Ahem! So…I'll tell you about a story. A story of legend, myths, secrets, and power…a tale that will haunt the world for ages…centuries even. A tale of a great cataclysm that haunted a once pride town full of life. This cataclysm which led to a rumor…about a great treasure hidden in the depths of a ruin…a ruin that once…was a beautiful city.
Today….
I'm going to tell you the story…of the Thousand-Year Door and the Crystal Stars.
The stars are known on having a lot of concepts, millions actually…when it comes to its origins, nobody knows where they came from. Some people theorize that it was just an explosion between elements; other confirms that they are creations of the above; other simply states that they are there just to be there while the few believes that it represents the souls of many good people who made a change for the good. Me? I personally think that they are what people think they are…but if I have to pick, I'll say that they act as guardians. The Crystal Stars prove that in a little town called Rogueport. This town is where our story begins… it all happened….
An awfully time ago with the loss of a belief, the Thousand Year Door. The belief in a small town where all people lived peacefully and being called "a prosperous town reigned by peace and justice", for many decades. But all that change, when one day tragedy befell to this blessed place. Darkness filled the place, the earth roared, the skies were full of rage, all the flora was dying, many peaceful citizens changed into vicious criminal looking a way to survive this sudden change, and worst…there wasn't a single trace of hope glimmering in the nights. It was like the very ending of the world finally came into a violent way. All in a single night, the prosperous town sank into the depths of the Underwhere. The rest of the world could feel the vibrations of that night, and even winds were feeling something was wrong. A dark sensation that changed that town was felt in the entire world, and not a single soul could tell if they will suffer the same fate, or even worse. Astronomers were looking at this catalyst and were stun to see that not a single star could be visible; many other astronomers gathered as well, and confirmed that same thing. It wasn't an ordinary phenomenon, but despite their best efforts they couldn't tell if this was a good or bad sign. All they could do…is to wait.
Many moons rose and set, and few by few the stars began to appear. The prosperous town changed and it wasn't the same since that fateful night; many criminals began to rise, the order was altered, justice was corrupted, and the only way to make a living was to survive. The stories of the town passed into the pages of fairy tales, the town no longer held relics of the past, and many people began to build another town in hopes to make a better change. This change only led to sea commercial being popular, but something began to catch the attention on many people worldwide. A rumor that could make simple novices takes leadership and tries to find the truth. This rumor was that very deep underground, the ruins of the town were still laying on the sea…not getting the rest it deserved a long time ago. A treasure lying on its ruins, hidden very well on a mythical and mysterious door that no people or even a being have seen. A door…that only responds with a great power that four…gathered one day, and possibly the reason why everything changed. A power that was scattered in the entire world with its only source on finding this so-called power…gone. Many people tried, but never came back. Time passed, and they lay rest on this rumor, but few are still trying…they still believe that in order to get complete closure…is to find the origin of this town.
As the rumors dispersed…the Stars were forgotten in time. Nobody knew…nobody heard anything about it. The Crystal Stars were lost…once again…but the few who knew…the true. The few…who knew what the Stones really were… The few….who knows the key of mass destruction…yet also….the key to the ultimate treasure.
Indeed…this is the tale of Rogueport. A story of a magnificent treasure that will change the lives of the people who try to look for it, and finally writing the ending of this tragic legend.
The quest for the treasure of Rogueport, and…the Thousand-Year Door…starts here.
…Beyond, Beyond…
…Complete all Seven…
…Before, before, before….
…We, four, gather…
…We, four, protect…
…We, four, attack…
…We, four, disperse…
…Stones have the Power of Stars…
…Search, Search…
…Complete the Power…
…End, end, End…
…Seven, complete, Complete the Seven…
…The Seven hidden….
…The Sevens holds…
…Gather, Seven, Power…
..The Four individually…
…As they join…
…The Stars bring the Balance…
…As the Heroes falls in eternity…
…Let the Weakness fall…
…And that skies lies…
…Then Build the strongest…
..Master of Shadow and Dark…
…Complete the Seven…
…So that, I, will fall…
…We know the Stars were made…
…The darkness lies…
…Lives are foolish…
…But, I bring balance…
…We, four, gather…
…We, four, protect…
…We, four, attack…
…We, four, disperse…
…Beyond, Beyond, Beyond…
…Complete all Seven…
…Before, Before…
….We, the, Great Ones…
…Can live again, by the Stones…
…The Stars bring balance…
…As, we, gather its, power…
LOCATION: ?,?
HOUR: 2:30 PM.
There was a small town in the seas…this town is called Rogueport. Nothing about the town was exactly highlight for the Mushroom Kingdom. This little town only served as a hideout for many criminals or sailors. But that didn't stop, our dear Princess Peach, a beautiful, graceful, blonde-long haired woman wearing a fancy pink dress with a golden tiara on her head. Her blue eyes were described as amazing and soul-piercing as it could charm many men if used right.
"Finally! I have a minute without Toadsworth watching at me!" said Princess Peach while stretching her arms and letting out a relaxing sigh. She was enjoying the little free time she finally had over her trip on vacation. "Ugh…he's so paranoid." Said Princess Peach while looking at the sky. It was truly a blessing she got a decent vacation, knowing that Mario being in the Kingdom, nothing wrong happen with him on the watch and Bowser also getting some rest himself after the little fiasco on Delfino Isle.
She began looking around the place, and while it wasn't best for first impression, she still found amusing some of the tourist places in this town. With her being on the plaza, she could only enjoy watching some barrels or the shop with the "Lunch, be back in 45 minutes, the cameras are on" sign.
"Being stuck all holiday with Toadsworth wasn't exactly my idea of a vacation, but I can still relax with him." Said Princess Peach with a little smile. "Still, I wish Mario could come with me." Added Princess Peach with a little blush and closing her eyes to giggle.
"Oh, missy…Missy." Said a mysterious voice. Princess Peach got out of her trance while looking at all directions. The way the mysterious voice was coming from was from the left side of Peach's direction. She noticed that this mysterious voice was actually a person covered in a huge black cloak covering all of its body. There was no sign on its body to tell if it was a man or woman, but the little few that Peach could tell is that it was a woman's voice that send chills to her body. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh to shake off this feeling.
"Do…do you mean me?" said Princess Peach while pointing at her. The mysterious woman only let out a laugh, fascinated by the reaction of the princess.
"Mwee, hee….yes, you missy." Said the woman in the cloak as she made a sign as in to come here. Princess Peach didn't notice at first, but she saw a little bit of merchandise on the floor.
"Good evening, Madame." Said Princess Peach while offering her hand. While not really seeing her face, she could tell that the woman was smiling.
"Hee, hee…please… your highness. There is no need to be so formal." Said the woman in the cloak while taking Peach's hand and accepting the handshake. "It's a pleasure to be visited by the Royalty of the Mushroom Kingdom…what brings you here, your highness?" said the mysterious woman.
"Well you see…I wanted to take a look (by myself) here on town. So far, everything is interesting, but I haven't seen per say… anything good?" said Princess Peach trying not to sound so rude. When it comes to people of other countries, land or town some topics might be sensible.
"Really? Then you are fortunate indeed. For I have the answer for you." Said the mysterious lady while showing her merchandise. "Go ahead and take a look. Certainly you will buy something that will favor your style with these…knickknacks and doodads." Added with a smile. Princess Peach began to look and saw there were some old vases that looked worth of something, but… ("!") There was one object that took all the attention of the princess.
"What about that one?" asked Princess Peach while pointing at the small treasure chest. The woman in cloak only responded with a huge smile.
"Other than being royalty and having a nice taste, you have a great eye your highness." Said the mysterious woman while lifting the treasure box. Peach only responded with a slight blush and giggle. "You see, in chest it is said that this treasure chest holds a map that shows where a legendary treasure sleeps." Said the mysterious woman. This only made Princess Peach earn a confused look.
"Really? Then how come you haven't opened it yet? I'm pretty sure that this treasure would come in handy." Said Princess Peach, but the woman only shook her head with a visible frown.
"I'm afraid is not that simple, your highness. This treasure chest has a magic lock that will only open those who possess a pure and noble heart." Said the mysterious lady. She tried her best to open the box, but like she stated before…it didn't budge a little bit. "As you can see, my life wasn't exactly all that good." Added with a sad tone and Peach could swear she saw an icy tear coming from her face…if she could see it whole that is.
"Oh…s-sorry for that." Said Princess Peach. The woman stayed like that for a good 30 seconds, not making a move until she finally got out of her…trance.
"No need to. I have lived a life with many regrets, that I so deserve to be here." Said the merchant with a sorrow tone. Peach was feeling a little bit sad to hear a small part of her story, but she didn't want to make this anymore awkward. "Don't worry, your highness. I'm doing my best to correct those mistakes, and that is to give this legendary map to a noble soul without a price." Said the merchant lady as she handed the box to Princess Peach.
"You mean…" said Princess Peach with a surprised tone, almost not expecting this.
"Yes, dear princess. If you manage to open the box, you can keep what its inside." Said the merchant lady.
"I-I couldn't possible…" said Princess Peach trying to find an excuse to pay for the treasure chest.
"Please…it would be an honor in fact to have that touched by the royalty." Said the woman in cloak while making a bow. Princess Peach couldn't help, but to laugh a little bit. It has been a year since they bowed to her, but she paid no mind.
"A-All right. I'll give it a try." Said Princess Peach. Without hesitating, Peach put her hand on the upper part of the treasure box and saw that the lock was reacting in a way of glowing. Both Peach and the woman were a little bit shaken by this, but nevertheless Peach continued to try and open the box.
The lock suddenly came off and the box finally opened. What was inside it was covered with a huge glow that was so strong that it made Peach and the merchant lady cover their eyes. Even people around the area saw the glow and were fascinated or curious to see what was happening. The glow went through 20 seconds before fading slowly into a little and rusty map. Princess Peach finally uncover her eyes to see the legendary map before her eyes.
"Oh my…that…that…that was something." Said Princess Peach loss for appropriate words for the situation.
"So…the legends were true." said the merchant lady. She let out a small laugh to herself. She even made sure that Princess Peach couldn't hear it.
"I-I-It is true! I can't believe it! There IS a map right here." Said Princess Peach while placing the box on the floor and looking at the map. While it looked somewhat old with some dust on it, it showed the location of many different places including the town Princess Peach is currently at.
"Indeed it was, dear princess. That is one regret off my list." Said the merchant lady seemingly joking, but deadly serious for her.
"I-I don't know what to say. What should I even do?" chirped Princess Peach while looking at all places. While it was true that she believed the woman in the cloak, she wasn't sure it was going to work.
"That is a question whose answer is on you. But if I have the honor to suggest, I believe that you should find the treasure. I'm sure that such noble heart like yours deserves that legendary treasure that is spoken on by the fairy tales." Said the woman in cloak.
"Oh! Yes…yes that is quite useful. I still don't know how to thank you! Are you sure you don't want any kind of money?" said Princess Peach still with a glowing smile on her face. She wanted to thank the good lady, but once again she just denied her request.
"Like I said before, I won't put a price for the one with noble heart to open the treasure chest. Seeing the legendary map with my own eyes is enough payment." Said the merchant lady with a smile.
"Oh. Well then, once again thank you so much! If I actually get the treasure, you'll be the first one to know it…well besides me, of course. Tee, hee, hee." Said Princess Peach as she put away the map and run off to the Inn near her. When Princess Peach was gone, the merchant lady cracked a smile that would make anyone cringe in fear.
"Mwee, hee, hee, hee…no. Thanks to you dear princess." Said the merchant lady as she revealed a little bit of her body before slowly disappearing along with everything she had in the shadows. The once little merchandise that was located there, disappeared like thin air.
LOCATION: ?
Hour: 9:50 PM
It was a rather peaceful night on Rogueport. These kinds of night are very rare for a town with high criminal rate, but other than that there will be times like this were most people would use to save the products, or exportations that arrive. In the deck, the only sound that could be heard was of the calm sea waves hitting the floor or just the wind blowing throughout the town with a nice temperature. Moments like these almost make the people forget the kind of town that is as of now and reminisce of the old era. The only person being in the deck was none other than Princess Peach who is holding a letter. Peach stood there for many minutes until she finally saw a familiar set of wings.
