A Little Mechanical Trouble 2

Scout was the first to awaken on what appeared to be a brick road. The newly concious runner stared at the blue sky, trying to gather the memory of what happened before he fell asleep...Wait...did that cloud have eyes?

A low groan came from down the way, and the drunken Scotsman rolled over onto his back. "Wha' th' 'ell did Ay drink?"

The Scout, appearing even more fearful than before, shook the Demoman beside him awake. "Hey! I think something weird is going on here!"

"A'right, a'right, Ah'm up..." The cyclops gripped the young runner's shoulder, heaving himself up into a sitting position as he held his head. He blinked blurrily, looking up at the boy. "Why're you all green?"

He stared at the Demoman, "Why the hell are you wearing overalls! And what's with the stupid hat with the "M" on it?" he asked.

A moment's pause, and the Scotsman reached up, tugging off a rather nice cranberry red tam o shanter and revealing his usual do-rag underneath. "Ay dinnae knoo, but tis a fine hat." Stumbling to his feet, the one-eyed demolitions expert looked over his own altered clothing. He still had his vest, but it had a zipper down the front and was hanging open to show a pair of sturdy red-tinted work overalls and a scarlet dress shirt. Thankfully, his gloves and boots were the same, and his beloved Scrumpy still hung from its usual place on his belt. The Scout however... "Laddie, green really t'ain't y'color." {mixing the TF2 uniforms with Mario...}

The Scout huffed. "Wasn't like I wanted to wear this shit, chucklenuts." He squinted at the cloud above. It still had eyes. "I dunno if we're dreaming, but this is some fucked up shit..."

The Demoman followed the boy's gaze, shading his eyes as he took in the curious looking bit of fluff hovering in the sky. "Whil I'll be..." He stomped forward, arms akimbo as he yelled up to the cloud. "Oi! Whit tha 'ell tis a pixie like you flittin' 'round 'ere?!" Of course, the crazy drunken Scot thought it was a fairy. Of COURSE.

The cloud did not respond with any movement, nor did it even blink. Scout backed up. "I don't think it even hears us..." He looked down to the ground to notice the brick, then toward the distance where there were turtles, walking bug like things, and more bricks in the sky.

"Oi! Ay'm talkin' attchoo! Git daown 'ere!" The Scotsman was starting to get irritated, and when he got irritated, things tended to blow up. Well, he could always jump up there... He fumbled along his belt, searching for his sticky bomb launcher. "Oi, where's me kit?"

Scout stopped his surveying to pay attention to the Demoman's rambling. "I don't know. Whatever sick BLU did this is gonna pay."

Demo gave a sharp snort, turning to look down the path that the runner had been observing, obviously rather put out by the fact that he couldn't blow things to smithereens at will anymore. "S'too smart f'r any o' them bloodah BLU bast'ds..." He paused a moment, thinking. Now, this wasn't exactly a rare occurrence, one had to have some manner of a functioning mind to manufacture and deploy explosive devices with as much skill as the one-eyed Scotsman, but it wasn't often that he really turned the skill to anything more. This time, though, he was trying to figure out what had happened to get himself and Scout into such a strange place. "Ang on, where's Engie an' Solly?"

The Scout looked around. "I dunno, oh man..." he was starting to get worried. Why were they here in the first place? A knee high little man with a mushroom cap on his head tugged at the Demoman's pant legs.

The Scotsman blinked at the abrupt tugging, and looked down to find the source. He grinned, going down on one knee to come face to face with the little creature. "Whil 'ello! What's a wee little dryad like ye prancin' aboot fer?"

The mushroom capped, child-like entity still had worry on his face. "The princess has been kidnapped!" Scout did a double take at the high pitched voice. He rubbed his eyes to see if what he was looking at was real.

Demo blinked, brow furrowing in confusion. "Princess? Wha' princess?"

"Our princess!" the little Toad said in alarm. "The princess of the Mushroom Kingdom! She's been kidnapped by Bowser! We need your help Mario! And your brother Luigi too!"

The demolitions expert looked to the young runner, confusion evident in his lone dark eye before he turned back to the mushroom capped critter. "Whil, Ay'm nae Mario, an' I doubt the wee Scoot 'ere's name's Luigi, but Ay think we can 'elp out, aye?" Another glance to the Bostonian, this one questioning.

"But, you're wearing Mario's clothes." he said in confusion. Then the Toad just shook his head, "It doesn't matter, but if you could help..." The Scout sighed after looking into the tear filled eyes of the creature," I guess we can help..."

"Hmm, Ay s'ppose we aren't in oor normal gear..." Demo gave a shrug, turning his attention back to the pitiful little creature. "Whil, where's this Princess o' yorn? Cain't go aboot witout nae direction 'ere."

"Just follow the roads, that lead to the pipes. It will take you to the castle!" he chirped. Scout stared at the path down the road. "What is this place? What are those things?" he asked.

The Scotsman gave the little creature an amiable (if a bit heavy handed) pat on its capped head, climbing to his feet. "Whil, Ay would say t'was a hallucinatin' 'gain, but this's a bit cockamamy ever f'r me. If Ay 'ad t'wager anythin', it'd be on Engie's tele-porter." A curt nod, and Demo pointed down the pathway straight ahead. "Straight doon yonder?"

"Just beware of the Goomba'!" the Toad warned. Scout stopped after a couple of steps. "What are Goombas?" He asked.  The mushroom capped creature pointed at one of those fanged bug things. "That."

Demo grinned, hefting his Scrumpy bottle and taking a deep swig before swinging the heavy bottle into a swinging position. "All at'em lads!" With that, the Scotsman was off, pouncing on top of the nearest enemy and smashing it over the head with his bottle, which surprisingly didn't break for once.

The Goomba flattened under the pressure of the bottle. Scout laughed, "Really? Those things are a joke, he said walking under the row of bricks. At the end of the row was a golden one. "Anything this does?" he asked the Toad. He nodded, "That gives you magic items to help."

"Aye, these wee mites are no match fer us, ha ha!" It was almost like a vacation after dealing with the BLUs. The Demoman quite merrily continued his Goomba-bashing, laughing uproariously at the creatures ineptitude.

Scout was busy looking at the red and white mushroom that fell into his hands the moment he punched the golden block. He turned to Toad. "So...what does this thing do?" "Eat it and it will make you larger!"

Demo swatted aside a rather persistent turtle-like creature, already a good distance ahead of the pair. "Oi, what's takin' y'so long, lad?"

