"Zzz... Zzz... Zzz..."
"King Smithy, wake up!" Yaridovich yells.
"Zzz... Zzz... Huh? What's the meaning of waking somebody as powerful as me up like that?!" Smithy demands.
"Well, it seems that Croco has gotten away from us," Yaridovich tells his superior. "And, it seems that he has taken away the Star Spirit I was holding on to, as well."
"WHAT?!" Smithy cries out.
=======================
"GGRRRAAAWWWLLL!!!" Totomesu roars as he fires once more at those who opposed him. Thankfully, everyone manages to dodge his blasts.
"We've got to find a way to defeat this thing! But how?" Luigi comments as he just barely dodges another blast.
=======================
Meanwhile, Bowser and his troops have managed to make their way to the Beanbean Kingdom. Considering how much they prolonged their attack on the kingdoms, it was amazing how fast they arrived. However, just as the Koopa Crusier lands, it is immediately attacked! The entire ship is being pummeled repeatedly by... chestnuts? Looking in the direction the blasts are coming from, Bowser manages to see one rather large figure aiming at them.
"Who on Plit do you think you are, and why are you blasting my ship?!" Bowser demanded.
"Who am I? WHO AM I? I SHALL TELL YOU WHO I AM! I AM THE GREAT CHESTNUT KING," the figure booms, "AND I SHALL BE THE ONE WHO DEFEATS YOU!"
=======================
"Well, we've arrived in record time!" Kamek tells Kammy as their doomship begins to land somewhere near Rogueport.
"Excellent," Kammy comments. "Lord Bowser is going to be pleased."
=======================
Back with Popple and Co.
The three wake up to find themselves on top of a crate. As they wake up and look around the babies find that they are- mysteriously- now in some dark room filled with tons of boxes and items of all kinds. The area is also quite hot.
"I don't think we're in that cave anymore..." says Chomp Bro, whose suspicions are confirmed soon after when Hinopio walks into the room.
=======================
"Mario told me about the time he fought this thing," answers Gonzalez Jr. "He said he had to use a ship, but where will we find one of those?"
Geno replies to the Yoshi by saying, "I'd go try to find Tatanga's if somebody'd get me down from here."
=======================
Meanwhile, in the Pineapple Kingdom...
"I can't believe we lost to a guy with a domehead and two small guys in weird suits, Dixie," Diddy tells his pal in baby-talk.
"Yeah, I feel the exact same-" Dixie starts to reply, but stops when she sees who is standing right in front of them.
"Well well well, it seems that two little chimps have lost their way home!" the menacing character says.
"K. Rool! I thought we'd seen the last of you!" Diddy yells.
"You're wondering what I'm doing back here, aren't you? I can tell by that look in your baby-ish eyes that you're surprised. Well, I'm like a salsa stain on your favorite sweater; no matter how much you try to get rid of me, I'm always going to stick around and cause problems!" King K. Rool tells the two baby-fied Kongs. Just then, the two Kongs fall through a hidden trapdoor, and into a cage below!
"Obviously, K. Rool has never heard about Child Endangerment Laws before," Dixie baby-talks to Diddy just before the trap door closes up again and leaves them in the dark.
=======================
"Ow... What happened?" Punio wonders as he awakes inside Madame Flurrie's house. "The last thing I remember is that I was blasted by that monster's attack."
"The force from that attack must have blasted us all the way here," Twink replies from nearby. "We'd better hurry up and head back there, though, before that thing can cause any more harm!"
Twink quickly floats out of the nearest window and soars towards the Great Boggly Tree. Punio grabs an Ultra Shroom laying out on a table before following Twink on foot.
=======================
"Yes, I shall finally defeat the great Koopa King! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" the Chestnut King laughs as his attack upon the Koopa Cruiser continues.
"Wait a second," Bowser thinks as he's pelted with chestnuts, "the Chestnut King isn't actually evil according to that book I read, and it was actually because of Croup. So either you're not the real thing or you've been possessed by Croup again!"
"Darn. But how is that supposed to save you from me?"
"Because, stupid, you can't take credit for it if you're not the real thing."
"Blast!" yells the imposter as he returns to his true form.
=======================
"Where is that stupid crocodile?" asks Smithy of himself and his men. "He's likely still somewhere in the castle, but where?"
Elsewhere in the castle, Croco walks through a door and inside sees a blank painting in the place of where the Mario one had been.
