Chapter 4: The Island’s Inhabitants
Bowser’s ships arrived at the uncharted island before the sun rose to the sky. It wasn’t too dark so most was visible, but an interesting spooky tint had been given to the location. Several Koopatrols were unloading weapon supplies from the main ship onto the sandy white beach, while a foreman Goomba oversaw their work. The Goomba wore a hard hat on his head and seemed to demand respect with his demeanor. His eyes were tired-looking, with dark circles bulging underneath. His eyebrows were thick, even for a Goomba, and one of his teeth was larger than the other.
“Lift with your legs!” the Goomba spat.
Walking up next to him, the recently appointed Major Mallet grinned and clasped his favorite hammer in his claws.
“Gee, Gub, you look like you could take a nap. Why don’t you let me oversee their progress while you move to northern areas for low prescription drug costs?” Mallet snapped.
The older creature, Gub, grimaced at his superior. “You rotten punk, you weren’t any better than these knuckle-heads! Somehow you managed to climb the corporate ladder faster than I did. Everyone knows I’m more fit for a higher ranking position!”
“I managed to climb the ladder faster because Goombas don’t have arms.” Mallet snickered.
“If you were still a lowly maggot I’d revel in feeding you to the Chomps!”
Mallet waved his finger conceitedly. “Tsk, tsk, Gub. If you continue your disgruntled attitude, I’m just gonna have to report you to Lord Bowser.”
Gub growled and waddled into the ship. Mallet smiled viciously and yelled at the sleeping soldiers to get back to work.
~*~*~*~
Three figures perspired in a steamy room illuminated by a phosphorescent red glow from the ceiling. It didn’t help that the room was compact and windowless. The gentle rocking of the battleship set for a barely noticeable shift in weight in the chamber that made stomachs dance. Kamek Magikoopa swiftly removed his blue hood with his claw and pressed it against his forehead to absorb the moisture dripping from his clean scalp. To his far left sat his blood relation Kammy, fanning herself with her frivolous witch hat and sighing with a painful gurgle reminiscent of a spoon in a blender. Across the table in between the two was the sporty female of the Koopa Troop, Admiral Jade. The dark brown-haired girl had unbuttoned her green militia outfit down to the rise in her Troopa chest, almost to an inappropriate level. A most irritating buzzing sounded from a despicable black, hairy fly with a large girth that batted itself around the single red light, moving the hanging lamp back and forth so the shadows in the room were cast in different positions every few seconds. Kamek placed his elbow on the table and his face in his hand lazily, flicking his free fingers with a fiery spark, resulting in the insect’s untimely demise. It was then that Bowser entered the "conference" room.
“Hello all!” Bowser greeted warmly.
The responding greetings were less than satisfactory and at times vulgar.
“Well gee, that’s not the welcoming I was hoping to get… what’s wrong with you people?” Bowser grumbled accusingly.
“My deepest apologies, Sire, but this room is very hot and we have been waiting for over an hour now for you to arrive. May I ask what has caused your tardiness?” Kamek queried.
“Well, you see…” Bowser rubbed one arm with the other nervously. “The thing is…” He held his head down for a moment, but finally brought it up with a hand gesture and said bluntly, “I’ve got gonorrhea.”
Kamek, Kammy and Jade all reacted in the same way, placing their hands over their mouths and trying to cease from retching.
“Well ya asked! Serves you right,” Bowser said, plopping down in the head chair and grabbing a cockroach scurrying along the table at a most superb time for the king. He tore its head off with his jaws and looked around at his high-ranking officers while crunching disturbingly loud. He then proceeded to put his pet Piranha Plant on the table.
“Um, Bowser…” Kammy mentioned, “I’m not sure this room is healthy for little Ludwig…”
“Sure it is! The sun’s absent, it’s angrily hot, and it smells like rotten meat! With this kind of growing environment, he’s be sure to grow up like the first Ludwig!” Bowser exclaimed. No one responded. “Hey, where’s Jagger?”
Kamek shrugged. “Um, I’m not sure. Jade, didn’t you work with him last?”
