CHAPTER 9: Twilight Terror
The next night was, like the last, a rough one for Karma. Once again, she dreamed that she had joined the Game Over, but this time, her dream got from where it started last time, and a lot further. This time, she had sunglasses in her pocket when Yosie cued them.
What came out of the chamber was a green Yoshi egg.
“We have success!” Yosie proclaimed, rubbing his hands together. “Excellent! You, closest to the chamber. Get the egg to an incubation chamber in the next room, and keep it warm on the journey. Your body heat will do.”
“Perhaps I should help carry it to the chamber,” Karma offered.
“Smart idea, Karma. At the risk of being sued for copyright infringement, make it so.”
Together, Karma and the X-Naut PhD carried the fragile egg to the next room, which was Ludwig’s real bedroom before. All the trinkets and furniture had been removed, and in their place, about a dozen incubation chambers lined the wall.
Each chamber was about Karma’s height. The bottom third consisted of a cone with the top chopped off about halfway up. The one-third to three-quarters space (counting from the bottom) was a cylinder. In the middle of that area was a glass panel with a handle on the right side, facing it. Below it was a series of buttons. The control panel, Karma suspected. The final quarter was just like the bottom third, only smaller.
The X-Naut PhD took the egg and opened one of the chambers. Inside, it was just small enough to hold the fragile cocoon. After gently inserting it, he closed the door and pressed a number of buttons on the front. A soft red glow appeared in the chamber.
“It won’t hatch for a few hours, Miss Karma,” the PhD informed her. “I’ll keep track of the egg’s progress and give you, as well as Master Yosie, a report every half-hour. Do you need anything else?”
“No, I’m good for now,” Karma replied, and she left.
Upon doing so, she ran into someone colored orange in the hallway and fell to the ground.
She woke up and shot up just before she hit the floor.
Just another weird dream, she thought after she calmed down, with big gasps of air, and it was weird that it was like the extended version of the first one.
She fell back on the bed. This time, she stayed awake for several minutes, thinking.
Why am I having these dreams? Is it some trick by Yosie?
Or is it even worse?
***
This Email has been sent to you by RNN, the Rogueport News Network, your center for news in the northern islands.
NEWS FLASH: OF GLITZ AND TERROR
The most striking news as of this point, last night saw the loss of another Crystal Star. This time it was the Gold Star, a symbol of great power, embedded in the Glitz Pit Champion Belt of the floating city of Glitzville.
According to a private interview with the announcer and ex-promoter of the Glitz Pit, Grubba, the trouble started several months prior when he secretly auctioned off his energy-draining machine and its blueprints to the highest bidder. The new owner of the machine was a Boomerang Brother by the name of Dicer, who is now believed to be a member of the Game Over Commandos.
“I didn’t know that he was a crook,” Grubba told us, “and don’t tell Miz Jolene, please?”
Dicer’s method of payment was an offer to have his friend, “Lakitu Joe”, perform in a Glitz Pit sideshow. However, the Glitz Pit was booked for several months. Still, Joe managed to secure a spot: yesterday at 10 PM.
Miss Jolene, the manager of the Glitz Pit and sister to the first Glitz Pit champion Prince Mush, told us what happened last night.
“Grubba and I were in my office waiting for Joe to arrive. After all these months of preparation, we were worried he wouldn’t show. But he did, and with his friend, Dicer. Grubba and I left for the arena to introduce him, and a minute or two later, we sent one of our security guards to fetch him for his performance.”
According to random audience members during Lakitu Joe’s performance, it went along splendidly. The act consisted of playing a magical squeezebox that gave off every single note off every single instrument in the song.
“I’ll never look at music the same way again,” a member of the audience commented.
Another reported, “It was horrible. He was playing Matchbox Twenty!”
Still, all good things must come to an end. Shortly after Lakitu Joe finished his performance, Rawk Hawk burst into the arena, claiming someone stole the Champ’s belt, which he had received as a gift from Mario after the case of the disappearing fighters was solved. Just after that, Dicer and two known members of the G. O. Commandos, Doopliss and Susan B. Koopa, also entered the ring, holding the belt.
Rawk Hawk filled us on what happened in the champion’s quarters during Joe’s performance.
