No interest has been shown in this story here, but I'mma submit the next chapter anyway!!
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Chapter 1
Casted in the orange glow of the lava flow circling its structure, the towering castle stood silhouetted in the full moon's glow. To many, this ominous sight would be enough to dissuade them from going any closer, lest their lives be cut a bit shorter than nature intended. But to a couple of Hammer Bros., it was a beacon and they were drawn to it like a moth to a light-bulb. After several hours of walking, it was good to be back home. Crossing over the wooden bridge that was the only thing between them and death by molten lava, Crash and Impacto wandered nonchalantly to the Fire Bro. guards, Pyro and Inferno.
Grinning at the safe return of the duo, Pyro was quick to ask the question everyone in the castle will be keen to know. "How did it go?"
"A complete waste of time, as expected." Impacto answered in a mutter, feeling more than a little tired from the journey back.
"I don't even know why King Bowser bothers to try." Crash added, also aggravated that their efforts had been for nothing.
"You can try asking him that," Inferno told him jokingly, nodding back towards the castle entrance. "He's waiting for you two to report in the throne room. Good luck."
With that, the two Fire Bros. stepped aside to let their fellow soldiers pass and the two Koopas wasted no time in entering the castle and wandering through the dark corridors towards the throne room. It was very late and there wasn't much lighting to show them the way, but when one spent nearly their entire lives within these walls, one got to know their way around by pure memory. After several minutes of wandering expertly down one pathway to another, a light shone through a large door into the hall and the two Hammer Bros. quickly hurried towards it.
Entering the massive and gloriously decorated chamber, Crash and Impacto winced and took a moment to let their eyes adjust before heading closer to the throne facing the center of the room. Seated in the large luxurious chair was Bowser, his head resting in a clawed hand...asleep...
Glancing at each other, both seemed rather reluctant to wake their king, not knowing how he'll react. Who knows, doing such a thing could end with them running about screaming with their tails on fire. Deciding to take the risk, Crash cleared his throat in a loud and obvious fashion. This got Bowser to wake up, mid-snore, and his red eyes glared about the room quickly before landing on the two Hammer Bros. To the smaller turtles' relief, he didn't spew fire at them and instead he snorted with a dark growl.
"About time!" At this, both of the subordinate Koopas kept from rolling their eyes; they were perfectly on schedule…. But neither of them was particularly willing to correct their king on the matter. "I've been having nightmares about babysitting my kids, so I better hear some good news for once!"
Again, the Hammer Bros. exchanged looks, knowing that such good news didn't exist. Inwardly hoping he wasn't going to regret this, Impacto took it upon himself to break the news.
"Sorry to say, sir, but they all thought you were bluffing with the 'or else' part."
"Bluffing?!" Bowser started to roar after a brief moment of silence, smoke coming from his nostrils. "
Bluffing?!" Claws clenching into fists, the King of Koopas snarled heavily at the thought of not being taken seriously. Why, those impudent little… Forcing himself to calm down before he destroyed something for the millionth time, Bowser took a deep breath and the two Hammer Bros. braced themselves for the beating they knew their ears were about to endure. "ALL SOLDIERS OF THE KOOPA TROOP, WAKE YOUR LAZY CORPSES UP AND REPORT TO ME AT ONCE!!!"
That announcement over, Crash and Impacto forced themselves to relax, shaking their heads to rid the ringing sound in their ears. Even when they were ready for it, Bowser's roars never got any better to hear at such close range. Watching as their king leaned back on his throne, they both straightened as Bowser returned his attention to them.
"We'll be launching a raid on that village as soon as dawn breaks. Impacto, get ready. Crash," He turned to said Hammer Bro. "do you think you can handle this
without killing anybody?"
This surprised Crash; normally, he had to sit out on missions like this with no say in it at all, not that he couldn't understand why. Bowser's main goal was to gain more soldiers and in most cases, those soldiers were best received alive... Something Crash wasn't particularly good at doing on his own accord. Blood-filled memories of that one fateful raid five years ago rose before his mind's eye and his fists tightened. Unable to lie to his king, he answered with his own growl.