Jade stared fixedly at the legs twitching around on the headless cockroach gripped in Bowser’s meaty man-hands. She looked away sickly and said, “Jagger? Uh, last time I saw him he was still supervising the Koopa Jet.”
Bowser made a clicking sound with his jaw. “That’s a shame. But we haven’t time to stall. Our goal is set before us, and time is of the essence!”
“You like saying that word, don’t you?” Kamek commented.
Bowser grinned, resembling a tire swing. “ESSENCE!”
“If I may ask,” Kammy squawked, “what is our goal?”
The Piket Ludwig, who had briefly been looking around the room, started snoozing with a large bubble appearing from above its lip. Bowser opened his palm in Kamek’s direction; the Magikoopa placed a rolled up parchment in his king’s grasp. King Koopa unfolded the map on the table before them and pointed his finger in the southeast quarter. “This is where we are, you can tell because we just passed the waters of Muat and Delfino. Continuing this path of course would take us south of Dinosaur Land and north of Salina. But right here, there is no island charted. This island isn’t here.” Bowser turned away from the map and stood up. “Therefore, I deduce the island must have some sort of secret, a possible benefit to our conquest.”
“King Koopa, if I may interject,” Jade interjected, “what if the island was just a mistake on the map and there’s really nothing to it?”
Bowser thought about the question. “Well it’d sure be a waste of exposition and plot-development.”
Jade cocked her head. “Excuse me, sir?”
Bowser slammed his fist on the table. “ESSENCE!!!”
“Lord Bowser, what are our exact plans regarding the island?” Kamek asked.
“We’ll send out two waves of Troopas to survey the island. I was planning to have Jagger lead one, but seeing how he’s gone, I’ll give the chance to you, Jade,” Bowser offered.
“Not to sound objectionable, but is it really proper for an Admiral to lead troops on land?” Jade questioned.
Bowser disinterestedly said, “Fine, I could really care less…”
“No!” Jade rushed. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it…”
“Great!” Bowser said with glee.
“Who’s leading the other brigade then, Colonel Sanders?” Kamek asked.
“That’d be ME, Castrada,” Bowser responded. “I’ve been cooped up in final dungeons and world 8-8s far too long. It’s time I get back out on that battlefield and take a good bite out of the turf.”
“I hear grass and dirt make for a lovely meal this time of year,” Kammy snickered.
“You’re developing quite the acid tongue lately,” Bowser smiled.
“Really?” Kammy grinned.
“Sire, what are our plans if the island is inhabited by natives or being used for a secret military facility?” Kamek inquired.
“Pshaw! Like that’s gonna happen,” Bowser laughed. “Get a load of Kamek with his science fiction mumbo-jumbo, everyone, he’s just a big nerd! Ha!”
Kamek groaned as everyone in the room started chuckling.
~*~*~*~
And now, for the long awaited arrival of the Evil Plethora Excluding All Null Uber Turtles, otherwise known as that foreboding acronym: E-PEANUT.
“Here are the plans for the secret military weapons, everyone!”
Inside a massive auditorium, seven silouhettes loomed over the meek but to-the-point speaker from a semi-circle table that rose high above the floor. The globular room was metallic in appearance, with sleek silver running along the smooth, spherical walls. Behind the shady figures at the center of the half-round table was a large, bolted door designed with a peanut-shaped emblem with a purple E plastered in the center of the yellow legume. In the center of the room, the black-cloaked Spookum grasped an opened envelope in one hand and the contents of the message in his raised hand.
The central figure at the table leaned forward with red eyes and smiled curtly. His face was tanned like the desert and his hair was a fiery orange. He was balding and had a gruff beard ending in a point. He appeared very serious and demanding, and rightly so. The man raised his hand to his face and groped at his beard, revealing a golden triangle glowing faintly on the back of his hand.
“Excellent, let’s have a see then,” Ganondorf commanded.
“Certainly, my liege,” Snifit 2 obliged, stepping forward and stretching to hand over the documents.