“I wasn’t so interested in the sideshow, see, so I decided to hang out in my room. The swanky champion’s quarters. Suddenly, this Boomerang Bro you guys keep calling Dicer came in and demanded I hand over the belt. Well, I replied ‘fat chance’ and he attacked me. I probably would’ve RAWKED him if he was alone. But he wasn’t. Two other freaks were hiding in the air duct!”
The rest of Rawk Hawk’s interview described very gruesome events indeed.
As for the fight later in the ring, little is truly known about it.
“It all happened so fast,” an audience member noted.
“After what happened before,” Grubba told us, “I didn’t want no trouble. I tried to grab the belt, but he got it too. He sent out a burst of wind and let go, and the next thing I know, I’m flat against the wall!”
“Ever since I heard of Yosie,” Rawk Hawk said, “I’ve wanted to give ‘im a first-class RAWKING, ya hear? I took my chance, but he set up his squeezebox like a trampoline and sent me up through the roof!”
Also, most disturbing news has also been revealed that night: Yosie is, in fact, a Lakitu! Now that the news is out, it makes perfect sense who the mastermind was of the past day’s events.
The situation has grown even more serious. Three Crystal Stars are now in the hands of the maniac supercomputer276 and his gang of Commandos. All heads of the villages have been notified to relay any extremely important information that could foil Yosie’s scheme, whatever it is, to RNN to help the safety and welfare of others.
This message has been brought to you by RNN, the Rogueport News Network.
***
For operation “Twilight Terror”, Yosie required the services of Doopliss, Bombette, and some of the X-Naut PhDs' specially built Spiny eggs. The two aforementioned that were organic living beings were hanging out on the Volcano’s bow, waiting for action.
“It shouldn’t be too long now,” Bombette said. “The Twilight region is right there in the distance.”
Doopliss wasn’t paying attention; he had fallen asleep on his feet.
“Doopliss!” Bombette called.
Nothing.
“I don’t care if you had a long night yesterday. WAKE UP!”
Still snoozing.
Bombette stood next to the well-dressed Duplighost and exploded.
“Huh? Wha? Oh, yeah, Twilight Town’s close.”
Yosie, back in his old shirt and hair, emerged from the captain’s cabin, stretched, yawned, rubbed the sleep from his eyes (he did so by briefly lifting his sunglasses to reveal his deep green eyes), and floated over to the two Commandos.
“Morning,” he said.
“Morning, Yosie,” they replied.
“Well, the rest of the world, or at least everyone that receives RNN news flashes, now know about my species change. So everything is just going to have to be a bit more crafty then usual. Then again, when are we not?”
“I don’t know,” Doopliss replied.
“That was a rhetorical question. Anyways, operation ‘Twilight Terror’ is ready to commence. If it works, we’ll score a new Crystal Star and the rest of the hostages.”
“The rest?” Bombette asked. “I thought Ms. Mowz worked in Rogueport.”
“She’s taken a vacation to Twilight Town for the next few days. This’ll be the perfect time to snag ‘er.”
“But why would she go to Twilight Town?” Doopliss asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care. Now get ready. It takes the average Twilight Town resident about 15 minutes to run from town to Creepy Steeple, so we’ll only have that much time to get all four targets. With that in mind, I want to see both of you in prime condition. Got it?”
“Got it!” they shouted together.
***
An X-Naut PhD entered Grodus’s control room (or where you keep finding him during Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Whatever floats your boat) and saluted.
“Sir Grodus? I have excellent news.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“TEC has located the G. O. S. Volcano.”
“Excellent. Where is it?”
“From our calculations, about midway between Glitzville and Twilight Town, give or take a few feet.”
“Dispatch an X-Naut squadron to Twilight Town immediately. Tell them to apprehend Crump and escort the target back here. After they leave, give TEC an upgrade. I think he... it deserves one after all that work.”
“In a generous mood today, sir?”
“No, just glad we found Crump. Now carry out my orders.”
“Yessir!”
The PhD saluted and left.
***
“Well,” Larry said as he breakfasted on a dish of strawberries, “we’re making headway. The hill we rested on is almost out of sight, and I can actually see some purple on the horizon.”