"Hmm... Mario was trapped in this, wasn't he? Perhaps I can slow down those robots for awhile by getting one of them stuck inside this..."
=======================
"Are you completely, absolutely, 100 percent certain that THIS is the only way back to the base?!" Grodus yells. "This cannon is completely cramped!"
"Don't worry, Sir Grodus," Crump tells his superior, "we will be back on the moon in no time!"
BOOM!!!
=======================
"Man, I only wish those three Crooks of mine were well enough to enjoy this," Croco says to himself as he finds another Power Star, raising his total amount to 50. But just then, Croco sees three figures jump out of a painting.
"What the?" asks Croco.
The three figures then turn around, revealing themselves to be Crooks 1, B, and III.
"Boss?" asks Crook 1. "Is that you?"
"CROOKS?!" shouts Croco with surprise. "I thought you were sick!"
"We got better," says Crook III. "But what are you doing here anyway, boss?"
"I came here to collect the Power Stars!" replies Croco.
"Really?" asks Crook B. "We've already found five Power Stars!"
"Great!" says Croco. "We'll have the others in no time! But first, we need to take care of those guys chasing me..."
=======================
Back in the Beanbean Kingdom, the being that pretended to be the Chestnut King reveals his true form to be... Doopliss!
"Doopliss?" asks Bowser. "I thought you became an actor! Why are you attacking us?"
"Simple, Slick!" replies Doopliss. "I got bored of my job as an actor and quit! But soon after that, I was paid a large amount of coins to kill you!"
"By who?" asks Bowser.
"It doesn't matter for you, Slick!" says Doopliss, "You'll soon be dead, anyways!"
=======================
Back in Bowser's Castle, Toadette has woken up and is back to crawling, but to where? At about this time her stomach begins to growl, and the young Toad stops crawling, sits down, and promptly begins crying for food. The castle is almost deserted, however, because of the invasion that has commenced.
The crying attracts a certain Yoshi who sees the girl and sighs. "I wonder how some baby Mushroomer got in here. I bet it's Poofball's fault."
Karma then picks up Toadette.
"I'll take you to my room until I can figure out what to do with you," she says.
The Yoshi then walks away with Toadette.
=======================
Back in Cranky Kong's house the Pineapple Kingdom, Cranky is giving the babyfied Donkey Kong a bottle of milk while Tiny, Chunky, and Lanky are sitting on the floor.
"I wonder what's taking Diddy and Dixie so long from their scouting patrol?" asks Tiny.
"I've been wondering that, too," says Cranky. "You three youngsters better go find out."
"Right!" says Tiny, Chunky, and Lanky all at the same time. They then get up and leave the house.
=======================
Twink flies forward extremely quickly, not looking where he's going and instead watching Totomesu when... BAM! He nails Geno in the back, hard, knocking Geno loose from the tree and causing Twink to suffer some damage himself.
"Not quite the way I wanted to get down," Geno says as he lifts himself from the ground, "but it works. I'll go find Tatanga's ship! You all keep him distracted!"
"Okay! ... Uh, how?" Luigi asks. Just then, he notices something shining underneath his foot. Upon closer inspection, it turns out to be...
"It's the Misstar Star Spirit Card!" Luigi yells out. Realizing that this would work for now, he concentrates hard on the image printed on the card. And then, by the power from the Star Spirit, a light melody starts to play throughout the entire tree! It is so soothing that almost everyone is put to sleep the moment they hear it. The only ones left awake are Luigi, since he was the one that used the power, and Geno and Twink, since they are Star Spirits themselves.
=======================
"Okay, who are you, and what do you want with three little baby-fied characters such as us, see?" Popple asks Hinopio as he approaches menacingly.
"If you must know," replies Hinopio, who can bizarely enough understand them, "I started running one of them foster homes here in the Barrel Volcano, and it has been getting way too many requests, and we're quickly running out of children for it. When I heard about Bowser's baby spree, I hired some Duplighost to do two things: eliminate Bowser and bring me the Mr. I and any babies he may find along the way. And that's how you three got here."
"How can you understand us?" asks Booster, being the only one insane enough to actually pick up on this during a situation like they're in right now.
"While here in the volcano, I've had time to learn a ton of languages. I can even speak Podoboo when I want to, which is extremely hard to learn, since it's comprised entirely of popping noises and that weird sound they make when they jump."
