Chapter 29

A large amount of people were gathered near the docks of a certain town. A very special occasion was going on, and it seemed there wasn't a single soul that dared miss it. On one of these docks was a very pretty woman, standing in front of two rather tall men. Beside this trio was a boat. Meanwhile, the female member of this trio was speaking to the audience.

"Farewell, everyone," said the beautiful, young woman to the crowd. Her voice was high-pitched, silky, and very sweet. It was like a valley of flowers personified. "I'll see you all soon..."

Like everyone else in the village, her skin was pale silver. Unlike everyone else, however, instead of a slightly darker shade of silver, her hair was gold for the most part. On the other hand, like everyone else, her ears were long, oddly-shaped, and pointy, the front two locks of her hair were magenta, her eyes were magenta, and her long, pointy fingernails were magenta. Another big similarity between her and most of the other people in the village was the fact she was wearing sandals for her feet and mostly white for her body. More specifically, she wore some type of sleeveless dress, letting her skinny arms hang out. However, half the time they couldn't be seen because this woman's hair went all the way down to her ankles.

The two men behind her basically just looked like taller, more masculine versions of her but with hair that was mostly silver. She continued her speech.

"And don't worry... the evils of this world will perish and we'll all be able to live in harmony once again. This, I promise you..." The woman took a bow and the audience cheered. She then walked onto the platform leading onto the boat and hopped aboard. Her two male companions followed her soon afterwards. A while after that, the boat began to drift off into the ocean. The woman waved to everyone as they all cheered for her. In a few seconds, the boat and the three people on it had become just another speck on the horizon. Chattering amongst themselves, the strange-looking people of this mysterious village started heading on back to their homes. One of them was a woman whose appearance hardly differed from that of the woman that just left. She was busy walking with her handsome young man of a son and her slightly younger daughter.

"I'm going to miss her," said the daughter. She had a pretty cute voice herself. "She was like a sister to me."

"I guess I'll miss her, too," the son said. His voice wasn't too bad, either. It was deep-pitched and gentle. "I hope her journey goes well..."

"Don't worry. She'll be back soon enough," the mother said. Her voice was very smooth and soothing. She almost sounded like an orchestra of string instruments. "Now, come on," she said, "back to the tavern."

"Yes, Mom," said the daughter.

"Okay, Mom," said the son. After that little discussion, the three-some continued walking, drawing closer to a certain structure in the village while they were at it. This day was turning out to be a good one for quite a few people in that village. Everyone was in high spirits and hope was in the air. Surely whoever it was they just said goodbye to would be able to return in triumph...

After a while, Kammelina and Kammeo finally got to emerge from that one cave, chatting to one another all the while.

"It's finally going to happen, Sister!" Kammelina said. "Our enemies shall be swept off the border!"

"No one stands a chance!" Kammeo agreed. Smiles were upon both their faces. Then Kammeo suddenly looked grim. "Provided nothing unexpected happens," she added under her breath. Kammelina continued to smile. But then...

"Going somewhere, ladies?" The two witches stopped in their tracks. Any trace of a cheery mood was instantly wiped from both their mugs. They looked ahead and saw that some new form of trouble had already arrived. Kammelina snarled at this unrequested obstacle.

"What's it to you, eh?" she retaliated. Their enemy just snorted.

"You can't hide it. You are servants of the infernal god, Veyran. I'm sorry but I can't allow anyone like that to live."

Kammeo glared at this mysterious person's mace, apparently being readied for some action. "That's what you think," she growled. Both the younger and elder of the two sisters carefully drew their wands from their robes.

"I'm not the magic-using type, but that won't stop me from defeating you," the enigmatic person threatened.

"We'll see about that," Kammelina spat. Scowls were being born by all three of these people. With their respective weapons ready, they soon lunged at each other and the new fight began...

The sky overhead was turning orange. Xoshi and White Rose were walking along a dirt path somewhere in the Clover Kingdom. Appropriately, this path was surrounded by a number of clovers and clover-like plants, each of them varying greatly in shape and size. A good portion of them were tiny. They paved a large amount of the green area the same way blades of grass would. Other members of these plants were larger and came closer to bushes. Some even were gigantic and resembled trees. In addition to this, birds were flying around here and there, and bugs were buzzing away in the other direction. Neither one of the two travelers could help but walk about this place, looking at it in great interest.

"I suppose this is why they call it the Clover Kingdom," White Rose stated.

"Yeah," Xoshi replied.

The two travelers walked a little more. Then White Rose brought up something else. "Sir Xoshi?" he said. "Where exactly are we headed now?"

Xoshi talked to Beel about this a little. After that, the brown Yo'ster responded. "On the other side of those woods, we'll find... a village," he said, pointing to a vast collection of less clover-like trees that the path was leading them to.

"Hm. I see," White Rose said. "Perhaps we should pick up the pace. It's getting rather dark..."

"Yeah," Xoshi said again. The duo then continued walking down the path, eventually walking right through the entrance of these woods. A few seconds after that, they had officially disappeared into it...

After a bit of a short walk, the two of Chogun and Davey were at last able to return once more to the humble town of Goomba Grove. A good few of its resident Goombas were quite happy to see their return. However, they were a bit perplexed by the absence of their other two heroes. The unfortunately transformed duo were asked about this quite frequently.

After dealing with their crazed fans and journeying through the fortress once more, the duo was able to come face-to-face with the original, blue and white-garbed Goomba King they were able to rescue earlier. The royal Goomba was sitting on his throne and was very pleased by their return.

"Chogun! Davey! It's good to see you again."

Chogun scratched the back of his head and Davey rolled his eyes a bit at the sound of this. "Likewise, sir," the bug man replied.

"Ah, but where are the other two? Big Guy and Laser Snifit?"

"Oh, um," Davey said, rubbing the back of his neck, "they just... couldn't be here."