Ganondorf looked over the pages in his large hands and handed a few to the people at his sides. To his right sat a bloated hag that despite being large of size had no girth on her body. In fact, there was no flesh at all; she was a complete skeleton. Her dank blue dress tore at the chest and showed the heartless ribcage of the vile undead. She removed her decomposing witch hat and scratched her balding, stringy-haired skull with bony fingers. Her left eyeball plopped out from its socket and onto the document before her.
“With a closer look I can see; this project looks good to me!” Gruntilda snorted.
“Indeed! This is child’s play for my skills. It will be an easy task to complete in our master plan,” said the one to Ganon’s left. He was a tall human with an oval-shaped body and long, skinny limbs. He wore a red jacket and a black body suit underneath it. His eyes hid behind two blue-tinted spectacles balancing on a large, protruding pink nose that perched atop a scruffy mustache that spiked out of the boundaries of the man’s face. He was Dr. Robotnik, also known as Dr. Eggman. “What do you think, Wart?” Eggman asked, handing the transcripts to the freakish frog mutant next to him.
Wart snorted, looking over the pages with his squinty eyes. “Byargh, I suppose it won’t take too much effort.” Wart was a familiar face on Plit, or at least the minds of Plit’s lifeforms. He was a creature that had once inhabited the dream world Sub-con, and would have gained control of people's dreams had it not been for the feats of a certain plumber. Wart rubbed his stomach and slurped in the spittle at the corners of his mouth. “Java!”
A floating head of great size with a graying beard and greenish skin spoke grimly with an intelligent and experienced chortle. “If I may say, this is entirely unnecessary. With our current armada and weaponry we could easily dispose of this planet. Why must we be so sneaky about all of this?”
Ganondorf locked eyes with Andross. “Don’t be foolish, Lylatian. Our mission is not to obliterate, but to harvest.”
Andross scoffed but had nothing more to say.
“Quiet! All of you!” sounded a booming, losing-grip-on-sanity voice. To Gruntilda’s left sat the bearded metal monster of Plitian fame, Smithy. He lifted a finger to his lips and whispered, “They’re approaching the Tyrannosaur paddock.”
“If I may interrupt, there is another matter to attend to…” Snifit 2 informed.
King Dedede, a blue duck alien with a red robe and monstrous hammer, spoke up at the far left. “Quack, quack, quack.”
“You may speak,” Ganondorf replied.
“You may enter now,” Snifit 2 called behind him.
Stepping through an opened shaft with the same logo were three figures. Two were dressed identically with white X-emblem red body suits that covered every inch of their round physiques. White hoods, large goggles, and strange turtlenecks that connected to their body suits masked the pair’s faces. One of the two was pulling a red wagon in. The third, slightly taller figure wore a similar outfit but colored differently to show a higher ranking. His turtleneck was red colored, he wore a cape, and instead of a hood, a large purple helmet with horns. As the three entered the center of the chamber and Snifit 2 stepped out of their way, the lesser two crossed their arms on their chest mechanically beside the larger one.
“And who might you be?” Ganondorf asked.
Finally, the larger one performed the same salute. “Greetings my honorable evils. I am Lord Crump of the X-Nauts, and my leader requests admittance to your uber-cool villains club.”
“And your leader is?” Eggman inquired.
Lord Crump and his minions stepped aside so the contents of the red wagon could be revealed. Hopping madly was the damaged head of the formerly terrifying Sir Grodus. His head was shaped like a light bulb, the upper cranium had a transparent window that was cracked, and the insides were obviously mechanical. Several blinking lights flickered on and off.
The members of E-PEANUT exchanged looks with each other. Andross spoke up. “What are your credentials?”
Grunty asked, “What makes you all so keen, have you done something bad we might have seen?”
“JAVA!” Wart hissed.
Grodus’s head bounced up and down. “I am the master of the X-Nauts, the supreme species! We once tried to conquer the world by means of unearthing a demon!”
“That’s not very impressive,” Ganon said bluntly.
“What are you saying? It was a freakin’ DEMON!” Grodus bobbled.
