CocoaMarshmallow
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Eric
Slowly I trail off as conversations at the table continue, voices of my new friends clear as day in the ocean of other interaction throughout the whole café. My stomach growls a little- that's when I realize I haven't even eaten yet. Finding Julia and meeting these amazing people was so exciting, I totally forgot why we came to a restaurant in the first place. The words of praise I had given the food were just in agreement with what my guildmaster said. Oh well; it's not too late to order and fix that. I look around the restaurant, waiting for one of the waiter-ghosts to come by our table.
My ears perk up. There's something rumbling in the air... like a swarm of enormous Beedrill. Outside. I turn and look out the window. In my bright eyes, one can see the reflection of the airships, huge and bone-chilling, a grim foreground that drowns out the stars.
"We need to go."
I stand up. I knew something like this would happen.
"We need to go!"
"Get the fuck outta there!" a man with a red helmet barks. Moving like a dart, I vault over the table and run outside, carefully pushing some Toads paralyzed with fear along with me. I turn around just as a cannonball, black as night, rams into the café at full speed, breaking it apart into hundreds of Toad-sized chunks. I am swift, quickly raising my paw and creating a shield of electricity that prevents some of the debris from flattening one of the mushroom people. With every impact, however, I feel a pulsing pain resonate through every bone in my body- this is already pushing my limits.
The rain of dust stops. Electricity dissipates into nothing once again, disappearing inside my soul to rest. I scan the crowd outside, robotic in efficiency, irises bouncing between each and every living creature and marking their presence down in my brain. Everyone is accounted for. There shouldn't have been a single person left in that café where the cannonball struck. With this in mind, I turn to the crowd, speaking only to the people and animals who quite obviously aren't from here. "Okay, everyone!" I raise my paw, putting on an encouraging, contagious grin. My voice is sent out clearly, far stronger than anyone here (apart from Julia) has heard me speak before; though I don't know if it's enough to be recognized over the sounds of hailing cannon fire. "I haven't met you properly yet, but there's no time for introductions! We need to prioritize the safety of these Toad people! If you're willing, and I don't blame you if you aren't, I need your help to get them out of the kingdom ASAP! I'll do my best to cover you!"
My eyes are lifted to the sky once more, tracing a path from the airships all the way to the castle in the distance. The biggest, baddest one is making a straight beeline for the place where Princess Peach resides. Stories I've heard from the Mushroom Kingdom all follow the same pattern: Princess Peach is minding her own business, Bowser kidnaps her, Mario saves the day. There's no way it would be any different now. And boy, is that guess correct. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him: rooftop to rooftop he goes, in his blue overalls and signature cap. That'll be our distraction. If Mario Mario draws the army's attention away for long enough, we should be clear.
"Ben!" I turn to the kid. I'm unsure if anyone's listening, but the commands just fall out of my mouth like a waterfall of words. "It's time for some XLR-8 action! That's the name, right? Help get these Toads out of here! Julia, I'm gonna need your help shielding everyone from the cannon fire. You, the guy with the suit and the horn! Uh... you look fami- Excalibur! Right?! You look agile! I need you to go with Be-"
Back I glance to the castle. I see a big-nosed shadow flying away, and then a star's twinkle as it disappears into the night sky.
"...Alright, team, guess we'll need to double time it! Excal, can you come with me to the castle?!"
“Sorry, but I'm afraid you aren’t on the guest list for this party, so I'll have to escort you all out!”
My first thought at the response is wow, I did not expect you to sound like that. My second is realizing that I was dropped on my head as a child.
A creature, with a sort of 'beak' like a turtle, wearing blue robes and a blue wizard's hat that fit around his small frame lifts a yellow wand into the air. He swings it once-
Don't do it.
Twirls it twice-
Just let me be conscious this once.
And then he thrusts it forward, a radiant glow bursting from its tip!
He did it.
First, blinding light; then, nothing but darkness.
--
"Ahhhhhhwwwww… hahaha..."
My shaky paws find some stable ground beneath me. A limp, heavy head shakes, out of humorous embarrassment rather than actual frustration. Slight giggles transform into chuckles, and an exaggerated chuckle becomes an honest laugh.
"Ahahaha! Ahahahaha! Oh, man... same thing, different day, huh... haha."
Eyes open. All at once, the different scents and colors assault my senses, though they bring calmness and pleasure instead of a reason to vomit (Garbodors. Never again). The soft grass beneath my paws and feet is sprawled in some directions, rocks with craters in others. In the sky is an image of the sky, so clear and natural that I can only describe the sight as 'raw,' as if I was back on the moon, staring up at the great beyond with no atmosphere between it and I. It's beautiful, really... but how am I not suffocating right now? Maybe I'm dead and this is the afterlife of the Mushroom Kingdom. I wonder what Lucario would think of that. Hey, you remember your partner, the guy that helped you take down an Eldritch horror twice? He was killed by Gandalf the Blue.
Oh well. What's done is done, I guess. I look around once again, this time realizing that all of the other non-Toads have all joined me for the ride, too. Some of them are still fast asleep, while others are stirring. At least I didn't die alone.
“Finally! You’re awake!”
That's a new one.
Come to find out, our angel at the gates is a tiny little star with two big eyes. Losing all of my previous professionalism by dedicating it all to not squealing, I get up to my feet and calmly approach the small little wonder. "You... are adorable."
Red helmet man- Jason Todd, as I know him- he asks what anyone else would: who is this thing?
“I’m a luma! But… who are all of you?”
I smile and put a paw to my chest. "I'm Eric the Typhlosion. It's nice to meet you, luma. Are we dead?"
"This crowd was bigger than I thought? Where are you guys? Ruby? Eric? Julia? Kage? Mami? MAMI??"
"I'm right here, Ben! Come check out this luma! He is the cutest thing!"
Interactions:
Crow (Ben Tennyson)
LilacMonarch (Julia)
SpaceRavens03 (Excalibur)
@literallyeveryone
thatguyinthestore (Luma)
Mentions:
thatguyinthestore (Jason Todd)
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