"Oh. How unfortunate..." The Goomba of royalty looked solemn for a moment, but then he perked up a little. "Now then. What can I do for you boys?"

"Well, it's like this," Chogun started. "We weren't always... a bug and a little boy. Some spell made us this way. We're looking for a way to reverse the effect so we can return to normal. We didn't know who else to turn to for help. Any ideas?"

The Goomba King widened his eyes upon hearing this. Then he furled his brow and shifted his eyes in thought. "Hmm," he exclaimed. Then it occurred to him. He put his eyes back on the two visitors. "You know, come to think of it, I think there is a way."

Chogun and Davey looked as surprised as all get-out. "You do?!" the two of them said in unison.

"Yes," the royal Goomba continued. His two saviors began to listen more intently. "Somewhere in the Clover Kingdom, there's a place called Carnival Alley. Over there, you'll meet a man named Chirinu. He knows how to undo spells like these."

"Really?!" Chogun said as relieved as ever. His partner, Davey, had a big grin on his face. "Thank you very much, sir! But how will we get there?"

In response to this, the Goomba King hopped out of his throne and landed in front of the happy two-some. "Just follow my lead," he said. He then walked around the duo and proceeded waltzing out the door. Soon afterwards, the two of Chogun and Davey began to follow as instructed. Thoughts of wonder revolving around where this man could be taking them were on their minds...

Big Guy's arms were getting pretty tired, as were his legs. His whole body, save for his head, was soaking wet. He had been swimming for hours on end while Laser Snifit had been doing little to no exercise whatsoever. A glazed look was sweeping over Big Guy's eyes while his partner was busy looking up at the darkening sky.

"Hmm..." the gray 8-Bit hummed. He looked down at the back of his companion's big head. He could hear him panting heavily. "Big Guy? Are you all right? You're looking rather fatigued."

"Huff... huff..." Big Guy wheezed. "No way," he rasped. "Not... until... we get... to..." Then the gigantic 8-Bit saw it. An island in the distance! He swore he could see it being colored by shades of red and yellow. "BOBBUS ISLAND!" Big Guy crowed. "Yes! Come on, Snifit! We're almost there!"

"Hm," Snifit said simply. Then his muscular teammate started swimming even harder, breaking into even more of a sweat than he already had been.

It's been a long road, Snifit thought. What possibly lies in wait for us next...?

Similarly, Annabyss in her Nep-Enut form with the three of Wario, Waluigi, and Tessa atop her head, was still sailing along in search of Uaurpe.

Hmm... Tessa thought as she looked at the trail of waves the Nep-Enut was leaving behind in the process of swimming forward. Then she held up her hands, marveling once more at the fancy white gloves they were wearing. I wonder what exactly these things are capable of? She let her fingers twiddle a bit beneath the strange garments. I can't wait for the opportunity to try them out...

During this, Annabyss kept focusing her gaze forward. Uaurpe was still nowhere to be seen. But wait... what was that over there? Annabyss squinted her rainbow Nep-Enut eyes at the sight in question, thought hard, then shifted her direction to face that of what she was staring at earlier. Her three companions couldn't help but notice the shift.

"Warum ändern Sie Richtung?" the brothers asked in unison.

"Bobbus Island," the sorceress said. "Unforgiveable actions are being committed there. We must go and correct them before it's too late..."

"Ja, madame." With that, the brothers and their young female cohort could continue enjoying the ride.

Bobbus Island, Tessa thought. Maybe I could try my gloves out there...

The blue and white Goomba King had led Chogun and Davey to some docks leading into the sea and sticking out of the beach-like edge of the peaceful Goomba Grove. Beside one of these docks was what appeared to be some kind of metal cylinder sticking out of the water with a parascope on top of it. One side of the cylinder had a logo-like picture painted onto it of a Goomba. Chogun and Davey observed this once they were very close to it, making them practically at the end of the dock. In front of them were two more Goombas like the high-ranking one behind them. They looked very familiar.

"Ah, Goomba King. Good to see you," said the one in the lab coat. "What brings you out here?"

"Good day, Dr. Goom," the king said. "I was wondering if you could escort Chogun and Davey here to Carnival Alley."

"Can do," said the Goomba in the lab coat. Then it hit Davey.

"Hold on," the boy said, "you were that Goomba at the control panel, weren't you?"

"Yeeess," the Goomba responded, moving his eyes to the left.

"And you," Chogun said, pointing to the Goomba next to him, "you're the one who would host those boring plays!"

Even though he was wearing a sailor's outfit over his traditional black tuxedo, he could still tell it was him. "Yes, that was me," the Goomba said.

"Well then," Chogun stammered, "how do we know we can trust you then?!"

"Well..." Dr. Goom started. Then CLUNK. The top of the cylinder by the pier flipped open and out of it climbed another familiar face. All heads turned to face it. Those of Chogun and Davey were a little surprised and a little pleased by the sight.

"What's all the fuss about? The sub's all set to go, and you people are out here yakking! What gives?"

"Nothing, Clarence. It's just that these two gentlemen seem to think we're still convicts," Dr. Goom said.

"Oh, is that it?" The man sticking out of the submarine turned to the two that Dr. Goom referred to as gentlemen. They still couldn't believe it was the big, hairy Clumph they'd met earlier. "Yo, Chogun! Davey! No need to worry. These guys have learned their lesson. They're just trying to be normal people now."

"Ah, that's a relief," Chogun sighed. Both he and Davey drooped their shoulders some, knowing they could relax.

"We all got new jobs after the fake Goomba King left," said the Goomba next to Dr. Goom.

"Hm? Even you?" Chogun asked, pointing to the Clumph.

"Huh? Oh, no. I've just always wanted to ride in a submarine," the muscular beast replied.

"Ah, okay," Chogun said.

