Episode 2: Petalburg Panic
Last time on Dimentio's Revenge, the Mario Bros. were invited to a party over the defeat of Dimentio and the worlds being saved from destruction. During the party, Mario met up with his old partners and had a good long chat. Princess Peach came out to congratulate those who helped save the worlds. During her speech, Dimentio appeared with the Chaos Heart, the Crystal Stars, the Star Spirit cards, and the Star Rod. Mario tried to defeat Dimentio by using the Pure Hearts, but it was all for nothing. Dimentio gave Mario a beating and teleported him and all the guests to different places all over the Mushroom Kingdom and Rogueport. He then grabbed the princess and teleported off, no doubt to do more evil.
What will happen
to Mario? Will the evil Dimentio be defeated? And what about everyone else
at the party? Find out in, this, episode 2 of DImentio's Revenge…
Everything for Mario went black right after the bolt struck him. He feels himself fall and crash into a table. He tries to get back to his feet, but doesn't even have the strength to open his eyes. Then everything around him changes. Against his bruised back he feels, not the smashed table from the castle, but a stone floor. Then he hears a high voice say "Mario?" before he blacks out again.
Later on he wakes up. Instead of a stone floor he now feels a wooden slab beneath him, and he feels all his strength back in his body. He slowly opens his eyes and sees a female Toad standing above him. She has pink spots on her Mushroom head and wears black clothes with a belt. She seems to have something tucked into her belt, but Mario can’t identify it. "Are you awake, Mario?" she asks in her high, squeaky voice. He looks around and sees that he is in a square room with an open black chest in the middle and a few Koopa skeletons. He is resting on a slab of wood that is lying on the floor.
He realizes where they are. "What-a are we doing in-a Hooktail Castle? Last-a I remember was-a the party where-a Dimentio… What-a happened to the-a princess? Where is-a everyone else?" cries Mario, looking around as if expecting DImentio to jump out from behind a wall.
"I'm not exactly sure, but I think I understand. Once you stopped attacking Dimentio, he snapped his fingers. Next thing I knew, I was in Hooktail's room. I think that by snapping his fingers, he teleported all of us away, but I also think we were all teleported to different places. The other guests could be anywhere. I tried to make my way out of here, but I got lost and bumped into you. I put you on that slab of wood to try to make you more comfortable, and gave you a spare Mushroom," explains the Toad.
Mario gets up and looks closer at her belt, and realizes that a samurai sword is stuffed in there. "Who-a are you? Why do-a you have a-a samurai sword-a?"
"Oh, excuse me for not introducing myself. I am Ninja T. Unlike most Toads, my name isn’t a pun. But it does describe me. I have the samurai sword because I am a ninja. I trained at the dojo and got powerful enough that I got the Degree for beating The Master," Ninja proclaims proudly.
Mario stares at her for a second, confused. "I-a didn't know that there-a are ninja Toads."
"Well, we try to keep secret. We train at the dojo, and whenever someone else comes into the dojo, we test our powers of stealth by concealing ourselves in the room. For example, when you came in to get your Degree, there were about five of us in the room, including me. We obviously did very well for you not to notice any of us."
"Hmm… You-a seem very powerful and-a helpful. Would you like-a to help me on this-a adventure?" asked Mario.
A grin spreads on Ninja’s face. "Of course I would! This will help me see how well I've trained and where I can improve! Of course I would!" she proclaims again.
"All right-a, now where should-a we go? I don't-a have any idea how-a to beat Dimentio while-a he has all that power!"
"Hmm… Well, I'm not familiar with this area. Is there anyone around here that didn't go to the party and is pretty smart?"
"Let me-a think... I've got it! I didn't-a see Professor Frankly at-a the party!"
"Who's he?"
"He's a wise old-a Goomba that lives around here."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find him!"
Mario and Ninja leave the room and go towards the exit of Hooktail Castle. They pass the chest, jail cells, skeletons, and the reversible stairs. A few Dry Bones come after them, and Mario and Ninja avoid them. (Mario left his hammer at the house and is weak from being beaten so his stomp power is low.) They enter the first room, with two Koopas and one Paratroopa. The Paratroopa dives down at Mario, but Mario jumps and stomps on him, and he falls to the ground. Mario knocks him on his back and stomps on his chest. One of the Koopas sneaks up behind Mario, while the other shoots at Mario inside his shell. Mario jumps, and the Koopa smashes into the other, KOing him. The first Koopa, still spinning, bounces off the walls and hits Mario in the back. Mario falls down, and the Koopa jumps on his chest.