"No, sir. I can control myself in many situations, but a raid is simply too much to ask for. Death on both sides will be guaranteed…"
"Very well," Bowser grunted. "You're relieved for the night, but I expect you to report to me early tomorrow," -At this point, he gave a dark grin- "With all the new recruits we'll have, I'll be giving you plenty of new assignments."
At this ominous promise, Crash only responded with a dark smirk of his own.
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Waking up early wasn't something Pip had a particularly difficult time with. Typically, he would wake up at regular intervals during the night, and this one was no exception. It was strange though; unlike all the other nights, he felt a sense of unease. Must be from the presence of Bowser's soldiers and his body's just now reacting to the potential threat. A bit late, isn't it? News already spread that the Hammer Bros. had left.
Well, didn't matter. They're gone and he had a bright day to look forward to! Already, he was thinking of a potential prank to pull on his brother this morning, just to trick him into believing he was late for school. That'll be revenge for the time Flit put a dead fish into Pip's room; it took DAYS to get rid of the smell...
Peeking out his shell, he uncurled his limbs from within its warm and comforting confines and yawned with a stretch. Immediately after, he rolled over onto his shell and flopped his head into his pillow, too lazy and unwilling to get out of bed. Eh, the prank can wait. It was Saturday and dang it, he was going to enjoy it by sleeping in! The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, beginning to wash over everything within reach in a warm glow. Through his open window, Pip could smell the morning dew littering the grass and the soft breeze blowing over the landscape.
Such peaceful scents was all that was needed to send him back into the blissful darkness of sleep...
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
At least until
that rang through the morning air, darting passed his window and entering unpleasantly into his ears. Jerking up, he blinked dazedly, taking a moment to snap out of it before standing on his bed to peek through the window and find out what exactly is going on! He only needed a split-second's worth of comprehension to see the village full of Koopa strangers swarming the pathways, kicking down doors, and...
Pip's eyes widened as he saw his own neighbor getting dragged out of his house, limbs bounded in ropes to ensure his thrashes proved meaningless. What in the world...? Instantly, the 'or else' part of the ad and the Hammer Bro.'s threatening words arose in his mind. It was Bowser's Koopa Troop, coming to get their new recruits! Oh boy...
Suddenly, his bedroom door exploded with heavy knocks and Pip visibly jumped before snapping towards his room's entrance, heart pounding at the possibility of it being an intruder. But luckily, it was Flit's voice that shouted from other side.
"Dude, get out of bed! We have to get Mom outta here!"
"I'm up!" Pip assured as he flew quickly to his door and swung it open. Before he could properly react, his older brother grabbed his arm and hurried towards their mother's room, crossing the living room and reaching for the handle when-
The main doorway ripped from its hinges as a storm of Koopa Troopas slammed into it and they glanced around the house before their collective eyes settled on the two young Paratroopas. Pip and Flit was certainly startled, but instincts have taken hold of their body and they knew they had to react fast. Without a word, Flit pushed his sibling closer to their mother's door, giving the silent order to get her to safety. Pip understood and yanked the door open, darting inside as fast as his wings could carry him. As he was doing that, his older brother withdrew into his shell and launched himself at the invaders, stalling them in the name protecting his family.
"Mom!" Pip yelled as he landed at his parent's bed. Gripping the blankets in such a tight hold that the scales on her knuckles were turning white, Mrs. Paratroopa appeared dazed in her terror and it took her son grabbing her arm to snap her out of it. "C'mon, Mom! Get up!"
The eldest Koopa needed no more prompting. Getting her old wings to work, she fluttered alongside her son as they tried to sneak out the back through the kitchen, the distracted mother gaining enough of her senses to ask a very important question: "Where's Flit?"
"I'll get him! Just go!" Pip answered, opening the door to find more enemy Koopas. Luckily, they were preoccupied with other hostages and Pip scanned the skies for Paratroopa and Lakitu enemies. None were in sight and he gave his mother a prompting push. "Fly, Mom! Get outta here!"
