Double Trouble
Nintendo Adventure Books 1

By Nintendo

[Written by Clyde Bosco]
[Typed by Lemmy Koopa]
[Pictures scanned by Wooster]

Chapter 30

"I guess I'll go right," Mario decides. He bounds into the right-hand fork. "Now we're getting someplace," he says, heading down a new mirrored corridor.

Wham! He walks into another glass wall and falls down. For a few minutes, he sits there, stunned. Then he picks himself up and looks around. He has a choice to make once again, left or right.

"Okay, it's time to get serious," Mario says, reaching into his back pocket. He takes out his lucky penny and tosses it into the air. "Heads I go left, tails I go right. It's simple! When in doubt, let Abe Lincoln figure it out...."

Flip a penny to decide where Mario should go next:
HEADS, turn to page 118.
TAILS. turn to page 108.

Chapter 31

Mario decides the long, dingy hallway is the way to go. He races down to the end and darts around a corner. "I need someone who'll lead me to that machine," he says to himself.

Just then, Iggy Koopa waddles past. Bowser's homely, purple-haired son doesn't notice Mario, and continues on his way.

"That's what I call service," murmers Mario. He falls into step behind Iggy.

They wind through the filthy halls of Fort Koopa, past battle trophies, statues, paintings of ancient Koopa rulers, and bags of garbage that no one has bothered to throw out for centuries. The stench is incredible. But gradually Mario begins to relax. Clearly, Iggy has no idea that he's being followed.

They plod onward, past Bowser's prized rotten vegetable collection. When Iggy turns the next corner, Mario bumps into a statue of Genghis Koopa. It wobbles for a few moments that seem like hours. Mario holds his breath. Will it fall? Won't it?

It falls. With a crash, it hits the floor and shatters into a thousand pieces.

"Eeep!" Iggy cries, as he whirls and spots Mario.

"Eeep," squeaks a mouse that used to live inside the statue. The mouse scurries down the hall and out of sight.

Never one to face a fair fight, Iggy dashes through a doorway by a sign that says "BASEMENT-IN CASE OF FLOOD, DO NOT ENTER."

"Not so fast, Ig!" Mario calls. He races after Iggy, down a flight of dimly lit stairs.

Solve this puzzle to find out where Mario is headed:

Mario steps on the first step-the one with a "Q" on it. Cross it out.

Decide if Mario should touch every other step, every third step, or every fourth step. Cross out the letters on the steps that Mario touches.

If you got the pattern right, a message will appear. The leftover letters spell where Mario is going.

Turn to page 47.

Chapter 32

Magnifying glass in hand, Mario marches up to the throne. Finally, he thinks, a chance to find out what this trouble is all about.

"All right, everyone," he calls, holding up the glass. "Maybe I can straighten things out."

Wooster, the royal assistant, nudges one of the kings towards the plumber. Mario holds the glass in front of the royal nose. "Hmm" he says as he studies the king.

"What is it? What do you see?" asks Wooster impatiently.

"I see... a nose," announces Mario. He takes off his cap and scratches his head. Both kings shrug their shoulders.

"Great!" says Princess Toadstool. "Any more brilliant deductions, Mr. Detective?"

"Don't rush me," answers Mario. "Let me take a look at His Majesty Number Two."

Wooster leads the second king to Mario, who holds the glass up to the second regal nose. But when Mario sees it magnified, it doesn't look like a king's nose at all. It looks more like a sand dune. In fact, up close, no part of this monarch looks like a king. He's made entirely of sand!

"Aha! Here's your impostor," Mario says. "Take him away!"

"I told you I'm me," says the real king.

"I told you I'm me," shouts the impostor as the royal mushroom guards haul him away.

No one says anything as he's dragged from the room. The doors slam behind him. The real king gazes after his double sadly.

"Don't worry," says Wooster. "We have a special home for people who try to impersonate the royal family. He'll have fun." He runs one finger along an arm of the king's throne and inspects the dust buildup. "Of course, it isn't very tidy here," he adds.

"So, what should we do now?" asks Princess Toadstool. "We can't check every set of twins in the kingdom. New ones are showing up every minute."

"No, we've got to get to the root of this problem," Mario agrees, dropping the magnifying glass into his overalls pocket. "The impostor was made of sand, right?"

"Right," answers the princess.

"And where are there tons and tons of sand?" asks Mario.

"The Koopahari Desert," answers Wooster, shuddering. "Frightfully dusty place."