"Parakarry!" shouted Princess Peach while waving at the sky. A few seconds later, a blonde-haired Koopa-troopa with wings wearing an air pilot uniform with a button on its center. "Parakarry! Over here!" shouted Princess Peach once again to catch his attention. Parakarry responded by making a salute and making a successful landing in front of her.
"Evening, Princess Peach." Said Parakarry while waving his hands as he landed successfully.
"It's good to see you again, Parakarry. How's the job on delivering letters?" said Princess Peach with a smile.
"Same stuff, same stuff. I'm actually surprised that you called for me. What's the occasion?" said Parakarry.
"Well, you see…I got this letter for Mario, and I didn't found any mailbox around here so…" explained Princess Peach as she took out the letter to hand it out to him.
"Not a problem, princess! I'll deliver this to Mario at first hour in the morning." Said Parakarry as he took the letter and put it into the mailbag.
"Thank you, Parakarry. May the stars be with you." Said Princess Peach with a smile. This only made Parakarry flush a little bit and scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Heh. You too princess." Said Parakarry as he pressed once again the button to make the wings appear once again. He jumped into the sea and the wings manage to elevate Parakarry into the hair and took off to the north side of Rogueport.
"Ooooh! I can't wait to go Treasure-hunting with Mario! I'm so glad that I found that kind professor on telling me about those stars. Now all I have to do is to convince Toadsworth to stay here just for a little longer." Beamed Princess Peach while jumping full of joy. While Princess Peach was making her way to the Main Plaza, she was abruptly cut off from her path by three mysterious men.
Two of them were wearing some kind of military uniform colored both white with a beanie and some glasses that you could barely see the eyes. The uniform almost looked like it was design to hold against the cold as it showed that the height was until the mouth. However, the other man who stood out the most was wearing also a similar uniform with the only difference being colored purple and a red scarf; other than that same glasses and beanie but with some horns on it and a little bit of black hair coming from it. Peach was confused and surprised to say the least…where did they come from? Why are they blocking her path? And most importantly…why did she felt an uneasy sensation coming from the man in purple?
"Umm…excuse me, sir? Can you move a little bit?" asked Princess Peach trying to sound normal, but to no avail. She was enough on these kinds of situations like almost guessing what's going to happen next.
"In due time, lady. We actually came here to ask one thing of you." Said the man in purple. Peach felt tense just by being around him. "You mention something about Stars. I really need to know about that." Said the mysterious man. Princess Peach didn't know what to do…she literally didn't know what they were talking about. Stars? Unless they were referring to the Power Stars then she had no idea what they were referring to unless…
"Umm…I don't know about that." Lied Princess Peach. She didn't like lying, but there was something about that man that Princess Peach didn't like about.
"Hmm…I don't quite believe you." Said the man with a unusual tone.
"W-Well… that is what you think but I'm telling you what I know, and that is that." Said Princess Peach trying to sound strict.
"Buh, huh, huuh! Well that would be rather nice. We would be in our way if you hand the map to us." Said the man as he leaned closer.
"W-What…" said Princess Peach as her eyes got widen.
"Hand us the legendary map, and we'll be on our way." Stated the man in purple as he put his hand in front of him. Okay, now Peach felt nervous and the signs were evident.
"W-What?! A m-map?" said Princess Peach out of reflex. The man simply nodded. "Uhh…I don't have a map." Said Princess Peach. While she lies on the last part, she saw that the eyes of the man began to shift dangerously, almost like he was disappointed by her response.
"Hmm…I don't believe you. HAND it over." Commanded the Man now with a dangerous tone. The other two men began to approach menacingly as well.
"I-I told you already! I don't have map. I don't even know what you're talk—" said Princess Peach, but was interrupted as she was suddenly grabbed by both of her hands. It was some type of handcuff made out of electricity. She was scared.
"Buh, huh, huh, huh. It seems we got a rather stubborn subject right here. Xey! Xalia!" said the man in purple while looking at the two men on his side. Both of them made a salute by crossing their arms as in letter "X".
"Yes, Lord Crump!" shouted both of them. Princess Peach was absolutely terrified right now, she tried to escape, but failed as she was shot once again with electric handcuff but this time towards her legs. She tripped as a result.
"Gah! Ugh….my head." Said Princess Peach as she was on the floor.
"Heh…nowhere to run little princess." Said Xalia as he began to inspect Princess Peach with a strange device that was on constant beeping. While moving the device all ups her body, there was no beeping sound meaning that no map was on it.
"Lord Crump, sir! I'm sorry to inform, but she appears to be telling the truth." Said Xalia as he made once again the X salute. Lord Crump however, didn't reacted at all.
"Hmm. Take her to the base. She has seen too much already. I'm sure that Grodus or Beldam would know what to do." Ordered Lord Crump.
"Yes, sir, yes!" said Xalia and Xey in unison.
"NO! Unhand me now!" shouted Princess Peach as she was struggling to get free of their grasp. With a quick motion, Lord Crump injected Princess Peach with a syringe that had a Sleepy Sheep emblem on it. Just a few seconds later, Princess Peach began to lose consciousness.
"M…M-M…Ma….M-Mario…." Said Princess Peach as she succumbed to the darkness.
"Ugh…she is kinda heavy." Said Xey as he picked up the sleepy princess.
"The base is close so stop complaining." Added Xafia.
"Both of you. Once you return to the base, order thirty more soldiers to come here." Stated Lord Crump. This earned a confused look between both of the soldiers.
"Uhmm…may we ask why?" said Xafia with a confused tone.
"Beldam confirmed that this brat had the legendary map. However, given that she doesn't have the map in her, means two things. Either she made a stupid mistake or this brat lost it or handed the map to someone else on this dump." Said Lord Crump while looking in all directions…making sure him and his crew were the only ones. "By any case, if the latter seems to be the right choice then we would need more people to cover the ground. If anyone and I mean ANYONE even mentions something about the Crystal Stars or the legendary map then inform me. No objections, or questions, just DO it." Stated Lord Crump before going towards the Main Plaza. Both soldiers simply nodded to Lord Crump before parting ways to a different path than his commander.
And just like that…the decks were silent once again. The only sounds now were the peaceful winds and sea waves who were echoing not knowing what the future awaits to these sounds. With Parakarry still flying towards a familiar place…also known as the Mushroom Kingdom where the hero remains sleep…waiting for his next big adventure.
"We, four, gather"
"We, four, protect"
"We, four, attack"
"We, four, disperse"
…The Seal…
…Compromised, broken, in danger…
…A glowing…
…Dark, Balance, Light…
…Beyond, Beyond, Beyond…
…Complete all Seven…
…Choose, Choose, Choose…
…A fate between darkness and light…
…Master of Darkness…
…Hero of Stars…
…A vessel of Soul…
…Temple of thousands shadows…
…The Skies Lies…
…But the Stars…bring balance…
Location: Mario Bros House, Mushroom Kingdom West Side
Hour: 8:30 AM
It was a beautiful and peaceful morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. Every habitant was doing their usual stuff ever since the Mario Bros. have saved the day once again by recovering the stolen voice of Princess Peach, unbeknownst to them this being a secret plan to lure out the evil witch, Cackletta. As the usual, the kingdom was in peace, and it has been months since they have heard of Bowser or any kind of movement he was planning…needless to say, everything was fine just as long Mario and Luigi are in the watching.
Ever since the brief encounter with Princess Peach, Parakarry has been flying to reach his destination, only stopping to get a brief rest before resuming his fly. He visited some locations before reaching Toad Town, earning a quick visit to his old friends and finally reaching Toad Town. With only one letter on his mailbag, he landed on near the Mario Bros. House.
"Mail Call!" shouted Parakarry while landing on the side of the mailbox. A few seconds passed, and Parakarry saw a man in green with a mustache and a green cap with the letter "L" exiting the house. "Hey! Luigi!" said Parakarry while waving his arm.
"Hi! How its-a going?" asked Luigi while going towards Parakarry. He took off his mailbag and took the letter.
"Nothing much. Just delivering mail as usual." Said Parakarry with a smile. "In fact, I got one letter for Mario." Added Parakarry as he hand the letter to Luigi. This took Luigi by surprise, and quickly he was nervous.
"Uhmm…you didn't get this from a creepy place or a Boo, right?" said Luigi with a nervous tone. Parakarry shook his head and instead laughed a little bit.
"Nope! It's from Princess Peach!" said Parakarry with a smile. At the mention of the princess name, Luigi sighed in relief and saw the letter that had the Peach's tiara symbol on it.
"Whew! Thanks, Parakarry." Said Luigi with a little smile.
"No problem! Now if you excuse me, I must go deliver more mail! Say hi to Mario, for me." Said Parakarry as he jumped towards the air and fly. He took off not before waving goodbye to Luigi. After taking off, Luigi returned to his house.
"Hey! Bro!" shouted Luigi loud enough so his brother could hear him. His brother, Mario, who was in his usual red shirt, blue overalls alongside his traditional red cap with the letter M on it.
"Coming!" said Mario as he got up from his desk and went to the living room.
"Check this out! You got a letter from Princess Peach!" said Luigi while showing the letter to his brother in red. Mario smiled and quickly grabbed the letter from Luigi and opens it to see what it read. However, when he opens the letter, a map fell down from it. Luigi picked up and saw that this map contained various locations all connected to a certain town in the middle of the sea. Luigi didn't recognize at all these places, but saw that his brother was beginning to read the letter.
"Hey, bro! Don't leave me hanging, what does the letter say?" said Luigi with curiosity. This made Mario stop at his tracks and look at his green brother.
"Oops! Sorry, bro. I got caught in reading this." Said Mario with a smile. He cleared his throat and began, "Ahem! Let's see…" said Mario as he began to read.
"Hello there, Mario! I hope you are doing well! Being here with Toadsworth is a little bit annoying, but I'm used to it. Anyways, I am now on holiday, traveling around in the Mushroom Kingdom. In my travels, I came into possession of a mystical map…a treasure map, actually. It was inside a box I got from a good merchant here in a town called, Rogueport. I didn't want to have all the fun, so I was wondering if you could help me hunt for it! Since Toadsworth thought that having that map here in town was too dangerous, I decided to include it on this letter, so please bring it with you when you come here. I'll meet you here on the Decks of Rogueport (so in a way, you MUST come). You can bring Luigi as well! I know that both of you are great for treasure hunting. Love Peach." Said Mario as he read the letter, almost feeling like Princess Peach was talking with him. He bashfully blushed, almost rare for him to do it.
"A treasure Map, huh? Could this be the map?" said Luigi as he gives the map to his brother. "Seems weathered and useless, just by the looks of it." Added Luigi. Mario took a look at the map, and saw many kinds of locations, but no trace of any X or treasure on it.
"Well…I don't have anything to do right now. With Bowser taking a break, then I should do it as well, but still having a little bit of fun with some adventure is a classic." Said Mario with a determined smile as he put the map on a nearby table.
"So…you are going then?" asked Luigi.
"Yeah! Let's-a go, Luigi! Peach could use someone handy like you as well." Said Mario with a smile. Luigi blushed at the compliment, but nervously shook his head as he rubbed his left arm.
"Nahh, I don't think treasure hunting would be the best for me. Besides….someone needs to watch the Kingdom and the house in case something happens." Said Luigi with a little smile. Mario sometimes, would go on his way to save Peach by himself, but once in a while he would love for his brother to go with him. Luigi was brave, but there was time when he would prefer to just stay at the house and read peacefully, and he admired his brother for that.
"If you say so, Weegie…" said Mario as he took Luigi's cap and ruffled his hair.
"Besides… you really need some time alone with your damsel." Teased Luigi with a smile. This made Mario blush more than his red cap.
"C-C-Come on, bro! You know, Peach and I have nothing going on." Said Mario with a blush and nervous tone.
"Yeah…whatever you say, bro." said Luigi still with a teasing tone, but this time he added a smile.
"Hmph! I'll get everything ready." Said Mario as he went towards his room.
"Wait! You are leaving now?" asked Luigi.
"Yeah! Peach is probably waiting, and knowing Toadsworth, he probably wants Peach to stay safe. Besides…she can't do too much of treasure hunting without the map." Said Mario as he entered his room.