=======================
Smithy's Gang walks up the stairs to the third floor of the castle when...
"HYAAAAAA!!!"
Croco slams the blank portrait over Smithy's head, but rather than causing him to be transported inside, it merely breaks over him.
"Heh heh... Gotta run!"
"After him!" Smithy yells furiously as the crocodile speeds away.
"Quick, boss!" Crook III yells. "Into that alcove!"
"Why would I want to do something like that?" Croco asks. "It just leads to Rainbow Ride, and I've already collected all of those Stars!"
"Because," Crook III replies, "robots can't fly. And, from personal experience, I know where they end up once they land!"
"You mean in the... Hey, that's a smart idea!" Croco compliments as they head towards the entrance to the course.
=======================
"How am I ever going to get out of this blasted prison?" Croup asks himself as he walks in circles inside his cell. However, his answer comes soon enough, as a blast of magic completely demolishes one of the walls. Seeing that this is his chance, Croup runs out and into the streets as quick as he can.
"Hey, who do you think that Waffler guy was?" Kamek questions as he sees Croup running away.
"The better question is why those guys at the Waffle Kingdom are sending this place their criminals. Now, we'd better get back to work, or else Bowser will charbroil us both!" Kammy tells him.
=======================
"It's completely fixed, Sir!" Lord Crump tells his superior. "This entire base is officially as finished as possible! We've even got a TEC-XX 2.0!"
"Excellent job, Lord Crump! And in such good time, as well!" Grodus compliments. "So, how is the search for the artifacts going?"
"Just watch!" Crump tells him as he activates a nearby moniter.
"I am TEC-XX 2.0. How may I be of service?" the computer asks.
"Perform a complete search of any artifacts on the planet!"
"Computing request... Finished. Here are the results:
CURRENT POWER STAR LOCATIONS:
30 Stars: Tatanga
50 Stars: Croco
Total Stars Collected: 80
CURRENT STAR SPIRIT LOCATIONS:
Eldstar: Crook B
Mamar: Luigi
Skolar: Croco
Misstar: Crook III
ALL OTHER SPIRITS UNKNOWN
CURRENT CRYSTAL STAR LOCATIONS:
Garnet Star: Axem Green
ALL OTHER STARS UNKNOWN
CURRENT ROD OF NIB LOCATIONS:
Power: Lord Crump
Plant: Smithy
Body Modification: Sir Grodus
Water: Sir Grodus
ALL OTHER RODS UNKNOWN
CURRENT COMPASS PIECE LOCATIONS:
Piece 1: Princess Eclair
Piece 8: Croup (still kept it after
his arrest)
ALL OTHER PIECES UNKNOWN
OTHER ARTIFACT LOCATIONS:
Golden Bananas: Cranky Kong
ANY OTHER ARTIFACTS UNKNOWN
I hope I have been helpful," the computer says.
"There seems to be a few glitches in the computer," Grodus comments, "as not all of the artifacts that have already been found are mentioned. However, I do commemerate the fact that this machine is even finding artifacts I never even knew existed. Keep up the good work, Lord Crump."
"I will, Sir Grodus, and I'll try to fix those bugs as well," Crump replies.
=======================
"Come on, come on...." Luigi mutters, as he hopes that Mamar's ability will last long enough for Geno to retrieve the ship.
=======================
Geno, meanwhile, is running through the tree, looking for the ship. He is not, however, having much luck.
"Where could it be? If I were to invade a giant tree, where would I hide such a thing?"
Geno then gets an idea as to where the ship is...
=======================
"Where to hide, where to hi- UMPH!" Croup tells himself until he accidentally runs into the side of a building. Two Magikoopas, seeing the incident, decide to capture the Waffler and bring him to their bosses for further investigation.
=======================
"I think I'm getting something!" Crump yells out as TEC-XX 2.0 receives another transmission.
"I am picking up readings of the Diamond Crystal Star located in the Noki Bay area of Delfino Island. Also, the Speed Rod of Nib has been detected in the Pianta Village area of the same island."
"Perfect!" Grodus yells out as he walks into the room on his newest body. "Crump, you can search for the Rod, while X-Citing and X-Periment head after the Crystal Star. I'll stay here, so I can help search for the artifact on the moon."