“Demon? Ha, I’ll demon you!” Smithy replied callously.
Grodus’s head stopped bouncing. He had to think for a moment.
“Well, you were at least the final boss of the game, right?” Eggman asked.
Dedede oddly looked to the ceiling. Grodus looked to Crump. “Um…”
“Toss them with the others, 2,” Ganon ordered swiftly.
“Roger!” Snifit 2 obeyed, pulling a lever.
The floor beneath the X-Nauts split open and revealed a deep, DEEP chasm. With the utmost cartoon-y defying of gravity for three seconds, the X-Nauts fell down to their final defeat. Snifit 2 pushed back the lever and the floor was returned to normal.
“Snifit 2, contact our client and tell him we agree to his proposition,” Ganondorf said.
“Aye, aye!” Snifit 2 saluted and left through the exit.
“I will get to work immediately on this,” Dr. Eggman insisted.
Ganon nodded and waved his hand, telling the professor to go. “Very well; the rest of you, we have some visitors to attend to…”
~*~*~*~
The twin squadrons of Terrapin warriors, Koopatrols, Goomba guards and Lakitu flyers were assembled on the white beach. In front of one, Admiral Jade stood prepared for her first land-oriented mission. The silence was broken when the King of the Koopa burst forth from the depths of the Gargantuan in his sweet ride, the Koopacopter. He roared and laughed with an unscathed vigor. His flying machine might have squashed the pitiful peons below him had the propeller not started functioning. He flew ahead of his squadron and belched out a cloud of fire.
“All right, everyone! Let’s storm this island, I’m sure there’s an interesting artifact or wondrous treasure to be found. Snoop and snoop well.” Bowser turned to Jade in front of the second squadron and nodded. “Saddle up everyone and let’s get this moveable feast underway!”
Bowser floated ahead of his legion and headed in the direction of a sporadic jungle. Jade turned to her posse and waved her arm to beckon them after her. She led them toward a more rocky terrain on the other side of the island. As the armies disappeared into the island, Kamek stood at the galleon of the Gargantuan and sighed.
“Well, well, what do we have here? It seems you’re lonely for your master, how cute!”
“Quiet, Vermik, I sensed you when you arrived,” Kamek snarled.
A nearby seagull mutated in a leap from its perch and transformed into the black-robed Magikoopa, Vermik. The vile chameleon laughed at Kamek, showing his sharp teeth and acidic demeanor.
“A bit touchy today, aren’t we?” Vermik snickered.
“You know very well what my concern is coming from, as does my cousin,” Kamek responded.
Vermik chuckled playfully. “Oh, are you so sure? I’m not quite the grand wizard you and your…” Vermik paused with a smile, “…cousin… are.”
“Then leave me in peace and go enhance your skills, I haven’t time to waste on you,” Kamek spat, stepping away from the balcony and heading for the interior of the ship.
“Is that so? I didn’t know you were on any schedule, Kamek,” Vermik said coyly.
“Oh yes, you see,” Kamek sneered back at Vermik. “Time is of the essence.”
~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Clever Guy had returned to his laboratory facility on the Delga submarine and was currently blasting through some equations and theories on his latest project when something caught his attention on one of his monitors.
“Well, this is certainly an unexpected turn of events…”
The screen showed a sonar image of the docked Koopa fleet. A wave of oncoming dots began to swarm and surround the battleships, closing off all exits from the island’s bay and any chances of escape…
Chapter 5: The Breaking of Evil
For the next three days, all was silent at the Soshi Stronghold. No one dared leave their quarters, and if they did, they tiptoed and “Silent Snaked” their way down the halls. The storm cloud above was in a constant downpour with no lightning for the first two days. As scary as this was, the most frightening weather showed up on the third day. It was a clear day. The sun was visible, the tropical birds were chirping, and a distant island beat could be heard. No one was quite sure how or why, but each of the Terrorites knew that Chef Torte and the island’s weather had some strange connection… so this was completely baffling to them all. One such understudy of the foreign baker finally got the nerve to check on his master. Despite the imminent bruises he was guaranteed, the Apprentice felt a deep concern for Chef Torte.