With Mario on the room, he opens the closet to reveal many different clothes from his trademark plumber-style, party outfits, his Sarasaland outfit, and finally to a set of pajamas. He got a backpack from it, and began to pack everything he needed for this new adventure he was about to go into. However, when it comes to treasure hunting, nothing can go that easily so he packed some items like a Mushroom, Fire Flower, Super Mushroom, and a bottle of water. With all his clothes packed up, and items, he was ready to go. He checked everything before leaving the room, and saw his old hammer lying on the side of his closet. For Mario, that hammer was with him on his adventure of saving the Star Spirits years ago, and after saving the Mushroom Kingdom and defeating the invincible Bowser, he hasn't used it since that time. Because of that, the hammer got downgraded to its normal state, but it could still be useful for this treasure-hunt; now that he remembered the old times, he grabbed the hammer and equipped it.
"All right! Here we go." Said Mario as he leaved his room and went towards the living room, but before he could go, he was stopped by Luigi.
"Wait, bro…before you go, I want to give you something." Said Luigi with a smile. Mario turned around to face him.
"What is it, Luigi?" asked Mario with his hand on the door knob.
"I just wanted to give you this." Said Luigi as he handed a strange device to Mario. The device was colored white, and looked all square, but Luigi open it revealing one small screen on top with some buttons on the button.
"Huh? What is this?" asked Mario as he watched the device.
"It's Professor Gadd's new invention. He gave it to me as thanks for clearing the mansion from all the Boos and returning them where they belong." Explained Luigi.
"Oh! Nice." Said Mario with a surprised face. "But what its name and useful for?" added Mario.
"It's called Mailbox SP. It can send messages and receive messages just by having another user's contact. It's similar to the Mailbox Advance, but more resistant and durable." Said Luigi.
"That's awesome! But…why are you giving it to me?" said Mario.
"I want you to have it. I try to decline to the professor at first, but he insisted. I haven't used since then because I still keep my old Mailbox Color, so I figured to give it to you." Said Luigi.
"Bro…are you sure?" added Mario while closing the Mailbox SP.
"Of course! That way you can contact me and vice-versa and be in touch with each other, while you are gone. And just like the professor, I won't take a No for an answer." Said Luigi with a determined tone. Mario took one last glance at the invention and sighed. He put it away on his overall pockets and gave Luigi thumbs up.
"Don't worry bro! I will be back before you know it." Said Mario. The Mario Bros gave each other a brofist as the Man in Red parted away by entering a Warp Pipe. Luigi sighed and looked at the sky, as he saw the many clouds going and going.
LOCATION: Southwest Side, Toad Town
HOUR: 9:02 AM
It was another nice and peaceful day around the town…every citizen has been doing their work by transporting any kind of exportation, items, or simply the captains doing their job at transporting many people of different places to the Mushroom Kingdom, or other Kingdom. Mario walked in and saw many ships go and stop before his eyes…the place hasn't been this active many years ago, but with a quick visit towards the Beanbean Kingdom and saving it from disaster, really makes something for other parts of the world. Mario entered a building to see the schedule for traveling and saw many designed time and day for each ship to arrive or sail off, but none for Rogueport. Mario looked everywhere and saw a little office called, Information T. Office, and decided to go in. When he entered the office, he saw a female Toad with blonde-hair, blue spots and glasses wearing a business suit, and typing in a computer.
"Umm, excuse me, Madame." Said Mario as he approached the lady.
"Good Morning Sir, I'm Loress T. and I'm here to-Oh my gosh! You're Mario, aren't you?!" said the lady while still looking at the computer screen, but briefly taking off her look for one minute to attend the man who was none other than Mario.
"Heh, heh…yup! Its-a me, Mario!" said Mario while giving a victory sign with his fingers. Loress couldn't help, but to squeal a little bit…in all of her game span, she didn't thought on meeting the great hero Mario.
"I-It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Mario! W-What brings you here!" said Loress trying to sound cool, but failing.
"I'm here to ask about Rogueport." Said Mario, and saw that the glad and joyful Loress changing her personality to a more sad and bitter.
"Oh…Rogueport? We…We don't have any schedule for Rogueport." Said Loress with a disappointing tone. This made Mario confused.
"R-Really? Not a single hour or something?" said Mario with a confused tone. Loress sighed.
"I mean…we DO have schedules for Rogueport, but…not for passengers. The only ships for that town are used as a way to transport items, repairmen, and sailors who have permission to go into the town. I'm sorry, ." said Loress with a sad face.
"Mrs. Loress, are you sure there is not a single boat that can take me there? Its really important!" said Mario.
"Sorry…even if there is something I could do, my boss would end my game if he knew. And by ending my game, it means that I could get fired, lose coins, and possibly end my game by not having enough food." Said Loress with a neutral face as she put a finger on her chin, imagining everything that she just said.
"I-It's just…the princess needs me. She went there a little while ago, alongside Toadsworth. She sent me a letter telling me that I should go as well." Said Mario while keeping a secret about the whole treasure-hunting. Loress closed her eyes and began to think…
"It really confuse me. Why her highness would go to such a place like that? Unless…" said Loress.
"What is it?" said Mario.
"Hmm…while there is no ship with a programmed schedule, nothing says in the book for dummies about letting a Captain travel toward the sea." Said Loress while adjusting her suit as she changed the topic. She began to type in something in the computer and Mario gained more hope just by hearing the last sentence. "All right…according to this, there is a captain here on this building with no programmed job. He is known for traveling towards the Rogueport, Delfino Isle, and LavaLava Island." Said Loress.
"That's great! Who is him?" said Mario with a huge smile.
"He is known as Captain Kyaput T. He is an old Toad with a grumpy attitude, and a white mustache. He is mostly seen on the bar of Chuckle Juice when he doesn't have any work. Maybe he is in there." Said Loress.
"Oh, this is perfect! Thank you so much! How can I repay you for this?!" said Mario with a smile.
"Well…having the pleasure to meet the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom is enough payment for me." Said Loress. Mario blushed a little bit, and thanked her once again before turning towards the exit. "Also maybe some recognition by the princess as well! That can raise my coins in my next payment." Added Loress with a wink, as Mario only gave her thumbs up as he began to search for the bar and thus, finding the captain.
Mario entered the cafeteria in hopes of finding some kind of clue for the captain, he asked a couple of Toads near the area, and pointed at one door that had the sign of Best Chuckle Juice in Toad Town, and assumed that could be the bar. Mario entered the little area and saw indeed that it was the bar, and saw that it was near empty if it wasn't for one single person who was sitting on a table. The one who was in there was a Toad whose face wasn't visible because of he was turned around on Mario's vision, but he could manage to see that the Toad had orange spots and was wearing a captain cap and uniform, and there was little white hair coming from the cap. Mario approached the man, and waved at him.
"Good morning, sir…I'm-"said Mario but was interrupted by a sudden shush from the man.
"Ssshhh…this place can be peaceful when there is no talking. Have a seat if you want, since you approached me." Said the Toad offering the little seat in front of him. Mario could see that the table he was on, had some a food plate already empty with a vine bottle. He didn't want to reject the man's offer since it matched perfectly for the description by Loress. "Good ol' Chuckle Juice with some Big Eggs…perfect combination, for an old captain like me." Said the captain with a little laugh.
"Ahem…sir, if you don't mind…are you Captain Kyaput?" asked Mario while sitting down.
"Why yes, chap! I'm the famous Captain Kyaput T." said the captain while striking a pose.
"That's good! I've been looking for you. My name is Mario, by the way." Said Mario while offering his hand. The captain smirked and received the handshake.
"Huh! So this is what the hero Mario looks like this close. I thought you'll be more muscular in person." Said Kyaput while laughing at his joke. Mario nervously laughed as well.
"Heh, yeah…anyways, I'm here to ask you a favor if it isn't too much." Said Mario. He saw how Kyaput stopped laughing and looked at him directly into his eyes. "Captain…can you get me to Rogueport?" said Mario staring at him as well. The Captian closed his eyes for a moments and time passed.
"No." responded Kyaput as he still remained with his eyes closed.
"What?! Why not?" said Mario a little bit surprised by the answer.
"Rogueport isn't a place for you. In fact, that filthy location isn't a place for anyone around here. That town isn't like the average dilly-daily stuff everyone does." Stated Kyaput.
"And…why is that?" said Mario still surprised by the answer.
"That town is full of criminals…any kind of it, actually. It's their hideout for either escaping of paying taxes or ending someone else game…it's not a great place at all and I wouldn't recommend it if you are going for a peaceful vacation. Not only that…but if the rumors are true then I don't think it will be worth it for just a stupid old mushroom." Said the captain as he sighed.
"But…but I have to go! Some bad guys aren't anything new to me." Said Mario with confidence.
"Look…I understand that you are the hero and all, but like I said. It's not a great place at all. In fact, many people that aren't criminals then they become part of the Pianta Mafia right there or there are some crazy people trying to find some kind of treasure." Explained the captain.
"That is the reason why I should go!" said Mario with determination.
"You want to become part of Don Pianta Mafia?! I thought you were a good guy!" said the captain all surprised.
"What?! No! Princess Peach is there, and she told me to go as well." Explained Mario, a little bit taken off by the state of the captain.
"The Princess is there?! What is wrong with the youth now days?! What is she even doing right there?!" asked the captain with fear.
"Uhhhh…*sigh*….look, Peach sent me a letter saying that she found a treasure map on Rogueport and wants all of us to hunt it. I got it right here." Said Mario as he took his suitcase and open it to grab the treasure map and show it to the captain.
"Hmm…" said Kyaput as he took a quick glance at the map. "Well I'll be darned…it really is a treasure map. That means that the rumors were true then. Rogueport hides a treasure in there…but why show all these places? I'm not familiar with those." Added Kyaput while inspecting the other locations in the map. This map…gave the Toad some strange vibes. Vibes that no other sailor could feel even when they were close to the ocean's wrath.
"You see why I have to go there?" said Mario. Kyaput closed his eyes once again, and began to think. While he avoided Rogueport all he could in his career, knowing that the Princess of the Kingdom is right there without any protection and having clues about a treasure in a criminal and mafia filled town is a red flagpole for every citizen…he shouldn't just leave it like that.
"Fine…I'll take you there. BUT! Only take you to there, after that I will be off." Said Kyaput while adjusting his cap and standing up. This made Mario smile upon hearing that.
"Really?! Thank you so much, captain!" said Mario as well standing up barely containing the excitement.
"Yeah, yeah…might hurry up and follow me. The boat should still be on its usual place." Said Kyaput while going towards the exit of the bar. Mario nodded and followed him as both of them exited from the cafeteria. As they got out, they finally reached the boat which was that big…it was suitable for three or four persons including the captain; it was all blue with the wheels being colored yellow and on the wood part of the boat there were some words on it that spelled S.S Captain of the Cheep Seas. Needless to say anything, the captain and Mario boarded the ship and settled everything for their little trip.
"Now listen here Mario…this trip will be long, so if you have to go to the bathroom or do anything else before parting then I suggest you to do it now." Said Kyaput.
"No thanks, captain. I'm fine and ready to go towards Rogueport." Said Mario with huge determination.
"All right then…away we go!" said Kyaput as he adjusted his cap and entered the Captain's cabin to get the boat ready.
And just like that…the ship began its trip towards Rogueport with Mario putting away his suitcase and grabbing a near chair to sit down. He slowly looked how Toad Town began to get away from him second by second. After Toad Town was no longer visible, Mario sighed and looked in front of him nothing but the waves and some Dolphins jumping from the water as well as the Cheep Cheeps. The sun was refreshing and the wind was so peaceful on days like these were nothing wrong could go and without Bowser wreaking havoc then Mario figured that everything would be fine. Many hours have passed and it seems that their trip wasn't going anywhere… not only that, but it seems that the day wasn't in Mario's favor as they encounter a huge storm throughout the hours, but luckily the storm didn't endure too much as only 30 minutes have passed. The Captain T. Kyaput decided to tell everything that he knew about Rogueport towards the plumber. A town that had no hope on being peaceful or rather comforting. It is said that this town's purpose was to guard something, but they didn't understand what kind of thing is being guarded. Many rumors, and tales that sounded ridiculous, but Mario could only know the truth as he hold the key to all of this. As Mario gazed on the waves, he yawned and his eyes were getting sleepy…he figured that this would be the best time to take a nap; after all, it was a rare opportunity to get some peaceful slumber on his adventure. He laid down and closed his eyes as the boat was still on its course to the famous Rogueport…
LOCATION: The Sea by the Decks, Rogueport
HOUR: 1:20 PM
"So here we are…the town filled with secrets and criminals…" said Kyaput as he was getting close to stop the boat on the decks of Rogueport. "Better get Mario." Added the Captain as he exited the cabin and found Mario asleep.