=======================
"So let me get this straight," Kammy says to the Waffler. "You kidnapped a princess of a foreign land, possessed the body of the Chestnut King, were beaten up by Luigi, and they wouldn't even keep you in their own dungeon? Man, that's low."
"WAIT!!!" Kamek yells out upon hearing the recap of what Croup had stated. "Did you say Luigi?! I KNEW we were forgetting somebody!"
"Oh, come on! Do you really think that Luigi, even if we DID miss him, could possibly defeat us all by himself? That's absurd!"
"Bet you the title of Head Magikoopa that he defeats us."
"You're on!"
"I may as well join you two Magikoopas," Croup comments, "especially if this means I can get back at Luigi!"
=======================
"It's got to be there!" Geno whispers to himself, trying not to awake Tatanga or Totomesu. "Where else could you possibly hide something like that?"
=======================
Diddy and Dixie, meanwhile, are still sitting in the dark, waiting to see what K. Rool has in store for them.
"Hey Diddy," Dixie suddenly baby-talks to her friend, "I've been thinking, and I just realized something."
"What?"
"K. Rool's name is a pun."
"It is? Hmm... hey! You're right!"
=======================
Back with Doopliss and Bowser...
"By the command of Hinopio, I have been asked to defeat you. And, as he offered me a satellite dish for my TV set if I do this, I have no choice but to beat you up in a cruel and unusual fashion!" Doopliss tells Bowser.
"Nuts," is all the Koopa King can say as a reply.
=======================
"Hang on, this is going to be a windy ride!" Croco tells his Crooks as they hop aboard a flying carpet in Rainbow Ride. Just as Smithy and his troops try to follow them, they accidentally slip and fell far down below. They land in the ocean nearby the castle, where they instantly short-circuit and are officially defeated.
"What a lousy death sequence," Crook 1 comments as he manages to swipe the Garnet Star, the Plant Rod, and whatever else they were holding from the mechanical bodies.
"I can't believe we just killed off one of the major villains of the story! This calls for a celebration!" Croco exclaims. "We need balloons! We need a cake! And to top it all off, we need... a fifer!"
On cue, Bowyer finally shows up. "Happened here, what has?!" he asks as he sees his employer's body unconscious in the water.
"I've heard rumors about what's been happening with you lately, Bowyer. You're still an archer, but you're also an amateur fifer?" Croco asks. "Well now, since we blew up the bodies of your former comrades, you want to join us in our pilfering spree?"
"Blown up, they have not yet! A chance, I still have!" Bowyer replies.
Just then, a giant shark swims by and eats the bodies of the defeated Smithy army. It then swims out into the middle of the ocean until it spontaneously combusts and fireworks fly out in various directions.
"Do I start, when should I?" Bowyer asks his new employer, Croco.
=======================
Back with Bowser and Doopliss, the famous Duplighost has stolen Bowser's body and proceeds to BBQ the shadow formerly known as Bowser repeatedly.
"You think you're so slick, do you?" the shadow formerly known as Bowser says. "Well, I know that I just have to say your name to get my body and name back! DOOPLISS!
Nothing happens.
"Did I tell you that Hinopio guy also upgraded my magic? That won't work anymore, former Koopa King!" Bowser, formerly known as Doopliss, tells the shadow that used to be Bowser.
"Oh, nuts," the shadow replies.
=======================
The X-Nauts are still standing in their base, watching the screen of TEC 2.0 for any updates. As they watch they suddenly see that everything of Smithy's suddenly switches to being Croco's.
"That's odd," says Crump.
"Indeed. If I'm correct we won't have to deal with those robots anymore, though we've got a much bigger problem..." answers Sir Grodus.
=======================
Back with Karma and Toadette...
"STOP THAT, YOU LITTLE RUNT!" Karma A. Koopa yells as Toadette begins to scribble on the walls with her lipstick.
"Goo? ... WAH!!!" Toadette screams, having a temper tantrum over Karma yelling at her.
"Oh, great! Fine, scribble on the walls, you tiny little runt you," Karma tells the baby-fied Toadette. Toadette immediately stops screaming, and returns to scribbling on the walls.
"Why didn't I just let the guards handle her?" Karma mutters to herself as she sits down at the foot of her bed.
=======================
"Now, where could those two have wandered off to?" Lanky asks the other two Kongs as they search for Diddy and Dixie.
