Chapter 6: The Midnight Mansion
Goombella, Vivian, Koops, and Eggo walk into the mansion affectionately dubbed the Midnight Mansion. A group of bats flies behind them, including the Apprentice in her bat form. Of course, a swarm of bats following you inside a building in the Forever Forest is normal, so they just dismiss it. The four (five counting the Apprentice) get inside and see three doors. There is a letter taped to the middle door. Curious, Koops walks up and tears it off, reading it aloud (which is good for the Apprentice as it would seem more than a little suspicious for a bat to sit on somebody's shoulder to read something).
"So someone's finally dared to come here, eh? Well, I warn you, I am not the easiest to beat demon you'll ever meet. If you were expecting some animal-themed thing like those stupid TV shows or some big shadow-like roll of cardboard, you've got another thing coming. I don't have element-based powers or work for a higher force or require a stupid broach for my power to work or any ridiculous stuff like that. All of these doors lead you through a unique set of challenges. If you like fighting, then door number 1 is right for you."
Upon Koops saying this, a huge "1" appears in red on the left door. Koops continues, "If you like to use your head, then number 2's perfect for you." A "2" appears on the middle door. "And if you like platforming then you're advised to go through door 3." As he finishes, a "3" appears on the remaining door.
"Well, I'd be all for door 2 normally," says Goombella, "but if we're gonna beat this guy then we need to get back into the swing of things. Let's go with number 1."
"I'm all for that!" replies Eggo. "I certainly could use it after the way I messed up against Rawk Hawk."
"Well, I guess we should go through the battling. What do you think, Vivian?"
"Goombella has a good point. All right then, let's get going."
The four heroes walk through door 1. Once they are gone, the Apprentice returns to normal.
"Now then, I believe 2 would be most fit for my skills." The Apprentice goes through the central door.
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The heroes find themselves in a long hallway. Ahead they see a sole Podoboo facing them, floating in place. They approach it.
"Heh," says the Yoshi, "just one Podoboo? This'll be a piece of cake!"
"There's not just one of us."
The Podoboo suddenly begins to glow and starts to spin around in circles. As it does, Podoboos begin flying from the walls, where they were previously invisible, and begin spinning with it. As the Podoboos begin to amount to 50 or so, they stop coming out and spin faster and faster until they stop, revealing a Fryguy in their place that is about 12 times the size of a regular one.
"Oh boy."
The Yoshi begins pelting the enormous Fryguy with eggs, but with little effect. Vivian, unable to use her fire on it for obvious reasons, resorts to hiding the others as it shoots at them. Goombella tries running around it in order to create a breeze, but instead just catches a blast of fire. The Goomba begins screaming and commences to stop, drop, and roll and then run away. The others run with her as the Fryguy looms in closer... and closer... and closer.
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The Apprentice stands in a room. Inside it there are six colored blocks on the floor and five colors, red, green, blue, yellow, orange, and purple, on the wall. Written nearby is a message, "Make there be the same amount of each while using all six blocks." Each side is the color of one of those on the wall, though the bottom can't be seen. A hole rests to put each one in once the solution is found.
A lot easier said than done, the Apprentice thinks before starting to consider how to do this.
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Peasley and Popple sit aboard the boat on bags of sand. Popple is drinking a can of Kero Cola, while Peasley has a glass of some sort of mixed drink.
"Well, I must say," says Peasley to his sort-of ally, "you're certainly a nicer guy than I first thought."
"If you're trying to butter me up to let you escape, don't bother. I won't fall for it."
"Well, it was worth a shot... but it's the truth anyway. I mean, yeah, you're not the nicest guy around by any means, but you're at least able to talk to."
"Yeah, well, don't expect me to go easy on ya either way if you try to turn your back on me. Now that you know my plan, either you stay in or you die, see?! I ain't gettin' arrested."
"Yeah, I get it."
"By the way," Popple says, changing the conversation, "have you ever heard of the Jewels of Life?"
"No, but then again I don't know much about treasure."
"These be no normal treasures," replies Popple, "these are gems that are capable of doing almost anything when brought together! They can make somebody more powerful than ever before, restore lost body parts, and even raise the dead!"
"Yeah, well, do you know where they are? 'Cause it seems like you could certainly use them."