"*SNORE* Ahh, ravioli….*SNORE* Ahh, spaghetti….*SNORE* Ahhh, mamma-mia." Mumbled Mario deep in his sleep.
"Excuse me, Mario?" said Kyaput trying to wake Mario, but failing. "Please wake up!" try once again the captain, but still failing as Mario continue to mumble Italian food. "MARIO! WAKE UP!" shouted the captain with little patience and this time he manages to wake Mario.
"AAAHHHH! NO! IT WASN'T ME! The penguin lady accused me without-Oh." Said Mario a little bit scared at waking up, but finally coming back to reality. "What is it, Captain Kyaput?" said Mario while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"Rogueport has come into view! Look!" said the captain with eager as he pointed towards Rogueport. Mario stood up very fast and saw the awaited town he is been mention since the letter he got. It wasn't that big compared to Toad Town, but being the only town surrounded by water he understands why the small place and if everything that Captain Kyaput said was true then it will make more sense.
"So that is Rogueport, huh?" said Mario while looking at the town.
"Yes…the same ol' Rogueport. We'll arrive shortly. Please get ready to disembark." Said the captain as he return back to his cabin while Mario nodded and got ready with his suitcase.
Second by second…the boat was getting closer to Rogueport and he saw some of the closer citizens who were sailors, lifting some crates, selling Cheep Cheeps, or simply drinking. Finally, the boat has arrived to the closest deck and stopped completely. Some sailors looked at the boat and some of them recognized the ship by its name, while others simply shrug it off. Mario began to look around the area, but he couldn't find Princess Peach…there was no trace of her or even Toadsworth. Captain Kyaput got out from the cabin and sighed as he felt nervous being around all the eyes looking at him or his boat.
"Ahem! I must apologize…we were supposed to be here a couple hours ago. Rough weather, I guess…these waters really know how to behave according to its location." Said the Captain with a sad look.
"Uhhh, thank you captain. I know that you said that you were going to take me only on Rogueport and that's it, but…Peach isn't here." Said Mario. The captain was surprised and feared the worst at first, but he slowly calmed down and searches around to see any sign of the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Hmmm…I don't know, but it seems that she isn't here. Knowing this place, I suppose she must be somewhere else. Wouldn't blame her for that." Said the captain.
"*sigh* Yeah…must be that." Said Mario to himself. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Captain, I'm grateful for taking me here. You can go now, this is my stop." Said Mario while getting off the boat. Kyaput looked at him with surprise.
"What? Are you sure? I DID tell you about the sordid tales of this place, didn't I?" said the Captain.
"Yes, and I'm aware of it. If those tales are true then someone has to make sure the princess is-a safe, doesn't it?" said Mario with a smile. The captain made a salute as he adjusted his cap once again.
"I understand. You be careful here." Said Kyaput as he nodded and returned towards his cabin. In a matter of seconds, the boat sailed away while Mario simply waved at the boat until it was no longer visible. With his mind settled, Mario prepared to look for Princess Peach.
When he was alone the first thing he notice was the many eyes that were on him. Some of the glares from the sailors were piercing enough to put anyone on their nerves, and Mario was trying to keep his cool. Freaking out or showing any sweat while being a foreigner could display some kind of bad image at first, and being in a town that had rumors of being filled with criminals, mafia or any bad people then it wasn't the best move. Some of the sailors continued with their work after the ship sailed to the ocean once again, but other sailors still were giving Mario the glare. Mario tried to ignore, but in a way it failed yet he still remain focus on his goal…finding Princess Peach. While walking in front and earning some push from the citizens of the town, he still saw no sign of Peach; he tried to ask if anyone has seen her, but figure out that it wasn't the best move either. He saw some staircases that lead to another part of the town, and figured that the decks had no sign or clue about Princess Peach. At this rate he thought that finding Toadsworth would a better idea since he is always around her, and while he was heading to the stairs, there was a shouting.
"HEY! What do you want?! GET AWAY FROM ME!" shouted what it appeared to be a female voice. Mario and everyone saw where the shriek came from and saw a blonde ponytailed female pink Goomba wearing an explorer uniform and helmet being cornered by three unknown man who were using the same kind of uniform.
"Oh, come it off, you airhead! I know it's tough with you, but don't play dumb with me!" said Lord Crump. Mario got in closer to see what was going on, while everyone else simply just witnesses the whole situation. "I've seen you walking around this dump to ask information about the Crystal Stars! I'm now in charge of asking, so be a good girl and tell us what you know. Right. NOW." Commanded more fiercely Lord Crump. The three soldiers step in closer towards the girl and she retreated of course…scared of what might be a dangerous situation.
"NEVER! I don't have anything to say to you creeps. Eww!" said the girl with a fake disgusting face. Lord Crump and the soldiers got angrier by that, but the leader remained relaxed.
"Well then…I suppose it won't be demise if a little sassy girl like you remained with 1-up in her game." Said Lord Crump with a menacingly smile that send chills to the girl. "Buh! Buh! Huh, huh, huh! Boys, we are taking this firebrand to our fortress." Commanded Lord Crump.
"We're on it, Lord Crump." Said Xey with an X salute. Both white-wearing soldiers took another step closer which made the girl retract as well, and now sweating.
"S-Stop! Stop right there, you weirdos! I'll scream…really!" said the explorer wearing girl trying to sound threatening, but failing miserably. The soldiers smiled at her bluff and got in closer. The girl was now in a life-or-death situation…she didn't know these people or has anything to do with them, but she needed help…now! She turned around to see who was willingly to step in and call this situation or even call someone who could help, but everyone had their eyes off the situation trying to ignore it or simply act as nothing wrong is happening.
"(Dang it…why won't ANYONE help me! I'm being surrounded by A-class weirdos right here!)" Thought the girl with sweating coming off her. ("!") However, some of her hope regained when she saw a man in red having a worried look on his face and being close to the place she was at. She didn't know this man, but right now it wasn't the time to be nitpicky on who could save her…plus the hammer on his back could be useful for giving a Whack-a-bump to those guys. Without hesitating, the girl ran towards Mario and hid behind his back.
"Like I'd go anywhere with you lunatics! Hmph!" said the girl with a fierce tone. The soldiers looked at the man, and weren't surprised at all, but still a little bit annoyed by how this situation escalated into something that public was now involved.
"And WHAT do you think YOU'RE doing, chump?!" stated Lord Crump with a cold tone. Mario was slightly surprised by how this random girl ran towards her just to hide, but given her situation it was understandable.
"Wait, me?" said Mario with a confused tone.
"My eyes are on a brat, and a weakly chump, so yes YOU! You think you can screw up with my plans!?" stated Lord Crump while walking closer towards the duo.
"Wait! Wait! I don't want any trouble here! I don't know what's going on, but this is getting out of hand." Said Mario trying to resolve the situation without any ugly end, but none of them was listening.
"BAH! It's always something…looks like I'm going to give you a taste of the old CRUMP-A-BOMB!" shouted Lord Crump as he charged towards Mario and jumping with force trying to slam Mario. Mario, fortunately, grabbed the girl and jumped away from the attack of the purple commander.
"KYA!" shouted the pink Goomba while being grabbed all of sudden by Mario.
"Oof!" said Mario as he landed on the ground after jumping.
"Heh…not bad. But still not enough!" stated Lord Crump while getting up from the floor.
"T-Thank you. But right now, its battle time, Mister Man. Try to do anything to beat this freak of the week, ok?" said the girl with a slightly blush. Mario gently put the girl on the floor so she could stand, and he nodded while getting out his hammer.
"Mister…please retreat now. I don't want to hurt you." Said Mario with a fierce tone.
"HMPH! Don't get cocky, you pebble!" said Lord Crump while charging towards Mario finally engaging to combat.
Mario reacted fast, and jumped on him and bounced adding extra damage to the leader as he grabbed his head from the attack (Lord Crump HP:3/5), and try to grab Mario, but he simply dodged the sudden grab with a jump. The girl simply looked in amaze as how the man was handling this fight very easily. Lord Crump got angrier and try to slam once again the plumber, but Mario counterattack with a jump and connected his fist towards Lord Crump's face sending him to the ground once again (Lord Crump HP:2/5). Lord Crump tried to get up, but Mario saw a chance on putting an end to the battle as he took out his hammer and charged towards the commander who was still struggling to get up. When Mario got close enough he swing his hammer and connected to Lord Crump's body who earned a huge damage and finally knocking him away and putting an end to the battle. Mario took a deep breath and putted away his hammer as he saw that the fight was over. Some of the persons who watched the battle were surprised at how a man with his size like Mario could defeat another one twice his size. Some of them applauded to Mario while others simply ignore him.
"WOW! He is strong!"
"Dat was fancy dan de ol' trip I got with me crew."
"Tch…he is nothing special."
"Could put to shame those hooligans."
"Snail should see this guy!"
"Don Pianta is gonna recruit this fella."
"Sweet! That's what I'm talking about! Wow…I gotta say you're tougher than you look, mister." Said the girl as she ran towards Mario and hugged his arm with full excitement.
"Lord Crump!" shouted both soldiers as they surrounded him and help him get up. Lord Crump cringed in pain, and saw the dirt on his clothes as he knew that the plumber best him in battle. However, he simply got up and started to laugh.
"Buh! Buh! Buh, huh, huh, huh! I have to say…you got quite a decent strength, I'll give you that. Guess that I shouldn't have underestimated you." Said Lord Crump with a creepy smile. Both Mario and the girl looked dead in the eye at Lord Crump.
"Look man…the fight is over. Leave this girl alone, and don't try to attack anyone else!" ordered Mario with a serious tone. Lord Crump only laughed at the little sentence he heard.
"Buh, huh! Unfortunately for you…this means that I have no choice. ITS GO TIME!" shouted Lord Crump. With that, some of the citizens who were in the scene suddenly took their clothes off to reveal the same X pattern uniform that the soldiers were wearing and got the same kind of lens. Around thirty-five undercover soldiers surrounded Mario and the girl. Even with max strength, without help from the Star Spirits there was no way in Underwhere that Mario is going to win this battle.
"PUNISH HIM!" commanded Lord Crump, as all the undercover soldiers jumped in the air trying to pin down Mario.
"Grrr…No choice then." Said Mario as he prepared a fireball in his right hand. The girl was surprised by how this man just summoned a fireball without the help of a Fire Flower. "Stay close." Said Mario as he grabbed the girl by his left hand. Without any warnings, Mario throws the fireball to the ground which provoked a huge smoke that covered everything in that place. Mario coughed a little bit, but with the girl still gripping his left hand, he slowly crawls alongside her towards a chance to escape.
"Phew! What a bunch of loons." Said the girl as she and Mario were out of the smoke. With the soldiers still making a disrupt on that place, the smoke just keep getting bigger.
"Tell me about it…" said Mario with a little smile.
"Let's just sneak out of here." Said the girl while she pointed the entrance of the main plaza. Mario nodded and both of them made their way towards the main plaza. Lord Crump was still coughing from the smoke, and got annoyed by it. With a simply wave of his hands, he cleared the smoke.
"STOP!" shouted Lord Crump as the smoke finally cleared out and the soldiers stopped their rampage.
"Grrr! You darn little…where did they go?! YOU! Johnson! Have you seen them?!" shouted Lord Crump. The soldier simply shrugged and nervously shook his head. Lord Crump began to stare at every soldier and none of them had a clue of where the duo went off.
"CRUD! THEY BOLTED!" spat Lord Crump. He was livid about this, but slowly cooled off and began to look at his surroundings to see the remaining citizens who stood there watching everything. Not wanting to cause more public reactions, he simply took out a walkie-talkie.
"Beldam…this is Crump here. This place is a complete failure! Bring your sisters over here so we could get back to the base! Our identities might get compromised." Said Lord Crump with a fierce tone on the walkie-talkie.
