Other Fan Fiction ❯ Mario: It's all in the Hat ❯ Escape! ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6 - Escape!

 

Sitting in the corner of his cell, his head resting against the walls, Mario was unsure as to how long he had spent in the dungeon. Much longer than he'd ever been locked up before and depending on how often they brought him food in a day,(Which wasn't nearly enough.) he could have been there anywhere from ten to twenty days. It felt much more like the latter and even longer at times. His gloves were torn from his attempts at punching through the walls and covered little more than his palms and the back of his hands. His shirt and overalls were starting to look a bit ragged from his attempts at throwing himself at the walls and door, and his shoes wouldn't last too many more attempts on the aforementioned door. His normally unkempt hair was in an even worse sort than was usual, what with his hat missing and all, and he was beginning to get that scruffy unshaven look. With his captivity and the obvious lack of any escape, Mario truly felt defeated. He had never come to a point where there was no way out and he began to think that maybe this time he'd have to...

 

*CLINK*

 

Looking up Mario glanced around the small room wondering if he'd actually heard something. The answering silence was enough to convince him that it was no more than his imagination acting up on him. He desperately wanted some way out of this little cell and it looked like he wasn't going to get it. Standing up, Mario began to consider another round with the wall. Maybe he was weakening it, maybe if he just worked on it for long enough he'd find a weak point and break through. Looking down at his hands he grimaced at the sight of his gloves. They'd been through so much more in the past, he was sure of it. But maybe, this was a sign, maybe they like him had finally decided that it was about time to...

 

*CLINK, HISS*

 

What in the world was... ***BA-BOOM*** The whole world exploded. Mario was thrown to the other side of the tiny cell by the blast and nearly knocked unconscious by the force of the wall coming in at him. There was dust everywhere and Mario could barely focus, not that he could have seen much of anything in that mess. He was definitely bruised up and his head was ringing from the noise and the impact.

 

“Mario!” an extremely familiar voice shouted out to him. “It's a me, Luigi!”

 

Luigi Mario, Mario's brother and Co-Savior of all that is Toad. Sporting darker blue slacks and a green shirt and hat combo(Green goes better with blue eyes) Luigi has been there for Mario from the very beginning. Slightly taller and notably thinner, he has all the same prowess as Mario, physically. Not one for violence, Luigi tends to take a more supportive role in Mario's constant crusades against Bowser. While no pushover, Luigi isn't quite as driven as Mario, and is more likely to be found thinking his way through a situation than rushing in and hoping for the best, like his headstrong brother.

 

“Mario!? Is there a anyone here?”

 

Mario tried to reply but was unable to do anymore than moan a mostly incoherent response. As the dust settled Mario could finally see the blurry and doubled form of his brother, standing in a hole that was a new addition to the little cell.

 

“Mario?” Luigi began, “Oh, I'm a sorry, you look much like my brother. If you follow this path back, it will take a you outa the castle. I'd take you myself but I must find my brother. Good luck!” he finished as he backed himself out through the hole.

 

Mario was completely lost as to what just happened. Did he really just see his brother? Maybe he was just waking up from knocking himself out again. Yes, that made much more sense... Surely Luigi would have recognized him if he had really just shown up. He was just having another of those nightmares that had been plaguing him as of late. He was merely dreaming that his brother had blasted a hole in the wall to save him, and when he woke up, he'd be laying on the floor with his head pounding... like it was right now...

Pulling himself into a sitting position, Mario tried to stand, holding his head together, and almost stumbled over the rubble that was lying everywhere. So that part of it really happened, but who had done it? Standing up, he tried a few tentative steps, before carefully walking through the stones and over to the hole in the wall. Peering out of the hole, Mario was almost giddy at the sight of the tunnel between the cells and the stone. Glancing first one way, and then the other, Mario noticed a form leaping onto a ledge that really wasn't that high... or at least wouldn't have been, before...

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. What's happened has happened and dwelling on it wasn't going to get him out of here any quicker. Whoever that was, had just gone out of his reach for now. He'd worry about them later. Right now he was going to take the apparition's advice, and head out of the castle. Taking the passage in the opposite direction from the figure, Mario began to head(he hoped) towards the outside of the castle.