"Well," the real Goomba King spoke up, "I can see you're all getting along. Enjoy the trip, everyone. I'll be heading on back to the fortress, now."

"All right. Have a nice day, Goomba King," Dr. Goom said. The Goomba King nodded. Then he turned to the transformed duo.

"Oh, and Chogun? Davey?" the royal Goomba said.

"Yes?" Davey asked.

"Good luck."

Davey smiled and nodded. "Thank you." The Goomba King returned the smirk. After that, he turned around and started walking back to where he'd come from, leaving the duo in need with the trio of submarine-oriented people.

"Well," Dr. Goom elicited, grabbing Chogun and Davey's attention again, "as you may already know, I'm Dr. Goom." The technological Goomba then gestured to the Goomba next to him. "This here is Goombil. And that, of course, is Clarence." The Goomba and the Clumph ended up exchanging a few waves and nods with Chogun and Davey. "This here," the doctor said, gesturing towards the submarine, "is my latest and greatest invention: the Kariboo Sub. It'll get us to Carnival Alley in no time."

"I see," Chogun said.

"Now all we have to do is get inside of it. Clarence, if you will..."

"Aye-aye, Captain!" the Clumph said, doing a perfect impression of a pirate. Chogun and Davey couldn't help but be impressed by this as they watched the Clumph disappear into the depths of the vessel, getting himself out of the way in the process.

"Ahem. After you," Dr. Goom said. Chogun nodded. He walked up to the side of the pier the opening of the submarine was closest to and hopped into it, grabbing a hold of a ladder while he was at it and starting to ascend. Soon after that, Davey, Dr. Goom, and Goombil could perform similar actions. Within a short matter of time, all five people had boarded the aquatic transportation device. The hatch closed up and the submarine could finally turn around and start drifting away from the docks. The journey towards Carnvial Alley had at last begun...

The woods that Xoshi and White Rose were journeying through were strange ones. There weren't many clover-related things in sight, but it was still an odd place to be. All the trees, all the leaves, all the blades of grass were transparent and they seemed to be glowing a light aquamarine color. They walked on, taking in the mysteriousness of this place, all the while with a glowing shadow of blue being cast over them.

"How curious," White Rose mused. "I feel like I'm in another world..."

Xoshi nodded and grunted in agreement. The duo trekked onward, basking in the odd, mystical atmosphere a while longer until they reached an opening in the woods.

"Finally," White Rose said as they approached this opening. The two travelers walked through it and discovered a town. At the sight of it, Xoshi and White Rose only ended up becoming more awestricken. Beneath the purple sky, this was a very peaceful place with strange-looking, silver-skinned people roaming about here and there. Like their robes, this place was populated with teepees that were mostly white with green, intricate patterns coiling across them. Some of the other buildings, however, were larger, more geometrical, and made of wood. Between all these structures were roads paved with soft, pink bricks and bushes and trees that resembled the plants of the woods this place was built in the middle of. One of the strange-looking people approached Xoshi and White Rose shortly after they entered the town.

"Welcome, travelers," he said. "This is Silicon, the village of the Pixies. We hope you'll like it here. Will you be needing a place to stay for the night?"

"Yes," White Rose said. "That would be nice."

The pale silver man turned around and pointed to one of the larger buildings. Sure enough, there was a sign on it that read "Inn".

"The woman there, Eon, would be more than happy to give you a room," said the man. "Anyway, you have a nice day."

"Thank you," White Rose said. Then the man walked off. With this out of the way, Xoshi and White Rose could continue their journey. They walked down one of these brick roads and up to the entrance of the inn that the man pointed out to them earlier. They pushed their way through the double doors and immediately found themselves in a restaurant setting. All over the place were tables, chairs, and whatnot. Some of these things were already occupied by a few of those odd-looking Pixies. Hanging off of the walls and growing out of pots in various places throughout this setting were flowers, all of them adding an extra nice feel to the sanctum. In the center of it all was a rectangular counter with a young, male Pixie behind it cleaning glasses. To the right of this counter was a staircase leading upstairs.

Xoshi and White Rose observed this new vicinity, and then were approached by a Pixie. "Welcome," she said to her two new customers. "My name is Eon, and this is my tavern. What can I do for you today?"

This Pixie just happened to be a woman with silver hair that was so ridiculously long, it could touch the back of her ankles. The front two locks of it were magenta and they curled up into two odd swirls at the bottom in front of her. She wore a skintight, white dress that started above her feet and ended halfway up her neck. This dress was completely sleeveless, exposing the woman's pale silver arms. Around both wrists, she wore two black bracelets, and around her neck, she wore a necklace of silver beads. Judging by the few, minor wrinkles on her face, Xoshi and White Rose could tell she was of the middle-aged type, but she was still quite pretty. She had a small chin, magenta lips, curvy eyebrows, a small, upturned nose, and wide, shiny, magenta eyes that were rimmed with pitch-black eyelashes. On both of them, the three that were near her temples had single little magenta-colored beads sticking out of them. In addition to this, each strangely-shaped ear had a round emerald hanging from it. Hanging from that emerald would be a topaz one. She also had some magenta blush to bring out her cheekbones. Overall, she was odd-looking, but pretty.

"We'd like a room, please," White Rose said.

"Okay then," Eon said. She turned around. "Pixel!" she called.

A small, beautiful, young woman stepped forward. Xoshi's jaw dropped. She basically just looked like Eon, but a lot younger, not to mention a lot cuter. Her hair only went down to her shoulders and the front two locks of it didn't curl up at the bottom. As for her attire, she was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt that exposed her shoulders, but ran billowing sleeves around her arms. Along the edges of the top and bottom openings of this garment of hers, as well as those of her sleeves, were rims of green. Each green part had lines and dots of gold and dark green twisting all over them in various geometric patterns. It made them look like the inside of a computer. On the front of her outfit, two more stripes of these green things came down from the top part, but didn't connect with the bottom part. Similarly, on the parts of her sleeves just above her wrists were two more bars of the strange green. For the lower half of her body, she wore a pair of flares that were dark green, but still looked similar to her shirt in a way. Also, around her neck, she wore a necklace with a floppy disk at the end of it.