"I dunno," replies Tiny. "Maybe they got their tails caught in a tree again or something."
"Do you think," says Chunky while his teeth are chattering, "that K. Rool got them?"
"Even if he did," replies Tiny, "we could take 'im!"
=======================
"Hey Diddy," Dixie says to her fellow baby-fied Kong, "what are we supposed to do if we need to use the bathroom?"
"I dunno. Why do you ask?"
"Beca- never mind."
"Ew!"
=======================
Geno walks into the room where the Punies fought the Jabbies, and chuckles upon entering.
"I knew it. This is the only place big enough in this tree to put that ship."
Geno takes a step toward the ship, but finds that his body won't move with his legs. The possessed puppet turns around to see Tatanga holding him by the cape.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The alien throws the puppet into the wall, then hops in the ship himself. Geno stands up as the aircraft rises into the air, then begins running from the ship back toward Totomesu, all while the purple alien inside fires away.
Eventually Geno reaches the main room, where Totomesu has Luigi pinned under one foot with the Star Spirit laying nearby. Twink and Punio are laying unconscious on a rock nearby as well. The ship flies into the room a few seconds after Geno, shooting away at the star.
"That's it! Geno Whirl!"
Bam! The Geno Whirl hits the ship, sending it plummeting... straight into Totomesu's face! A huge explosion occurs, and Totomesu falls to the ground as Tatanga flies off into the distance, unconscious.
"Well, I guess that worked out!" Luigi comments as he picked up the Mamar card he'd dropped. He then walks towards the 30 Stars Tatanga dropped, and absorbs their power into himself.
=======================
"Well, it looks like two villains have already been knocked off," Crump comments as he sees Tatanga's 30 Stars being switched over to Luigi.
"Yes, it seems so. Because of this, I feel that it's necessary that we hurry things up a bit. The artifact here has recently been found and obtained, so I will join you in searching for the Speed Rod. However, it's just a matter of time until the other artifacts have been found, so we can't waste any time!"
=======================
"My first mission, what is?" Bowyer asks Croco as they finish collecting the remaining 70 Stars in the castle, bringing their total to 120 out of 150.
"Well, I heard a rumor going 'round that Croup guy has busted out of jail. That made me think about those Compass Pieces I've read about. So, I think we'd better see if we can find a piece of our own!" Croco tells him.
=======================
"You DO know that we're defenseless as babies. How do you expect this to be a fair fight?" Popple asks Hinopio.
"I don't," Hinopio replies as he leaps towards the baby-fied thief. The three toddlers roll out of the way, resulting in Hinopio hitting the wall head-first. Unfortunately, however, his hat prevents the damage.
"I wish my Snifits were here right now!" Booster says as the angry Toad merchant approaches them.
=======================
Meanwhile with Toadette and Karma...
"I can't stand this any longer!" Karma yells as she stomped out of her room, completely furious that Toadette has drooled all over a stack of her favorite magazines. She marches over to Wendy's room, hoping to get some help in taking care of Toadette.
=======================
"So, would you three like to join us?" Luigi asks Flurrie, Gonzales Jr. and Punio after absorbing the Stars.
"Of course!" comes Gonzales Jr.'s reply. "What could possibly be better than battling hordes of enemies and saving the world?"
"The entire Puni civilization owes you their lives, Luigi. It would please me greatly to join your quest," comes the reply of Flurrie.
"I don't quite know how I could help, but I would be glad to help you guys in any way possible," Punio replies.
"Excellent! Now, let's head to Bowser's castle and defeat King Koopa himself!" Luigi yells.
=======================
Back with Toadette, Karma, and now Wendy...
"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Wendy yells upon seeing Toadette. "You mean that a baby Mushroomer somehow managed to sneak in here? What is with our guards these days?!"
"They're not even here," answers Karma. "Bowser took most of them to attack the Beanbean Kingdom or something and Kammy and Kamek have the rest in Rogueport."
"Oh. What do you expect me to do with her?"
"I was hoping you could help out."
"Why bother? We could just toss her in a dumpster or something!"
"No, 'cause think about it: knowing Bowser, he probably would want to re-raise her to be a spy."
"Hmph. Fine."
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The two are cut off by the baby-fied Toadette starting to cry.
"What's she whining about now?" Wendy asks, obviously annoyed.
Karma checks her diaper and her face grows pale as she replies, "I think I might have an idea..."