LOCATION: Main Plaza, Rogueport
HOUR: 1:34 PM
Mario and the girl finally reached the main plaza of Rogueport and catch their breath.
"Phew! Glad we are safe." Said Mario still trying to catch his breath.
"Wow! Mister! You really are strong! You…totally saved back there." Said the girl with a blush.
"Heh…it was a pleasure." Said Mario with a victory sign. The next thing that Mario knew was that he was suddenly kissed by the cheek from this girl. Mario was frozen by that while the girl simply giggled.
"Tee hee…you really put a heroic act." Said the girl with a smile.
"O-Oh…you know…I'm quite the hero." Said Mario with a blush and a little smile. It was all déjà vu for him…for some reason.
"My name is Goombella." Said the girl while introducing herself towards Mario with a little wink. "I'm a student at the University of Goom and have 22 years old; currently being in the last year of my college and doing my social service right now. Nice to meet ya!" added Goombella with a smile.
"Oh! Well it's nice to meet you, Goombella. My name is Mario." Introduced Mario himself.
"Mario?! Wait…like the famous guy of Mushroom Kingdom? Wow! I can't believe I just meet you! Kinda make sense since you saved me and all." Said Goombella with excitement.
"Heh…yeah. I got that from all the places I go." Said Mario with a laugh.
"Cool. But…uhh…no offense, but it seems that you just rolled in this town. Right?" said Goombella.
"Yup! I'm the new guy if that's what you're talking about." Said Mario.
"Yeah, man…I already HATE it here! Just being here two days and I just met with every FREAK and WEIRDO IN HERE! Which is the same since EVERYONE in this town is that KIND of people!" said Goombella with frustration. "I mean…this place is called Rogueport for some reason, but I thought it was just for publicity or tourist attraction!" added Goombella.
"Heh…no kidding." Said Mario as he somehow saw some people close to them hearing that and glaring daggers at both of them. The last thing he needed is another fight.
"Yeah…if it wasn't for my grade and the legendary treasure, this place surely would be a desert." Said Goombella while rolling her eyes. At the mention of the treasure, Mario ignored the entire world and saw Goombella with surprise.
"A treasure!? That is the reason why I'm here as well!" said Mario.
"What? You're looking for the legendary treasure too? Seriously?" asked Goombella with disbelief, but she saw a little piece of weathered paper coming from one of the pockets of Mario's backpack. "Woah, woah, woah, woah! What you got there?!" asked Goombella with surprise. Mario was confused at first, but saw what Goombella was talking about.
"Huh? This?" said Mario as he got the legendary treasure map. Goombella took a good look and was fully astonished.
"OH MY GRAMBI! THAT IS THE LEGENDARY TREASURE MAP!" shouted Goombella as she suddenly grabbed the map from Mario to get a better look. "You HAVE to tell me where you got this!" said Goombella barely containing her excitement.
"Princess Peach sent me this map." Said Mario. As he said that, he remembered why he was here in the first place. He has to find Peach! The decks weren't an option, but now he is in the Main Plaza of Rogueport so he should be looking right now when suddenly.
"Great! Hoogly-boogly! If it isn't, Master Mario!" said an old voice. Mario and Goombella looked at the direction the voice was coming from and saw an old Toad with brown spots and wearing little glasses and a royal brown suit holding a walking stick with a brown mushroom on its peak.
"Toadsworth?" said Mario. Indeed it was none other than the chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom and guardian of Princess Peach. However, Mario was surprised to see Toadsworth all alone.
"Hmm, bit of a coincidence bumping into one another in this place. So tell me Master Mario…what brings you here to this wretched little brug?" said Toadsworth.
"I'm looking for Princess Peach. She sent me a letter with a map telling me to bring it here." Said Mario as he showed his suitcase.
"Hmm, ahh! Indeed! Princess Peach sent you a letter with the map!" said Toadsworth remembering that night in their little room as she was writing the letter while Toadsworth simply recommending love phrases.
"Yes! Where is she?" asked Mario with a smile.
"Huh?" was the only thing Toadsworth could say. Mario could feel a little bump on his throat when he heard that. "You're asking where Princess Peach is?" said Toadsworth with a confused tone and widen eyes.
"Yes…where is she?" asked Mario once again but this time feeling a little bit insecure.
"Erhmm…I was…just about to ask you that, Mister Mario." Said Toadsworth a heartbreaking tone mixed with confusion.
"WHAT?!" said Mario a little bit loud.
"Yes…I don't know where she is, Master Mario. In fact…I haven't seen her since last night!" said Toadsworth with a sad tone. Mario was feeling dizzy at this point…he didn't thought that Peach would just…go poof after sending a letter! If it was a prank, it wasn't a good one either.
At that moment, when Mario saw the fear on Toadsworth's eyes…he could tell that he was being serious and it all makes sense. Toadsworth no way in Underwhere would let Peach wander on her own on a night…especially on this town. Mario also was aware that Bowser hasn't been active these months and if it was a plan of Bowser, then Toadsworth would contact him no matter the hour or day. So where was she? Where was Princess Peach?! Mario at that moment knew…that the rumors of Rogueport being a filthy town…was coming into a reality to him rather than just plain exaggeration.
"WHAT IN THE UNDERWHERE ARE YOU SAYING TOADSWORTH?!" shouted Mario all worried and frustrated upon hearing a not-so-good response from Toadsworth.
"Master Mario! Please calm down! You're causing a ruckus over here!" said Toadsworth rather calmed trying to settle the exasperated plumber in red. Indeed Mario was causing a scene as some of the people around them were just staring at the trio with the only exception being four different people. Two different gangs; one that had two Pianta men in business suits while the other two simply ported the clothes from the town wielding Spears and appeared to be some kind of bird species. They decide to take this chance to attack each other with the aftermath coming very quickly with the two business wearing man coming triumphant. Goombella was rather uneasy with all those eyes fixed on them.
"Umm…Mario? He is right." Added Goombella in an uneasy tone. Mario composed himself and saw the people so he could only breath in and exhale relaxing himself.
"I'm sorry Toadsworth. I don't what get over me." Apologized Mario.
"No needs for apologize Master Mario. I understand where those emotions came from. Honestly I felt like that too upon seeing that the princess hasn't return for about four hours and you know my heart can't take those kinds of feelings." Said Toadsworth while holding his chest.
"She has been gone for that long?" said Mario with a worrying tone.
"You know how headstrong she is. One moment I take my eye off her and she is gone! In fact, we shouldn't be here for this long…my original plans were to stop here for some fuel, but you know how she is." Said Toadsworth. Mario didn't like the sound of that…what if that letter was just bait for him? What if Bowser is behind…then it finally came to him! BOWSER!
"Toadsworth! What about Bowser?! Did you see any sign of Goomba or Koopa around here?!" said Mario once again getting all tense.
"Whoa! I'm right here." Said Goombella a little annoyed.
"Sorry, heh." Said Mario with a blush.
"That was my first assumption, but we haven't heard any activity of that pest since months and no signs of Goomba or Koopa…well besides her." Said Toadsworth while pointing at the blonde girl who was only hearing the conversation.
"Hey!" Said Goombella as she put her hands on her hips.
"Don't worry…she isn't acquaintance with the Bowser's Goomba troop." Defended Mario.
"Oh! Well I'm glad to hear that. But that would be the good and bad news at the same time." Said Toadsworth with a small smile.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" asked Goombella.
"The good news is that Bowser isn't involved so that means we won't have to deal with him…but that also means that we don't have any hints on where Princess Peach so we are in zero here." Said Toadsworth with a sad face. "In fact…I fear that we have the possibility that she may never return." Added Toadsworth with a tone that could put anyone into a misery state.
"Please don't say that Toadsworth. I'll find her." Said Mario with confidence.
"Thanks…I'm feeling better with you here, Master Mario. We know we'll find her. I know we can!" said Toadsworth with a few hint of determination. Mario could only nod with a smile. "…But, I know my place Master Mario. I'm not up for this task." Added Toadsworth with his head facing the ground. What good could he do? He is an old man who is only capable to watch over the kingdom and the princess and he already failed on doing the latter.
"Don't worry…I'll do everything in my power to find her. Anything, or any obstacle I'll overcome to save her." Said Mario with determinated tone.
"You have my gratitude as always Master Mario. The Princess and I were settled in that inn. If you want to come and relax whenever you feel low on health then I highly recommend it." Said Toadsworth while pointing at a nearby building who had an Inn sign on it.
"Will do Toadsworth." Said Mario with thumbs up.
"I bids farewell to you Master Mario. Be careful out there…this town can be…rough." Said Toadsworth while waving goodbye to the sole protector of the kingdom as he went towards the inn.
"Peach…where are you?" said Mario while looking at the sky filled with mixed emotions. Happy that she isn't in hands of Bowser, Sad that she is some sort of danger that not even he can think of, Angry that SOMEONE dared to give any harm to her, and finally confused…confused on what to do. Where does he will even start? He knows the Mushroom Kingdom by the back of his hand, but he never visited this place before…or even heard about it. He is lost.
"Uhh….Mario?" said Goombella while touching Mario's shoulders.
"Huh?" said Mario finally coming to himself. The sudden turn of his head made Goombella yelp in surprise and took of her hands off his shoulders with a little blush.
"Umm…uhhh, Princess Peach? Did he mean, like, Peach the Mushroom Kingdom Princess?!" said Goombella at first shy, but then confused.
"Yes. The same and only one." Said Mario with a nod.
"This….This IS CRAZY! Princess…PEACH sent you this map?!" asked a flabbergasted Goombella while holding the map as in making more valid her point.
"I guess…she sent me a letter that contained the map." Said Mario as he carefully took back the map from Goombella. "Wherever she got this map could be connected on her disappearance." Said Mario with a troubled expression.
"Whoa…this is intense." Said Goombella while looking everywhere. Looking for an answer maybe?
"Tell me about it." Added Mario.
"Well, where could she have gone then?" asked Goombella.
"I have NO clue. I barely know this place, and even if I want to search for her, I would just get lost in a moment." Replied Mario.
"Hmmm…do you think that maybe she got sick of waiting and decided to go look for the treasure on her own?" suggested Goombella.
"No. I don't think so. Toadsworth say that originally they decided to stop here to get fuel and that's it. So I think that Peach wouldn't know this place either." Answered Mario while putting his finger on his chin thinking. "Even if that would be the case, why would she do that without the treasure map?" said Mario.
"That's true." Said Goombella.
"*sigh* I don't know what to do. This is hopeless…" said Mario with a frustrated tone.
"Oooh! Ooooh! Oooh! I got an idea!" said Goombella a little bit too happy considering the situation.
"Huh? What is it then?" asked a curious Mario.
"How about we go my professor's place?" offered Goombella with a smile.
"Huh? Your professor's place?" said now a confused Mario.
"Yeah! He came here years before I even got here! Some even say that he live here ages before our University was founded….though that is a rumor." Explained Goombella.
"And how is that going to help us?" said Mario with a confused tone.
"Well, if he lives here then he is probably the only person that knows this place from up to down. He could help us get around this town before we get thrashed down by another creep." Said Goombella, and with that Mario regained his usual chirpy tone.
"That's…brilliant! It might work!" said Mario with a smile, all hope that he lost was now recovered.
"Yeah! The best thing about it is that he came here in hopes to discover something about the legendary treasure and more about this town." Said Goombella happy too that she managed to get Mario happy once again.
"Good…that's good. No. That is-a Awesome!" said Mario fully happy and hopeful that he might get to see Princess Peach once again.
"Great! We are all good then! Let's go, Mario!" said Goombella as she joined in the adventure with Mario.
"YEAH!" shouted Mario in happiness as he began to take the first step into his new journey….
Then two steps…
….
Then he stops.
"Wait…" said Mario coming to a stop as Goombella hasn't move from her spot yet. "Where does he live anyway?" asked Mario which made Goombella fall to the ground in a comedic effect.
"Oh! Right…heh, heh, heh…funny story actually." Said Goombella while scratching her neck with a blush either out of embarrassment or plain blush. Mario's left eyebrow lift from a moment in confusion. "The thing is… being here for two days wasn't enough to find my professor since I wasted on you know…trying to know this place and ask a few persons about the map or treasure so that way I could impress him." Said Goombella while fidgeting with her fingers.