Scout shrugged and ate the mushroom. "Tastes freakin' nasty!" Then he felt his body shift, growing to an impressive size in mere moments.

Perturbed by his teammate's absence, the Scotsman turned back, idly booting a Goomba in the face. "Laddie, what're ye- Oh." The boy had grown to a remarkable height, near 10 foot tall if he was an inch. Demo tipped back his tam o shanter, giving a low whistle. "Whil, now, that's new."

Scout looked down at the small creature, "Is that supposed to happen?" Toad nodded. "Of course, you will need all your strength to fight Bowser." A Turtle bumped into the Scout and he shrank back down to his normal size.

"Hmm, seems a bit shoddy..." Demo bopped the turtle over the head, taking a swig from his Scrumpy as he kicked the left over shell down the path, knocking out a number of other turtles and Goombas before it fell out of sight. "C'mon, we don' got all day."

The Bostonian nodded as he picked up the little Toad to carry him on his shoulders.

---

Soldier awoke in what appeared to be a dungeon. He tugged the collar of his dre- Wait what?

In a room some floors above where the infantryman lay confusedly tugging at a rather pretty pink gown, the Engineer gave a soft groan, a hand lifting to rub at his aching head. He felt... Weird, not quite right really, and it wasn't just from the headache. "Why'm I sleepin' with mah gear on?"

The Soldier screamed in frustration and anger when he realized that he was wearing a completely hideous pink dress complete with frills. He did what he would do in any situation, he started yelling and beating down anything he could find.

Upstairs, the Texan heard the furious shouting and immediately lurched out of bed, nearly tripping over his booted feet as he started for the door, only to jerk to halt when he noticed his surroundings. "Where in tarnation-?" "Sire?" Engie just about jumped out of his skin, spinning about. Well, he meant to spin about, but his boots got caught in the carpet and went crashing down on his back with a solid thud. "Ow."

A Koopa had been standing outside the doorway, standing in a salute. "Sire, the Mario Brothers are headed toward our castle!"

Engie pushed himself upright, straightening his goggles and helmet before looking up to see who had spoken. And promptly slapped a gloved palm to his face. "Mary mother of God..."

"What should we do to stop them?" the little lizard like thing asked.

"Uhmm..." The Texan found himself struggling to think, trying to wrap his head around the strange situation that really made no logical sense whatsoever. It was really starting to make his head hurt. Why was there a turtle thing standing in the door? Where the heck was he? And why- WAS THAT A TAIL?!

The Koopa still stood at attention waiting for orders. When their leader appeared to be disoriented, the turtle thing started talking, "Sire?"

Engie lifted his free hand, a finger raised to ask for a moment's quiet as he tried not to hyperventilate. "One second, kiddo..." He struggled to keep his breathing under control, logical mind decidedly strained by the increasingly illogical setting around him. A twitch from his newly extended spine reminded him of the fact it wasn't just around him either. Then he remembered the malfunctioning teleporter, Scout and Solly's fight... Wait, where were they? The Texan sat up, concern for his teammate's temporarily overriding his oncoming panic. "Where's the others?"

"Others, Lord Bowser?" the Koopa asked in confusion.

The Engineer struggled to his feet, trying to get used to the added weight swinging down from his rear and grabbing onto the tall post of the bed he had climbed out of not half a minute earlier. "I- There should'a been me a-an' Solly an' Scout... Demo?" He gave a soft groan, struggling to think through his headache and the yelling- Wait. "Who's that?"

The Koopa looked at his leader as if he was losing his mind. "Lord Bowser, are you feeling alright?"

"Hush!" He listened, brow furrowed in concentration. He knew that voice... "Solly!" Near tripping over his own feet (why the heck were there claws on his boots anyway?), the Engineer stumbled across the room in search of the source of that familiar raging bellow. He screeched to a halt in front of a blank wall, pressing his ear to the plaster. Sure enough, it was the Solider, faint but audible. He turned to the turtle creature. "That person yellin', can y'take me to 'im?"

"Of course, I'll take you to the Princess right away." the Koopa said. The little creature lead their leader down the stairs down into the dungeons. Soldier was beating down the door, the best way he could.

"Princess?" Shaking his head, Engie followed after the turtle, cringing as every footstep was turned into a heavy stomp by his weighted boots. The deeper they went and the closer they came, the more agitated the Texan found himself, until he was near vibrating in his boots from tension, hands curled into fists at his sides and his tail held out straight behind him like an irritated cat. "Dungeons?"

"Of course King Bowser" The Koopa said as he pulled out the keys. "You ordered for the Princess to be in the dungeons as usual." After five more minutes had passed the Soldier finally tired himself out from all of the screaming and banging against the door.

The turtle creature's words and the sudden lack of sound from opposite the door brought an uncharacteristic rage to the forefront of the Texan's mind, worry for his teammates and fear caused by the increasingly illogical surroundings turning into something not unlike insanity. Without a moment's hesitation, Engie shoved aside the worried looking little creature, reeled back and slammed his gloved fist into the door with a feral roar. The heavy wood and metal door didn't stand a chance, flying off its hinges and crashing into the far wall of the stone room beyond.

The tired and comically dressed Soldier looked up in alarm at the sound of the broken down door, and did his best to stand in that ridiculously poofy pink dress. "BRING IT ON YA PANSY!"

For a moment, the Engineer just stood then, panting a little from the sudden Herculean exertion. Then he heard Solly, good old Soldier, and he straightened, forcing away the thoughts of his own suddenly remarkable strength to make sure his teammate was alright. Stepping inside, the Texan looked around, expecting to find the infantryman he was so well accustomed to, only to freeze completely upon actually seeing the room's captive. It was definitely Solly, the battered helmet and fighting stance said that much, but... "Solly, why're you wearin' a ball gown?"

The Soldier pretended his face was not getting any redder than normal. "I don't know that! I woke up like this!" After he had secured his masculinity in front of his friend, the Soldier had finally started to notice that something wasn't quite right. "Uh... Why do you have a lizard tail?"

The Texan gave a sigh, lifting his bare hand to rub at his temples. "I don't rightly know, Val, I-" He grimaced, feeling that tail shift and curl around his lower leg like a frightened dog's. "None o' this is makin' any kind'a sense."

"Well, did you retrieve any information from the outside?" the Soldier asked expectantly with an expensive looking shoe tapping on the stone floor.