"Gross!"
=======================
Meanwhile with Croco, Bowyer, and the Crooks, the trio have now reached a large, dark cave.
"All right, a piece of the Marvelous Compass is inside there," says Croco to the four.
"Safe, are you sure it is?" asks Bowyer.
"There are probably some monsters and stuff inside, but I don't think there'll be too many problems worrying about rockslides or the roof falling in or something.
=======================
Meanwhile with Ludwig and Yellow T...
"Nobody's known the trouble I've seen; nobody knows my sorrow..." Yellow T. sings as he changes his fifteenth diaper and Ludwig changes his 30th.
"We have got to stop Roy before we are both worked to death!" Ludwig tells Yellow T, as he is sick and tired of being blackmailed.
"I agree. Even though you're a Koopaling, I'd be glad to work with you and get rid of that tyrant," Yellow T. replies.
"Good. I've got an idea on what to do about him, but I need your help..." Ludwig starts telling Yellow T.
=======================
"HOW ON PLIT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO BEAT YOU UP IF I DON'T EVEN HAVE AN ACTUAL BODY?!" the shadow formerly known as Bowser yells.
"That's the point! I don't want to be beaten up, so instead, I'm gonna beat YOU up with your own body!" the Koopa King that was formerly Doopliss replies. "Now, FIRE BREATH!"
"EEEYYYOOOWWWW!!!" the shadow shrieks as he flies straight up from the pain he received from being scorched.
=======================
"Hey, do any of you guys have a strange feeling that our boss needs us right now?" Snifit #4 asks the others somewhere near Booster's Tower.
"Yeah, now that you mentioned it!" Snifit #2 replies.
"We'd better go out and save him!" Snifit #5 comments.
"Are you kidding? We'll get killed!" Snifit #3 yells.
"Who cares? Anything to get away from Valentina! I don't get how our boss could fall in love with somebody THAT bossy!" Snifit #1 comments.
"So, let's get going!" Snifit #2 tells the others. The five Snifits then run in the direction they somehow sense Booster was in.
=======================
"So, this is Isle Delfino," Grodus comments as they teleport onto the Airstrip. "It's rather... tropical."
"HEY! You four! Stop right there!" a random Pianta policeman yells at the four X-Nauts. "You're charged with spreading grafitti over the entire island!"
"Oh, nuts," X-Citing comments as they are all handcuffed and led towards a courthouse.
=======================
"Oh DAD, how on Plit are we going to beat this thing?!" Booster suddenly yells out.
"Don't worry, boss! We're coming!" Snifit #1 shouts as he and the other four head Snifits charge into the room through a random wall.
"My Snifits! You came!" Booster happily yells.
"Uh... What's he saying? And how did he shrink like that?" Snifit #3 asks the others, not being able to understand Booster while he is baby-fied.
"I dunno, but it probably has to do with HIM!" Snifit #5 yells as he points to Hinopio.
"He probably did this to our boss! Let's get him!" Snifit #2 exclaims as they all charge towards Hinopio.
=======================
"You four have been spotted across the island, spreading trash and random junk across the island. As we are very serious with charges against littering, I instantly proclaim you GUILTY!" the Pianta judge tells Grodus, X-Citing, Crump, and X-Periment.
"But this is a big mistake! Don't you remember that Mario was charged for the exact same thing, and he was framed? WE'RE INNOCENT, I TELL YOU!"
"That may be, but I'm not buying it! I sentence you all to four years in jail, starting IMMEDIATELY!"
The four are then handcuffed again and dragged to jail.
=======================
Back with Luigi and his five comrades...
"Oh no!" Luigi exclaims. "It's not here! Now what are we supposed to do!?"
Yes, the chest is not where it was before which, of course, is not what Luigi and the others wanted to see.
"Hmm..." thinks Geno aloud. "Maybe we've been going about this wrong. Perhaps we should charge straight in after all!"
"What makes you say that?" asks Twink. "Did you go stupid on us or something?"
"No, 'cause think about it: with all the conquering going on right now, it is likely that Bowser isn't even home!"
"That is a good point," says Luigi, "but should we really take a chance on that?"
=======================
Meanwhile with Karma, Wendy, and Toadette...
"Maybe we should take her to Ludwig," Wendy suggests. "He's probably just working on an invention or something."