The young and timid Koopa shuffled out of his room nervously. He swiveled his head in either direction to see if anyone was in the area. With no one in sight, Apprentice closed his door behind him and journeyed into the disrupted lair in search of the answers to the mysterious weather. First he went and checked on the villain’s quarters. At first he knocked, knowing it was insanity to walk in unannounced. However he took a courageous chance and stepped into the room after his fifth knocking went unanswered. To his surprise, the room was empty. Chef Torte was nowhere to be seen. Even his computer was off. Apprentice sighed and scratched his chin, closing the door.
The next place he entered was the kitchen. Perhaps Chef Torte was simply finding pure joy in his craft? Apprentice walked precariously into the culinary chamber, hoping to find his long-lost, only slightly mad teacher stirring up a stew. His hopes of course were dashed; it seemed there would be no going back to those happy days. The Apprentice sighed and went to look in other places.
~*~*~*~
A time later the Koopa returned to the Main Chamber. Not in his room, the kitchen, the arena, the basement, the lobby, the tower’s top, the lab, the garage, or the lavatory! It seemed Chef Torte had completely disappeared. Apprentice started to worry, but then danced around the thought and pondered if it were such a bad thing to have his master leave. He stood there for a few minutes in silence, when the door behind him opened. The Apprentice turned and found the Shy Guy donned in laboratory wear gloomily slip into the room, a pipe poking from the cleavage of his lips. As he walked a trail of bubbles followed him. Genius Guy stopped only once in his promenade across the chamber, at the window. The golden rays of the fresh sun bathed him in a mystic aura. Apprentice thought secretly that Genius Guy resembled an angel or something, with the golden glow enveloping him. He couldn’t help but quietly chuckle at the thought of Genius Guy with a harp and feathered wings. Through his black eyes Genius Guy peered at Apprentice. The two locked gazes and for a time nothing happened. Eventually Genius Guy let a few bubbles fly out and then he proceeded to shuffle to the lobby door. Apprentice hung his head low and walked in the opposite direction.
Stepping lightly into the lobby area, Genius Guy reached for a pre-filled cup of Java in the Coffee Maker 3000 module to the right of the door. He slurped down the intensely hot drink and fell into a barstool at the lobby counter. There he sat and drank his single cup of coffee for hours. Sometime during the Shyster’s consumption of coffee, the Grand Glum Reaper hovered into existence. His eyes were still piercingly green, but a certain luster had gone missing. The violet-cloaked phantom floated around as if searching for his lost glow. The scythe it normally carried was also absent, and the free arms hung like dead weight at the Reaper’s sides. He burrowed into the floor and swam into the basement, where the scattered board games that his two comrades had been occupied with just two moons ago lay. The Grand Glum Reaper, defeated, slowly dissipated into the air after finding nothing.
Coming from the next room, the formerly hidden shrine, was a shuffling/scraping sound. Inside the red-robed Magikoopa was found dragging the rubble and debris from the devastated room for no apparent reason. His eyes were sad and fearful behind his reflective glasses that shined in the light. His breaths came in sharp, jagged inhales, and lurching exhales that strained every muscle. Sweeping the floor, he brushed off the dust of a ripped photograph. Squinting behind his spectacles, Changling kneeled down to view it. He nearly lost it when he saw the image. This, among all his beloved treasure of Rouge the Bat, just the fact that this picture had made it into this chamber, it made the magic user at once delighted and yet also feel an ultimate emptiness. His weakness was shown when a teardrop splattered on the split face of Embert T. Podoboo, and ran down it until it fell into oblivion. Changling bit his lip and placed the torn picture of the Team of Terror in his pocket.
~*~*~*~
Embert T. Podoboo sighed. He had lost count of the days. He was pretty sure he’d only been gone two nights, making this day three, but he was weary from sadness and the odd atmosphere of being away from home was very upsetting for the fiery devil. It had almost been the death of him when he had to leave his childhood home of the Barrel Volcano a few years back. Finally, when he had gotten comfortable and found another group of people he could love and trust, it had all broken apart. Still, it could be worse.