Engie shook his head, dropping his hands to tuck into his pockets. Well, one hand. The gloved one had gotten claws stuck on it at some point, making it hard to do much with it without catching on something. "Ah'm sorry, Solly, I just woke up myself. Heard you yellin' an' got this little feller t'show me the way down." He waved the strange turtle creature inside, noticing the thing looked more than a little shaken.

"Hey!" The Texan moved quickly, boot-claws clacking oddly on the stone floor as he jumped to catch his teammate, unwittingly kicking the turtled turtle out into the hall. He just barely managed, and winced when he realized his clawed fingers had dug in through the silken fabric, gently shifting his grip to keep from further harming the infantryman. "Ah, sorry, Solly..."

The Soldier huffed before straightening himself out. "Whoever decided to put me in this thing is gonna pay!" Another Koopa, who had barely dodged the turtle shell heading his way, made it to the entranceway. "Lord Bowser, the Mario Brothers are headed this way!"

Engie gave another, much more exasperated sigh, slapping a palm to his face while he steadied his teammate with the opposite hand. Who the hell was Bowser, and why did all these little turtle things keep calling him by the name?! So much that just didn't make sense... "I'll see what I can do t'get ya some normal clothes, okay? An' what's so bad about these brothers again?" Maybe somebody knew what the heck was going on, cause the Texan was just about ready to call it a day and find some place to hide from everything that just didn't make sense about this place.

The new Koopa gave his master an odd look before replying. "The Mario Brothers, they're coming to take back the Princess! And if you don't have the Princess, then you'll never be able to rule the Mushroom kingdom as you planned."

For a long moment, the Engineer just stared. He could literally feel his mind pulling apart at the seams, and quite desperately wished he would wake up from this insanity. Without a word, the Texan leaned up against Solly, resting his head on the taller man's shoulder and tugging his helmet down over his goggled eyes as his tail wound around the infantryman's ankle. It was the Soldier's turn to deal with the crazies, Engie had had enough.

The Koopling just stared at the Soldier, who grimaced in their direction. "AND WHAT KIND OF POLITICAL PLOY DOES BOWSER PLAN ON USING THE PRINCESS FOR?" He barked. The turtle like creature stood straight, as if he was used to being yelled at quite often. "He's gonna marry you of course! It's all part of the plan." Soldier grimaced. "What plan?" The Koopa ran out of the room quickly and retrieved a chart with him that contained Bowser's brilliant plan, which was written in red crayon. It read; Step 1: Capture Princess, Step 2: Defeat Mario, Step 3: Rule Kingdom, Step 4: Profit.

Engie didn't even look, didn't dare, getting the feeling that if he even so much as glanced up his brain would just completely fry. That, or the intellectual trauma would finally allow him to pass out. It was bad enough that Solly was in a dress, he himself had a goddamn TAIL, but then he heard the word 'marry', and the Texan found himself very glad that the Soldier was there to hold him upright. Otherwise, he would have fallen over when his knees buckled.

Of course, Soldier didn't see this illogical world as an obstacle, but an opportunity to lead a troop of men on his own. "THAT IS THE MOST PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A PLAN I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY OWN LIFE!" The Koopa paled, ready for a beating of some sort. It never came. Instead was, "I'M GONNA SHOW YOU PATHETIC NUMBSKULLS WHAT A REAL TAKEOVER IS! YOU! GET ME A LIST OF RESOURCES AND A MAP OF THE SURROUNDING TERRITORY. WE ARE GONNA DO THIS THING RIGHT!" The Koopa thought this whole thing was strange, but dared not contradict the Princess. She looked too angry.

---
While the Soldier set to whipping the Koopa army into shape (and the Engineer found someplace to lie down until his head stopped hurting), the Demoman and Scout found themselves staring down the gullet of a large pipe. Demo turned to the little mushroom person perched on the Bostonian's shoulders, more than a little confused. "Ye want us tah go daown there?"

The mushroom capped man nodded. "Yup! You follow the pipes down to the castle." Scout looked a little disbelieving. "How can we get down there, it's a freakin' pipe!" The childish entity simply stated, "It's our transportation system."

"But 'ow d'ye get through widdout-?" The Scotsman broke off, seeing something moving within the confines of the pipe. Curiosity overriding caution, he leaned into get a better look, and got a faceful of leaves for his trouble. Spluttering, the Demo reeled back, swiping bits of greenery from his vision. "What tha bloodeh-?!"

"Oh, I didn't realize a vine was living down there, they normally live in blocks, but sometimes..." Toad didn't finish his sentence before whispering to the little plant. When he pulled back he smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Raymond!" Scout's jaw dropped. "You can talk to that thing?" Toad turned around and tilted his head, "All citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom can hear each other, doesn't your world hear each other?"

The Demo shook his head, watching at the plant curled up out of the pipe, broad leaves flaring to catch the sunlight as it continued to grow, its thinnest tip remaining level with the trio as the rest of its length arced up into the light. "No' wi' plants..."

Now it was Toad's turn to be amazed. "But, if you can't talk to them , then how do you know if the residents in your world are balanced?" Scout laughed," It's just a plant, little guy."

Just a plant? The beanstalk flicked off the boy's cap, leaves flared and quaking slightly in irritation. Demo laughed. "Ah dinnae think it agrees wi' ye!"

Scout backed up quickly, "Whoa, whoa...I take it back alright?" Toad patted the beanstalk with his hand. "It's okay, Raymond. He didn't mean it. He just doesn't understand."

A moment's pause, and the vine seemed to nod, giving the Scout and Toad a swift pat on the head before turning to the Demoman. It curled around him, vine tip poking and tugging as it investigated the Scotsman. Finally, it gave another nod, patting Demo on the head just like it had the others before retreating to the pipe. The explosives expert grinned, straightening his tam o shanter. "It likes me!"

The Toad gave Demo and Scout a quick nod of affirmation. "We can jump over this pipe you guys, the next one we see near the flag will take us to this world's castle."

Before the Demo could ask what the mushroom-capped critter meant by 'this world', the beanstalk jerked up, leaves flared as it shook, obviously opposed to the idea presented by Toad.

Raymond nodded vigorously, and the vine seemed to erupt out of the pipe, the green trunk widening until it nearly filled the thing. Broad green leaves sprouted, wide across as a small car and nearly as long, and the thin tip of the stalk bent down, beckoning the trio onto the massive greenery.

The mushroom capped man bowed to the little stalk before he tried to climb up on the thing.  Scout stared at the Demoman. "Should we follow him?"