"Good idea," Karma replies. "I mean, what else could he possibly be doing? Planning to beat up Roy and stop him from revealing a gigantic secret? I doubt it."
=======================
"Fine, we'll just-a storm into the castle once we get-a there. But what if Bowser left the Koopalings to-a guard the castle? Then-a we'd be in trouble!" Luigi tells the others.
"Oh, come on! We could beat them all easily!" Gonzales Jr. tells Luigi. "Besides, would you rather wait until Bowser finds out he didn't baby-tize you and comes after us?"
"Good point," Luigi replies. He, along with Geno, Twink, Punio, and the others, then head back to the main area of Rogueport.
=======================
"Ya know, I'm surprised you even knew that I wasn't the real Chestnut King! What book did you read to find that out?" 'Bowser' asks as he tries to barbeque the shadow again.
"Oh, that's simple! I read Super Luigi: Volume... oh, #$&)!!!" the shadow that was formerly Bowser yells as he finally figures out who he had missed after all this time.
=======================
"Spooky, this place is! NYA!" Bowyer mutters as he, Croco, and the three Crooks walk farther into the cave.
"Yeah, but that's the price we gotta pay if we want to rule the world," replies Croco. Soon the five reach a huge empty room with no other paths inside it but a small well in the corner.
=======================
"I... hate... changing diapers," Beldam says as she is changing one of the toddlers. Elsewhere, Goombario and Goombella are talking to each other.
"What should we do now?" asks Goombella. "I bet that they probably turned Luigi into a baby too!"
"I dunno," replies the male Goomba, "but we have to do something to help out..."
=======================
"This place stinks. Quite literally, I might add," Grodus comments as he inspected the jail. It is comprized of a single cell in which every criminal is contained. However, there aren't any other criminals in the cell at the time. In a far corner, a pair of Mario's stinky socks from when he was arrested can be seen.
"I don't get it," Crump asks himself. "Who could have possibly framed us? It would be understandable if it was Bowser Jr, but what kind of grudge could he have against us? Does he even know we exist? Does anybody on this island even know who we are?"
=======================
Back with Goombario and Goombella...
"I have no idea what we can do," says Goombario. "After all, right now we're not even old enough to talk! What are we gonna do to Bowser, throw our diapers at him?"
"True," answers Goombella.
=======================
The Koopa Bros. walk through Delfino Plaza, laughing. Each is carrying a magic paintbrush. "Boys, I love it when a plan comes together!" says Red to the others. "Bowser's sure to promote us since we took out the X-Nauts!"
"Yeah," answers Green, "but what about their artifacts?"
"Simple," replies Red. "They're keeping those in the policestation's vault. We'll go in, take 'em, and be on our way!"
=======================
"How on Plit are we going to get out of here?!" X-Citing asks, obviously worried about being sent to jail for four years.
"We break out of here, of course!" Grodus tells him. "Remember, I have my body back now! I told those guards that I needed my staff because I had a problem walking without it. Those fools didn't even have a clue of what power it holds!"
Grodus then pulls out his staff, and uses it to summon more powerful blasts of purple lightning than he could before. An entire wall breaks from the force, and the X-Nauts run out through it.
"Alert! Alert! The prisoners have escaped! Over," a Pianta guard yells into his walkie-talkie.
Sir Grodus, Lord Crump, X-Citing, and X-Periment quickly dash away from the jail. By mere coincidence, they run right into the Koopa Bros.
"How in the world did you guys break out of that jail?!" Red asks in a harsh tone.
"You... I know who you are! You four work for Bowser! And, judging by the paintbrushes you all hold, you must be the ones who have framed us!" Lord Crump says.
"I knew we should have hidden these things," Green mutters.
"Listen, you X-Jerks!" Yellow yells. "Lord Bowser deserves those artifacts, not you! And, after we pulverize you, we're going to give them to him and earn a big, fat promotion!"
"In your dreams!" X-Periment says as he pulls out a beaker, indicating that he is ready for a fight. Soon, everyone else holds out their weapons, and the two sides begin fighting.
Credit goes to Martin,
Antwan,
Croshi,
Noxious Koopa, Dylan,
Phil
the Koopa, Kevin Koopa, Sparky, Ice
Toad, Sparky, corbin
the crazy yoshi, MetalYoshi, and Waluigi's
Twin for writing, editing, suggesting, or in any way enhancing this
story.