"Let's see how you like it!" sneers the Koopa, jumping on him again. "Finally, someone beats-"
The Koopa slumps down on the ground, knocked out, and Mario sees Ninja standing there, pulling the hilt of her sword up from his head. Meanwhile the ex-Paratroopa struggles up from the ground, trying to be quiet, and sneaks up behind Ninja. With a loud war cry, she brings her foot around in a roundhouse and kicks him in the face. The ex-Paratroopa goes flying out the window into Petal Meadows.
"Wow! That-a was amazing!" exclaims Mario, congratulating Ninja.
"Thank you, but let's move on. We have a lot to do, and who knows what else Dimentio plans to do!" says Ninja worriedly.
"You're right! Let’s-a go!"
They exit Hooktail Castle, to Petal Meadows. They see the Koopa that Ninja kicked out the window, who sees them as well and runs off with fear in his eyes. Mario and Ninja shrug and go towards the pipe to Rogueport. They get to the pipe and see a sign next to it. It says, "This pipe has been closed down because it is so old it broke in half. It will be replaced with a new pipe in a few weeks. If you absolutely MUST get to Rogueport, please contact the mayor of Petalburg. Have a nice day."
"Well, I guess we go to Petalburg," says Ninja, already walking off.
They go past the pipe to Hooktail Castle and see the beat up Koopa talking to a Goomba, Spiked Goomba, and Paragoomba. "…And they jumped on me, knocking my wings off, beat up my friends, kicked me out the window, and- HEY! There they are! Get 'em!" The Koopa and Spiked Goomba run towards Ninja, while the Goomba and Paragoomba go for Mario.
Mario sees the Goomba dive forward to bite his foot, and he jumps, intending to land on him. The Paragoomba kicks him in the head, and he stumbles to the ground. He jumps back to his feet, his attention pointed at the Paragoomba now, but the Goomba bites his foot. Mario grits his teeth, fighting back the pain, and kicks the annoying Goomba. The little Mushroom goes flying and smashes into the Paragoomba, KOing both of them.
Ninja has a much easier time with her two combatants. The Koopa flies at her in his shell and she flips over him, spins around, and throws a shuriken at him. The Koopa ducks the ninja star and runs off toward the pipe to Rogueport. Ninja turns around, looking for the Spiked Goomba, but doesn't see him. She hears a cry and sees the Goomba jumping headfirst out of a tree, intending to impale her. She whips out her samurai sword quick as a blink and performs two quick sword movements. One of them knocks the spike off its head, and the other smacks the Goomba down to the ground with the flat of the blade, fainted.
"I-a wonder if we'll see him again," wonders Mario, looking in the direction the Koopa ran.
"If he comes back, he is one stubborn Koopa! I mean, I kicked him out a window and threw a shrunken at his head!" exclaims Ninja.
Mario shrugs, and they resume walking toward Petalburg. As the get closer, they see something startling.
"The village is burning!" shouts the female warrior.
"We-a need to go help-a them!" says the plumber, rushing into the town.
When Mario gets in the village, all he can see is smoke, but he gradually can see through it. He runs around, trying to find the source of the fire, and sees it. In the doorway of a nearby building, he sees a dark, short, hooded figure, and Dimentio shaking someone. He quickly runs over, but stops to listen.
"I know you have it, like I know the sun comes up in the morning! You grabbed it before I teleported you and the rest of the party members away! Where is it?!" Dimentio shouts in the face of someone Mario knows quite well.
"Koops!" he shouts before running over to aid his friend, a Koopa with a blue shell and many bandages.
"Your timing is the worst! But what should I expect from a pest like you? However, I have no time to chat. I have to get that book! It is time for you to have quality snack time with my friend Blagon here - where he snacks on you! Ciao!" says Dimentio before rushing into the house, looking for whatever he was demanding.
Mario and Ninja tense, looking at the hooded figure. He takes off his hood, revealing that he looks like someone from Flipside but has a trenchcoat, sunglasses, and pants that appear to be made out of blue scales. Everything about him is blue, from his hair to his skin, even his clothes, all blue. He looks at the two heroes and grins, showing blue teeth with a blue tongue inside.
