Star Kids Origins Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Warning

I was walking around with Toadstool. “I never thought I would see this city with my own eyes,” said Toadstool. “Me either,” I said, “I ought to keep this book around with me more often.” “Where did you find it anyway?” she asked. “It was lying on an old bed,” I said, “It has a lot of info about this world too.” Ike was watching us. “That boy has some good potential on him,” he said. “Yeah, but he’s just a kid,” said Cloud. “You were a kid once too,” said Ike, “You’re still a kid now.” “I guess you’re right,” he said. Moments later I was walking to Robin’s magic class. After a few days they decided to make me one of their students. “Question,” said Robin, “What is Fire?” “Fire is the chi that keeps you warm and the light that guides your way,” we all said. “Correct,” said Robin, “And what charges fire power up?” “The sun,” I said. “Good,” said Robin. For the next few days I was learning about my element and where it originates from. “Although fire is an element that burns, it can also be used to warm someone up who is cold,” said Robin. He also taught me fighting forms that I can use my staff with.

“Fire is used offensively and defensively,” said Robin, “Observe.” I was his sparring partner. He threw a fireball at me. I stopped it. He shot another one and I stopped it. I broke them and formed them into a firewall and used my staff to blow them away. “Excellent work Nicholas,” he said. Ike was observing us. “Training the boy I see,” he said. “Yes,” said Robin. Meanwhile Saria was being taught wind abilities. “How am I doing this?” she asked herself. Everyone was amazed by her. “Ike!” said a student, “We’ve seen koopalings reach the area!” “Take the kids back home,” said Ike as he went. “Can’t I come?” I asked. “No,” said Ike. He left. I walked back. “What’s going on?” asked Toadstool. “We just heard word that kopalings were on the move,” said Toadsworth. “What’s the story between you and the koopalings?” I asked. “Those creeps always torture us and pull pranks on us,” said Robin, “I wasn’t able to sit for a week thanks to them. “Well somebody ought to do something,” I said. Toadstool just thought of an idea.

“Well while he’s out taking those creeps down, maybe we should go search for some power ups,” she said. “Power ups?” I asked. “In this world, we have items that give you powers,” said Toadstool, “They’ll make you super charged. Look at your book.” I looked at it and saw a leaf with eyes on it. “The raccoon leaf?” I asked. “They’ll make you fly,” said Toadstool, “And I know just where to find some.” “You’ll need a companion,” said Robin. He opened a gate and a dinosaur like creature with a saddle came out. “Wow,” I said, “A dinosaur. Or is that a costume.” “Nope,” said the dinosaur, “Its real.” “Did that animal just talk?” asked Saria. “You’re in for a treat,” I said, “A lot of animals talk.” “Wow,” said Saria. “Nice to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand, “I’m Nicholas.” “Yoshi,” it said. “No really,” I said. It smiled. “Oh,” I said. “Get on my back,” said Yoshi.

Toadstool saw a pipe that lead to Big Island. “Come on Guys,” she said. She went down. I followed her and Saria followed me. “I have a bad feeling about this,” said Cloud. He jumped down. “Oh dear,” said Toadsworth, “I hope those kids stay safe. Oh who am I kidding? Wait for me!” He jumped in the pipe. We found ourselves in a world where everything was huge. “Wow,” I said. “This is one of the many continents of this world,” said Toadstool. “Good thing we have this book,” I said, “I’ve came quite a long way.” “Long way?” said a voice, “Well I say you’ve only just begun.” I got out my staff. “Who are you?” I asked, “Show yourself!” “You’ll see me long enough,” said the voice, “Wait. No you won’t. I’ll be all around and you’ll never see me coming.” “We’re not scared of you,” said Toadstool, “We have the chosen one by our side.” “Protecting him are we? Well if I were you I’d stay away from her princess, or I’ll stuff a peach with you,” said the voice. Saria giggled. “And you forest girl!” said the voice, “I’ll use you as a scarecrow.” It faded as it was laughing. “He doesn’t scare me,” I said.

I saw some floating blocks. “Holy cow,” I said. “Those blocks hold items that help us on our journey,” said Toadstool, “Hit it and see what comes out.” I jumped and hit it. A mushroom came out. “You just got the super mushroom,” said Toadstool, “These will make you grow two times your original height.” I ate it and grew. “Whoa,” said Saria, “He’s huge.” “Yeah,” I said. I lowered my hand for them to get on my shoulder. Toadsworth came out the pipe. “Where did those kids wonder off to,” he said. A man sized koopaling sat on him. “I beg your pardon madam but…. GET. OFF!!!” he said muffled. We were walking around trying to find a super leaf. “There’s gotta be one around here,” said Toadstool. “Look,” said Cloud, “There’s some food.”