"Yes, Mom?" the young woman said. Xoshi found he was also quite infatuated by her voice.

"Show these gentlemen to their room, please," Eon said.

"Okay, Mom," Pixel exclaimed. "This way, please," she said, gesturing to the two men, turning around, and walking towards the stairs. This revealed that, on her back, was a cross-like shape coming from the green around the top of her poncho. White Rose was following her, but Xoshi wasn't moving. He was just standing there, staring at Pixel. The two of her and White Rose were just barely getting started on the stairs when they suddenly stopped and began looking at him. He was getting stares from Eon and the man behind the counter as well.

"Sir Xoshi? Is something the matter?" White Rose asked.

Xoshi snapped out of it. "Huh? Oh, um, no. Nothing," he fumbled. Pixel smirked and made her eyes roll a little. Then she and White Rose continued up the stairs. Pretty soon, Xoshi was doing the same. Eon and the man behind the counter shook their heads and continued working...

Xoshi, what's gotten into you? Beel asked.

I don't know, Xoshi answered. I haven't felt this way about a girl since...Jeila...

I see...

Pixel led Xoshi and White Rose down a hall after leading them up the stairs. She stopped at the one door at the end of the hall. She opened it up, revealing two beds, a table, a chair, a bookshelf, a window, and a lavatory. "Here we are," she said. "Make yourselves at home. By the way, if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. My room is that door, over there." She pointed to the door closest to the stairs they'd just ascended.

"Thank you, madame," White Rose said to the girl. She smiled at him as he walked past her. White Rose went through the door and he was gone. Xoshi began to do the same. During this, Pixel began to walk away. This didn't end well. BUMP! Their left legs collided into each other, and both people went falling to their faces.

"UMPH!" they both grunted. As a result of this, Xoshi's items went flying out. His Honey Syrups, Dried Pasta, and Dried Shroom along with his idol and his Belome doll landed between the two of them. They both began struggling to get up.

"Gosh, I'm sorry," Pixel said.

"It's okay," Xoshi elicited. Pretty soon, the two of them were on their knees.

"Here, lemme help you with this," she offered, beginning to pick up some of his stuff for him.

"Um, thanks," Xoshi said as he began to gather his things as well. Between the two, Pixel was the one that was able to get his Honey Syrups and Xoshi was the one who got his Dried Pasta, his Dried Shroom, and his Belome doll. There was just one thing left. Pixel picked it up and looked at it admiringly.

"Oh, my. What's this?" she asked.

"That's my idol of the... Super-Happy Tree," Xoshi said slowly.

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "You've seen the Super-Happy Tree?!" Xoshi nodded. "Oh, my friend, Pixidus, saw it once. She's seen a lot of things. She used to tell me about it... but she left just a little while ago..."

"She... left?"

"Yes," Pixel said. "She's got a journey to complete. See, these strange creatures called Melon Bugs have been terrorizing vicinities everywhere lately. She's off to the Beanbean Kingdom to take care of that."

"Melon Bugs?" Xoshi said. He recalled a moment or two during that Kamek incident when he'd encountered a few of those very things. "I've seen them!"

"You have?" Pixel responded. Xoshi nodded again. "Oh my..." She strummed her fingers against Xoshi's idol a bit. "Well... I can see we've got a lot to share, but I'm afraid we'll have to save it for later. My mom'll kill me if she catches me slacking off like this."

Xoshi looked a little disappointed. "Oh... I see."

Pixel got up off the floor, and so did Xoshi. "Well... I'll talk to you later." They looked at each other for a second. "By the way, what's your name?"

Xoshi stalled a moment, thinking. "Xoshi."

"Ah... That's a nice name," Pixel complimented. Xoshi scratched the back of his head. "Well... See you later," she said. Xoshi gave her another nod. She turned to walk away, but then she stopped and turned to face the brown Yo'ster again. "Oh... and here's your idol back." She handed the figure back into Xoshi's hands.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome." The two swapped some smiles. Once again, Pixel turned around. She walked down the hall and began to descend the steps. Then she was gone. Xoshi remained standing, watching where she had disappeared. He seemed to be deep in thought. Then White Rose walked up behind him.

"Sir Xoshi." The entranced Yoshi jolted and turned around. He saw it was just his sword-wielding partner behind him. He relaxed some after that. "I'm about ready to turn in for the night, but I must ask you: where shall we be headed next on our journey?"

"Um..." Xoshi asked Beel another question. When he got the answer, he suddenly looked a little perplexed, but then decided to acknowledge White Rose's inquiry anyway. "Marinotropolis," he stated. White Rose widened his eyes.

"Marinotropolis?" the knight protested. "Sir Xoshi, are you quite sure? That city's underwater. How could we possibly make it there?"

Xoshi looked a little sheepish. He started talking a bit more with Beel. Then he went back to White Rose. "Um..." he started. "You'll find out in the morning."

"Hmm..." White Rose shifted his eyes to the right. He looked at Xoshi once more. "Fair enough," the knight said. "Very well then, Sir Xoshi. We rest for now." The swordsman turned away from the Yoshi and went deeper into the room once more. Xoshi stood thinking for a moment, but then he did the same as White Rose. Pretty soon, both travelers were in their own respective beds. White Rose was lying on his side, facing away from the Yo'ster, so that kind of made Xoshi feel as though he had a small sense of privacy in that respect. He and Beel once again began to converse.

So what's going on between you and this girl? Beel asked.