“We’re-a getting within viewing range,” Luigi commented between blueberries. “That’s a good sign.”
Mario’s Mailbox SP began ringing again. The plumber cleaned his hands of orange juice before picking it up.
“Another RNN news flash,” Mario reported, and he read it out loud.
“Another Crystal Star?” Wendy said after finishing a bite of grapefruit. “When’s he going to be satisfied?”
“Probably once he has all of the Crystal Stars,” Larry replied. “But you know something? He didn’t kidnap anyone in Glitzville. Wonder why?”
“Well, let’s-a see,” Mario said. “Who has been kidnapped?”
“Goombella, Koopie Koo, and-a Petuni,” Luigi counted.
“And let’s not forget Karma,” Morton said, watermelon juice dripping from his lips, “no matter how hard we try.”
“Now,” Mario asked, “what-a do all of-a the hostages have-a in common?”
Everyone thought hard.
Wendy was the first to come up with an answer.
“They’re all young and beautiful! Although I don’t see how being half-Yoshi and half-Koopa is beautiful.”
“That-a makes sense,” Luigi praised, “but if that’s-a the reason, why didn’t he-a take Flurrie?”
“Maybe it’s not beauty he’s after,” Morton said. “Maybe it’s cuteness.”
“Now THAT makes much more sense!” Larry said. “But I still don’t see how Karma is cute.”
“Never mind-a that,” Mario said. “We have to keep-a going. Mt. Majesty awaits.”
***
Iggy and Roy were having a pancake breakfast in the Excess Express’s dining car (and having fun terrorizing the cook, waiter, and the rest of the passengers while they were at it) when their swiped Mailbox SP rang. Iggy read the message to Roy.
“Just as I thought,” Roy replied to the mail, “he hit Glitzville.”
“Three stars gone,” Iggy added. “Good thing we’re already on route for Poshley Heights.”
“But Yosie took three Stars in one day. We won’t get to Poshley Heights until tomorrow. To be perfectly honest with you, Hop, I’m starting to think we don’t have too much of a chance.”
“On the other hand,” another voice said, “there is hope.”
The two Koopalings turned to see a Penguin. He wore a tweed detective hat and was carrying a magnifying glass, as well as a pouch over his shoulder.
“What do you mean by ‘there is hope'?” Iggy asked.
“Simple,” the Penguin said. “Given the fact that at our current speed we’ll reach the Heights tomorrow, if the train goes as fast as it possibly can, I predict we’ll arrive sometime this afternoon.”
“Woah.” said Roy. “In the first place, who are you?”
“Please excuse me. I’ve forgotten my manners. I’m Pennington, curator of the Poshley Sanctum, part-time detective, and known in many circles as ‘the Penguin with the improbably large brain’. I’m staying in cabin 4 this trip and couldn’t help but overhear you two last night. Iggy and Roy Koopa, I believe?”
“Oh, you better believe, all right,” Roy said, standing up, “as well as pray that I have a drop of mercy in my body!”
“Wait, Roy,” Iggy said, holding Roy’s shoulder. “The thing he said about the train going faster? That actually makes sense.”
“So, Specs? What’s your point?”
“We pay a visit to the engineer and you have a talk with him, see, and tell him turn the train’s speed to full power. Get my drift?”
“I think I have more then your drift, Iggy. Let’s talk to ‘im.”
The two Koopa Kids left the dining car and headed for the engine. Soon, the engineer would be stuttering like everyone else.
Sure enough, a minute later, everyone onboard could feel the sudden and huge acceleration.
***
Yosie toyed with his squeezebox in the captain’s cabin. Now that everyone knew Lakitu Joe was an imposter, it was no more playing concerts under that name, m’boy.
Still, he enjoyed playing his special squeezebox. It took him several weeks to finally pitch the tune right and get all the songs on it. Most were some of his favorites, and he set it to one he really enjoyed: “The Impression That I Get”.
“Have you even been close to tragedy or been close to folks who have? Have you ever felt a pain so powerful, so heavy you collapse? No, but… IIIIIIIIIII’ve never had to knock on wood, but I know someone who has, which makes me wonder if I could. It makes me wonder if I ever had to knock on wood, and while I know I haven’t yet, I’m pretty sure it isn’t good. That’s the impression that I get.”