The Scotsman shrugged. "Whil, the wee feller seems ta 'ave awready taken a shine to it. Sides, a shortcut's a shortcut." With that, the one-eyed drunkard climbed up onto the broad leaf, almost stumbling only to be caught by a length of green. Raymond helped the Demo sit down, and beckoned to the Scout, picking up the boy's cap and placing it back on his head.

Scout laughed before he did his own climbing, making it up halfway. After he had almost made it to the top, the Scout felt his feet slip. Before he could say, "Aw crap," he lost his grip completely and fell down into the nearest pit. Toad winced.

"Scout!" The Demo made to go help his teammate, but Raymond was much quicker, darting after the boy. A moment's tense pause, and the beanstalk pulled out, a good length of vine coiled around the runner's leg, a stray tendril having caught his hat. The plant set the boy down next to his teammate, putting his hat back with the air of a reprimanding parent telling its child to stay put, for goodness sake. Demo looped an arm around the youth's shoulders, grinning as the beanstalk began to grow upwards, acting as a strange sort of organic elevator. "Good thing tha' plant is faster'n it looks, eh?"

Scout paled, but nodded. "Yeah. Climbing that thing is tough...don't know how the little guy does it." Toad lowered himself for a moment, "Even if he didn't catch you, you still had two lives left." Scout's eyes bugged out of his head. "Lives? Like a cat?"

Raymond nodded, the slender tip remaining down by the trio as if it were the plant's head. One of those clouds with eyes passed them by, blinking lazily as it skirted the massive beanstalk.

Scout jumped up and backed off. "No way man! I ain't going anywhere near that creepy cloud!"

Demo laughed, grabbing the runner's wrist before he could trip over the leave's edge. "E was jus' answerin' y'question, lad! No need t'get all in a tizzy."

Toad hopped on top of the cloud. "C'mon. We got to stop Bowser before he tries to marry the Princess and rule the kingdom. We have 7 more Worlds to go." Scout paused. "Wait a minute, Isn't Bowser that lizard guy you were talking about?" Toad nodded. "And the princess is human?" Toad nodded again. "That's just wrong man..."

Even the Scotsman made a face, taking a deep swing from his bottle to wash the image from his mind. "Thankfully, Ah already don' remembah this..." Raymond carefully herded the group onto the cloud, the vine knowing the lazy thing wouldn't want to help if it had to move but being unable to advance itself.

The Toad waved at Raymond. "I can take it from here...thanks!"  Scout waved at the little vine before moving on. "We can bypass the first world castle here, and head toward the third world in a pipe nearby," he chirped.

The beanstalk waved back, only to pause, disappearing a moment before coming back with a tiny orchid-like flower in its grasp. It offered the miniscule seedling to the Demoman, who nodded, allowing the little flower to be tucking into his vest pocket. The little flower came to life as the vine retreated, curling thin green tendrils into the fabric and sprouting a pair of broad leaves. Demo gave the beanstalk a friendly pet, smiling. "Thanks, laddie." Raymond nodded, and disappeared under the cloud line.

Toad smiled before leading the group down the cloudy path. Scout was still wary of the clouds below their feet, afraid of falling. After stopping for a moment on the edge of the cloudy path, the creature announced, "We jump down here toward that line of bricks."

The Demoman strode up next to the little mushroom-person, peering down at the strangely floating pathway. The little flower in his pocket seemed to look with him, lacy white petals giving off a soft golden glow. "Scout, laddie, c'mere. Y'think y'kin jump that?"

Scout looked down and nodded. "No problem." Without another word he jumped down to the line of bricks with ease. Toad watched before Scout called to the little guy, "I can catch ya, no worries here." Toad jumped, then Scout caught him.

Demo watched, carefully judging the distance by the way the boy landed. He was drunk, not stupid. If he'd had his sticky launcher, he wouldn't have hesitated, but depending on his own legs to jump so far? Finally, he sighed, backing up a couple steps. "Never know til y'try..."

The Scout called up to the Demoman. "You coming or what?"

"Hold onna y'kilt, laddie, Ah'm not as young as you!" With that, the Scotsman went for it, getting in a few running steps before launching himself out into space. And knew immediately that he wasn't going to make it. He grabbed for the edge of the bricks, scrambling for purchase with his heavy boots. The little seedling in his pocket glowed a bright, shining gold, lengths of green curling up his arms and into the stonework to help him. "SCOUT!!"

Scout ran to him as fast as he possibly could to pull the Demoman up onto the bricks. After a few minutes of tugging, the runner had managed to get him up on the path.

"Bloodeh hell..." Demo sat down hard, watching as the seedling retracted its tendrils to tuck back into his pocket. "Whit Ah wouldn't give f'mah sticky bombs now."

After Toad was sure that the 'Mario' of the group was safe, he hopped down ahead to the nearest pipe. "This is the one!" He pointed.

As the shaken Scotsman got to his feet to follow the little mushroom, Engie was burying his face into a pillow, knocking his hard hat to the floor with a clatter. "May I ask why we need a troop cannon?"

"To defeat the enemy, and raise our defenses!" Soldier replied nonchalantly before he turned around, giving the Koopa's more orders. "I want you to double the ghosts inside the castle, and increase the height of the lava in the pits!" "Yes Princess."

The Texan gave a groan, pulling the pillow over his head. "Aren't ya the least bit perturbed by them callin' ya Princess?" It didn't help that they had been unable to find the infantryman any normal clothing, leaving the Soldier to stomp around in the frilliest, fluffiest pastel pink ball gown Engie had ever seen. And that was counting that one time his mother forced him to escort one of the neighborhood ladies to her prom.

"Just a minor detail. I'll get it through their brain dead skulls as soon as the enemy is defeated!" he replied before a shout of "HO- HAH!"

Right. Clinically insane. Why would the Soldier care? Engie let out a long sigh, finally pushing himself up into a sitting position, pillow in his lap as he watched the infantryman pace the breadth of the rather expansive bedroom, maps pinned to the walls amidst chalkboards and large swaths of paper covered in Solly's broad all-capitalized scrawl. There was a constant influx of those little turtle things, which he had finally learned were called Koopas (which he was supposedly a version of), and every once in a while a small brown mushroom-insect sort of creature the Koopas referred to as Goombas. The Texan had yet to figure out why exactly the creatures wanted to control this so called Mushroom Kingdom, and he couldn't help but wonder if maybe the Teleporter had scrambled something up to cause him to hallucinate this whole scenario. But then he'd feel that tail move and hear Solly's trademark bellow, and Engie felt his head ache all the more as he realized that the whole thing was really real. "Are y'sure this's the right thing t'do, Solly? I mean, we don't even know where Demo and Scout are!"