Nothing, Xoshi replied. It's not like we're having an affair, or anything...

But you and Jeila aren't courting...

True, Xoshi admitted. We're not. But still... Xoshi paused. The Star Warrior in his head awaited an answer but got none.

Still?

Nevermind, the Yo'ster finally said. After that, there was a pause in the conversation. Then the Yoshi picked it back up again. Beel?

Yes?

How exactly ARE we going to get to Marinotropolis? If what White Rose said is true...

You worry too much, Xoshi, Beel said. Let's just relax for now...

All right... Xoshi complied. He turned over on one side, facing the wall closest to him. He lowered his eyes halfway wearily and stared at nothing in particular. The brown Yo'ster then commenced relaxing after yet another long day...

"Foreman Spike, Guido... I wish you good luck. Please... get our children back..."

"Leave it to me, your Highness." Six people were back in the ballroom of the Mario Land Grand Castle. The two sitting in the throne were the king and queen, of course. The two standing before them were Foreman Spike and Guido. Standing beside the king were a battered and bruised duo of other Marios. Regardless, the two guys were still able to stand erect and alert.

Foreman Spike and Guido were an interesting-looking pair at the moment. This time, both of them were wearing overalls, regular shirts, white gloves, and hats. Foreman Spike's overalls were black, whereas Guido's were dark teal. They went well with his long-sleeved shirt, which was a lighter teal, as was his hat. The foreman's shirt was short-sleeved so his muscular arms could show. It was a jade-like color, which matched his hat. Unlike Guido's, though, the bill of his hat was rimmed with white, and the letter in the center of its white circle was an S rather than a G. Not only that, but instead of the same color as the rest of his hat, this S was a dark blue. Plus, it took on a more interesting shape, allowing it to extend beyond the borders of the white circle. All this, and the backs of the foreman's gloves had similar S's on them while Guido's just had traditional lines. With these outfits, they were ready for the journey ahead of them. There were just two more guys for the leader of which to talk to...

"Aberto, Brando?" Foreman Spike said to them after addressing the king, "you guys take care of things while I'm gone."

"Yes, sir," said the two guards simultaneously.

"Well, Guido," the foreman referred to his sidekick, "let's be off."

"Yes, sir!" Guido agreed. To follow this up, the duo gave a few last waves to the four people counting on them, and began to descend the stairs that surrounded the thrones. They walked down the aisle until they reached the fancy double doors at the end of it. They opened them up, went on through, and were gone from the king and queen's sight.

"Oh," the queen sighed, looking glum. "I hope they succeed. I miss our children already..."

"Don't worry," the king said. "Foreman Spike and Guido are the strongest soldiers we have. If anyone can get them back, it's them..."

"Hmm..." the queen pondered. "Maybe they will get them back..."

The king looked at his wife and placed his hand on top of hers. "They will," he promised. The royal couple exchanged smiles. They let the evening carry on while basking in the thought that the successful return of their chidren was a great possibility indeed...

"Ugh," Boshi grumbled as he continued walking past a certain body of water beneath the night sky. His back was hunched as he trudged along. His search had not been very prosperous. "This is taking forever," he commented. "I've looked for hours, and still no sign of 'em. Man, I hate this place..." The blue Yoshi continued walking, not willing to give up just yet.

When he walked across a certain dirt path, two people emerged from the cave at the end of it and started walking down this path.

"So, how do you suppose we're gonna get there?" Guido asked.

"Simple," Spike replied. "We go to the docks. There's a woman there I know that'll give us a lift."

"Ah. Okay." The two-some walked onward. At some point, however, the leader of the two stopped walking and started looking towards his left. "Sir?" Guido said, stopping as his superior had done.

The foreman stared a while longer. Then he started looking forward again. He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and continued the walk. "Nothing," he responded. "I just thought I saw someone wearing my old shades over there..."

"I see..." With a certain woman to attend to, the two of Foreman Spike and Guido journeyed on, leaving Boshi to go on his own, separate odyssey.

"Strange," Boshi mumbled to himself. "Thought I just saw a guy wearing the same shades as mine..." The Yo'ster paid it little mind and went back to minding his own mission. This occurred, and the night went on for these three people in Mario Land...

Ren, Razule, and Goomba Prince were still busy hopping around in their custom-patented Boomba's Shoe. Goomba Prince was piloting the device, Razule was enjoying the ride, and Ren was watching the footprint-shaped ripples showing up, one after another, behind them each time the giant boot took a leap across the water. He still couldn't believe that this was indeed what the strange machine was capable of, but that didn't seem to be his primary concern at the moment.

"Razule?" he asked. "Are we getting any closer to this Clubba Road you speak of? This is getting quite tiring..."

Razule opened his eyes and looked ahead. He saw a sliver of green beginning to show up on the horizon and smirked. "You can rest easy, Renny boy!" the odd creature spoke up. "Clover Kingdom draws near. And THAT means that Clubba Road is too! YA-HOO!"

Razule breathed a sigh. "That's a relief," he said. After that, he could continue watching the waves behind them. To add to this, Razule closed his eyes once more. Goomba Prince, on the other hand, just kept manning the machine.

That's all well and good for Ren and Razule, he thought, but what's gonna happen once we get to Clubba Road? The Goomba basked in his wondering. Right now, I can only speculate... With those thoughts in mind, the Goomba went on with making the oversized boot hop away into the night...

Foreman Spike and Guido had arrived at the place they had been looking for: the docks. More specifically, they had arrived before a small, wooden house that just happened to be next to one of these docks. At the end of the dock this house was near, the silhouette of something large and oddly-shaped was sticking out of the water. Whatever it was supposed to be, the mastachioed duo paid it no mind and approached the front door of the house. Foreman Spike extended a fist and knocked a few times. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

Some seconds later, the door opened. Standing behind it was a female Magikoopa. "Yes?" she said. "How can I help you?" The woman was a bit of an odd sight. Her long hair was white and her entire wardrobe was made of patches, all of them varying in colors mostly consisting of cold ones like green, blue, and purple. This all seemed to make her vaguely resemble a rag doll.