"And what else is in the Koopahari Desert?" continues Mario.

"Fort Koopa!" everyone shouts.

"I'm on my way," Mario declares. He bounces down the hall. "I'll have this double trouble taken care of in no time at all."

"Hooray!" the king shouts.

"Make it snappy," adds the princess.

"And please don't track sand into the palace when you come back," Wooster begs.

Solve this puzzle to find out what could be waitng for Mario in the Koopahari Desert:

Study this grid and then look at the list at the top of the next page.

For each entry on the list, match the numbers on the side with the letters along the top. Cross out the corresponding space.

The letters in the leftover boxes will spell out something Mario will find in the Koopahari Desert.

B2, A1, C3, E2, D5, B6, C1, E3, C4, D4, D2, C5, E1, A3, C2, E6

Turn to page 75.

Chapter 33

"Geronimo!" yells Mario. "It's time to save the Mushroom Kingdom." He dives into the central pipe in the middle of the workshop and tumbles down into the darkness. "You know, " he mutters to himself, "no matter how often I go to the Mushroom Kingdom, I still hate this part."

He falls through the pipe for hundreds of feet, or maybe hundreds of mile-he can't tell. Then, suddenly, he shoots out the other end and drops into a tuft of spongy grass.

Mario gets up and looks around. High overhead, brick platforms and clusters of metal boxes hang mysteriously from the sky. Rows of bright flowers and polka-dot mushrooms spread out in every direction.

Once again, Mario is at the entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom, the magical land that he and Luigi have vowed to protect.

Turn to page 102.

Chapter 34

Mario wanders through the wreckage of the once-mighty fortress, picking up great piles of coins scattered among the ruins. "Tee-rrific," he says. "Now I can buy the princess that stainless stell surfboard she's been asking for."

When there are no more coins to be found, Mario brushes the dust from his overalls and bounces off to the palace. As he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom, he can tell that there are already fewer doubles than there were a few hours ago. A light breeze is blowing, and a great many piles of sand are scattered about the countryside.

Finally Mario reaches the palace. He makes his way up to the stairs and is about to enter through the royal double doors when he notices the time on his waterproof plumber's wristwatch.

"What?!" I've only been out of bed for fifteen minutes?" he asks in disbelief. Then he realizes that he's been awake for more than twenty-four hours.

"I'll tell the princess all about my adventure... tomorrow!" he says. He stumples away from the palace to the kingdom's entrance, climbs the central pipe, and drags himself home. Finally he collapses into his favorite armchair for a three-day nap.

*** Mario collects 200 Coins. ***
You win!
The kingdom has been saved!
GAME OVER!

[If you liked this story, please leave good feedback. I own all ten Mario choose-your-own adventure books, but since it takes a long time to type them up I will only do so if there's a demand to see them.]

Chapter 35

Luigi leads his brother through toe kitchen and out the side door of the plumbing shop. Behind the shop is an alley full of spare parts and strange-looking machines.

"Try this on, please," he mumbles, handing Mario a shiny metal vest. "I'll show you what it can do." A dozen metal cables are connected to the vest. They danle from the sky above the dark alley. Mario looks up, but it's impossible to see where the cables come from.

The whole thing seems a little strange to him, but then Luigi has always been a bit strange, Mario thinks. He sticks his arms into the vest and begins to fasten the buckles on its front. Then he stops short.

Did Luigi say "Please?" That's something new. Well, maybe it's just because he's tired-after all, he got only twelve hours of sleep today. Mario shrugs and continues to fasten the shiny metal garment.

Luigi waits for his brother to finish. Then he turns slowly and pulls down on a lever sticking out of one of the strange machines. "Goodbye," he says calmly.

Instantly, the cables begin to sname up into the night sky, taking Maril along with them. "Whoa!" he shouts, but he can't do a thing about it. In seconds, Mario is several hundred feet above the ground.

As he comes to a halt, high in the air, Mario sees a dark, familiar object floating towards him. It's the Doom Ship, the evil Koopa family's flying battle boat! Its propellers hum busily and its heavy iron cannons stand ready on the wooden prow.

Mario struggles to break loose, but the cables hold him tightly. He can see an armored turtle in bright pink sunglasses standing on the poop deck as the Doom Ship approaches. He recognizes Roy Koopa-Bowser's son, and one of the rottenest reptiles in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Drip ahoy!" calls Roy. He reaches out and scoops Mario up into a large net.

Turn to page 85.