Embert studied the horizon. He was looking to the south, which wasn’t the direction of Soshi, but he didn’t know that and it really didn’t matter. The pyrosphere sniffled and hopped along the diamond sand that normally would have delighted the fireball with its warm touch. The sky was a phosphorescent collision of orange, yellow, and pink. In the east a slowly building haze of purple and cobalt was beginning to show itself with polka-dotted stars. There was no moon. Embert arrived next at the crash sight, where the unfortunate Whomp was stuck. The massive cement block was stuck upside down in the sand, buried deep. He couldn’t see, but his mouth was above the surface. What a shame it was that Embert didn’t have any useful tools to help dig up his last friend. But he had someone to talk to. It could be worse.
The gentle breaking of the white waves on the even whiter sand was unsettling in the sense that you were so far from what you came to know as civilization. It made one crave for their mother, to be held again. Embert never got to be held, but such is the luck of a limb-less organism. During this tough time, Embert knew he had to remain strong. If he lost it there’d be no hope. For the first three days he had been reluctant to venture into the island’s spooky jungles in search for help. But the fireball made a conscious decision that tomorrow he was going to face his fears and do what he needed to do, even without Whomp. He just wished he could have someone to talk to on the trip. Embert looked to the sun and thought, it could be worse.
~*~*~*~
The island was empty. For the first time birds chirped in the trees and flew in frenzies through the air, chasing one another playfully. The island was cold. The golden god above shined down with great force more than ever before. The rays of sun swept across the tropical paradise like the eyes of parents on a newborn babe. The island was familiar. Echoing flaps of large wings thundered in the air as a blue figure soared around the locale for the umpteenth time. Soshi’s clawed feet grasped the edge of the cragged rim surrounding the top tower. He sighed and folded his wings, stepping off the edge and placing himself onto the flat surface. A breeze passed by, so hot that any normal person would have perspired enough to fill a bathtub twice. However it gave an icy lick to Soshi. He shivered at the gust and hugged himself for warmth. This was not the first time he had felt this, this loneliness. This feeling of knowing there’s nothing left for you. In his mind, he replayed it over and over every day. But since he had joined the Team of Terror, it had become much easier to cope with. Now the gut-wrenching feeling had returned, only three times as painful. Soshi’s stomach wrestled with his intestinal track. He felt his throat expand and flood with bile. His claws came upward to his chest where the gripped tightly, almost painfully. It looked as if the dragon was trying to split open his ribcage for a moment. His wings broke from their relaxed positions and outstretched greatly, almost to a breaking point. Soshi’s tail wagged back and forth fiercely. White foam etched from the sides of his jaw, while his pupils dilated and fogged over. His strong, muscular legs gave out and Soshi collapsed onto the cold stone…
~*~*~*~
It was the next day. Gathered in the Main Chamber, for what might be the last time, four of the remaining five members of the Team of Terror felt the breaking bond between them. They sat at the table, in their usual spots, very depressed. Some of them were in possession of a pack or suitcase full of items they owned. It was clear nothing was going to happen at the Soshi Stronghold for a long time.
“What happens now?” Apprentice asked his chums.
There was a less-than-excited or audible response. Apprentice felt ashamed for trying to speak in such bad times. He really wished to talk to his friends that he might not see ever again.
“Guys…” Apprentice spoke up again. “I don’t want this to be the end. Can’t we do something?”
Changling shook his head with crossed arms, looking down at a sack full of necessary travel items within. “Nope. He’s gone, and I don’t think he’s gonna come back.” He paused. “It’s time this moveable feast is divided. We go our separate ways.”
Apprentice wanted to cry. “B-but, where will you go?”
“Me?” Changling peeped. “I’m not sure yet. I haven’t had enough adventuring just yet, I don’t know how… but I’m gonna find someone to travel with, or someplace to go. I wish I could rejoin the ranks of Bowser’s army, but there’s no way that’ll happen…”
“And you, Genius Guy?” Apprentice asked.