After a small pause of what looked like to be consideration, he shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about them. They can handle themselves. 'Sides the sooner we get done with this the sooner we can take over the Kingdom!"

The Engineer straightened, frowning as he tugged his goggles down around his neck to give the Soldier an exasperated look. "Solly, listen t'what yer sayin'! Why do we need ta take over this Kingdom place? We should be workin' outta way t'get home!"

"Look, Private, when the mission is complete we will have no more distractions, and we will be able to go on that rescue mission." he replied.

The Texan lurched to his feet, tail swinging like an aggitated cat as he planted his hands on his hips. "Damn it, Solly! Would ya LISTEN!" The last word came out as a near feral roar, the Engineer's gray eyes flashing red. Stomping up to the Soldier, his boot-claws leaving scrapes in the hardwood floor, he jabbed a finger in the taller man's chest. "You are ordering around talking turtles in a pink ball gown in an illogical universe that has been giving me a headache since I woke up with a gorramn TAIL! We need to get OUT of here!"

The Soldier then sounded the sanest that he had ever been in the last two days. "Which is easier, Engie? Cooperating with them, and getting them what they want so we can get out of here peacefully, or fighting a whole bunch of troops while looking for the other two?"

Damn it, why did the Soldier have to make sense NOW. Engie gave a short huff through his nose, the red fading from his eyes as he lifted a hand to his temple. "Alright, alright... Consarnit, Solly, sometimes I hate it when you do this t'me." That said, the Texan wrapped his arms around the other man's waist and rested his head on the infantryman's broad chest, giving a soft sigh as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Just doesn't make sense..."

Soldier put his arms around his friend, "I know this ain't exactly your cuppa' tea. But if we are gonna survive this crazy place we gotta be mad as a couple of foxes."

That got a soft, if slightly strained, laugh. "Easy f'you t'say..." He felt his tail shift, relaxing, and could not suppress a shudder.

"C'mon we got through some harder stuff haven't we? You're just out of your element is all." he replied trying to get the Engineer to relax further.

"Tain't the half of it, Solly, an' you know it." Despite his words, the Texan did relax a bit more, hugging the infantryman a bit tighter. After a moment, he gave a soft chuckle. "Y'look good in a dress..."

Rather uncharacteristically, the Soldier laughed softly. "Just don't mention this to any of the guys when we do get back."

"Just so long as you don' tell anyone I had a tail."

"Deal." he said before pulling back for a little bit. "Why don't you go rest up for a little while. You look exhausted."

The Engineer pulled back, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Yeah... I just-" He sighed, dropping his hand and turning to look out one of the large windows. "I feel kinda useless. Been layin' about while yer gettin' t'gether this big ol' battle plan..."

"Then just do your best to get more information while you can. I mean you are supposed to be their leader after all." he pointed out.

Engie groaned, palm making a loud smack as it contacted his face. "How they even got that idea, I'll never know."

"I think it was the way you're dressed. You look the part." he muttered before looking over the plans once again.

"I do?" The Texan looked up, following after the other man. "How'd ya figure that?"

"Well, the tail and claws for one." he replied.

"No, I mean, ya've seen this Bowser character?"

"I saw a portrait of him in one of the halls," he said. "You're dressed just like him, so no one down here other than me or you can tell the difference."

The Engineer blinked, not having expected such a simple answer. "Oh." He tucked a hand into one of his pockets, wandering after the Soldier as the infantryman continued to look over the extensive mass of plans. "What'd 'e look like?" It was sort of an odd thing to ask, but the Texan was curious and it was something relatively normal amongst all the strangeness.

"Well, he was this giant lizard thing..." he replied. "Bright orange hair, and a mug full of sharp teeth."

"Hunh." A monster leading monsters. Great. No wonder the original plans had been written in crayon... Idly, the Texan ran his tongue over his own teeth, grimacing when he felt his canines, much larger and sharper than they had been originally. Swallowing, he clamped his mouth shut, and did what he could to hide his sudden bout of nerves by looking back out the window, though his tail gave him away with its agitated waving.

After making several more orders, the 'Princess' could sense the Engineer's uneasiness. "It's gonna be alright. Soon as this is over with we can look for the others, and get out of here."

"I hope so, Val. I really hope so..." Giving a soft sigh, the Texan shuffled out onto the balcony, leaning up against the railing and looking out over the greenery that seemed to dominate the landscape. He had to admit, it was a nice change from the desert...

---

Meanwhile, back on what Toad had said was the fourth world, Toad was barely keeping up with the other two. Something was not quite right about this world. Normally there wouldn't be as many chain chomps, and all of the helpful items that naturally grew there had become few and far in between. It was as almost as if Bowser had gotten smarter...

Unaware of this change, the Demoman carried on, grinning as he bounced up off a Koopa to bash another over the head. There had been a weird little floating guy earlier who kept throwing spiky things down at them, but Scout had found his baseball bat and sent them flying right back. "Ah haven' had this much fun in ages! Hahaa!"

Scout agreed as he sent another 'turtle thingy' flying. Toad had started to grow more worried. Bowser was upsetting the natural balance of things. He had even found residents in the water world in areas where they were not supposed to be. If Bowser kept this up, then this whole planet would be a deathtrap for its citizens.

Realizing the little mushroom guy was lagging behind, Demo kicked aside a particularly tenacious Goomba and lifted their little guide onto his shoulders. "Ey, naow, what's th' mattah?"

The panting mushroom tried to straighten himself up. "This isn't right. Normally the obstacles are never this bad. The real Mario Brothers couldn't handle this even."

The Scotsman gave a laugh, though it was quickly stifled when he saw just how worried the little bloke was. "Whil, be glad we're not them, ey?" As he swatted aside a charging chain chomp, his long since broken bottle jabbing into the things eye and causing it to scuttle away whimpering in pain, he spoke up, voice uncharacteristically solemn. "Laddie, Ay keel folks f'r a livin', me an' Scout both. We've had t'take down crazies wi' rockets, Gatling guns, high powered rifles... Even died a couple time's 'rselves. This? This is a holiday."

The Toad was still just as unsettled. "But everything is now out of balance. There are creatures that are living in worlds that they shouldn't have, I don't know how much more they can take the sudden changes."