"Not only that," says Popple, "but you could use them yourself if we found them. Like, say, resurrect that plumber and get him to drive Ludwig out."
"I could, huh? Well, how do we find out where they are?"
"Well, there's a map hidden somewhere. I'll tell you more about them later."
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Goombella, Koops, Vivian, and Eggo continue running through the hallway, stopping every now and then to jump over a ball of flame coming their way. The group eventually reaches a door, which they attempt to open only to discover... it's locked. The four begin to scream until Eggo suddenly gets an idea.
"Hey, the Mushroom Blocks worked on the original... so we've just gotta use something like that! Koops, get in your shell!"
Koops does so. Eggo then wraps his tongue around the shell and flings it at the top of the wall right above the Fryguy. The shell bounces off, goes through the fiery monster, bounces off the floor, hits again, bounces from the ceiling, etc. until the beast finally splits up. The Podoboos all run away and Koops comes out of his shell. He picks up a key that one dropped before walking back to the door.
Everone begins serrenading the Yoshi with tons of thank yous, a few coins, and a group hug or two, after which they unlock the door and go on in.
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The Apprentice, after using all of this time just looking for a solution, finally picks up the block to examine the bottom and see what is there. What she sees is... the bottom is tan!
"That's it!"
She then lays all of the blocks upside down inside the holes, meaning that there is an equal amount of each of the original colors because none of them shows up. A door appears in front of the evil entity, who enters it.
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The heroes find themselves in a pure white room. A large red metallic box-like thing with three sides sits in front of them. Above it they see four purple and silver chains that hang a pure white, ghost-like figure above it by about 30 feet by the wrists. The man-ish thing has long, brunette hair, a blue trenchcoat, and black pants. He also has an orange collar sticking out from under each side of the neckline of the coat. His eyes are closed.
"Ugh. This guy must've gotten it horribly from this Deathnify freak," says Goombella while looking up. "He looks like he's been scared to death."
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The Apprentice walks into an identical room. Above her hangs THE EXACT SAME GUY.
"Heh, Deathnify must be pretty darn powerful. I can't wait to have a real challenge for once."
She turns away to look for a way out, and as soon as she does, the figure's eyes open and begin to glow red.
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The heroes turn the other way in order to look for anything that could lead to where they go next, when the exact same thing happens.
"I wonder where that stupid demon is," says Vivian. "He can't be all that tough."
"Oh, looking for me?"
The four look around and see the man still hanging. He shouts down, "Oh, so you're paying attention now? Good. Now then, prepare to suffer a fate akin to that of your old chums Mario and Bobbery! Brahahahahahahahahahaha!"
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The Apprentice stares, facing Deathnify herself in the other room.
"So you're this great big ol' demon, huh? You're pitiful. You might as well just do yourself a favor and hand over the jewel, 'cause you don't stand a chance!"
"Is that so? Well, not only am I gonna kill you, but I'll kill those other four pests as well!"
"So, those idiots actually managed to make it through, huh? Well, then, where are they? Shouldn't they be somewhere in here if they're fighting you?"
"Heh, don't you realize that I can host myself from more than one place at a time? Right now, I'm busy playing with their emotions before I kill them. Do you really want to try me? 'Cause if not, I'd be willing to allow you to leave... for a price."
"I don't need to leave. Prepare for your death, ya worthless excuse for a challenge. I shall lay my claim to the Jewel of Memories and be on my way quite hastily."
"My, seems as though someone is confident about her skills. Enough small talk! Time for you and those other four to all be mezmerized, brutalized, and deathnified!"
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The heroes stare up at the demon, who still hangs high from the ceiling. "What are you waiting for?!" yells Eggo up at the holder of the Jewel of Memories. "Get down here and fight!"
"Oh no, I don't fight from down there. I fight right up here!"
The box thing suddenly begins glowing. Inside it forms... a glove. The glove floats into the air and twirls a bit, then begins floating with the palm of it facing the heroes.
"Let's see what these powers can do!" yells the demon as a red fireball shoots from the palm of the glove. The heroes barely dodge it, and the glove fades away.