Foreman Spike cleared his throat. "Yes," he said, "you wouldn't happen to be Oglian, would you?"

"That's me," the Magikoopa said. "Do you need me for something?"

"Yeah," Foreman Spike replied. "We need you to escort us to Castle Koopa in the Koopa Kingdom."

"Well, you've come to the right person," the aged woman said. Foreman Spike and Guido stepped aside as the senior citizen walked out of her door, closing it behind her. She started walking down the pier with her two customers being right behind her. She led them to the end of it where that large thing sticking out of the water could be seen. She stopped walking and turned and faced the thing. She made a rising gesture with her right hand for some reason. Much to the two men's astonishment, especially Guido's, this caused the thing before them to lift up a long neck and point at the trio the head of a weird-looking mammal. The mustachioed duo made sure to take note of the thing's strange-looking, furry green skin and the stitches and white spots that were lacing it all over.

"Meet Selkford, the sea camel," Oglian said, "one of my larger oga dolls." The woman gestured towards the unusual thing's head. "After you," she said. Guido went first. He walked onto the doll's fuzzy head, descended its neck, then found a nice place to sit atop one of the thing's humps (the one in the back, to be more precise). Then it was Foreman Spike's turn. He got the hump in front of Guido. Last but not least, Oglian got on. She sat atop the doll's head and started making more odd movements with her hands. In response to this, the massive doll began to turn around, away from the docks, and start swimming off in one direction, leaving Mario Land behind. "Castle Koopa, here we come," Oglian said as the journey at last came to a start.

Drifting through the water, Guido couldn't help but continuously be amazed at what he was riding. He kept turning his head left and right, trying to take in even more details of the object.

"Pretty sweet, eh?" Foreman Spike commented with his arms folded. "To think, Guido," he went on, "this would be just ONE of many things dolls are good for..."

Sackle and Crookie were in high spirits. According to that radar of theirs, they were but a few feet away from the precious doll they had been seeking out. Both of the thieves were on the edges of their seats, sweating profusely and waiting with great anticipation for the big moment.

"Ohhh man," Sackle squealed, "that doll's gonna make us rich, baby. REALLY RICH!"

"Right-o, boss!" Crookie concurred. The Giga Mole dug more and more. The doll was getting closer and closer. The two thieves were being driven nuts by the wait this was taking. They practically had to keep themselves from screaming. Just a few more clawings through the dirt and they were there. Closer... Closer...

SHOOF! The next movement caused the robot's claw to dig straight through nothing. This sudden hitting of the air befuddled the dastardly duo.

"What in blazes-" Crookie stammered. He fiddled with the controls a little, but it was no use. The mole continued digging, clawing its way through the tunnel even though there was nothing left to dig. This caused the overgrown metal thing to get pushed out of the tunnel into the air itself. This spelled bad news. As a result...

"Uh oh."

"You've done it now, Crookie."

"AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!" They both screamed as the robot fell from the hole it made and CRRASSSHHH! It hit the cold, hard ground, right on its head. This made for quite the demolition for the device to take. Smoke rose from the remnants of the machine and sparks flew from it as well. A few seconds later, with their hands rubbing their sore heads, Sackle and Crookie could emerge from the wreckage and find out what was up. They met up with each other in front of the device's head.

"Now what?" Sackle said.

"I dunno, boss," Crookie answered as he and his superior looked around. "Pretty creepy place if you ask me..."

The duo was in a very large underground room. It was illuminated by various torches decorating the walls here and there. Aided by the yellow glow of this sanctum, the two-some could see that, surrounding them in this circular place, were all kinds of random things, including tables, tools, nuts, bolts, sheets of metal, and other such things. Seeing how rusty, crumpled up, and strewn about these things were, they began to wonder if this was a junkyard of some sort. Whatever the case, their wrecked Giga Mole seemed to blend in pretty well.

"Hmm..." Sackle said as he began looking around. "This place seems oddly familiar to me..."

Crookie was a bit perplexed by this. "How so, boss?"

"Well..." Sackle started. He scratched his head in thought, trying to place his finger on it. Then...

"INTRUDERS!!!" Not being able to ignore such a high-pitched screech, the duo turned around and let horrified looks befall their faces. Floating before them was a transparent, Snifit-like creature donned in a blue robe and a ghostly tail keeping it afloat. "HOW DARE YOU?!" it shrieked again.

"B-Blifit?" Sackle stammered. "Is that you?"

The ghost Snifit scowled at the blue-capped thief. "YOU TWO..." it growled, "YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!!!"

With its fin-like arms extended menacingly, the ghost began to float slowly towards Sackle and Crookie.

"Boss?" Crookie whimpered. "What's happening?"

"I don't know, Crookie," he replied, fear shaking his voice, "but it doesn't look good..."

"Oh, man..." Crookie moaned. Before they knew it, the moment they had dreaded had come. Blifit got her way...

Xoshi lay awake in his bed. He and Beel were talking to each other. So, you used to be someone named Princess Shokora? he asked.

That's right, Beel replied.

But... Xoshi made a weird face to no one in particular. I thought you were...you know...male!

Beel laughed. We Star Warriors don't come in different genders, you know.

That's bizarre, Xoshi thought. Well, he added, let's just hope none of those freaks you told me about come OUR way...

Indeed...

Xoshi still had his eyes wide open. He shifted onto his right side and folded his arms. He shifted onto his left and placed his arms beneath his head. He lay down on his back and crossed his arms across his chest like a corpse. Nothing worked. Argh... he grumbled in his head. I can't get comfortable no matter what I do. I'm just having another one of those nights...

