The Smash Freshmen, Chapter Fifty-Five

The Smash Freshmen

Chapter Fifty-Five: Kitchen Island

    A slight breeze woke Mario, wafting with it the smell of tropical plants and fruit. The roar of the ocean sounded a short distance away. Mario opened his eyes to see the sun shimmering down through the canopy above. He sat up and looked around. Beside him lay Kirby, Yoshi, Ashley, and Lord Crump where they had collapsed after climbing to shore the night before. Through the small group of trees hiding them from view, Mario could see a white, sandy beach. A giant soggy robot made of cardboard lay in pieces across the sand. Out on the waves, Mario could see a distant pirate ship and a falcon-shaped spacecraft heading their way.

    “Guys, wake up,” he said, shaking Kirby and Yoshi, “we need to move.”

    Kirby and Yoshi opened their eyes groggily. They looked around for a couple of seconds before realizing the situation.

    “Right, metals,” Kirby said.

    “Crump, Ashley, wake up,” Mario said.

    Ashley woke up easily, but it took them a few tries to awaken Crump as the round, purple alien kept rolling over and mumbling, “Just a few more minutes, Grodus.” Eventually, they roused him as well, and soon the group was heading further into the trees and away from the oncoming pirates. As the pirates landed, Mario and the others perched themselves on a rocky outcropping that hid them from view. From their vantage point, they could see Link, Pikachu, Captain Syrup, and several of the S.S. Teacup’s crew disembarking. They heard Syrup order her men to “spread out and find them,” after which the metal-controlled pirates began combing the jungle along the beach.

    “They took over everyone,” Ashley said. “The whole crew.”

    “Not the whole crew,” Crump muttered.

    Mario pulled his eyes away from the scene. “Come on,” he said, “let’s find what we came here for.”

    The five turned away and made their way down from the rock. As far as Mario’s memory served, the beach behind them was known as Rice Beach. That meant that the large mountain in front of them was Mount Teapot. A large glacier rose up from the ocean to their left, while the jungle stretched on to their left endlessly, interrupted only by a wide canyon.

    “So,” Mario said, “If we were Wario on this island, where would we be?”

    “A cave full of gold,” Kirby suggested.

    “An unexplained island bank,” Crump added.

    “A palace, maybe,” Ashley said.

    Yoshi yapped a slightly obscene suggestion about Wario and Mona going natural.

    “Well, that was helpful,” Mario muttered, scratching at his chin.

    “Hey,” Kirby said, “Wasn’t there some castle on this island.”

    “Yeah,” Mario nodded. “Syrup’s old keep. It’s where she would store all of the treasure she plundered.” He looked up at Crump. “Is it still in operation?”

    Crump shook his head. “I think she abandoned it shortly after she was defeated by Wario the first time. Either way, we’ve never visited it during my time as part of her crew.”

    “When did you join?” Ashley asked.

    Crump quickly did some math in his head. “Maybe a little over a year. After I crashed back down to the surface when Mario launched me into space during the whole Thousand-Year Door thing.”

    “Oh, yeah, I did do that, didn’t I?” Mario said. “Well, the castle’s our only lead right now, I guess. It’s on the other side of the island, but I figure we can make in two hours or less.”

    The group set out through the jungle. After about twenty minutes, they came to a small river that they waded across one by one. On the other side of the river was a small stretch of trees that led to a straight drop into the canyon below. Mario peeked over the edge, only to be struck by a powerful wave of heat rising from the river of lava below.

    “Whoa,” he said, “I guess that’s why they call it Stove Canyon.”

    “Should we go around?” Kirby asked.

    “It’ll take a lot longer,” Crump said. “It looks like the fastest route would be going straight through.”

    Mario looked down into the canyon again, squinting his eyes against the heat. A small blackened path wound its way down the canyon wall, leading to an assortment of rocky islands, ledges, and bridges rising up out of the lava.

    “Wario did it once,” Mario said. “It could also help throw the metals off of our trail. They would probably expect us to go around. On the other hand, it will be much more dangerous.”