"Egg Toss!" yells Gonzalez Jr. as two eggs are thrown into the air toward the creature. As the shells get within about ten feet, they suddenly begin to fall (because, let's face it, eggs thrown 30 feet into the air ain't hittin'). As they do, a mouth emerges from the box, eats the eggs, and then spits fire onto the four heroes before disappearing, doing major damage to Goombella, Eggo, and Koops. Vivian, however, barely feels anything because of her use of fire and therefore continues the assault. She raises into the air about ten feet and then summons and throws a ball of fire, which hits but just bounces off.
"Don't you understand anything? You cannot win!"
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The Apprentice moves out of the way of a pair of shoes that is jumping toward her just before being flattened and then starts an enormous storm targeted at the demon known as Deathnify. Winds begin to emerge from her hands and ice pours out, swallowing the entire room until the Apprentice can no longer see Deathnify through the snow that flies from her palms. She then stops and waits for the snow to clear. Once it does, she is shocked to see that the icy substance hasn't done even the slightest thing to the demon, who merely laughs.
"You thought that your pathetic blizzard would affect me? Ha! You'll have to do better than that if you even want to survive!"
Pathetic blizzard?! she thinks.
That
blizzard was powerful enough to freeze over the Dry Dry Desert! Something
about this guy isn't right...
Chapter 7: Shaman of the Sea
Author's Note: This chapter takes place
after the conclusion of the fight with Deathnify.
The woman stands on the deck of a ship, watching her men proceed to set up control of the area so that they can soon bulldoze over the hotel in hopes of acquiring... a particular treasure.
Just a bit more work and we should be able to get to that jewel. And then... we'll be prepared for whenever that mass-murdering rogue pirate shows up.
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Popple and Peasley dock in Seaside Town and walk off the boat. "We finally made it!" yells Popple before running off toward the Sea (which, despite its name, is actually a cave and is not even within the sea, but rather next to it). Once inside of the cave, they see a Shaman, who is standing at a stack of crates that slightly resembles a table.
"Ah... more guests. It has been ages since I've had any customers."
"Hmm... Are you Merlon, or merely a relative?" inquires Peasley upon laying eyes on the Shaman.
"Hmph. I am neither. I am merely of the same race as he, a Shaman. Merlon is a disgrace to all of us true Shaman and our cause, as is every other member of his family."
"And how is that?" asks Popple in response. "I haven't known them to do anybody wrong."
"No, they themselves do not. However, they offered assistance to that now-dead fool Mario."
"First of all," breaks in Peasley, "I fail to see why exactly this would be so horrible anyway. Secondly, what do you call the fact that you sold the guy equipment and items? Seems a bit hypocritical to me."
"First of all, that wasn't me. There's more than one guy who works here, ya know. Secondly, the reason it is so horrible is because Mario was, and all of those little so-called "partners" of his are, abusing many of the species of Plit. When was the last time you saw him stand against a Toad in favor of a Goomba? He never did.
"Point is, Mario played everyone, making them think he was a hero for the common man. Wrong. He stood up for Toads because they reminded him of humans. The man couldn't even keep a job! Some pirate stopped in here one day and mentioned that a cousin of hers from Earth told her about all kinds of occupations the man had, and he was fired from every one. A demolition crew, a typing teacher, a doctor, a carpenter, a tennis referee, and much more.
"And that's the thing: people on Earth weren't afraid of Mario. But the people here are, all because of the fact that he's punked out some guys like Bowser and Smithy and such. That's the thing: Bowser wasn't all that tough, yet people seem to think he was, and Mario needed tons of help to beat villains like the Shadow Queen and Smithy and Cackletta and such. The only villains the guy has beaten alone who are really all that impressive were Wario, and that's probably due to Wario wasting time using Mario's stuff rather than his own; and Donkey Kong, but that was only after DK'd beaten Mario on Earth years earlier."
Peasley opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it, realizing he has no way to respond to what has just been said. He sighs and walks toward the sea (as in the actual thing, not the cave) as Popple turns to the Shaman.
"Right, well, I'll take two Pick-Me-Ups and a bottle of Maple Syrup."
"Thank you for your patronage. So, I see he is realizing what I said?"
"Absolutely. Thanks for the help."
Popple hands the Shaman a handful of coins, which are counted afterwards.