Insomnia, hm?

Yeah... Xoshi sat up in his bed. He looked to his right and watched the mass underneath the covers of the other bed, rising and falling in a breathing pattern. Xoshi envied his mysterious partner. He looked away and shook his head. He pulled back his sheets and hopped out of bed. He walked towards the door.

Now what? Beel asked.

We see if I can't get a midnight snack... Xoshi grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, opened the door, and walked on through it, closing it quietly behind him. He walked down the hall, down the steps, and into the cafe from before. There were only a few lights on, including the one from the moon shining through the windows. It looked eerie, but peaceful. It was a pretty quiet setting at the moment. Xoshi approached the counter that Pixel's older brother was cleaning glasses behind earlier, but no one was there this time. He scratched his head, beginning to wonder if his hunt for a midnight snack was a lost cause.

"Xoshi?" There it was again. That lovely, feminine voice. The brown Yo'ster jerked his head to the left and noticed that Pixel herself was sitting atop one of the stools in front of the counter, helping herself to something. "What are you doing up?" she asked, curiously.

"Oh, uh," Xoshi said, once again, looking for the words, "just... looking for somethin' to eat."

She pointed her fork to a glass bowl full of various little colorful things. "Want some fruit?"

Xoshi went bug-eyed. "Yes, please," he said, showing how well Beel's lessons had been working for him. Pixel flashed another smile to him. He walked up to the counter and hopped onto the upraised stool to the right of the one Pixel was on. He spotted a cube of cantaloupe somewhere in that glass bowl. SHLICK! Pixel gasped. In the blink of an eye, that piece of fruit was inside Xoshi's mouth. He swallowed and released a satisfied sigh. Pixel giggled.

"You like fruit, huh?" she said.

"Oh, yeah," Xoshi replied. "So how come you're up?"

"My work's done for the day. I'm just enjoying myself now."

"Okay."

She smiled again and stabbed another piece. After consuming that one, she got to speaking again. "So," she said, "you say you've seen Melon Bugs before?"

Xoshi ate another piece. "Yeah," he said. "One time... a baby fell out of the sky," he began explaining. "Me and... seven friends... we took it to its brother. We had to fight a Magikoopa... Kamek. It wasn't easy... hit a few Melon Bugs along the way. Pesky."

Pixel nodded. "Yeah. They've been being a real nuisance lately. They're all over the place! You hear horror stories about them all the time. They say the end of the world's coming..."

Xoshi was about to go for another fragment of the produce before them, but he stopped suddenly and looked shocked. He looked at her intently. "End of the world?" he blurted.

"Yeah," Pixel said solemnly. "It's all Tondariya's fault. She tried taking over the world once, now she's trying to do it again, even though she's dead. They say the only way to make the Melon Bugs go away is to revive Tondariya, but Pixidus thinks there's another way. That's why she's going to the Beanbean Kingdom. She's going to make a wish to the Beanstar, which is something she should be able to do since it's known to only grant wishes upon hearing the sound of the most beautiful voice, and she's got the best voice in the village."

Xoshi stared ahead, looking pensive. "I see."

"Troublesome, isn't it?" Pixel said, circling her fork above the delicacy.

"I know," Xoshi replied. He scratched his chin a bit, then ate some more fruit. SHLICK! Pixel took her turn to try some. "You know," Xoshi said, "I'm... on a big mission, too."

Pixel looked intrigued. "You are?"

"Yes," Xoshi said. "The Star Spirits... they want me to find seven people and give seven wands to them so they can face something called the oncoming evil. They said... something about the end of the world..."

"Oh," Pixel responded, "really?" Xoshi nodded. "Hmm... I guess that's why you're here."

"Yup."

"I wonder," she said, looking ahead, dreamily, "could Tondariya and this oncoming evil have anything to do with each other?"

Xoshi shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."

"Well," she stated, piercing through another piece, "I hope all goes well for both of you."

Xoshi nodded again. "Thanks."

A few seconds after that, the fruit was all gone. Both Xoshi and Pixel had reduced it to little more than a glass bowl full of little splotches of juice. They both hopped out of their seats and stretched. "Well," Pixel began, "it's getting late. I guess we'll see each other in the morning then."

Xoshi gave her another nod. "Guess so," he elicited.

The two people left the cafe, ascended the stairs, and stopped in front of one of the doors. "Thanks for talking to me, Xoshi. I hope you get a good night's rest."

Xoshi smirked. "You too," he said.

They exchanged smiles once again. "Good night," she said.

"Good night." With that, Pixel turned her doorknob, entered, and closed the door behind her, waving to the Yoshi during that one last glimpse they could catch of each other. Xoshi waved back. He stayed behind for a bit, standing and staring at the floor with his hands folded behind him.

Nice girl, Beel said.

Yeah... Xoshi agreed. He stood around for a while longer, then finally turned around and headed for his own room. Once in there, he went back beneath the covers, got into a reasonably comfortable position, and shut his eyes. Goodnight, Beel.

Goodnight, Xoshi... At last, Xoshi and his head mate could get some well-deserved sleep. Their day had ended...

Beneath the waves, the Kariboo Sub continued its journey. Inside of it, the two Goombas, Dr. Goom and Goombil, were manning it while Chogun and Davey were sitting around in a room behind them, laughing it up, watching Clarence do some more of his impressions. After another round of their laughter subsided, Clarence continued.