"Oh…" said Mario as his face filled with hope was crushed with just one sentence.
"B-B-But it's not all that bad! If we search around this town maybe we could find someone who knows him. After all, living here for so long would make you recognizable…or at least I think so." Said Goombella trying to ease the situation.
"You really think so?" said Mario still unsure about that.
"Yeah, trust me on this one. Besides...after we found him then maybe we could connect the treasure map with Peach and find her! How hard is to find an old Goomba anyway?" said Goombella with a smile.
"Well…you're right on that one. Okay then…Let's-a go!" said Mario returning to his usual self with a victory sign.
Without dilly-daling anymore, Mario got a hold of his suitcase and he alongside Goombella started their search for the professor. Needless to say it was rather useless since most of the people either ignored or got away from Mario. Goombella didn't help the situation as each time they decided to talk to any of the citizens of the town it would be the same answer:
"Whoa fella…didn't your parents taught you about strangers?"
"Beat it, bob!"
"I don't know squat!"
"Get the Underwhere out of here!"
"Out of my sight."
"Sorry, can't talk."
Mario at this point was getting more and more frustrated by each response. However, Goombella remained uncharacteristically calmed during all those attempts on getting information which was kind of strange since knowing little bit of her, Mario could tell that by the first two responses she would get angry or tense just like that. Mario DID notice however, that during all those questions Goombella had a book with her which would make some notes every time they talked to someone.
"Hey…uhmm, Goombella?" began Mario.
"Hmm? What is it?" said Goombella still focused on her book.
"I don't mean to interfere on your business, but what is that notebook you are holding for?" said Mario with curiosity.
"Oh! This little thing?" said Goombella closing her book and holding closer to Mario. Mario could only nod as a response. "Well not too brag about it, but this is my tattlebook!" responded Goombella with a smile.
"Tattlebook? As in a book that contains the secrets of everyone?" said Mario still confused.
"What?! No silly…that is a diary." Giggled Goombella upon the misunderstanding of Mario. "This book I use it for my research. Everything I saw, talk, or heard about it…I write it here." Replied Goombella.
"Everything?" said Mario now once again with curiosity.
"You bet! Want to see?" said Goombella offering her book to Mario. Mario smiled and nod as he received the notebook from her blonde friend. Mario could only react surprised as he saw notes and information of every people they talk to. He clearly was surprised, confused and a little bit of worried on how she manage to get that many information with just a few words from those people.
"Mamma-Mia…that is-a lot of information." Said Mario clearly surprised.
"Heh…yeah. I guess it's kind of a habit of mine. But hey! At least we won't get lost on who to talk next time, am I right?" said Goombella with an awkward smile.
"Hah, hah…yeah. Anyways, I think the main plaza doesn't have anything useful for us." Said Mario as he gave back the book to Goombella.
"Or doesn't want to give us anything on purpose!" retorted Goombella.
"I don't think that would be the case." Added Mario with a small smile.
"It is! I mean…my professor has been living here for Grambi knows how many long and this creeps can't even tell us at least something useful?! UGHH!" shouted Goombella while waving her hands in frustration.
"Calm down…I'm sure that if we go somewhere else than here then we could find him." Said Mario trying to ease her up.
"Where else we could go? The dock?! No way Johnson! What if those freaks are still there." Said Goombella still not relaxed.
"No, no, no…don't worry, we aren't going there. I was thinking that maybe…there?" said Mario while pointing towards the east side of Rogueport. Goombella looked at the direction and her face fall in horror.
"Uhhhh…I don't think that's a good idea." Said Goombella losing all her attitude with plain worry.
"Why is that?" asked Mario.
"That is considered the worst side of this town, and trusts me on that one. They said that a terrible gang hides in there and their own gangsters don't have any mercy as they warn anyone who dare to step in without paying…will have their games be over." Said Goombella clearly shaking in fear.
"We don't have many options, Goombella." Said Mario as he walked towards the entrance to the east side. Goombella at first didn't follow him, but she reluctantly made her first step. As soon as Mario entered the east part of the town, he was greeted by a bandit crashing into him. Both of them were knocked down on the floor with many of Mario's bag and hammer falling apart. The bandit smiled and took this chance to grab Mario's items and escaping from the scene.
"Sorry bud! Sorry for you being a suckerrrrr! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!" said the bandit with a cocky tone as he disappeared in the corners of the town. Goombella however managed to watch him run fast and almost crashing with her as well.
"Hey! What's were you are going, pal! YEAH! I'M TALKING TO YOU!" shouted Goombella. She scoffed before seeing Mario still on the floor holding his head trying to get around on what just happen. "Mario!" said Goombella as she went towards him and helps him get up.
"Urrghh…Mama-mia…" grumbled Mario while getting the dirt off of him.
"You okay, Mario?" asked a concerned Goombella.
"Yeah. Just…a little bit confused at the moment, but nothing….HUH?" said Mario as he noticed that his bag disappeared as well as his hammer. "WHERE IS IT?!" said Mario checking every corner of his pockets and floor.
"Where is what?" said Goombella.
"My hammer and bag of items! I was just holding them not too long ago!" said Mario still checking his pockets and his back to see where was the backpack.
"You gotta wake up Mario. I think that guy just stole your hammer and stuff….probably some coins too." Said Goombella.
"What?!" said Mario trying to see his wallet and noticing that half of his money was gone. "Ah dang it." Said Mario.
"UGH! I really HATE this town! Just started our journey and we already gut mugged." Scoffed Goombella as she crossed her arms. This town really was testing her patience and she was already hot level as she was already.
"Goombella…by any chance you saw who did it? The only thing I remember was a tall guy with some blue sweater or something like that." Said Mario putting his wallet back where it belonged before something ELSE happen to it.
"As a matter of fact, yes I did. I saw him ran towards a creepy corner right in the main plaza of this dump." Said Goombella pointing the direction the bandit went.
"That's great! We should head there then." Said Mario with determination.
"What about finding Proffesor Frankly?" asked Goombella.
"I'm pretty sure he won't go anywhere. Maybe we could even crash into him by finding that thief." Said Mario with a smile as he went towards the main plaza.
"I don't think its going to be that easy." Said Goombella with a sarcastic tone.
"Oh come on…what happened to that enthusiasm of yours before?" teased Mario.
"Hey! Even a cute girl like me shouldn't be involved witht hose kinds of situations you know." Said Goombella with a little blush.
"Whatever you say cutie. Let's-a go!" said Mario with a smile.
"Hmph! Whatever." Said Goombella now with a big blush as she heard Mario calling her cutie.
Both Mario and Goombella (reluctantly) went towards the direction the thief ran off to and much to their surprise that place was filled with even more garbage compared to the other places of the town. Goombella couldn't help but to yelp more than ten times after seeing a lot of cockroaches. Mario was forced to carry her through that place in order to avoid…dirt on her shoes. After checking that corner they finally found a house with a ruined red door. Mario knocked down the door since his hands were occupied at the moment and much to his content he saw the same man who crash into him counting the money, while relaxing in a chair.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEKKK!" screeched Goombella as she jumped off Mario's arms and ran outside the hideout of the thief. Mario wasn't surprised at her reaction since the hideout was an even more of a dump compared to the trash and most of the garbage lying around on the town. Filled with a lot of cockroaches and even a crime scene, Mario couldn't help, but to feel a little bit of disgust and pity towards the men.
"EEEEEEEOOOooooops….heh, heh, heh…" said the thief as he put the most awkward smile on his face. He didn't even know how they found his hideout, but then again, hiding in the only place where it was a door on a dark corner isn't exactly the brightest idea he had.
"Hello…I-a believe that you have something that-a belongs to me." Said Mario while getting close to the table. The bandit wasn't exactly a fighter, but it was kind of his lucky day to get his hands on the hammer of the man in red, not a great weapon but there was no way he would let his treasure get away.
"You are pretty dang persistent buddy! But I won't let you get ahold of this prize!" said the thug while grabbing the hammer. Mario stops at that moment, but after a few seconds he still went forwards. "STOP! Or else I'll whack ya like a mole!" threaten the bandit.
"Go ahead. Lift that hammer." Said Mario now with a bored tone.
"Your funeral! Say hello to Queen Jaydes for me!" shouted the bandit while trying to lift the hammer. "Hmm?" said the bandit as he struggled on lifting the hammer. He tried once again with more force, but to no avail. He was a nervous-wreck as he tried so hard on lifting the hammer, but not even one inch he could move it. "WHAT THE?!" shouted the bandit.
"That hammer may look old, but it took me like one whole week before able to lift it without any problem." Said Mario with a smirk. The bandit now was really cornered…in his own territory! If he wasn't being humiliated enough then the next he saw was how this man in red was able to lift the hammer.
"(Darn it all…)" thought the bandit with frustration in his eyes as he mentally prepared himself for the whacking session he'll probably get. The best thing he could do was just to shut his eyes and wait for the worst. Mario grabbed back his stuff and saw half of his coins lying around the table. In one moment he thought it would be better to take it back, but he saw the hideout once again and then the thief. He simply sighed and adjusted back his backpack making sure the items were still there.
"Hmm. Welp, I guess that's everything. Next time think very before stealing from a stranger." Said Mario as he put back his hammer on his back and took ahold of his bag full of items. The bandit was confused after hearing the plumber open and closes the door without doing anything to him. He open his eyes and saw that the hammer and the bag were gone.
"Figures." Said a disappointed bandit, but it was for the best. However he saw that the coins were still there. "Hmph. What a troublesome and weird fella." Said the bandit with a simply little smile as he check the coins and notice that not a single coin was gotten back by the man.
Meanwhile on the Main Plaza…
"EW! EW! EW! EWWWWWWW! THAT IS THE LAST TIME I GO AN ABANDONED HOUSE!" shouted Goombella as she was pouring disinfectant on her hands, arms, and all her body. Mario returned and saw a paranoic Goombella flapping her arms wildly on her body.
"Hey-a Goombella?" saluted Mario.
"EEEK!" yelped Goombella before getting into a defensive position. "You twit! Don't do that!" said an annoyed Goombella.
"My bad, heh, heh. I'm back and got back my things." Said Mario while showing his hammer and bag.
"Oh! Well that's good, because there is NO way I'll return to that icky site!" said Goombella while pointing at the corner.
"Don't-a worry. We can resume our search and return to the east side." Said Mario while pointing to the east side of the town. Goombella more skeptically than ever wasn't feeling so good on returning to a place filled with thieves, or criminals of the worst kind…..then again most of the town is already filled with that if not even worse with a supposedly mafia roaming through the west side of the town.
"Ugh! Fine…Professor Frankly better be right there, or else I'll have a struck." Said Goombella with an annoyed tone.
"Then lets-a go!" shouted Mario. Both Mario and Goombella resumed their search and entered once again the east side of the town.
Needless to say, the east part wasn't exactly that big compared to the main plaza, but it was filled by a lot of graffiti, crates, and many people who looked for trouble. Goombella was nervous upon seeing some of the glances felling into them, but Mario stood strong and was searching everywhere for any kind of hints towards Professor Frankly.
"Goombella?" said Mario.
"Hmm?"
"Do you see Professor Frankly anywhere near this place?" asked Mario.
"Oh! Uhmmm….Hmmm…" said Goombella as she searched through every part of the town, and no signs of him. "Nope. I'm sorry Mario, but he isn't here." Said Goombella. Mario was a little bit disappointed, and could only sigh.
"Do you even know how he looks?" asked Mario.
"Actually…." Said Goombella before stopping. She felt a little bit dumb on not telling Mario how the professor even looked like. "…Yes! Yes I do. He is a little bit old, so it won't be that hard to find. My teachers said that Professor Frankly has white hair on his sides and a bald spot on the center of his head. He uses some kind of weird-circle glasses, and is always wearing a lab coat. I don't know how he puts that lab coat considering that both of us are goombas." Said Goombella
"Great…that's great. That description is more than enough for me." Said Mario. He started once again on searching, yet he still couldn't identify anyone that old…or even having white hair. It was more difficult than he thought. How could he even be sure that such person would be residing in a place like this? Probably he could've passed away not too long, or have some kind of struck and having to get translated to a hospital either here (if even Rogueport has some kind of clinical center) or in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Maybe we could check that library over there." Said Goombella.