"Thanks for the tip."
"No prob."
Popple walks off in the direction that
Peasley went, snickering all the way.
Chapter 8: Golden Opportunities
Goombella jumps into the air, barely avoiding the blast of fire that has just been shot at her. As she lands, a black ball roles out of the box and then explodes, blowing all four of the heroes into the back wall.
"What kind of powers do you have anyway?!" yells Eggo. "It seems like you're just using anything that you want!"
"Well, if you must know, I'm using all of you. Your memories... heh heh. I can use the magic of anyone who's dead. I'm merely only using this stuff to remind you of Mario, Bowser, and Bobbery. Mind games, you understand."
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"Is that so?" asks the Apprentice. "You've definitely got some powerful magic up your sleeve, but you still stand no chance against me."
"Wanna bet?"
A tank emerges from the box and targets the Apprentice. As a missile launches from it, Deathnify yells out just one word.
"Magnum!"
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The heroes continue dodging fireballs and other attacks while trying to find a way to do harm to Deathnify. As the four stop to catch their breath, Vivian whispers to the others, "I think I may know how he's so hard to do any damage to. However, it'll be extremely risky for us to try to finish him off. I'll do my end, but I'm going to need a volunteer to go up there and finish him."
"I'll do it," says Eggo, "but I've gotta know: what is his secret?"
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The Apprentice dodges bullet after bullet, praying for a break in the chorus of shots from the tank, but to no avail. The Apprentice continues backing up, only to find herself trapped in the corner. She gasps and turns away with her eyes closed, hoping that something happens to save her now. The tank reloads...
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Vivian lifts into the air as high as she can get with Eggo on her shoulders before throwing the Yoshi at the wall. He kicks off of it and flutter jumps until he reaches the demon's waist. There, he reaches out, putting his arms through Deathnify, revealing that the whole thing's a hologram. He grabs his target, a small sticker placed within the wall between the two rooms, and rips it off of its location, then pulls the jewel off of it before ripping it up. Upon doing this, both Deathnifys disappear and they all hear the demon's voice once again.
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The Apprentice turns around upon realizing that the bullet has yet to be fired, and sees that the tank is gone. She hears the same message as the heroes do.
"You proved to be quite a bit more powerful than I suspected. Oh well, just because you defeated these pathetic puppets doesn't mean that you can defeat me. We shall meet again, and not a one of the five of you will live once you reach the Gateway. At the Gate, myself and Gateway shall have your souls."
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Vivian goes up and catches the Yoshi, then sets him on his feet on the ground.
"Thanks," replies Eggo to Vivian's actions. A certain bat flies into the room as the building disappears, leaving all four of the heroes on the ground outside. The bat hangs overhead for a second before turning and flying away into the distance towards the Sea.
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A few minutes later, the heroes reach E. Gadd's house and tell him and Frankly the entire story.
"And then he mentioned something about "the Gate" and said that there was a fifth person there with us somewhere before the mansion disappeared."
"The Gate? I've heard of it, but I could've sworn... Anyway, that's not important right now. I believe that I know who the fifth person there was. I would say chances are that it was the bat that took the last jewel from you young'uns."
"I agree," pipes in Frankly. "For now, though, I believe that you all have a map to go retrieve."
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About an hour later, just after Popple and Peasley have walked away through The Sea...
The Shaman turns around to see the Apprentice standing atop the crates.
"You don't happen to be doing some work over the jewels for more than one of us, do you?" she asks firmly, as the cave walls begin to frost over a little from her right hand being on one. "I didn't see everything, but I saw enough to make me believe that you're working for that little Bean freak."
"Of course not. I was merely doing an old friend a favor. Reassuring a reluctant ally of his that his way is the right one, that's all."
"Good. Now let's talk business. Our leader has told me that something interesting is waiting inside that ship for us, if you know what I mean."
"Of course I know what you mean. I have a feeling, though, that we may be able to use those two for our leader's purposes."
"What makes you say that?"
"Judging by what I heard, I can tell that the prince obviously is having doubts in the intentions of Mario's pals. Perhaps we can use those two to help to rid our leader of those four fools."
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Doopliss sits on his throne, reading a newspaper.
