Chapter 7: Into the Nothing Zone

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Mario wanders through the Nothing Zone, expectedly finding absolutely nothing. But at some point he meets up with the unfortunate Toad who wandered in there, saying he overheard some of the Negative Squad goons saying stuff about Nothing Bombs. They are the devices Mr. L uses to make the surrounding area into nothingness. They first absorb all of the energy and matter of the area and spread it throughout the air, which the Toad says is vacuumed up by the Negative Squad’s base in the area. Then, after the entire area is sucked of matter and energy, it continues to suck “energy”, in the form of the light entering the area. This, he says, is what mega-powers the base, due to entering light being infinite. The Toad says he must have entered while the color vacuum part was in overdrive, explaining why he has no color but Mario does. He then says the Nothing Bomb must have mental side-effects, because he says he imagined a huge cube floating in the air…
After wandering for ages around the area, he finally sees the cube the Toad described. It moves slowly over the area, but then stops, and lowers a pathway. Mario approaches it, and sees two Game & Watches, one being a girl, coming from the cube. They welcome Mario to their fortress named the Nothing Cube, a safe haven for all those who come from a dimension of flatness. Luigi rushes up to welcome them, but the Game & Watches instantly run away in fear. Puzzled by this, Mario climbs the pathway to the Nothing Cube, and sees a whole Game & Watch village in the fortress. After going through the town, Mario catches a glimpse of the Game & Watch couple going through a side passage, which they then lock. Mario sees a small hole above the door, but has no means of reaching it, seeing as Luigi’s Super Jump only goes straight up. Mario continues through the village, when he sees Mr. UDL rushing down an alley to a broken-down part of town. Here there are lots of enemy Game & Watches, and a good number of Negative Squad goons. Eventually Mario reaches a small clearing, where he sees that Mr. UDL has cornered Rosalina, who is desperately trying to get away. Mario comes to battle Mr. UDL, and wins. Mr. UDL runs off, and Rosalina thanks Mario and joins his team. She can do a Rise Jump, allowing her to jump up and move a bit. Rosalina is able to go through the gap on top of the door the Game & Watch couple went through, so Mario can continue his pursuit. 
Mario sees that the room he is in is an engine room, used to move the Cube from place to place. Mario sees a bridge to cross a gap, but it is moved away to connect two unreachable areas. Mario finds a Dimensional Spirit which grants him his last Dimensional ability, the Compress power. Using this he can switch into 2D for a while, which allows him to use the bridge to cross the gap. Mario opens a nearby door, and steps out of it to see the vast Nothing Zone below, He nearly falls, but sees he is on a narrow pathway on the outside of the Cube, used to get to other maintenance areas. He sees the two Game & Watches go into the only open door, and so Mario follows them, into the unknown beyond…
Mario enters the older looking areas of the Nothing Cube, where everything as abandoned and broken. Mario continues to chase the Game & Watches through the area until they get to the near bottom of the cube, where there is a lone house. The Game & Watches enter, and Mario follows. The Game & Watches jump in fear, saying that the end is near. Then a noise comes from upstairs, and a Game & Watch with a mohawk and arm cannons enters and says he can take care of it. The Game & Watch couple says that this is their son, named Video. Video challenges Mario to a fight, using all of his dark-based moves and fast attacks. Mario overcomes him, and the G&Ws say that all is over. Mario asks them why and they say that a village member went outside and reported to see a giant figure in green walking across, shouting out “Mr. L shall rule!” Mario is about to say something when a loud noise comes. They look out a window to see a gigantic Brobot stomping towards the Cube, and everyone in the Cube is warned of the imminent danger. The Game & Watch couple tells Video to bring Mario to the exit, and then gives Mario the Nature Piece, which she says the Negative Squad was after. Video escorts Mario to an opening in the Cube, where he drops down and out of the cube. Mario then sees that the Brobot is actually very far away and is incredibly enormous. Video is about to go back to the ramp up to the Cube when he sees it retract and the Cube flying off. In a few seconds the Cube is gone, and Video says that all the weird stuff is happening due to the Negative Squad. Video joins the team, and Mario sets off for his final encounter with the Negative Squad…
Guess what? Another monologue thing!
“We have traced back the assault to life-forms similar on a nearby planet. It is called the Mushroom World. We plan to attack as soon as possible. Right now we are simply preparing for the attack, but there is nothing else of note. And so there is nothing else of note to talk about. End log now.”
Mr. L is looking out over the Nothing Zone, checking final diagnostics and finding everything is working perfectly. He sees Mario and decides to finally squash him like a bug, but is interrupted when a grunt comes up and says that the log viewing shows the hatch on the foot is open and nobody is nearby. Mr. L tells the nearest one to get there immediately, and then turns back to see Mario rushing forward. He proposes an imaginary challenge to Mario: if he is really worth anything he will make it to the hatch. Mr. L then laughs, saying that in spite of all his paranoid defense mechanisms he put on the Brobot X-Type, he could be felled by overlooking a main hook-up to the only entrance hatch. But then he says it won’t matter, because once he comes the Element Star will be his. Mr. L walks away, and the next chapter begins.
Category: Chapters