"Huh?" said Mario getting out of his little trance before seeing Goombella pointing at a huge building with a book icon on the door. Mario was astonished on seeing such a huge building. Was that thing even there?! Probably he didn't have enough time noticing before when that thief bumped into him.
"You think he might be there?" asked Mario.
"I think so. I mean…he is an investigator and this is a library. It seems pretty convenient to me. Besides…we need to advance further with the plot so that way the Prologue could get finish on this chapter." Said Goombella.
"What was that last part?" said Mario a little bit confused on the last sentence.
"Nothing! Nothing at all! No fourth wall breaks right here, heh, heh, heh…" said Goombella with a blush and nervous laugh while scratching the back of her neck. Mario still couldn't help, but to be a little bit confused on the last part. "Still…I think we might get luck." Added Goombella.
"Okie-Dokie…then lets-a move." Said Mario as he went towards the door. The first thing they both notice is that there was a sign saying Don't enter if you are a hooligan or hear an explosion
"Explosion?" said a confused Goombella, and just like that they heard a huge explosion coming from inside the library. Both of them jumped at the tremendous sound.
"Arrgh! These darn chemical reactions!" said a voice coming from inside the library. Mario couldn't help, but to enter anyway and was greeted by a cloud of smoke everywhere in that place.
"Sir? Anyone? Anybody there is all right?" asked a concerned Mario.
"HUH?! WHUZZAT!? DIDN'T YOU KIDS SAW THAT SIGN!? OR ARE YOU LOT SOME KIND OF GUYS COMING TO STEAL FROM AN OLD GOOMBA?" shouted an old voice from inside the library. If it wasn't from the smoke, Mario could see who was talking, but all he saw was a silhouette of a small person wearing some kind of coat.
"Ugh…*cough*, Mario *cough* did you really need to crash like tha….Huh?" said Goombella while flapping the smoke from her face. After clearing the smoke, she could recognize the figure and was happy to see it as well. "Oh! Hi there, Professor Frankly!" said Goombella with a smile. Mario couldn't believe what he heard, but decided to stay silent in case he heard wrong.
"Huh? Who else is there? Who wants me?" said the Professor Frankly also clearing the smoke to see better his two uninvited guest.
"It's me! Professor!" said Goombella while getting closer to him as well as Mario did the same. Professor Frankly was doubting at the moment, but then he remembered that a student from his university was going to visit him and aide him on his research so the student could graduate.
"Oh! Yes, I've seen your face before. Yes…that face." Said Frankly while struggling to remember Goombella name.
"Uhhhh…" said Goombella trying to help him.
"No! Wait for it…just a moment. I'll remember the face." Said Frankly while putting his hand in front of Goombella's face.
"Uhm…are you sure that you-" said Mario but was interrupted the same way.
"Silence! Don't do it! I'll get it right, just wait for it." Said the Professor Frankly still struggling to get the name. "Ummm…its not Goombriel. Err….its not Elizagoom…Hmmm…Its not Goombario, wait… that is my nephew." Said Professor Frankly while looking at all directions trying to decipher the female student. Until an exclamation sign went off him.
"A-HA! I got it!" Shouted the professor with an excited tone. "You're Goombella! The prodigy student from my Archeology class of last year, aren't you!?" said Professor Frankly while pointing at the student who only yelped upon being pointed at.
"Uhhhh, yeah! Yeah, Goombella from the Archeology classroom number 05204. Goooo Gooooombas!" said Goombella while striking a pose and saying the old slogan of her university.
"Of course! I'm good at remembering despite what you think." Said Professor Frankly while dusting away some remaining filth on his lab coat. Upon doing so, the old mentor saw the hero in red, and he was lost in words.
"Uhhh, hello sir." Said Mario all politely.
"Hmmm. YOU! However…I think you're…." said Professor Frankly while thinking hard just like trying to remember Goombella's name. Mario thinking that his reputation went far as the whole Kingdom decided to strike his trademark Victory sign with a smirk.
"Woo-hoo!" said Mario with a smirk.
"WHO?!" said Professor Frankly finally which earned the young plumber to fall down in a comedic way.
"His name is Mario. Y'know…Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom? Protector of her highness, Princess Peach?" said Goombella with a little giggle.
"Oh! My apologies…I've been stuck in my own work that I don't know whats hip these days." Said Professor Frankly while making signs on the word hip.
"No worries, sir." Said Mario while getting up.
"Hey…now that I remember, you were supposed to be here a few days ago. What happened?" asked the professor while cleaning his glasses.
"Well…let's just say it has been a Rogue Welcome for me." Said Goombella with an annoyed tone.
"You could say that." Added Mario.
"Oh. I should've known. Rogueport isn't exactly soft when it comes to tourist. In fact, I don't think this town receives tourist unless you know…you were from some kind of prison or something." Said the professor.
"Eh. Their inn is nice though." Said Goombella.
"Right. In any case, I know why you're here Goombella, but what about you? What errands does bring you, Mario to this place?" asked Professor Frankly.
"Well to tell you the truth, I was sent here." Answered Mario while scratching the back of his neck.
"Hmm? What's that now?" said the professor now confused.
"We both came to you because maybe you'd tell us about the legendary treasure that resides here in Rogueport." Said Goombella while walking closer to the professor. This made the professor stop at his tracks. "The only one I knew that could have some kind of clue or information about it…would be you, professor." Added Goombella.
"Yes. Well…of course I know about the treasure. It's the sole reason why I came here. To be sincerely…this will be my biggest and probably last work before retirement." Said Professor Frankly while putting his glasses once again.
"Huh? Your….retirement?" said Goombella not believing what she just heard.
"This work of mine…is very tiresome. I've been researching many topics and cryptic tones of the world that I haven't met my limits….until now. The legendary treasure is something that has been remained a mystery…or even a simple rumor that was abandoned upon many centuries or maybe eras ago. This research has led to nothing. I don't have what it takes to start the puzzle. It's impossible but I'm afraid that this research could lead to nowhere." Said Professor Frankly while a light reflected on his lenses which made his eyes invisible.
"Professor…" said Goombella a little bit sad upon hearing that.
"Goombella, and Mario…I suggest both of you to change of topic right here especially you Goombella since you are still a student, and I must remind you that this is your final project before graduation. I don't want you to waste your time on something that could be considered a simply fairy tale. It will do you no good if the college knows about this." Said Professor Frankly with a strict tone.
"But professor…I don't want to seem rude, but historians and archeologist search through those fairy tales. A good friend of mine told me about it. The legends and myths are false until they are discovered. They are invisible through human ears and eyes, but upon discovery it becomes real." Said Mario as he glanced through the nostalgia.
"Wise words, son. But it'll take more than simple eyes and belief to make it real." Said the Professor not turning around for a bit.
"Personally I believe that treasure is real! There is so many secrets around it that it's nearly impossible to say it's just a rumor." Added Goombella.
"First of all, the treasure…there are many mysteries surrounding it. They say that it's a great treasure chest that contains an ancient magical item that could grant any desire. Some say that it was once an ancient demon who wreaked havoc upon this world without mercy. Others claim that's it's only an empty chest. Many theories and much incongruence that it's difficult to divine the truth." Explained Professor Frankly while going towards a shelf of book and getting one that looked old.
"Well…that's kind of tricky to believe." Added Mario.
"Yes, but it's not over there yet. All whose claim those things agree in something that it seems hard to believe. To find the treasure one must first acquire the Crystal Stars!" said the Professor while opening the book and turning into a specific page and paragraph. Professor Frankly made a gesture to make Mario and Goombella lean in closer and take a look.
To find the treasure of yore, take the scattered Crystal Stars and bring it forth to the door of the shadows, The Thousand Year Door.
"Oh…that sentence? I remember that phrase from old people." Said Goombella rather a little bit rudely, but the professor paid no mind about it.
"Exactly. To find the treasure, you'll have to collect the seven Crystal Stars." Said Professor Frankly while looking directly at Goombella and Mario. "The next page says something about these rare gems" added the Professor as he did turn the next page.
The Crystal Stars scattered across the land to protect the treasure of desires. To find them, hold the Magical Map aloft before the entrance of the Door. The Map will show the light, as the Stars while shine upon the land of yesterday, the darkness will soon be visible.
Mario and Goombella didn't know why, but upon reading the last phrase send chills to their spine.
"Yeah. That old saying is the most I heard about this legend. To gather these Crystal Stars, the legendary map must be taken to the Thousand-Year Door." Said Goombella with a hand on her chin. Mario was simply confused at this point; he didn't think the map would be THAT big.
"Correct! The Thousand Year Door which is located below this town itself, The Rogueport Sewers." Said the professor while checking his fingers.
"Wait…really? That easy?" said Mario a little bit confused on that part. If the so called Thousand Year Door was just below then why he wasn't there.
"I know what you're thinking son. But it's more complicated than that. The map is the critical key here, and right now there is not a single clue on where its hidden." Said Professor Frankly as he adjusted his glasses. That's when Goombella could only giggle like a high school girl.
"Wellll….professor. What if I told you that the map IS out there." Said Goombella with a teasing tone.
"While I'm not denying its existence, I believe that it will be more complicated than that." Said the professor not catching the tone from his student.
"I wouldn't say that. The legendary map IS here! Mario has the magical map!" said Goombella with excitement. The professor made a sharp turn and all of sudden, he dashed towards Mario.
"WHAT?! HUMMAMA HUBBITY HUMMANASOTA FWAWAWAWA HARBBITY MOGGITY…." Ramble the old Professor as he shake Mario making him dizzy. Goombella could only hold her laugh at seeing the scene before her eyes. "I mean…REALLY?!" finally the Professor used coherent words.
"Uhhhh….uggghhhh…..Huh? Y-Yeah." Said Mario trying his best to get out from his dizzy state.
"Y-Y-You HAVE to let me have a look at it! I need to confirm it!" shouted Professor Frankly as he shook the plumber once again making him see Power Stars on his head..
"S-Sure." Said Mario as he struggled to keep balance and got the treasure out of his bag. Professor Frankly took hold of the map and least to say, he was amazed at holding the actual legendary map on his hands.
"ASTOUNDING! THIS IS IT! I FINALLY SAW IT! THIS IS THE MAP!" shouted Professor Frankly as he was jumping in excitement.
"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, professor….you might get a stroke or something." Said Goombella trying to ease the old professor excitement. Professor Frankly finally came to Earth and simply adjusted his lab coat. "But in all seriousness… is that really it?" said Goombella.
"Of course, my student! This is the real deal! Here is the exact proof." Said Professor Frankly as he gently put the legendary map on the table as the professor showed another page containing and image of the map that Mario held.
The Legendary Map, secrets of seven lands, holder of the location of the stones of yore, connection to the Darker World. The Crystal Stars hidden in thy land will be discovered once the Door shines on this mythical treasure.
"Whoa…so I guess that pretty much seals it." Said Goombella as both she and Mario read the page.
"Precisely! YOU! You are amazing! EXCELLENT! OUTSTANDING! MY OWN HERO!" said the professor still excited and handshaking with force Mario's hand.
"Heh…it wasn't a big deal." Said Mario with a smirk trying to act cool, but knowing well this IS a big deal for both of them.
"With this…We CAN discover the Crystal Stars and finally find the truth between this myth that has been bugging everyone in this world!" said the Professor Frankly while taking out a napkin to wipe away the sweat.
"F-F-For real? We can do that?!" said Goombella not believing what she heard. In a few moments ago, the Professor was about to forbid her to research the Crystal Stars and the legendary map because he thought it was impossible, but it seems that she doesn't have to worry about anything now.
"Of course! Underwhere! Why are we even still here talking all these nonsense! LET'S GO! LETS GO!" shouted Professor Frankly as he dashed towards the door of his library.
"Whoa…he changed completely." Said Mario.
"Yeah…lets hurry up before he gets a reminder that he's still in Rogueport." Said Goombella as she went on towards her teacher. Mario followed as well finally setting his first steps into his new journey.
Both Mario and Goombella exited the old teacher house, and saw that the Professor Frankly was meddling with something in front of them.