“Food?” I asked. “Cloud is an expert hunter too,” said Toadstool. There were some strange people surrounding it. “Toadies,” said Cloud, “Those guys are gonna get away with our dinner!” “Not if we stop ‘em,” said Yoshi. I charged out to fight them off. “Go on!” I said, “Shoo!” One of them attacked me and I shrunk back to normal size. “That’s it!” I said. I used my staff to push them away from the animal. “Go on!” I said, “Get! Get outta here!” They all ran off. “That was amazing,” said Toadstool, “Trampin’ for Toadies.” “That was pretty good,” said Cloud, “I could’ve done that easily.” Yoshi looked at the creature. “You guys should come look,” said Yoshi, “I think its still alive.” Cloud came over. “What do we got here?” he asked. He moved its hand. “Oh my god, it’s a koopaling!!” he said, “Let’s hussle before it knows we’re here!”

“Cloud, chill,” I said, “It doesn’t look like the koopalings from before.” We were all looking at it. “Its so adorable and all alone,” said Toadstool, “This fella looks like he could use some treatment.” “I think we should keep it,” I said. “Nicholas are you crazy?!” asked Cloud, “You’re talking about a koopaling. Koopalings eat people like us!” “But he’s so little,” Toadstool said. “He’s gonna get bigger,” said Cloud. “He may have lost his memory,” said Saria. “Haven’t you seen Terminator?” asked Cloud, “He’ll regain it.” “Maybe he’ll be on our side,” I said. “That’s the stupidest idea I have heard in my life,” said Cloud, “Now let me…. I got it, what if he’s on our side? Having a koopaling around may not be such a bad idea.” He put him on Yoshi’s back. “So we’re keeping him?” I asked. “Duh,” said Cloud, “Who’s the brains of this outfit?” “That would be me,” said Toadstool. “I guess,” said Cloud, “Let’s get outta here and find some shade.”

The Reaper was watching us. “That’s right boy,” he said, “Bring that monster into your city. Soon everyone will see you for the monster you are.” We were heading back to Orphan Town. “He’s back already?” asked Robin. “That’s right,” I said, “We brought a friend.” Yoshi showed them the koopaling we found. Everyone freaked out. “What’s that creep doing here?!” said Lucina. “Guys wait!” I said, “There’s a reason why I’m doing this.” Everyone kept screaming. “Enough!” said Ike. He came out. “Nicholas saved this poor koopaling’s life,” said Toadstool. He looked at us. “You saved him?” he asked, “Why?” “I was thinking he could be one of us,” I said. “No,” said Robin, “They were banished from this city.” “Well he was unconscious and he may have lost his memory,” I said. “Robin,” said Ike, “This boy is trying to do something and as his friends we should encourage him.” “But Ike,” said Robin. “Robin, I think its clear that I was made chief of this town,” said Ike. “True,” said Robin, “But….” “And you must do what I say,” said Ike. “That is true but…” “Then I am ordering you to allow this koopaling to stay with us,” said Ike, “He could make a good ally.” “Yes sir,” said Robin.

“What’s your name anyway?” asked Lucina. I looked at a spiked collar on his arm and the name said “Bowser”. “Looks like its Bowser,” I said. It made a happy sound. “You guys are a lot more accepting,” I said, “Unlike my Uncle Johnson.” “Who was he?” asked Saria. “Only the nastiest devil to walk the face of the earth,” I said, “He pushed me around and made me work til my bones cracked. I never got time to play with friends, and he never even let me hang out with girls.” “That’s horrible,” said Robin. “My family never supported me for the person I wanted to be,” I said. “Poor thing,” said Lucina, “Well you’re safe with us now.” I smiled. “You guys are really good friends,” I said. We saw a fireball heading this way. “What’s that?” asked Saria. “Its heading straight for us!” said Cloud. It landed in the center of the town and formed into a figure.

The reaper appeared from it. Everyone just looked at him. “Boo!” he said. Some of them were scared. “What’s wrong?” he asked, “Cat got your tongue?” He walked around. “Do you still believe your so called hero can protect you from the likes of me?” he asked, “Speak up!” “So you’re the reaper!” I said. He looked at me. “In the living flesh,” he said. I got out my staff. “I’m only gonna say this once,” I said, “Get out.” “Let’s see how powerful you really are,” he said. He got out his scythe. We clashed at each other. “Come on!” I said, “You call that an attack?” He tried to attack me again and I dodged. “Go Nicholas!” said Toadstool. “Try this on for size,” he said. He summoned a bat like creature to attack me. I avoided it and shot a fireball at it. “Nice try,” I said. I split my staff in half. “Cool!” I said. I started attacking him again. “Do you think you stand a chance against me boy?” he asked. I dashed at him and he stopped me in my tracks somehow. “What the….” I said.