The pretty little white flower in the explosives expert's pocket stretched up a few tendrils, seeking to comfort the mushroom person as it glowed all the brighter, a miniscule golden star in the gloom. Demo smiled at the tiny plant, jumping up onto a low wall before turning his attention back to Toad. "Don' worry, lad, we'll fix this."

Toad tried to calm himself down, but it was getting harder as the obstacles were growing worse. At one point he could have sworn that he saw something from the ocean world on land... Scout, however, was singing a different tune, as he bashed the head in of another Koopa with spikes on its shell.

The explosives expert did his best to keep the little mushroom from harm, and used the environment to his advantage, causing many a Goomba to become flattened under spiked rocks as the Scotsman scampered out of harm's way. He didn't really like the shrooms and plants that kept popping up, not trusting that they may or may not cause a body permanent damage, though he was sorely tempted when Scout temporarily gained the ability to shoot fire from his hands. Rolling out of the way of a flying shell, the Demoman found himself a new weapon. Grinning, he chucked aside the shattered remnant of his Scrumpy bottle and grabbed up the broadsword he had discovered. "Kehl 'em all~!!"

A shout of agreement came from the Scout as he charged into the nearby castle. Toad had tried to warn him before hand of what was inside the castle, but the runner had already been inside before he could hear him. The ominous atmosphere was starting to get to Toad, as he started running after the Scout. In a slip of the tongue, he called out, "Luigi wait!" It got the Scout's attention enough. "How many times, I gotta tell ya? I aint this Luigi gu-" A fire ball shot up from the pit of lava behind him. Scout lurched away from the area. "Crap!"

Demo narrowly dodged the fireball, backing into the wall as flames splattered across the steps in a manner reminiscent of napalm, sizzling a few moments before dying out. "Bloodeh hell..."

After a quick sigh of relief, Toad had tried to explain to them, "There's normally lava in these kinds of castles. But usually they never fill up to the top of the gap." To illustrate his point a wave of lava singed the mushroom capped man. "Eek!" he ran to the Demoman and hid behind him.

The Scotsman frowned, picking up the little guide and placing him up on his shoulders. "Stay oop thar, laddie. Scout? Any ideas?" It was another one of those jumps he was wary of, probably easy for the young runner but after that last near slip up, Demo wasn't taking any chances. Especially now with pools of molten rock thrown into the mix.

Scout frowned for a few moments before an idea struck him. "I got it! Hey...Little guy...do we have any more of those things that make you bigger?" he asked. Toad pulled out their last one. "Well, yeah but...how will this help?" "There's brick up above us, right?" "Yes..." The Scout took the mushroom and ate it with a grimace as he grew larger. Then he started focusing on punching the brick right above him. Eventually, after a few hits, there was a hole leading to the top of the path. "I'll scale this, then pull you up!"

Grinning, the Demoman gave his teammate a sharp salute that would have made Soldier proud. "Tha's tha way ta do it!" Certainly useful little things, those power up gidjets. Still wasn't going to try any, not unless he had to. It didn't take long to clamber up through the hole with Scout's help, and the Scotsman gave an appraising nod upon observing the rather well tended grounds. "Nice place."

The creature on top of the Demoman's shoulders looked fearful, still, of the lava and monsters below. Scout had already started walking ahead to see what was at the end of the path. Something had caught his attention. "Is that Bowser ovah there?"

"Wot?" Darting after the still-oversized Scout, the explosives expert had to shield his eyes to see what the boy was looking at. Toad had told them all about the megalomaniacal King of the Koopas. Demo had jokingly compared the spiny lizard to their own dear Announcer. It took him a moment, not having the height advantage of the young runner, but he finally found the figure the boy had been referring to, a stocky form in green and orangey-red leaning over one of the balconies. But there was something... Off. "Doesn' quite look like how ye described there, Toad..."

"It might be another decoy, we can never tell for certain." Toad winced. "Bowser usually has seven of them stationed in the other castles. So for all we know, the Princess could be anywhere." Scout sighed. "You gotta be kidding me. Alright, then how do we get rid of the decoy or the Bowser guy, or whoever this thing is." he asked. "Do you see that key behind him?" "Yeah? " "If you turn it, the path underneath Bowser's feet will disappear."

The Demoman grimaced at the mention of a decoy, personally really starting to tired of finding all their hard work to have been in vain. "Seems a rather daft way t'defeat a bloke; Turn a key an' 'e falls ta 'is death. Where's the fun in tha'?" Especially since he'd picked up that sword. Taking off the critter's head with one swipe after an epic battle was more to the Scotsman's line of thinking.

Toad just said, "Do whatever you have to. I just want to be able to help the Princess in time." Scout cracked his knuckles. "Hell, yeah..." The fire breathing lizard had no idea, what he was up against.

Engie was worried. He hovered nervously behind Solly, tail lashing agitatedly as he listened to the latest messenger's report. "-and then Mario took of Iggy's head with a big sword!" The poor Para-Koopa looked totally shaken, feathered wings in disarray as it practically vibrated in place with fear. The Texan swallowed, turning to the infantryman (who was still in that poofy pink dress). "Sounds like you on a bad day, Solly."

The Soldier( or rather Princess) grimaced at the thought. It seemed he had underestimated these Mario people. He crossed his arms in contemplation. He didn't know how much more he could up the ante.

The winged Koopa glanced between the two, obviously looking for some kind of reassurance. "Sir?" The Engineer frowned, brow furrowing in thought. All of the Soldier's tactics were offense, more troops, more firepower. "I got an idea. We gotta get defensive, Solly."

"What kind of defensive are we talking about?" he asked with his arms crossed. Another koopling had pulled the winged one aside, "They get this crazy once in a while, just nod your head." he whispered.

A grin spread across the Texan's face, baring those sharp fangs as he slipped on his goggles. "The practical kind, of course."

The Soldier let out a wicked laugh. "There's the Engie we all know and love." The other koopling couldn't help but smile at seeing Lord Bowser acting like himself again.

The Engineer just laughed, plucking a pencil from his overall pocket as he moved over to one of the large pads of paper that had been scrawled over. He quickly flipped to a fresh page, pencil darting in neat precise lines as he sketched out the latest map. While he might not have his tools on hand, he still had his intellect, and it was his job to know how best to set up a defensive perimeter. "Right, so Ah'll needa get our troop list, see who's still surviving. Set up more blockades an' obstacles, see if we can't divert them elsewhere or block off paths completely... You there." The winged Koopa jumped, paw jerking up into a salute. "Y-Yes, sir?" "Keep an eye on those brothers, I wanna know how fast they're moving an' where." He grinned, tail wagging as he kept sketching. "Got a few surprises in store..."

