Waluigi 2- The Quest for Redemption

Chapter 8- A Journey's Past

"Urgh," Waluigi groaned. "Who thought it was a good idea to travel all the way to the Metro Kingdom on foot?"

Rosalina looked at Waluigi as if to say 'Really?' but quickly followed that by a little chuckle. She was not experiencing any exhaustion since she could just float. Waluigi was not so lucky. The jagged paths eroded his shoes like a coatal cliff, dust invaded his feet and created multiple dust colonies as a result while his legs burned as if they were thrown into the Volcano in Lethal Lava Land. "Wait Rosie, can we stop for a minute," he said while panting like a dog. Rosalina agreed despite time not being on their side. "Waluigi was able to recover his breath before continuing, "Look it's clear I didn't think our next steps through. I completely forgot the Metro Kingdom was a 5 days walk from Dry Dry Ruins and was unaware of how cruel the path was. Maybe there is something else we can do before we head there." 

Rosalina was unsure. They had no plan due to how rapidly the situation had developed over the past few days. At least heading towards the Metro Kingdom was some form of an objective, although now she thought about it, what if Pauline was either missing or unable to provide any useful information? Then at least five valuable days would be tossed into the bin and taken away to be incinerated. She relented. "Fine, perhaps we can search for a transport. That should reduce travel time and also save your feet."

"But where on earth are we going to locate a vehicle?" Waluigi responded. "We don't even know where we are!"

That was true; the pair had clearly never been here before. And for good reason too. At a first glance, the place looked harmless and quite ordinary, but on closer inspection it was possible to see countless divots in the ground, hinting at previous explosions of some sort. Little did the pair know that each divot was the site of a death, acting as a gravestone. Up ahead lay a decaying bridge, being eaten away by years of abandonment. Near the bridge was some sort of white cave. There wasn't much space inside said cave, however what was left of a cage was scattered like litter across the front. Perhaps somebody, or something, had bashed it open? What resembled a path was overgrown with weeds, bolstering the suggestion that the pair were the first people to visit here in a long, long time. The main sight was a huge imposing mountain. yet at the same time, it almost looked manmade. There were two dents in the side of the mountain suggesting that somebody lived there. Rosalina then froze in disbelief. "Oh my God," she muttered.

"What?" Waluigi asked rather impatiently.

"Mario told me about this place," she said as Waluigi rolled his eyes. of course Mario had been here. Rosalina carried on, "He told us all about this place. Terrible battles between the pink and black bob ombs occured. If it weren't for his, Yoshi, Luigi," Waluigi groaned slightly, "and Wario's intervention-"

"Wait, WARIO?!" an abosultely dumbfounded Waluigi interrupted? "Why was he brought along?"

Rosalina calmly responded, "I'm not sure, but at least it shows he still has some good in him."

"Pfft, he was probably promised shedloads of money," Waluigi said dismissively.

"Waluigi, don't say that!" Rosalina demanded. 

"Why not? You've seen what he is capable of. He has no morals at all and is rotten to the core!" Waluigi was visibly upset. It seemed like his bond with the princess would be put to the test.

Rosalina frowned. "Everybody said the same about you. But what did I do? I saw past that and helped you! i didn't have to, but i did, despite all of the warnings about YOU!"

Waluigi just stood there. He did not want to strain his relationship with Rosalina; she was all that he had left.

"I'm sorry princess," he responded tearfully. "It's just that Waluigi was never invited to come along and yet Wario was. Heck, I was never even told about this adventure until now. It just makes me feel terrible that i am lower than that pig."

Rosalina gasped. She realized she acted too harsh towards Waluigi. It was easy to forget just how negelcted and alone he truly was. She could even accept that Wario was the scum of the earth, but her kind hearted nature always wanted to give someone a chance. As Waluigi slumped against a minute cliff she hastily sat down besides him. "No- I'm sorry Waluigi. I totally understand your point of view. That was not like me to snap back like that, its just I cannot bring myself to write off anyone  regardless of who they appear to be."

"Even Bowser?" Waluigi chuckled. 

"Okay, well he's an exception but a justified one at that."

"Come on Princess, let's look for anything that can help us." Waluigi stood up, offering his hand out to Rosalina. She gladly took it and the pair explored the area, looking for anything that could help them.

"So, you said that this was a Bob omb battlefield. Does that mean that those divots-"

"By the looks of things, yes." Rosalina responded in slight disgust. She knew what Waluigi was going to ask. "Hang on, what's that?" She pointed to what appeared to be a floating isle. Even the watcher of the cosmos, who could manipulate gravity to some extent was perplexed by this thing. 

"Maybe we should go there." Waluigi suggested. " We will probably have to scale the mountain first."

Rosalina agreed and the pair began to head towards the base of the mountain. It was very eerie given that hundreds of living beings had their souls extinguished in mere moments all those years ago, with barely any trace of their bodies save for the divots, which realistically only made the journey upwards a slight inconvenience. 

The pair had reached a suitable height to jump. Waluigi leapt with grace, his lanky legs acting as springs allowing him to cross the gap with ease. Rosalina swiftly followed, effortlessly floating across like an angel. Almost immediately, the pair spotted a hole in the ground. They had encountered a few of these on the journey upwards but all that they contained was a pile of crumbled rocks. This one was different. Inside was an almost perfectly intact cannon. The location of the floating isle was able to shelter this one, although the effect of time were somehat clear. Still, it looked like it could work.

"I have an idea," Rosalina said. She summoned her wand and directed its magic towards the hole. The cannon raised but instead of appearing like a battered soul, it was coated in a magic glow, being revitalised by Rosalina. It then experienced a growth spurt, providig space for the two of them to fit in. "With any luck we may be able to traverse huge distances with this cannon. Hopefully the time spent here will be negated by this thing." She looked over to Waluigi who was visibly shaking and sweating profusely. "Relax, think of it like a loud launch star." Waluigi began to shake less, though his sweating did not stop since it was wuite warm inside. Rosalina yelled "Fire!" as the pair launched into the sky and the magic withered away from the cannon, restoring it to its sorrow yet somewhat stable state. Waluig and Rosalina could only pray that they landed somewhere favourable.