Doopliss quietly entered, not wanting to disturb his boss.
“Have you ever had the odds stacked up so high, you need a strength most don’t possess?” Yosie continued, not noticing Doopliss. “Or has it ever come down to do or die? You’ve got to rise above the rest. No, but… IIIIIIIIII’ve never had to knock on wood, but I know someone who has, which makes me wonder if I could. It makes me wonder if I ever had to knock on wood, and while I know I haven’t yet, I’m pretty sure it isn’t good. That’s the impression that I get.”
Doopliss applauded (although I’ll never know how).
“Great song, Yosie.”
“Thanks.”
“We’re about to enter the Twilight area. Wait for it…”
They headed outside while Doopliss slowing began counting “Five… four… three… two… one… zero.” At “zero” the sun suddenly darted into twilight and the sky turned red. Everything down below looked mostly barren, except for the huge forest with the Creepy Steeple at its heart.
“Excellent,” Yosie said, rubbing his hands together. “Prepare to carry out operation ‘Twilight Terror’ immediately, and tell the X-Naut PhDs to prime the Capture Spinies.”
“Right away, Yosie.”
***
“Don’t give up now, Ludwig!” Lemmy cried. “Look! On the horizon!”
Ludwig looked. It looked like an island.
“That’s Dinosaur Land right there!” Lemmy cried.
Ludwig seemed to have renewed spirit.
“Dinosaur Land’s only over there? Well, what are we waiting for then? An invitation?”
***
In Twilight Town, a small house plays home to three shady figures. “Shady” is always an accurate description for the Shadow Sirens. Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian used to work with (not for, with) Grodus in order to raise the Shadow Queen, who in fact created them in the first place.
However, after Mario gave the boot to the dark demon, they settled in for a quiet life in Twilight Town, which best suited their tastes. Beldam still remained the boss of the house, although after a year or two, she finally admitted her mistakes concerning the sketch and the Superbombomb. Although she made the other two swear to secrecy about it. She also didn’t give out just as many punishments as before, although they still happened. Mostly to Vivian.
In between chores, meals, and beatings, Vivian found time to take a daily constitutional around Twilight Town. Recently, there were always two people she enjoyed walking by: little Eve, named after her mother and a child star of the Broadshroom stage, and Ms. Mowz, who was staying at the inn on vacation from Rougeport.
On this day, it turned out Ms. Mowz was also having a walk around town, so the two old friends walked together. They had conversation about many things, such as family, business, and it eventually got around to their adventure with the Thousand-Year Door. And from there, Ms. Mowz asked where Vivian was keeping the Ruby Star in the Creepy Steeple.
And Vivian couldn’t help showing by demonstration.
And by pure deem coincidence, it was just as they left that a huge shadow began to cover the ground. A huge shadow created by an equally huge flying red doomship.
“Uh…” one Twilighter asked. “Do you suppose it’s good or bad?”
Two extendo-hands desended, Doopliss and Bombette riding on them. Yosie floated beside them.
“Surprise, surprise,” Yosie announced. “The supercomputer276 is here to claim. And I claim two locals, one tourist, and the Ruby Star!”
The Twilighters were going, “T-t-t-t-t-t-the s-s-s-s-s-s-s-“
“It’s supercomputer276,” Yosie said, slapping his forehead in disbelief, “but call me Yosie. Tell the RNN that too. My tourist name’s too monotone.”
Everyone began to scream, run about at random, and generally panic.
Yosie and his employees remained calm. After all, so far, there was no reason to panic.
Yosie took command. “Doopliss, locate Ms. Mowz and lure her to Creepy Steeple. Carry her, leave a trail, I don’t care how. Bombette, do the same to the young Eve. I’ll handle Vivian. She’s one of the only one in the region that knows where the Ruby Star is. Break!”
The three villains went in their separate directions, mission in hand, and determined to carry out Operation “Twilight Terror” to its fullest.
***
The older Eve and her three kids huddled together in their house. It wasn’t very hard to hear the panic outside.
“I’m scared, Mommy…”
“When will they go away?”
“Can we eat them? I’m still hungry!”