---

Even the Scout was starting to get winded when the three of them emerged the final world. The obstacles were getting increasingly difficult, and there were fewer breaks in between.

Demo ducked behind a low brick wall, dragging the young runner down beside him so the pair could grab a breather. The little seedling in his pocket had grown throughout their journey, long green tendrils looped around his collar and trailing down his arm, white flowers blooming at intervals. It had been a great help, providing light and emitting a faint golden powder that healed the more superficial injuries. It now hovered over the three travelers, sifting golden powder down over them to patch up their scrapes and bruises. "Thanks muchly, Freya, that's a good lass..." He patted the vine, infinitely glad for its help. Inhaling a deep breath, the Scotsman turned to the Scout. "Is it jus' me, or is this startin' t'feel a bit familiar?"

The Scout stopped panting for a moment to answer the question. "Yeah, this is getting too much like work at the base." Toad tilted his head. "Base?"

"Aye, oor base. Remember wot Ay said aboot oor jobs bein' killin' folks?" Demo shook his head, sliding down the wall a bit more as he turned to the youth beside him. "It's like tha' one time Engie got Auto-Balanced..." The Scotsman froze, eye widening. "Yoo think' wha' Ay'm thinkin'?"

"Engie's gotta be at the castle!" he said as the hamster wheel in his head started turning. "I bet that Koopa guy's got Engie an' Soldier captive, making them do whatever he says. Aw, man! We gotta save 'em!"

"Spot on, laddie! C'mon, we got oor mates ta rescue!" With a roaring cry, the Demoman launched up and over the wall, sword out and swinging as he charged. No way was he going to be leaving his teammates behind!

Toad had managed to hop on to Scout's back, as they headed closer and closer toward the final world. A nearby Koopa spy ran as fast as he could to get to the Engineer. "The Mario Brothers are headed this way! None of the defenses seems to stop them!"

Engie scowled, pencil tapping thoughtfully at his lips as his tail twitched irritably. "What I wouldn't give for a good ol' Level 3 Sentry right about now... How close're they?"

"They're several yards away from the gate! I've never seen something like this in my life, sir!" he replied with a quick salute.

"That close?!" The Texan spun on his heel, bolting for the balcony and grabbing Solly. He tilted his goggles back, leaning as far over the banister as he could manage to get a better look at the incoming enemy forces. It was hard to see, there was so much dust and debris, but he could just barely make out a pair of colored blurs, one bright red, the other green with something white on it. He turned back to the room at large, waving to get the panicking Koopas attention. "Does anyone have any binoculars? A telescope 'r somethin'?" A small green-shelled Koopa came scuttling up, the little thing barely coming up to his knee as he held up a bronze spyglass. "Here, sir!" Engie smiled, gently patting the tiny critter on the head as he took the device. "Thank y'kindly, kid. Stay here, kay?" "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Spyglass in hand, the Texan returned to the railing, goggles hanging around his neck as he tried to focus the device. After a couple tries, he finally got it working properly, and his jaw dropped. "Oh my Lord..."

There was Scout and Demoman carrying Toad while smashing everything in their path. Both of them were running on the last of their adrenaline. Scout didn't even have enough energy for yelling out "Bonk!" Soldier quickly asked, "What do you see?"

Pale faced, Engie simply handed over the spyglass, too shaken to speak as he sank down to the floor. The little Koopa hopped up into his lap, dark eyes wide with concern. "Sir?"

Soldier looked through the glass and laughed, "Well I'll be damned, it's them." he said before turning to the smaller Koopa. "Tell the others to stand down."

The little Koopa blinked up at the 'Princess', confusion evident on its face before it turned back to its king in askance. The Engineer nodded, giving the turtle a (hopefully) reassuring pat. "Go on, kid..." Orders confirmed, the Koopa was quick to scamper off, relaying the news to everyone it could. A few Para-Koopas flew out, going to forward the new orders to the field. Engie watched, totally silent with his knees hugged to his chest, tail curled around his feet. It was just like that one time he got Auto-Balanced, had to fight against his friends, only this time... This time he hadn't even known. "They could've died, Solly."

Soldier sat down beside him. "But they didn't. And according to the earlier reports from the other troops, they had several lives," he comforted him. "I probably should have realized it was them when they mentioned how violent things turned on the other end."

"But- I-!" The Texan swallowed thickly, leaning against the other and struggling to keep himself together. It was one thing to take another person's life when you knew that person would kill you, but when that person was a friend, a friend you had come to know as family... He had had a hard enough time after the Auto-Balance, when the others were afraid to trust him and he'd spent several weeks buried in his work to hide how much it hurt to have his teammates so distant, but this- Engie buried his face in his knees, trembling.

The Soldier winced and pulled him into a small, yet manly, hug. "Look, they're okay, you aren't at fault this time. If anything it was mine."

For a moment, nothing, then the Engineer leaned in closer, his tail shifting to curl around the infantryman, silent as the sounds of battle faded. Down on the castle grounds, the Demoman found himself utterly confused. "Ang on. Where'd thay all go?"

Scout shrugged, "I dunno, maybe they're taking a lunch break or something." Toad pointed up to the top of the castle. "There! The Princess and Bowser! But... They look kinda different."

"Different?" Demo sidestepped around the Scout, climbing up onto one of the low walls to get a better look, shielding his eyes as he peered off in the direction their mushroom capped guide was pointing. It took him a moment, having to squint against the sunlight and through the dust that had been raised by the battle, but he finally found the balcony Toad was referring to. And couldn't help but gape. "Mother o' Mercy..."

Just then several unarmed, but still confused  Kooplings, had reached the trio. "His majesty King Bowser has requested an audience with you."

Grinning like a fool, the Scotsman temporarily ignored the Koopas in favor of grabbing Scout by the arm, dragging the boy up beside him and gesturing to the balcony. "Lookit, lad, an' tell me this cyclops eye o' mine t'ain't decievein' meh!"

Scout did his best to see what Demo was seeing. "That looks like Hardhat and Solly!" the Scout cried out.

Giving an elated whoop, the Demoman waved heartily up to the formerly missing pair, almost falling off the wall in his excitement. Only when he got a wave back did he hop down from the wall, still grinning widely as he strode up to the Koopas. "Lead tha way, lads!"