"I have heard much about you from Master Dimentio, Mario. I've been looking forward to our meeting. However, I can't allow you to stop my master from getting his book from this troublesome Koopa here, so I'm afraid that your journey, short as it was, stops here."
His grin becomes wider, and he takes out a wand. He points it at himself and shouts a couple indistinguishable words. His trench coat goes out at his sides, taking the form of wings. The blue-scaled pants sink into his skin and make a ripple pattern across his body, covering him in scales. Large claws the size of rapiers pop out of his hands and feet, and his sunglasses stay there, so he looks like a small dragon with sunglasses. "Let's see what you can do against me in my weakest form!" says Blagon in a raspy dragon voice.
The blue dragon flies high in the air and swoops down, opening its maw. Expecting a stream of fire, Mario and Ninja jump to the side, but instead, Blagon lets out a freezing breath. The breath puts out the fires but almost freezes Mario in a block of ice. If he had been right in front of the dragon, he probably would have been frozen solid. Ninja takes out her samurai sword and chops at Blagon. The evil serpent twists, avoiding the sword by about a foot. Mario jumps at the dragon, but it is too late, as the dragon has already flown back up in the air. He swoops down again, his teeth showing as he opens his mouth, and Mario and Ninja run as far behind him as they can. Unfortunately, it was a trick, and Blagon whaps them in the head with his tail. Ninja throws a shuriken at him, and it pierces through his thick scales. Blagon roars in pain and snatches her in his jaws. He doesn't bring his teeth together, though, because at that moment, DImentio runs out of Koops's house, holding the Dark Prognosticus!
"Leave these weaklings here! We have what we came here for," shouts Dimentio.
Blagon hesitates, then spits Ninja out on the ground and transforms back into a Flipsider. He looks at our two heroes. "Next time we meet, you won't be so lucky!" He stands next to Dimentio, and a box appears around them, and they teleport off.
Mario and Ninja look at each other, and collapse. Black…
Mario wakes up later and finds himself in the Toad house. Opposite him is an empty bed, and next to it, looking out the window, is Ninja. She turns around and sees him getting up. "This can't continue. All we have been able to defeat are a few Koopas and Goombas. And if what that fiend said is true, then that was his weakest form. He is probably much more powerful than that."
Mario sighs. "And-a Dimentio must be much tougher than Blagon, even in-a his toughest form. The only thing we-a can really do is look for-a Prof. Frankly and see-a what he thinks we should do. Let's go see that-a mayor."
Ninja brightens up slightly. "Yeah! There's still hope!"
The two leave the Toad house and head toward Mayor Koops's house. (Remember at the end of PMTTYD he ran for mayor.) Mario notices that instead of the ugly pink color that the house was when Mayor Kroop was mayor, it is now painted blue. They knock on the door and enter, as Koops rushes towards them. "You saved me again, Mario! How can I thank you and your friend here?"
"Well, actually, we-a need to get to Rogueport in-a a hurry! The pipe is out, and the sign says to-a see you! Wait a minute, how did you get back here so fast from the party?" asks Mario, curious.
"Oh, um, I ended up in Shhwonk Fortress, and it was easy enough to get here. Anyway, the only way to get back to Rogueport when the pipe is out is to take the Cheep Cheep Blimp from the Glitz Pit when the stadium comes here. It comes here once a day, and should be arriving here soon, so you should probably just wait outside," replies Koops.
"Ok, thank you!" says Ninja before she and Mario go outside to wait.
Soon enough, the Cheep Cheep Blimp lands in Petalburg. "All aboard for Glitz Pit!" shouts the Cheep Cheep conductor. Ninja and Mario get on with a few other Koopas, and the blimp takes to the skies. After landing in Glitz Pit, they ask the conductor if they can be dropped off in Rogueport soon, and he says that it is the next stop. They get on the next flight and touch down in Rogueport.
Meanwhile…
Everything is dark except for a couple torches on the wall. It is a large, square room with a large chair on one side, and on the other, a few smaller ones. In the large chair sits Dimentio, while on the other side, the chairs are all empty but one. In that one sits Blagon. Dimentio looks at him fiercely, without the usual twinkle in his eye. "You idiot! It was all going along perfectly, until you wrecked it, like an adult telling a kid that Koopa Claus doesn't exist!"