The door opened and Bombette walked in.
“All right, you four, nobody move,” she commanded. “All I need is what Yosie wants. Nobody gets hurt, nobody sues, that kind of stuff.”
“I’m truly sorry,” the big Eve told her with a worried tone, “but we hardly have any food left ourselves.”
“Who says I want food?” Bombette said as she (somehow) pulled out a Capture Spiny. It looked like a hamster ball, only it had spines all over it.
“What do you plan to do with that?” one of the kids asked.
“Can we eat it?” another said.
The third, which was the little Eve, commented, “Doesn’t look too tasty…”
Bombette threw it at the little Eve, and it seemed to suddenly explode as it was about to hit.
When the dust settled, the young Eve was trapped in a gigantic hamster ball with spines.
“AAH! MOMMY!” she cried.
“What are you doing with my child?” the mother shouted.
The spines on the ball became almost flat and blunt enough for Bombette to hop onto the ball.
“Kidnapping her. What else?”
And working like an acrobat, Bombette rolled the ball out the door with a huge crash.
Outside, Bombette jumped down, pulled out a remote control (again, somehow) ,and hit the button on it. A Red Glove Grabber came from the Volcano above and grabbed the giant Capture Spiny, hauling it and its captive aboard. Eve was screaming her head off, but Bombette decided when she got out of the house to activate the Spiny’s soundproof feature. A nice add-on by the X-Naut PhDs.
“I gotta remember to compliment the PhDs for those crazy Spinies,” she said to herself.
A few seconds later, she was joined by Yosie and Doopliss. Yosie was talking with General Guy on his communicator.
“Vivian and Ms. Mowz aren’t in town,” Doopliss said. “They’re probably heading for the Creepy Steeple.”
Yosie closed the link. “General Guy is having the Volcano move to the Steeple. We’re going on foot. You got Eve in a nice plastic package, Bombette?”
“Yep.”
“Well, we’re making some progress. Let’s get game!”
And with that… BAM! They were gone, out the gate. Oh, and the Volcano began to move.
Two seconds after the ship left the airspace right above Twilight Town, a squad of two Elite X-Nauts and four regular X-Nauts emerged from the pipe from Rogueport and made their way to Mayor Dour’s house.
“You are the mayor of this town, correct?” one of the Elite X-Nauts (who was named Johnson, so you can reference him later) asked Dour.
Not having seen an X-Naut before, Dour replied, “Yes, I’m Mayor Dour of Twilight Town. Is there something I can help you with?”
“We are the X-Nauts,” the other Elite X-Naut (who was named Reggie) replied. “We are on a mission to apprehend a member of the crew of the Game Over Ship Volcano. We last calculated it heading for this town.”
“You mean that giant, red ship in the sky?” Dour asked. “It’s currently heading towards the nearby forest. The one with the Creepy Steeple at its heart.”
“Thank you,” Johnson replied before turning to the other X-Nauts. “All right, men! Move out!”
***
Inside the Creepy Steeple, Vivian and Ms. Mowz made their way up the moving staircase to the balcony.
“So,” Ms. Mowz asked, “you have to go all this way to reach the Crystal Star?”
“Yep,” Vivian replied. “Not even my sisters know it’s here. I wanted to make sure no one would find it, but since we’re good friends and all…”
“Well, don’t you worry about me, dearie. I’m on vacation.”
Since Mario’s journey through the Steeple the longest of whiles ago, Vivian and a few Twilighters had made their way to the Creepy Steeple and given the ancient building a few repair jobs, such as fixing all the holes in the balconies. Thus, it was easy for Vivian and her guest to access the bell tower.
But once they reached the top, they realized they had unexpected company.
***
The two Crazee Dayzees ran away from the incoming party the moment they saw it. They knew who it was. After all, birds eavesdrop on us, but who eavesdrops on the birds?
“Strange,” Yosie said, adjusting his sunglasses. “Are my shades defective, or aren’t there supposed to be Crazee Dayzees around here?”