The confused turtles looked at Toad for an explanation. "Don't expect something from me! They don't make sense!" he replied with an exasperated sigh. The Koopas then just kept their inquiries to themselves as they lead the way.

Without the Koopa army barring the way, it didn't take long at all to reach the castle, and soon, the two teammates were stepping into a large room with dozens of maps and figures pinned up on the walls. A tiny green-shelled Koopa came scurrying up, tugging on Demo's pant leg. "This way, please!" Engie perked up slightly upon hearing that little voice, struggling to pull himself together before he had to face his friends. If they'd still be his friends after all this...

Of course, the question was already answered by a tired Scout, when he hollered, "Engie! Never thought we'd ever see you again, man!" Soldier had already straightened up in a small effort to redeem his manhood.

The Texan managed a weak wave, tail curled tight around his ankles as he unwittingly showed off his claws. Demo quirked a curious brow upon noticing the Engineer's, uh, modifications, noticing the horned red hardhat lying on the ground next to the bed. Curious... The Scotsman strode up beside his distraught teammate, flopping down and looping an arm around the man's shoulders. "Y'mind tellin' me why Solly's wearin' a pink dress?"

---

After a moment of reuniting and a long winded explanation to the entire Koopa army (though it did little good seeing as some of them were even more confused than before), the four of them sat down in a meeting room, struggling to figure out a way home.

"I can't just build a Teleporter an' expect it t'get us home, I don't even know how the broken one got us here in the first place!" Engie rubbed at his temples, tail twitching agitatedly. He'd been running over the same concept for a good twenty minutes, and his temper was starting to fray. The tiny green-shelled Koopa sitting in his lap snuggled down a bit further, a clawed hand wrapped around his overall strap. For some reason, the little thing had gotten rather attached and had taken to following him around like a lost puppy.

Scout, in turn, had Toad on his own lap. "Maybe there's something in this world that will take us home?" he suggested.

"Tha's a thought!" The Demoman sat up in his chair, having slumped over on the table after getting himself sloshed on some of the local alcohol (which was purple and bubbled like soda, but the Scotsman didn't care). "S'thar anythin' we've coom across that's worked like a Tele-Porter?" He hiccupped, and the seedling that had grown across his shoulders perked up, little white flowers trying to detox the drunken explosives expert with their golden powder. Engie gave his teammate a half-hearted glare, having long since gotten used to the man being near constantly inebriated. "Ah dunno, Demo. Been stuck in this castle the whole time."

Toad had pointed to the little flower. "I think that he has something to say."

"Oh?" The seedling rose up, nodding one of its blooms as it crept down from around the Scotsman's shoulders, its many tendrils twirling together into a single stalk as it crawled to the center of the table. Petals trailed behind it, leaves sprouting it their place, and its thin root dug into the tabletop. In a flurry of gold, it burst into explosive growth, and the table snapped in half. Engie lurched to his feet, pulling Solly out of harm's way as Demo did Scout, the beanstalk smashing through the roof and out into the sunlight. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, YA DRUNKEN SCOT?!" "AY DINNAE DO NOTHIN', LITTLE BUGGER WENT OFF ON 'IS OWN!!!"

Toad bowed to the giant beanstalk in a form of greeting. "It's nice to see you again, Raymond."

The vine waved its leaves cheerily, bending down to pat the mushroom capped guide on the head. It curved over to the Demoman, curling around his shoulders affectionately and giving a gentle hug. The Scotsman gave a soft, slightly nervous laugh, giving the thick length of greenery a tentative pat. "Ay don' think it's really Raymond, lad. More like Raymond's kid, aye?" Engie could only stare, his headache heightening to a near-migraine as he tried to wrap his head around the plant's sudden expansion. "B-But it- Materials- Equivalent mass-!" The Texan held a hand to his head, slumping against the wall. "Ow ow ow ow ow..."

Soldier patted the Engineer on the head. "Don't try to apply logic to this." Toad smiled and patted the vine, "Is that the way to their home?" Scout was watching the whole thing in awe.

The plant curled a little further around the Demoman, bringing its thinnest tip forward and showing the little flower that still bloomed there as it nodded. Demo grinned. "That's mah Freya." The beanstalk, now dubbed Freya, seemed to vibrate, leaves quivering happily as it cuddled the Scotsman. Engie turned and buried his face against the Soldier's chest, the little green-shelled Koopa cradled in one arm.

Then it hit Toad like a ton of bricks. They were going to leave them all behind. While it wasn't the proper place for these strangers, he had grown fond of them. Toad sniffled.

Hearing the faint sound, Demo glanced over to the little mushroom capped bloke that had guided them through the maze of worlds despite the dangers, and smiled, reaching out to give a freindly pat. "Ey naow. Just cause we're leavin' don' mean we'll be gone f'good, right Mac?" Hearing his name, the Engineer perked up, having to take a moment to process the Scotsman's words. "Well, it'll take some work an' Ah'd have ta figure out how that Teleporter made it all happen in the first place-" "Excellent! I knew yeh'd come through!" Engie sighed, slumping back against Solly.

Scout nodded, "Yeah, little buddy. We had loads of fun, of course we'll wanna come back. And maybe then we can get to meet all of the people there." Toad nodded, trying to buck up much like a little kid would.

Freya uncurled from around Demo, reaching over to give the little mushroom a hug before straightening, stretching up into the sunlight as thick roots curled through the stonework floor. Broad leaves sprouted, and the Scotsman realized that the floor was about to give way. He scrambled up onto one of the leaves, pulling Toad and Scout up behind him. "C'mon, lads! The floor's 'bout t'give!" The Engineer felt the stonework shift beneath his feet, and grabbed Soldier's hand as he bolted for the nearest massive leaf.

The four of them were able to latch onto the vine well enough. Toad hopped down to the end of the doorway, where the floor was able to support his weight. He looked up and started waving goodbye to them, along with the tiny Koopa.

The little turtle waved furiously, standing on tiptoe to be seen better. "Bye-bye, sir! We'll miss you!" Engie waved back, giving a soft laugh as he gripped onto the beanstalk's trunk with his clawed glove, tail waving contentedly when he let his arm fall around Solly's waist. He smiled up at the infantryman, fighting down a grin at the fact that he was STILL in that pink ball gown. A few leaves overhead, Demo looked down at the pair, grinning. He'd always known those two would pair off...