldn’t see the ground below the clouds were so thick. And then he heard even more explosions, so he turned his head towards the source of the noise, and saw a familiar aircraft… or what was left of it.

It fired cannon balls frantically and every now and then, the laser would fire, but it seemed like it was doing nothing against the ship Mallow and his group were on. Not only that, but the smaller ship had fires breaking out in several spots, smoke billowing out of them. It looked like it was struggling just to stay airborne. Finally, another laser hit the fortress, pretty close to the group's location, causing the ship to tilt thus forcing the group out. Everyone was falling down to heaven-knows-where. Mario tried to catch up, but his leg got caught by the cable mass. It lifted Mario back up to the ship, and shot the falling trio a final glare before retreating back into the fortress. As they fell, the other ship eventually joined them to a descent into… somewhere.

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