“There are supposed to be Crazee Dayzees around here,” Doopliss replied. “A few of them were the steeple gardeners back when I was the terror of Twilight Town. Hyuk yuk yuk! I still remember enjoying having the Twilighters wallow in mud! Hyuk yuk yuk-“
Despite how small his hands were when he transformed, Yosie still managed to grab the region that was supposed to be Doopliss’s neck in one hand and nearly choked him. It was one of the qualities that made the genius such a threat.
“Now’s not the best time to remember past glories, Doopliss. I’m sure the other Shadow Sirens at the very least are following us. Keep moving.”
And with that, Yosie released his grip and moved on. Doopliss fell to the ground half-conscious.
“It’s not a time to nap, either,” Bombette said to the Duplighost. Her fuse lit.
BOOM!
“I’m up! I’m up!” Doopliss cried as he got up and ran after his boss, Bombette not far behind.
***
In the room at the top of Creepy Steeple’s bell tower, two figures looked at Vivian and Ms. Mowz. And they looked back. There were several silent moments before Vivian found her voice.
“Koops? Madame Flurrie? What are you guys doing here?”
“We’re looking for that Lakitu that keeps stealing Crystal Stars,” Flurrie replied, “and figured a stakeout at one of the remaining Stars would be the best way to find him. And it was all Koops’s idea, too! Imagine that!”
“Yeah…” Koops said, sounding slightly embarrassed, “imagine that. Um… By the way, what are you two doing here?”
“Vivian was showing me where she hid the Ruby Star,” Ms. Mowz answered. “Seems I’m the only one that doesn’t know where most of them are.”
“It was for a good reason, Ms. Mowz,” Vivian explained. “Being the thief you are, and the Crystal Stars being gems, if you knew where they were, they wouldn’t be there anymore, if you know what I mean.”
“I think I do,” Ms. Mowz answered, “but I’m busy taking badges. Don’t have enough space in between those for Crystal Stars, so the secret’s safe with me. Now, Vivian honey, where do you hide the Ruby Star?”
***
“Finally,” Doopliss panted, “the Creepy Steeple.”
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re tired,” Bombette commented. “During Mario’s big adventure, you ran the entire way down Twilight Trail.”
“You’d be surprised how slow that plumber is, Slick. I had a lot of time to catch my breath before he caught up.”
“Shut it, you two,” Yosie commanded. “From what I can tell, the open gate being the most obvious clue, the last two soul targets and the Ruby Star are somewhere in this building. It’s not that big. Shouldn’t be too hard. Besides, Doopliss, you know this place inside out, right?”
“Right,” the doppelganger wheezed.
“Perfect. Now, let’s raid the joint, and remember…” he pulled a Bomb Spiny, which was a bomb with spines on it, and held it high, while he finished, “…take prisoners!”
And with that, he threw the explosive at the front door.
***
“I hid it in the Steeple bell. Look, you can see the shine a bit near the top.”
Ms. Mowz looked. She could see a small glint of red in the darkness deep into the bell.
“Granted, one big hit could jar it loose,” Vivian added, “but who would think to look in the bell?”
“Clever,” praised Ms. Mowz.
Suddenly, that big jar came. Along with an explosion sound down at the main entrance. The Ruby Star fell from the bell and landed on the floor at Ms. Mowz’s feet.
“Ok, maybe not so clever…” the albino mouse added.
***
At that very moment, just at the outskirts of the forest, the X-Naut squadron also heard the boom, although it wasn’t as loud.
“What was that?” Johnson asked Reggie.
“Sounds like some sort of bomb,” Reggie replied.
“Crump-a-bomb,” Johnson added. “The Game Over must be attacking the Creepy Steeple. Full speed, men! We have to catch up!”
***
Return to right after Ms. Mowz’s last line.
Vivian looked out one of the bell tower windows just in time to see Yosie, Doopliss, and Bombette enter the huge hole in the base of the Steeple.
“It’s Yosie, and he’s got Doopliss and Bombette with him!”
Vivian turned back toward her friends, and that’s when it hit her that Ms. Mowz and the Ruby Star were gone.
***
The spirits ran for their afterlives from the explosive Spinies of Yosie and his crew.
“Hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast! Gack ack ack!” Yosie cried as he threw Bomb Spinies about.
“It’s official,” Bombette whispered to Doopliss, “he’s lost it.”