"And this is my impression of an old guy," he said. Chogun and Davey watched excitedly as the Clumph suddenly started hunching over with one hand clutching an invisible cane and a hand placed upon his back. Once again, his voice was completely different. "Well, that'sh an intereshting shtory. You shee, it all shtarted during the war. People in thoshe daysh had to wear tree shtumpsh on their headsh, due to the great hat shcare of '28, but in thoshe daysh, hatsh were called 'bumber-dingersh', shince the word 'hat' wash conshidered the word of the devil." Chogun and Davey burst out laughing once again. The Clumph stood upright again. "And this is my impression of a door-to-door salesman." He started holding onto on invisible briefcase and knocking on an invisible door. When he opened his mouth, his voice sounded entirely different again. "Good day, sir. Are you interested in buying an automatic pie? You'll never go hungry again! It eats itself while you wait. Wait! Don't go! I'll even throw in my toupee! Free of charge! How about a sock? Only a day old!" Chogun and Davey started roaring with laughter again, tears streaming from their eyes.

Meanwhile, Dr. Goom was getting rather irritated. He turned around and started yelling. "Would you people pipe down?! Shouldn't you be sleeping, or something?!"

"Sah-dee!" Clarence called, apologizing with a foreign accent. The lab coat-donning Goomba could hear snickering from their other two passengers. He could hear it from the Goomba next to him as well. He grumbled and went back to minding the sub along with Goombil. He scoffed. "Actors..." With the sound of various impressions and rites of laughter, the Karibooo Sub went on with its journey to the Clover Kingdom...

FWOOSH! Laser Snifit stared in satisfaction at the nice orange glow of yet another fire he'd managed to get going. He placed his hands near it, letting the warmth reach his gray-colored fins. He did this for a little while, then began talking to his overgrown companion. "So, you're sure Robin Hifit, Small Fry, Crystal Guy, and Gray Guy are here?" he said, not even looking at the man. "I mean, I was pretty sure they were all dead." The only answer he got was some loud snoring. He turned his head around, letting the blue shadow of the night fall upon his face rather than the orange glow of the fire. He could see Big Guy's massive body lying on its side away from him, his body rising and falling a bit as a result of the breathing. The gray 8-Bit shook his head and turned back towards the fire.

As much as you hate that guy, you gotta admit, he's pretty dang strong, Laser Snifit thought. To think... he swam ALL this way to Bobbus Island. What a guy... At that moment, all that could be heard coming from this little opening in the woods somewhere on the mysterious Bobbus Island was the sound of the fire crackling and a gigantic man snoring. Tomorrow was another day...

Elsewhere on Bobbus Island, a different group of people were resting. Wario and Waluigi were leaning against a tree with their arms folded and their hats drawn over their faces. Annabyss was sitting on the ground with her legs folded beneath her. Tessa was resting her head on her lap, dreaming peacefully. At the time, the elder of the two girls was the only one within the vicinity that was still awake.

We'll take care of this little problem, then continue our journey to Uaurpe, the enigmatic woman strategized. As usual, anything could happen... Thinking this, the woman remained on the lookout, ever the one to not ever stop for sleep...

And so, the night carried on. All the while, throughout various places, stars twinkled in the sky and people slept in their beds, dreaming away. Each passing hour made them closer to attacking the new day, and Xoshi was no exception. Before he or anyone else knew it, the sun had risen, and that time had come. Soon, both he and White Rose were leaving their beds, stretching, packing their things, and such. A while after this, the knight approached the Yoshi. "Now then," he said, "let's go get some breakfast." The brown Yo'ster nodded. Then the duo exited the room and began making their ways to the cafe.

Down there, things were bursting with life again. Sitting at various tables were assorted different people, helping themselves to whatever they could. Pixel's older brother was back behind the counter, her mother was greeting some of the customers, and Pixel, herself, was right in front of the hungry Xoshi and White Rose.

"Hi, Xoshi!" she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yup," the Yo'ster said, smiling.

"That's good," the Pixie replied. "Anything I can get for you two?"

"Fruit," Xoshi stated. Pixel beamed at him again.

"And you?" she said to White Rose.

"I'd also like some fruit," he said.

"Okay then! Follow me." The young Pixie weaved through some of the chairs and tables until she came across a vacant place for her two customers. "You two wait here. Your fruit will be ready in a minute."

"Thank you," White Rose said. The duo sat down as the girl walked off. As they waited, they could hear the clinking of forks against plates and the conversations of the other people in the restaurant. Soon, White Rose started up one as well. "This girl," he said to Xoshi, "she seems to have taken a liking towards you."

Xoshi felt slightly embarrassed. "Yeah..."

"Women," the swordmsan continued, "they're fascinating specimens, no?"

"Yeah..." The two travelers went on with their waiting. Eventually, of course, it got interjected again.

Xoshi... Beel said, grabbing the brown one's attention.

Yeah?

Look behind you, and listen very carefully...

Xoshi looked confused by this new strange-sounding order, but did it anyway. Near the entrance, he could see Eon talking to a man covered in teal scales. His feet and his hands were both webbed. His lips were fat and wide. Fins stuck out of his back as well as the sides and top of his head. He had no nose, but two wide, yellow eyes with very large pupils. He was a walking, talking fish.

"Oh my," Eon said, marveling at this man's unusual guise. "If you don't mind my asking, where are you from?"

"Marinotropolis," the fish man said. Xoshi's eyes widened. "I go back there today. I heard something terrible happened." Eon nodded, interestedly. Xoshi's eyes widened even further, becoming in danger of popping right out of his head.

"Something the matter, Sir Xoshi?" White Rose asked. The brown Yoshi turned back around to face him.

"Nothing," he said. To his left, Eon was busy sitting the fish man down at a table right next to theirs. "It's just..." Eon left. White Rose began to stare at the fish man just as his partner was doing. "I think... our journey just got easier..." The knight nodded his head slowly and scratched his chin behind his veil. A moment after that, Pixel arrived with their food, told them to dig in, got thanked for it, and left. After that, the only thing the two travelers had to do was eat and have a little chat with this man from Marinotropolis...

Comments, suggestions, stories, or story ideas? Email me!
Go back to Lemmy's Fun Fiction.
Go back to my main page.