The end of the canal came into view, with beaming sunlight. Outside, they entered the calm waters of a lake. The tunnel mouth rested in the hillside on the backside of the castle. The waters were perfectly blue and crisp. The lake's size was gargantuan; they couldn't see any land on the horizon.
Minnie enjoyed the brisk splash of water that tickled her cheeks. She admired the beauty of nature, "Isn't it wonderful? I'm glad I can experience this. Maybe we can go big bass fishing sometime. Right, Gamer?"
Gamer stared ahead at the horizon with only one thing on his mind, 'I need to nut. I need to nut. I need to nut...'
A loud boom drew the trio's attention back towards the castle. A chunk of the battlements were broken, and the chunks toppled down. Smoke billowed out from behind the structure, as though a fire was set.
"What in the world?" Minnie gawked at the destruction.
"Say it isn't so..." captain shrooman expressed dread. He dropped to his knees, "It's him..."
Gamer narrowed his eyes to increase the draw distance. He spotted a person looming on the battlements. The stocky figure stared back, but the distance made the details hard to discern. The figure leapt from the battlements to the ground below, out of sight.
Minnie finally reacted, and uncontrollably shivered in terror, "It's Marco!"
"Uh...the dude just unalived himself. Jumped straight to the ground from, what, a hundred meters?" Gamer analyzed.
"I've seen him bound about with no regard to height. He's even fallen from the clouds with no issues," captain shrooman rebutted.
Fall damage immunity - Gamer started to feel jealous. Eventually, Marco appeared on the cliffside where the canal entrance was. He certainly wasn't damaged. With him closer, Gamer finally saw what Marco looked like. A rotund, short man with a glorious, bushy moustache and a scowl that would make a shark pause. His big button nose matched his belly, but Gamer could tell that most of him was muscle. He reminded Gamer of a dwarf from fantasy games. He wore overalls over a red top, and a cap that matched the top.
"The monster has a face," Gamer retained the mug. Then, Marco dove into the water.
"Why does it feel like he's coming after us?" Minnie whimpered.
"Of course he is. He wants to find the princess," captain shrooman refocused on sailing. "All the commotion of us returning to normal and taking back the castle must have alerted him. Oooh, this is super bad!"
"There wouldn't happen to be any deadly seaweed or ghostly leviathans in the lake, would there?" Gamer asked.
"I don't know what those are..." captain shrooman admitted.
"Nah, that'd be too easy," Gamer kept his sights transfixed on the water. Before they could sail away any farther, two large, gloved hands breached the water and grasped the backside of the boat. The hands were big enough to fit around a human torso. As the boat halted, the massive head and face of Marco rose out of the water. While in the lake, he must've eaten a red cap - that didn't make sense, though. He far surpassed the size Gamer became when he consumed the power up. There was more to it.
Marco grimaced with bloodshot eyes at the trio. Minnie and captain shrooman hugged each other as they screamed.
"Dammi la principessa!" Marco roared. (Give me the princess!)
"Was that Italian?!" the language and accent bewildered Gamer.
"I toldja he spoke weird," Minnie piped up. However, Marco didn't approve, and he reached for her. When the large gripper passed Gamer, he disrespectfully kicked it to the side and stifled Marco. The two of them drilled glares into one another.
Gamer warned, "Keep your hands off her."
"Chi sei?" Marco gritted his teeth, but Gamer had no idea what he asked. (Who are you?)
Captain shrooman lunged for the wheel and shrieked, "Super hang on! I'm gonna do a barrel roll!"
"A barrel roll in a bo..." but before Gamer could question the logic, captain shrooman cut the wheel by spinning it. The boat rotated sideways and completed one rotation. Everybody on the boat was drenched by the sudden dunk, and disoriented by the spin. Marco continued clinging on, but his eyes spun, too.
"That...wasn't...a barrel roll," Gamer spat out lake water.
"Okay, I'll try again..." captain shrooman groggily gripped the wheel.
"Don't!" Gamer and Minnie shouted together.
Minnie shoved Gamer aside. He hit the bottom of the boat, and then turned to see Marco's hand squeezing on her. Only Minnie's head and feet poked out of the hand, and her asphyxiation was apparent. Marco brought her closer, and opened his mouth to consume her.
Gamer reached into his jean's pocket and pulled out Cammy's broom. He smoothly transitioned to riding it and launched from the boat at high speed. Before Marco dropped Minnie in his gaping maw, Gamer nailed his throat with the tip of the broom. He swung a fist into Marco's chin, as well, and the force from both points of contact detached him from the boat. He let out a painful grunt and shrunk in size. He dropped Minnie, who was caught by Gamer on his broom. Marco fell backwards into the water and disappeared beneath the shaken waves.
Gamer and Minnie landed on the boat. Minnie thanked him, and he thanked her. Captain shrooman asked, "Where did you pull that broom from?"
"Do you know what a roleplaying game is?"
"Is that where you throw yourself down a hill and try to beat your friends in a tumble race?"
"Uh, nyooo...alright, I'm not explaining hammer space inventory," Gamer pushed the broom back into his pocket. Back into his inventory. He learned this trick from the other day when he slid Cammy's wand into a pocket and it magically vanished.
Minnie peered into the water, but saw nothing, "Do you think he's dead?"
"The red cap saved him, so I doubt it," Gamer leered at the water.
"We should turn back. If Marco is following us, he'll find out where the princess is!" captain shrooman strained his voice.
"No, we sail on," Gamer declared.
"What? That's a super bad idea, though!"
"Marco is hellbent on getting to Princess Persica. If we lead him there, he'll take efforts to nab her. That's when I strike, and take him out once and for all," Gamer reasoned.
Captain shrooman didn't have the same level of confidence, but trusted in the stranger's abilities thus far. They stayed the course and sailed towards the horizon. All the while, Marco lingered beneath the waves.