“Dark magic beats fire magic,” he said. He forced me down to the ground. “You’re the legend they speak of?” he said, “You don’t seem like it.” He flipped me over. “This boy is going to cause the destruction of your town,” he said, “But I will offer you sanctuary! You have a week to make up your mind.” “Leave him alone!” said Toadstool. She threw something at him. He turned to her. He was about to attack her when I jumped on him and kicked him in the face. “I’m giving you one chance to leave the princess alone,” I said, “If you wanna fight, then fight me.” He realized I was strong. “You win this round boy,” he said, “But don’t forget what I said. It won’t be long until you cause this town to fall, and I’ll be waiting.” He disappeared. Everyone looked at me. “I don’t believe him,” said Robin, “you just risked your life to save us.” Toadstool gave me a hug. I fell to my knees. “Are you ok?” she asked. She looked at my leg and saw blood.

“Oh my,” she said, “He’s wounded.” I was taken to an infirmary. Saria, Toadstool and Cloud were by my side. “Luckily its not a serious injury,” said the doctor, “But I would take it easy for the rest of the day. Give it a few nights and it should heal naturally.” “That’s a relief,” I said. “Pardon the language,” said Saria, “But you have some balls to take on that scary thing.” “Of course he does,” said Toadstool, “He’s the chosen one.” “Toadsworth,” said Ike. “Yes?” he asked. “Take the rest of the kids outside for a while,” he said, “I’d like to talk with the boy alone for a while.” They all left. Ike came to my bedside. “Nicholas, I was very worried about you,” he said. “I know,” I said. “You could’ve been killed,” said Ike, “Other people would’ve taken the first chance they had to run, but you. You ran headfirst after him, and got injured.” “I was just trying to show everyone I had courage like you,” I said. “I only show my courage when I need to show it,” he said, “Nicholas, when you show courage, it doesn’t mean you put yourself at risk of danger.” “But you’re not scared of anything,” I said, “I’ve heard a lot of stories about you.”

“I was today,” said Ike. “You were?” I asked. “Yes,” said Ike, “I thought you would get more hurt than you are now.” “Oh,” I said, “I guess even heroes get scared.” “Yes,” said Ike. “But I bet the koopalings you fought were even more scared,” I said. “That’s cause nobody messes with the orphans,” said Ike, “Speaking of which, what motivated you to bring that koopaling into our home?” “He seemed like he was lost,” I said, “I know you and koopalings have differences, but I just don’t see why we can’t be equal.” “I never thought I’d see the day when a human would want to unite us with koopalings,” said Ike. “What?” I asked. “The point is Nicholas, no one has done this before, and you’re the first to do so,” said Ike, “And you’re right. We can be equal, through time and understanding. Your courage to save that koopaling has proven it.” We looked at him as he was playing with the children. “They’re not so scary once you get to know them,” said Ike. “Yeah,” I said.

For the next few days we were having some fun. Toadstool was doing some secret stuff for my birthday that was coming up. “He’s gonna love this,” said Toadstool. Meanwhile the other koopalings were eating some meat. Reaper was watching us. “Soon your time will come,” said Johnson as he took the mask off, “First I need to get rid of the…… bodyguard.” He came down to the koopaling room. “Order some more food because we’re staying here!” he said. They all cheered. “What was I thinking?” he asked, “Taking over Orphan Town?” The music continued. “We just got to this part of the mushroom kingdom and there’s more than enough food to go around so why go forward?” asked Johnson, “But…. There was one kid who stood up to me.” “Yeah, but you can forget about him,” said Wendy. “Yeah, he was just one kid!” said Roy. “Yeah, its just one kid,” said Johnson. Larry laughed crazily. “Yeah, they’re just weak,” said Roy. “Weak?” asked Johnson, “Well, let’s pretend this jawbreaker is a weak little child. Did this hurt?” He threw it at Roy. “No,” he said. “Well how about this one?” asked Johnson as he threw another. “You kidding?” asked Wendy. “Well, how about this?!” he said. He smashed the giant jar and they all went falling. Roy, Wendy and Larry got out the way.

“Now you see my point,” said Johnson, “If you let one of those kids stand up to you, they’ll all stand up.” The three koopalings were frightened. “Those weak little kids outnumber you a hundred to one, and if they find that out, there goes your way of life!” said Johnson, “Its not about who’s stronger than who, its about keeping those kids in line. That’s why we’re going to get rid of that ‘one weak little kid’ and take Orphan Town for our own and turn it into our dream home! Does anyone else wanna stay?” The koopalings got some weapons. “I didn’t think so,” said Reaper, “So here’s our plan….”

TO BE CONTINUED……….