Mrs. Paratroopa was extremely reluctant to go anywhere without her children, but when she looked back, Pip was gone. Running through the kitchen back into the living room, Pip saw that the place looked trashed, but there was no sign of Flit or the invaders. Where-? Hearing racket outside the main door, the young Koopa hurried to find himself confronted with a terrifying sight. His struggling brother was being dragged off by an enemy Koopa Troopa, his limbs and wings all tied up. Feeling an instinct unlike any he's felt before, Pip felt a growl rise in his throat and he took off straight towards the enemy Koopa, withdrawing into his shell at the last second.
The Koopa Troopa certainly didn't know what hit him as he felt the impact and fell forward, stunned. Wasting no time, Pip shot back out of his shell and kneeled by his brother.
"What about Mom?!" Flit asked frantically as his younger sibling bit through the ropes binding him.
"Well, I couldn't leave you!" Pip answered back, feeling a massive pressure to keep both his family members safe. "And she's fine! I told her to fly! Besides," He casted a glance around, taking note of something. "I don't think they'd be interested in taking her."
Indeed, he saw that all the hostages that Bowser's soldiers were taking were young males, so it was reasonable that their fairly elderly mother would be safe from their attention. That was something of a relief, although Pip knew that he and his brother would still be in big trouble. Looking up at the sky, he saw that the aerial enemies were now making their appearance, Paratroopas swooping in low to grab unsuspecting Koopas and Lakitus throwing their infamous collection of Spinies. The sky wasn't safe for them, but neither was the ground. To Pip's growing horror, he saw several Fire Bros. set some houses alight, no doubt trying to drive out the residents and possibly carrying out some retaliation on Bowser's behalf.
The fire quickly spreading throughout the village, Pip's ears was filled with the panicked screams of his neighbors and he felt Flit pull his arm in a gesture of retreat. Yes, the sky was unsafe, but it was the only option they had. Spreading their wings, they both took off, avoiding the fire's smoke as best they could. But it was of no use, for a
whoosh-ing sound sped past Pip's left wing. Yelping in startlement, Pip was about to give warning to Flit when another whizzing object, -a hammer, he realized-, smashed into his brother's wing.
Crying out in pain, Flit felt his flight falter and he fell towards the ground.
"FLIT!" Pip called out, swooping to catch his brother, only to veer on reflex when another hammer narrowly missed his head. In pure and utter horror, Pip watched his brother make a crash-landing into the ground and before he could land to help, a Hammer Bro. sped over with ropes ready to retake the Paratroopa hostage. Once more feeling the protective instinct rushing over him, Pip sped down as fast as his wings would allow. The Hammer Bro. was a much larger Koopa than he was, and so it would be wise to avoid a direct confrontation. So the young teenager settled for the dive-bombing technique, hoping to distract the enemy long enough for Flit to recover and escape.
It seemed to work, as the Hammer Bro. jumped back a bit to avoid the first dive-bomb and glaring at the defiant Paratroopa, he had little choice but to keep his attention on avoiding the aerial assault he now found himself in.
Seeing what his younger brother was doing, Flit immediately tried to stand up, only to feel pain explode from his ankle, adding to the agony that his broken wing produced. Sucking in air from his beak, he tried again before he felt hands grab him. He was about to bite said hands in defense, thinking they were from an enemy Koopa, only to look up and see his mother. Allowing her to support him, he hobbled as fast as he could, knowing his brother was safe and knew what he was doing...
Pip spotted his family making as fast a run for it as they could and he felt a wave of relief pass through him. They did it! Well, technically they had a ways to go to get safely out of the village, but at least they were out of immediate danger, so long as the other Koopas didn't notice them. But in his distraction of watching his mother and sibling retreat, he wasn't paying attention to the Hammer Bro. he was harassing and a solid and powerful impact slammed into his gut. Even his under-shell did little to soften the blow.
The air knocked right out of his lungs, the stunned Paratroopa fell to the ground, barely managing a grunt when he hit the unforgiving dirt and trying in vain to restore the air in his lungs. Feeling a strong grip yank his arms behind his back and ropes binding them together, he knew the Hammer Bro. had won this battle. The breathless adolescent couldn't even call out for his family's help, for all that came out was a wheezing squeak. Feeling a tug on his wings, he knew they too were being bound and he could do nothing as the Hammer Bro. pulled him to his unsteady feet and practically dragged him away.
Away from his village...
Away from his family...
END OF CHAPTER 1