"So far the police have no leads as to the identity of the mysterious "Pirate Hunter", though a pattern has been discovered in the killings in that someone not involved with either side has also been found dead along with the pirates."
Doopliss stops reading after finishing the article and lays it down, then sighs. "I wonder what the deal is with this Pirate Hunter... I hope he doesn't try to get involved with anything around here."
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"No, no, no! I just cannot seem to get that composition right!" yells Ludwig, who is sitting at his piano, which he now has in the completely redesigned throne room of Peach's Castle. The walls are now painted black, and an expensive red carpet lies on the floor around the throne, which is Bowser's old one. Three paintings hang on the wall behind the throne, up high enough so that anyone will be able to easily spot them just by entering the room. To the far left is a painting of Ludwig, while the middle painting is of Bowser. The final work of art is a depiction of Morton Koopa Sr. The Koopaling himself looks much the same as he did five years prior, except he is larger, obviously (though not quite as big as Bowser was), his hair is not as it was but rather it is long and drapes over the Koopa's shoulders, and the Koopa now wears a blood-red velvet cape with a silhouette of his father on the back of it.
Suddenly a loud knock is heard on the door. Ludwig groans and then yells out, "Enter!" Just after he says this in walks a female Koopa who looks about four years younger than the king.
"Ah, Wendy. So, what is it that you want?"
"Nice to see you're in a good mood. Anyway, apparently the new king of Sarasaland has been attempting to persuade other kingdoms to offer asistance in overthrowing you. What do you want us to do?"
"Attack Nimbus Land, that's what. Invading there should cut off about all the major help he could receive. As Prince Peasley has been missing for around a week the Beanbean Kingdom is in no condition to attack us, and we could easily take the Waffle Kingdom if they were to offer assistance."
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Our heroes sit in chairs at a table in E. Gadd's laboratory along with the two old-timers who are helping them.
"So let me see if I've got this straight," says Goombella. "We are supposed to go to the Dry Dry Desert, go beyond the Dry Dry Ruins, and eventually, if we're lucky, we'll stumble upon another pyramid. We have to use the jewel to open it, then go inside, beat the Golden Diva, take the map, and find our way back to civilization. Correct?"
"Yeah, that just about sums it up," replies E. Gadd to the Goomba.
"Good. Just checking. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to just use the jet to find it instead, though?"
"Well, yes," replies E. Gadd. "But think about it: from that high up, a pyramid would be almost impossible to make out from the sand. It'd be in all of our best interests for you four to just warp to Dry Dry Outpost, then walk the rest of the way."
"This is true," answers Koops, "but I think it may be in our best interests to at least wait until morning to set out. Give ourselves time to rest, you know, 'cause Deathnify was not exactly the weakest guy we've ever fought."
"You probably should wait until morning," replies E. Gadd, "but I do not suggest waiting any longer than that. Chances are that this fifth person is already on the hunt for more, or perhaps even for the map itself. If anyone gets that map before you, well, things will become much more difficult. Or maybe not, if they happen to come looking for you after collecting the others..."
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"So, what are you going to do?" asks the Shaman of the Apprentice while the two are discussing their leader. "Are you going to go ahead and grab the jewel that is in the ship now, or..."
"I was instructed merely to come talk to you; that jewel can wait until later. I am too tired from having battled Deathnify to worry about the King Calimari for now anyway."
"What of the creature who recently established the ship as his residence?"
"Something tells me that our two Beanbean friends will handle him for us..."
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"Patience, Popple," says Peasley. "We're gonna have to be careful going through here. There are many ghosts and skeletons aboard the ship- the souls of those who lost their lives here."
"Well, nice to see you've gotten over what the Shaman said."
"Yeah. I realized that he's 100 percent correct and, though at first it was hard to deal with it, I accept it as an awakening now."
"Good. Then you can help me with taking out those friends of that Bob-omb's as well."
"Wait just a minute..."
"I'm joking! Let's just find our way through here. The quicker we find and kill that shark, the quicker I can get my revenge and you can return home."
"True. But in order to get to Johnny we're gonna have to deal with the creature that sunk this ship."
"That giant squid? No sweat."
The two Beans walk onward throughout the ship, seeing the many, many ghosts that populate the ship's many rooms and being careful to not disturb them.