“Really?” Doopliss whispered back. “I thought he was just enjoying himself.”
Unnoticed by anyone in the room (yet), Ms. Mowz came in through the door leading to the bell tower, holding the Ruby Star, and began to hurry across the balcony.
“Yep, Ms. Mowz,” she whispered to herself, “you’ve still got it!”
However, her luck took a dreadful turn when Yosie noticed her.
“Hold it right there, Ms. Albino!” He threw a threesome of Bomb Spines up onto the end of the balcony, and their explosions blocked Ms. Mowz’s only route out of the Steeple that didn’t include jumping from high places.
Doopliss and Bombette boarded Yosie’s cloud and the threesome of antagonists flew up to her.
“Hello, my little friend,” Yosie teased. “Trying to get away from me? I don’t think so.”
Vivian, Flurrie, and Koops burst through the door from the tower.
“Ms. Mowz! Come back here with the Ruby Star!” Then she realized Yosie was nearby. “Oops.”
“’Oops’ doesn’t even start it, Slick!” Doopliss cried as Yosie pulled out the G. O Wand.
“Not this time, you’re not!” Flurrie cried as she shot into the air for her Body Slam.
But just as she was about to come down, Yosie dodged to one side, and Flurrie landed face-down on the floor.
“Ow…” was heard.
“Throw me!” Koops cried to Vivian as he ducked into his shell. Vivian picked up Koops and lobbed him at the Lakitu, who dodged it just as easily.
“OW!” Fluurie’s voice emitted from the floor.
“Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?” Yosie joked. “Oh yes. Magical Magnet!”
But Ms. Mowz’s shifty fingers, practically glued to the Star, took her along for the ride as the Ruby Star landed, equally practically glued, to the Game Over Wand’s orb.
“Grab her!” Yosie commanded, and his two companions yanked Ms. Mowz from the Star after several moments.
“Let me go, you fiends!”
“Fiend,” Yosie thought out loud, “I like that.”
He pulled out a Capture Spiny and threw it like a baseball pitcher at Vivian, and like when one was used on young Eve, it seemed to explode right before it hit. And without fail, Vivian was trapped in her own hamster ball.
“Hey! What’s going on?” she cried.
But Yosie was distracted at the moment as he readied another Capture Spiny. “Pull!”
Doopliss and Bombette threw Ms. Mowz high into the air (although how Bombette could throw anything is still a mystery) and Yosie launched the Capture Spiny. When the ball landed next to Vivian’s, Ms. Mowz was inside and not looking in the best of conditions. And by that, I mean mugged.
As for Vivian, she was punching as hard as she could against the plastic prison she was in, but it didn’t leave a scratch.
“Don’t bother,” Yosie told her. “I made it very clear to the PhDs that having the Capture Spinies fireproofed was top priority.”
“You dirty… what do you want with us?”
“That’s for my army to know and you to be victim to.”
It was at about this point that Flurrie recovered from her miss and flew herself and Koops back to the balcony.
“You’re going to do a lot of explaining for taking one of those dear Punies captive!” Flurrie threatened.
“Like that little gray guy,” Yosie sighed, “all hot air and no cold fists. Allow me to chill you down a few notches. Arctic Burst Breath!”
The cloud exhaled a huge blizzard at Koops and Flurrie. It wasn’t too long before both were frozen solid.
“Heh, they were lucky we weren’t at Fahr Outpost,” Yosie commented. “Otherwise, they’d never melt.”
Vivian was shouting a stream of rather inappropriate words for her relative age.
“Mute them,” Yosie ordered. Doopliss pulled out a remote and hit a button. Vivian’s mouth continued to move, but no sound admitted.
Doopliss pressed another button. The spikes on the two plastic prisons were shortened down to hardly anything. Also, two Red Glove Grabbers entered through the giant hole where the front door was and grabbed the two balls.
As Yosie, as well as his officers and treasure, moved out, Vivian stopped her unclean soundtrack when she noticed that she was carrying hitchhikers, two Elite X-Nauts and four regular X-Nauts. They didn’t have the Game Over’s Poison Mushroom on them. One of the Elite X-Nauts gave her the international sign for “keep quiet about this”.
She nodded. After all, she couldn’t scream if she tried.