Blagon puts on as pitiful a face as he can, trying to turn away Dimentio's anger. "I'm sorry, Master. You know that teleporting makes me woozy. I didn't know that if I accidentally knocked into you the Star Spirit cards and the Crystal Stars would scatter like that!"
"But now because of your bumbling, Mario has a chance of getting to us! Don't you understand?! I'd send you out to get them immediately, but I need you for other matters. Go and bring in Koopark!" orders Dimentio.
Blagon bows, and leaves, coming back soon with a Koopa behind him. The Koopa has a black shell and a portable Mini Bullet Bill Blaster. A dark mist lingers shortly wherever he goes, and he sports a black bandana. "I believe you called for me, sir."
Dimentio replies, the twinkle returning. "Blagon here scattered the Star Spirit Cards and the Crystal Stars all over this blasted planet. I need you to go retrieve those items for me. I believe that one landed in Rogueport. Go there and get it before that blasted plumber does!"
"Yes sir!" says Koopark, before rushing out of the room.
"Now Blagon, I forgive you for your bumbling, but I must say that you have just given me one more phase of my plan to do. Come with me, and let's make our friend Mario's experience, if he gets here that is, very magical!" Dimentio laughs and snaps his fingers, and they both are inside a box and disappear.
"Hmm… This is quite a problem… You say that DImentio had both Prognositicus, the Chaos Heart, Crystal Stars, Star Rod, AND the Star Spirit Cards? Well, I for one am astounded! There must be something we can use to weaken him, but what?" asks the Goomba teacher.
"I-a don't know. The only power objects I can-a think of at-a the moment are the-a Pure Hearts, the-a Beanstar, the Dark Star, and-a the Star Road Pieces. (I doubt that these are all the power objects, but they're all I, the author, could think of.) We have the-a Pure Hearts, but they aren't-a enough. We can't take the-a Beanstar, the Dark-a Star is evil, and-a we can't break-a the Star Road," replies Mario.
"Hmm… Well, I have a machine here that Professor E. Gadd gave me. It detects nearby power objects." Frankly walks over to a shelf and takes off what looks like a DS and turns it on. He shows it to them. "You see, if there's a power object within fifty miles, it tells what it is on the top screen, and a map to its location will appear on the lower screen. As you can see, there's nothing there," says the Goomba, not even looking at the screen.
"Actually, there is! It says that there's a Crystal Star on the roof of Zess T's house!" Ninja yells excitedly.
"Don't be silly, of course there is- Wait a minute! Gallopin' Goombas, there is! How'd that get there?" shouts Frankly.
"Hmm… Maybe Dimentio lay-a them out all over the place like-a Bowser did! He might even have hidden-a the Star Spirit Cards too-a!" says Mario, hope returning to the plumber.
"Something about that bothers me. I mean, Dimentio seemed a lot more clever than Bowser. Why would he just throw the power objects away willy-nilly?" Ninja asks cautiously.
"Hmm… You're right. This Dimentio you guys are talking about does seem like the clever sort. I'll do a bit of looking around while you guys try to find this stuff. Here, you two should probably take this with you." Frankly hands them the DS. "It should be helpful on your way, and you won't have to come back to see me every time you find something. Oh, I also noticed that you don't have your hammer, Mario! Here, take my spare." Frankly takes a hammer from the wall and gives it to Mario
"Thank you-a, Frankly! We wish you luck on-a your discoveries!" Mario says before walking out the door with Ninja.
"Well, off to adventure we go!" Ninja says, already running off towards the bar so she can get to Zess T's roof.
Mario runs after her and catches up with her on the roof. Mario stares ahead, and shakes his head. "Oh, no. Not-a you!"
The two Koopas, one looking beat up and the other still in his eggshell, look up from the Crystal Star. "You again! You came to steal the treasure that me and my new friend Koopster found, didn't you? Well, this time you’re not beating me up! Or my pal Koopster, who you kicked out of his home in that castle! Prepare to face the wrath of Jr. Troopa and his new friend, Koopster!"
Will Mario once again beat Koopster and Jr. Troopa or get the stuffing beat out of him for the third time? What happened to that seemingly gothic Koopa, Koopark? What is the new phase of DImentio's plan? Will Dimentio get all his power objects back? Find out next time on Dimentio's Revenge, 8:00 Thursday on the Koopa Channel!