Chapter 36

Suddenly, Mario remembers that he's been holding a hammer around with him all day long. "I guess those knocks on the head have dulled my memory," he thinks.

He reaches into his overalls in search of the hammer. "Yes!" he shouts, taking the tool from a pocket. "I knew there was a reason I brought this along." He swings the hammer at the glass panel in front of him. "When in doubt, break something!"

The wall shatters. Mario leaps through the broken glass. "That was fun," he says, and begins to smask a trail through the maze of mirrors, panel by panel.

After about twenty panels, he breaks into a strange, brightly lit room-Iggy Koopa's laboratory! On the walls are huge spools of wire. Lightbulbs of every color and size flash on control panels. The floor is cluttered with test tubes, gears, and-of course-bags of old garbage. In the center of the room, facing Mario, is Iggy himself.

"Well look who's here," says Iggy. "I really didn't think you'd be able to get through my maze. But as long as you're decided to drop by, I'd like to introduce you to one of my creations." He presses a button on a remote control device and a giant machine rolls slowly into the room.

Turn to page 36.

Chapter 37

As soon as Mario crosses into the Koopahari Desert, the red brick road ends abruptly. So do the grassy hills, the brooks, and everything else in the Mushroom Kingdom that's lush and colorful. An endless expanse of yellow sand stretches out before Mario. Dunes, crags, and rocky outcroppings dot the landscape. The only plants are a few withered cacti.

However, there's definitely no shortage of living things. "Just as I thought," Mario says, dodging a pair of masked Shyguys that waddle past. "The doubles problem is even worse here than at the palace. Enemies are everywhere, in sets of two, four, and even eight. I've got to put a stop to this quickly, or we'll be knee-deep in creeps!"

In the distance, Mario can see the faint outline of Fort Koopa. A winding road leading to it has been worn in the sand by thousands of feet. But a sign in the shape of a paw standing by the side of road reads "SHORTCUT TO FORT KOOPA - NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH." A black-nailed finger points to a rocky ravine just south of where Mario is standing.

"Hmmm," Mario muses. "Something tells me neither of these trails will be a picnic."

Solve this puzzle for a clue about what's ahead:

Follow the path that leads from Mario to Fort Koopa. Read the letters as you go. They'll tell you something about the short cut through the ravine.

If you think Mario should take the main road to Fort Koopa, turn to page 81.
If you think Mario should follow the shortcut into the ravine, turn to page 9.

Chapter 38

The horrible green creatures fan out their leaves, surrounding Mario. They swing their sticks at him viciously. Whap! One of them smacks Mario on the side of the head. He stumbles out of the Piranha Patch and passes out cold. The inning is over.

Of course, Piranha plants could never be really great baseball players-they couldn't run the bases.

When Mario wakes, he staggers back to the entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom. But his whacking has made him forget everything that has happened in the last two hours!

Turn to page 102.

Chapter 39

Mario decides he'd better talk to the princess before doing anything else. So he scampers up the path that leads to the palace.

Along the way, and on into the distance in every direction, the landscape is dotted with strange yet familiar structures. Stone staircases climb ten feet into the air and stop. Brick ledges hang in the sky, though nothing seems to be holding them up. Metal boxes are scattered all over the blue-green hills.

Mario hops onto a stack of red and blue cubes and snatches two shiny coins that are hanging above them. "These might come in handy later," he says. "I hear the princess just installed a new gumball machine at the palace." Then he continues on his way.

It usually takes Mario about thirty seconds to dash up the road to the palace. Today, though, it takes him almost ten minutes. Too many creatures get in his way.

He bounds up the grand marble staircase to the palace's front gate. One of the two royal doormen is standing guard. "Hello, Brock," Mario calls as he passes.

The muscular mushroom salutes, touching his furry white helmet.

Mario goes inside. As he walks down the main hall, he senses that all is not as it should be. Paintings are missing from the walls, and there are muddy footprints all over the carpets. Wooster, the king's finicky assistant, would never allow the palace to become such a mess-something must really be wrong!

Mario stops to inspect a pile of broken flower pots. Just then the other royal doorman walks by. "Hi, Gerkins," says Mario.

"I'm Brock," the doorman answers.

"Hmph," mutters Mario. "I thought I just saw Brock. Well, maybe I was wrong."

Mario hurries to the throne room. Along the way, he thinks he sees the same doorman a third time. Now he's confused. Maybe Princess Toadstool can clear up this mystery!

*** Mario collects two coins. ***
Turn to page 114.


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