     “We’re Smash Fighters,” Kirby said. “When was the last time we cared about safety?”

    Mario shrugged. “True.”

    “I’m game,” Ashley said.

    “Me too,” Crump said.

    “Alright,” Mario said, “Into the depths of Stove Canyon we go.”

    Slowly they made their way down the narrow path. Occasionally rocks slipped under their feet, but each managed to keep their footing. As they descended, they all got progressively sweatier until they started to look a little like basted turkeys. Once they reached the bottom, Mario stopped to get their bearings. The river of lava was now so close and the heat from it so intense that Mario could almost feel his skin starting to peel. A rough and uneven path of rocks and bridges wound through the lava river ahead of them, leading to the eastern end of the island where Captain Syrup’s castle stood. Behind them, however, a thin trail ran parallel to the path going up the canyon. Mario studied the trail for a second, following it with his eyes as it snaked its way to the mouth of the canyon. Several hundred feet back it scaled the wall and broke off into several small ledges, leading up to a larger ledge before a small cave entrance..

    Mario was about to shrug it off as just some cave and turn away when a shock of red caught his eyes. Looking back at the ledge of the cave, he realized that someone was lying face-down on the black rock. Long, vibrant red hair obscured the person’s face.

    “Mona!”

    Mario pointed out the ledge to the others. Quickly, they all started to edge their way across the narrow pathway, trying hard to keep away from the flowing lava at their feet. In a matter of minutes they reached the grouping of ledges and jumped one by one across them. Mario reached Mona first and shook her.

    “Mona, wake up. It’s me, Mario,” he said.

    Ashley, Yoshi, Kirby, and Lord Crump made it to the ledge.

    “Is she alright?” Ashley asked, kneeling down next to her friend.

    “I don’t know,” Mario said. “She’s breathing, but I can’t say much more than that. Mona, can you hear me?”

    Mona’s eyes fluttered open. She stared at Mario and Ashley uncomprehendingly. She muttered something about Wario then closed her eyes again.

    “Um, does anyone else hear rumbling?” Lord Crump said.

    Mario stopped shaking Mona and listened. Crump was right. There was some sort of rumbling coming from straight ahead of them, from a large opening in the canyon wall where the lava river poured out. It was growing louder and louder.

    “Kirby,” Mario said slowly, “Would you happen to know if the first level of Stove Canyon had any major stage hazards?”

    Kirby shrugged. “I don’t know. I never played the first Wario Land.”

    “Oh, I know,” Ashley said, trying to remember, “I, um, I think it was one of those firewall levels. You know, where you have to race to the end of the level while being chased by a wall of lava.”

    Bright orange light started to emanate from the hole in the canyon wall.

    “I think we need to run,” Mario said.

    “Where?” Kirby said. “Back the way we came?”

    “No.” Mario peered into the cave beside them. A few yards inside was a special steel door designed to keep lava out. “In there, hurry!”

    Lord Crump gently lifted Mona and placed her on Yoshi’s back. The group ran into the cave just as a massive tidal wave of lava burst from the rock, consuming everything in its path. Mario pulled open the steel door just as the wave reached the cave. Holding it open, he ushered everyone quickly through and then pulled it closed behind him, a flood of lava pouring into the cave as he did so.

    Once he made sure that the door was secure, he turned to join his friends and stopped in surprise. Instead of the cave or lava shelter he was expecting, the group was instead standing in a small marble black-and-white tiled room. Jagged metal crystals jutted out of the floor in certain areas, the tiles shattered in pieces around them. The walls were a strange purple color that made Mario feel queasy. In the center of the room, hanging on the wall, was a large portrait of Master Hand clutching a Smash Ball in front of a swirling purple background.

    “It can’t be—,” Mario said.

    The black-and-white tile on the floor, the massive portrait placed as the center point of the room, all reminded Mario far too heavily of an adventure he’d had long ago, the adventure during which he first encountered Metal Mario. Mario reached out a hand to touch the portrait. He was almost unsurprised to see it ripple.