Genius Guy stopped playing with his slinky. “Well I’m staying here, actually. At least for a while until I can find a new location for my studies. I’d return to my old lab in the Fungi Forest but I left the oven on and I’m sure the place is burned to the ground by now. It’s been two stories, y’know.”
“I see,” Apprentice replied. “What about you, Grand Glum Reaper?”
“…” said the Reaper, so Grand and so very Glum.
Apprentice had no idea what the spirit had meant to say but pretended to understand. He sniffed and felt the water in his eyes build.
“Where are you gonna go, Apprentice?” Genius Guy asked.
Apprentice hadn’t thought about it, really, though he had packed, and knew if he stayed here he would most certainly kill himself in the next week. He looked soulfully at his hobo-pack. “I don’t know. Somewhere I can finally perfect my craft and become a chef of my own.”
Genius Guy nodded, the Grand Glum Reaper did so as well. “That’s probably for the best,” Changling said.
“So, will we see each other again?” Apprentice mumbled, not wanting to hear the answer.
“That’s a tough call, bud,” Changling said. “I’d be sad if we never did, but I’d be lying if I thought our destinies’ paths crossed over once more.”
Apprentice grimaced. “Well, um, at least all come and see me for a free meal when I finally have a restaurant of my own!”
There was a break in the mood as the foursome was able to laugh at the comment.
“It’s a date!” Genius Guy exclaimed.
The room was flooded with light as the sun perched firmly in the upper sky. Everyone was a glistening gold when Changling stood up.
“Well everyone, it’s been swell…”
“Wait!” Apprentice shouted, standing up hastily. “What about Soshi? Should we at least try to say goodbye?”
“No,” Changling said with indifference. “I’ll regret not getting to bid him farewell, but there’s no way he’ll talk to us in his current state of mind.”
“Yeah, remember how embarrassed and frightened he was when we found him passed out last night?” Genius Guy queried.
Apprentice nodded sadly. “All right, if you see him again, Genius Guy, give him my regards and goodbye.”
“Will do, General,” saluted Genius Guy.
Apprentice smirked and picked up his sack. He followed Changling into the elevator, where they would go down to the interior docks of Isle Soshi and each take one of the sea transports left behind for emergencies. Genius Guy twiddled his thumbs and placed the slinky in his pocket, looking to the Grand Glum Reaper one last time. The dark ghost bowed his head in respect to his friend before fading away for good. Genius Guy stood silent for a moment. It hit him then:
He left the oven on in his old house. “For cryin’ out loud in a bucket!”
~*~*~*~
The Apprentice watched while Changling’s ship ventured from the coast and went in the direction of Dinosaur Land. As Apprentice untied the rope of the boat and entered the control room, he began sobbing. He placed his hands down on the control panel of the ship and starting bawling. When he slammed both fists against the panel, something painful yet familiar struck the back of his skull. After escaping his delirium, he turned around excitedly, expecting to see his master there with a vengeful smirk saying, “You idiot, I vasn’t gone; I just vent out for cereal!”
But he wasn’t there.
Apprentice rubbed his head and looked quizzically to the floor. There it was. The Apprentice held up the PAN OF PAIN in awe. Chef Torte had left, why did he leave this here?
“I will treasure this forever, Master Torte,” Apprentice whispered, placing the item in his pack. “Thank you.”
~*~*~*~
Soshi looked with dead eyes as two ships sailed in different directions on the amber sea. The scars in his soul had buried his emotions and he no longer felt sadness. He was just empty. Soshi could hear a distant voice, taunting him, but he refused to listen to it. He had heard it before when it had told him to trust the Terrapin, and he obeyed then. But now, he wouldn’t comply. In truth, he wasn’t even sure if the voice was a guiding spirit or his own thoughts echoing back to him. But it didn’t matter anymore. Soshi stood on the edge of the volcano for the rest of the day, and into the star-less night…
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