 

*****

 

 

Standing outside the cell that Mario had been in, “The” Hammer Brothers looked down at the smaller “hammer brothers” who's job it had been to watch the cell.

 

“So, tell us again how it is that Mario blew open the back of his cell and escaped without either of you hearing a thing?” Sledge, the bigger of the two already large brothers asked the trembling brothers.

 

“It's... it's like... like I said...” the first brother started, “we, we were going to fetch his lunch.”

 

“Yeah!” the other brother kicked in, “the goomba who normally comes was late, and he was sleeping, and he had been so quiet for so long, and...” he rambled.

 

“Oh would you just SHUT UP!” Jack, the other Hammer Brother shouted, bringing his large mallet down between the two smaller brother's causing them to leap apart and cower.

 

Jack and Sledge, “The” Hammer Brothers. Leaders of Koopa's elite fighting force, and the top of the chain of command in his ground troops. Their legendary skills with their hammers is a widely known fact around training halls all across the Mushroom Kingdom, and not just the recruitment halls of Bowser's Keep. Both larger and stronger than just about any other koopa out there, they wield massive hammers along with the normal array of smaller ones carried by the average hammer brother. Sporting matching metal caps, these turtle twins are truly a threat to the Mario's... well, a significantly larger threat than the average koopa anyway...

 

“Much better,” Sledge stated. “Now, we've heard your story a few times now, and it's not very helpful. What we “really” want to know is, how long ago did this happen, and what have you done about it?”

 

Gulping the hammer brothers glanced first at each other and then back at their superiors and the first one began, “Well you see, it wa...wasn't that long ago, and we figured we oughta let you know before we...” he trailed off as he noticed Jack coming closer his hammer slowly raising in his hands.

 

“Listen! It really wasn't that long ago!” the other brother shouted. “And we came straight to you as soon as we noticed. So he's probably still in the castle!” he finished in a rush.

 

Looking back at his brother Jack got a small nod from Sledge and then, moving faster than the smaller koopa could react, he swung his large hammer and knocked the stammering koopa into the other, which was followed by Sledge swinging his weapon and sending the two guards crashing into the wall, knocking them unconscious. Walking over to ensure that the two screw ups were out, Jack then beckoned to a nearby goomba.

 

“Take these two to an empty cell. If they can't do their jobs on this side of the door, we'll let them sit on the other side for a while.” The goomba nodded and called to a few of his companions to help him move the hammer brothers. While they were doing that, Sledge addressed the other assembled guard. “Listen, and listen well. King Koopa has finally bested our enemies' champion, Mario. If he discovers that due to the lax security in his troops, Mario was able to escape, well...” he trailed off shaking his head in a mock resignation, “then there's not much I can do to stop him in his rage. I want each and every one of you to gather all the troops you can and scour every inch of this castle, starting with this floor until you find him. If he escapes, then more than your positions will be on the line.” he ended, thumping the shaft of his mallet across his palm to emphasize his point. “Now Go!” he shouted sending them all scrambling to arrange the search.

 

“This isn't good,” Jack stated as soon as the troops had all left earshot. “This isn't good at all. You know that we'll be held responsible if King Koopa discovers Mario missing.” he pointed out turning to his brother.

 

“Well then, we'll just have to make sure he doesn't until they find him. As long as those morons were telling the truth, then he really can't have gotten too far. Besides, Bowser left to talk with Kammy, so we're okay for right now.” he returned, shaking his head, “And if all else fails, we could use a vacation, who knows, we may run across Mario while we're out, and wouldn't that be a good way to keep our shells.” he chuckled.

 

Smirking at the thought, Jack nodded before becoming serious all of a sudden. “You know, we really should alert Kamek, he's going to find out soon enough, and I'd rather not have him coming after us any more than King Bowser. Besides, with the help of the MagiKoopa's, finding Mario should take no time at all.” he stated in an almost positive tone.

 

“Your right,” Sledge agreed, “But let's be careful with what we tell him. If he thinks we were responsible...” he let it trail off ominously. They both nodded their agreement before heading back up into the castle.