"Uhh…professor?" said Goombella with a confused tone.
"Hold on, kids!" said the professor. Mario and Goombella couldn't help, but to look at each other in confusion. "There we go!" said the Professor as he let go and the wooden fence in front of him came loose and fell towards the ground.
"Whoa!" said both Mario and Goombella.
"Heh. I bet both of you didn't know this fence would come off loose." Said Professor Frankly as now all of them were in front of the Warp Pipe that would transport them towards the Sewers.
"Great! Then let's go." Said Mario as he walks towards the Pipe, but was stopped by the Professor.
"Hold on Mario…" said the Professor with a strict tone.
"Huh? What is it?" said Mario.
"Something just went towards me. You know we are about to set foot on the Sewers right?" said the Professor.
"Uhhh yeah? I mean…if you're concerned about me being dirty is not that bad…at least for me." Said Mario.
"Yeah. I'll even try to hold my breath so I won't suffer from those smells." Added Goombella with a smile.
"That's not it, son." Said the Professor focused his view on the pipe.
"Huh? Then what is it then…" said Mario.
"There might be some hoodlums on the way down there. You should keep you guard up…some are extremely dangerous. (And I would give you the advice and tutorial of using Action Commands, but then again this isn't the game version, so the mechanics wouldn't make sense.)" said the Professor as he muttered the final sentence.
"Huuuuhhhhh, what was that professor?" said Goombella not catching what her teacher said.
"Nothing!" said Professor Frankly.
"Don't-a worry. We'll be fine." Said Mario with a thumbs up.
"Well…then let's get moving then." Said Professor as he hopped towards the Pipe and disappearing. Mario and Goombella nodded and did the same…disappearing and entering another area.
LOCATION: The Sewers, Rogueport
Hour: 3:29 PM
Rogueport's Sewers were completely different from something that could be encountered on any other places. It was like a whole other city was hidden below the small town who was considered the worst of the places. The Sewers were in complete ruins as most of the walls appeared to be either cracked, or destroyed and all of them were covered in graffiti, blood, and infested with insects. There were also elevators that were partially working and the only ways to travel around this kind of place was through the Warp Pipes that were located in the many areas of the Sewers. Mario, Goombella and Professor Frankly finally arrived from the Warp Pipe of above, and they were amazed and somewhat disgusted upon seeing the Sewers of Rogueport.
"Whoa…so this…is Rogueport Sewers?" said Mario not sure what to said.
"Ughh…I would say that this isn't what I expected, but at this point I shouldn't be surprised." Said Goombella. She never thought that beneath Rogueport the Sewers would look that bad with the blood and all those nasty decorations, but she had to admit that if it wasn't for that and the destroyed walls, this would look like a real castle.
"Yes. Its quite a discovery, but the real one awaits for us below." Said Professor Frankly setting some steps ahead.
"Wait…this isn't it? Aren't we low enough?" asked Mario.
"Nope. If I'm right then we're just down below Rogueport were folks said that these are just ruins of a Thousand Year old town. The current town was built on top of this ancient one, and it's pretty surprising to find that everything was true." Said Goombella as she took notes on her book.
"Whoa. That's pretty amazing, actually." Said Mario.
"Not only that, but the book told about an ancient door in this place, and seeing that there is nothing similar here, my only conclusion is that there is more down here." Said Professor Frankly as he pointed another Warp Pipe that was just besides all of them, but was blocked by some cage bars. Luckily enough there was a small space that could go there with an elevator floating side to side.
"That Warp Pipe can be our only option I suppose." Said Goombella.
"Lets a go then." Said Mario as he went towards.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Wassup, man! Quite the cookie you got there with you."
Mario and Company stopped at their tracks to see where that voice came from and none other was from three mysterious goombas who were covered in a leather jacket. One was simply a goomba with no special features, the next one was wearing a spikey helmet, while the last one had some wings that permit him float.
"Wassup baby? Why don't you hang with us for a while? We play reaaaaal nice." Said the Winged one with a smooth tone.
"Maaan….whats a fine-lookin' girl like yourself doing with such a tubby man like him? We don't need any mustache to be mans." Said the Spiky one. Mario couldn't help, but to grunt a little bit.
"Awww…that's so sweet of you guys. Its really nice that you guys think I'm cute. Seriously!" said Goombella with a flirty tone. This made both Mario and Professor Frankly stop and stare at her all dumb. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Heh. Of course we do, babe. Nothin' more true than your eyes." Said the first Goomba with a smirk. Mario and Professor Frankly couldn't help but to roll their eyes at all the nosebrowning they were hearing.
"Yeah. Guys like you make me feel….LIKE TOTALLY BARFING! UGH!" shouted Goombella completely changing her attitude with a matter of seconds. The gang couldn't help, but to feel like they were stroke by an arrow saying REJECTED.
"(There she is.)" thought Mario as he saw that Goombella was once again herself.
"Ugh! Talk about being pathetic! You boys couldn't get a date even if the girl is BLIND! NOW GET OUT OF OUR WAY!" shouted Goombella.
"Ouch! Talk about an ice queen." Said the first punk.
"Yeah! Think you're better than us? Don't make me laugh! You aren't exactly dating material either." Added the Paragoomba.
"Yeah! Get off your high chair sister." Taunted the spikey one.
"Hmph! This hooligans sure know how to be punks. But they're all talk and nothing more." Said Professor Frankly louder than he intended too.
"Whats that now?! You think we're just bluffing?!" shouted the Winged one.
"Nobody zings us like that! NOBODY!" shouted the Spikey one as well as he gritted his knuckles.
"Come on boys! Lets teach this people a lesson!" said the first punk as he prepared their weapons. His friends did it as well as all of them charged straight at Mario, Goombella and Frankly.
"Oh. I should kept that by myself." Said Professor Frankly as he wasa bout to get assaulted by the first punk, but was intercepted by Mario as he jumped in between them and he quickly grabbed the elder's hand and got away. Goombella simply retreated and got behind Mario as he landed safely with the professor.
"Careful now! We don't want any trouble!" said Mario as he tried to calm down the situation, but it was far too late.
"Too late bud! You're getting it! Both you and that feisty one!" threaten the first punk.
"C'mon Mario…we should simply teach this idiots a thing or two." Said Goombella as she got into a stance.
"Mario! Goombella! These are the famous Goomba Gang of the Sewers. They're known to be in trio, but there aren't anything special." Said Professor Frankly.
"Heh. Our reputation surely follow us." Said with pride the punk.
"There is the regular Goomba, a Spikey Goomba and finally the Paragoomba. The whole family tree is just right in front of us. There isn't much to say, but to stay alert on those two." Said Professor Frankly as he pointed the two goombas in the back.
"What about them?" said Mario.
"The spikey one can use his helmet as a way to defend himself from anything above him, so I'm pretty sure if you attack him with your jump…you'll be the one taking damage." Tattled Goombella as she took out her logbook while the Spikey Goomba simply smirked. "The last one as you know has wings, so your hammer won't reach him. However…your jump might do the trick." Said Goombella as she closed her book.
"Heh…it sure seems that we interest you, sweets." Taunted the Goomba leader with a smirk.
"Ugh! Lets just end this." Said Goombella.
"Couldn't be more proud of my student. Your tattle skills are still nice and steady." Said Professor Frankly with a smile.
"Umm, not to interrupt, but isn't this a little bit dangerous for you, Goombella?" said Mario with a worried tone.
"Hmph! Don't underestimate me Mario! I know exactly how to defend myself. My head is pretty durable and does damage y'know?" Said Goombella as she got ready for the fight.
"Okay…? Then stay in your toes." Said Mario as he got ready.
Mario began his attack as he ran towards the leader, and the Goomba repeated the same action as he gripped his baseball bat. Mario quickly dodged as he jumped and landed on his head with a powerful attack (HP:1/2) as the hero once again bounced on the leader gang and landed another boot towards his head knocking the Goomba punk into the ground and defeated. Mario gracefully landed as without aware on his surroundings, the Paragoomba was charging towards Mario, but Goombella quickly intervene with a flying headbonk towards the Paragoomba that made him fall down to the ground with his wings injured and numb (HP: 1/2), but that didn't stop the second member of the gang to get up, but was quickly defeated by a clean kick to the stomach by the blonde Goomba thus making the Paragoomba fall in pain. The Spikey Goomba watches as his gangsters were easily taken down by those two, but he didn't give up as easily as he grabbed his helmet with the spike and charged headfirst towards the plumber. Mario wasn't quick enough to counterattack, but he managed to block the hit from the gangsters just in time (Mario HP: 9/10). Mario saw his clothes and noticed a little poke from the spike, but nothing dangerous or life-threatening. The Spikey Goomba cursed under his mouth as he saw his attack wasn't exactly successful, and he prepared to do another assault, but was interrupted by Mario quickly getting out his hammer and swinging it towards his head, thus knocking him unconscious.
"Phew…that was quick." Said Mario as he put away his hammer. All the members of the Goomba gang were defeated and in the floor with pain. The leader managed to get up, but he struggled on being on feet. He saw that his fellow delinquents were in a same beaten condition, and saw that his opponents were ready for more rounds.
"Tch! W-We'll remember….arghhh! This." Said The leader as he grabbed his spikey friend and retreated while the Paragoomba followed them slowly due to the damage.
"Ha! Later, losers! Man, that felt awesome!" said Goombella with a few bounces excitedly on the air.
"Yeah! I didn't know you had with you Goombella! Your head sure is awesome!" said Mario with a smile.
"Hmph! Told you, didn't I? Never mess with a Goomba like me." Said Goombella with a wink and a little blush.
"If you two are ready, then we shall not doodle for so much. This is place is a reunion point for those type of people, so we better get a move on." Said Professor Frankly.
"You're right professor. C'mon Mario!" said Goombella.
"Yes! Let's-a go!" added Mario.
All three of them continued their journey as Mario aid both of his partners get up on the elevator. Mario jumped as well and the three of them managed to get on the Warp Pipe as they descended further below the sewers. As they arrived towards the floor below them, they saw that instead of a city being in the sewers it looked more like a Kingdom…a whole new place compared to what was up in Rogueport or even the floor above. Mario saw lightpost, shops, Item Blocks who were all dusted, and more gates that were ruined. Goombella was astonished at seeing this whole world being different than the one she was used to, while Rogueport wasn't exactly a palace, she saw bright colors, sun, and night changing everyday but upon looking at this sewers or at least that's what they were called, she saw how different it was. All grey, with merely any sign of life, the walls being ruined and destroyed, dust in every corner she could see and many spider webs covering the walls. It looked…so devoid of life. Frankly was perplexed…all this time on his research about an ancient civilization living on what was actually Rogueport was a theory out of the world…heck! It wasn't even a theory for the professor, but here he was…in the Sewers where most of the people only talk about in rumors of delinquents and perfect place for corpses, was in fact a forgotten kingdom among the history. Their path wasn't over as they saw a river and some yellow blocks that were blocking an entrance. Mario destroys both of them and revealed a more wilted Warp Pipe. This Warp Pipe wasn't the usual green like the other ones in the World…it looked…filthier covered in dust and just a little bit of green on it, but only that and no more. Mario was a little bit nervous…he never have seen a Warp Pipe look that ruined before, and clearly this was a sign of something big waiting even down on the floor. Still a little shaken, he alongside Goombella and Professor Frankly hopped into the Warp Pipe and went further below. Finally as they descended, the room was completely different than the rest compared to above.
"Brrr….ooooooh Man! I-It s-sure i-i-is c-c-cold." Said Goombella as she noticed the sudden change in the area.
Indeed…the area they were in is colder than the rest. Not only that, but it also had a huge staircase that was leading to another room and some kind of grey panel as well. However…the thing that took the heroes attention was the room they were close to…a cold and eerie blown through that room and it send a terrifying chills towards Mario, Goombella, and Professor Frankly.
"Man…who knew the area under Rogueport could extend so far. This looks like maze! It sure felt like there was an ancient town here once in the past." Said Goombella as she added more notes to her book.
"It looks like it's coming from up there." Said Professor Frankly as he was pointing up towards the room.
"You think your jump would get us there?" asked Goombella.
"Sorry. It looks really high for me to reach it." Said Mario as he tried to warm his arms.
"Dang it." Grunted Goombella.
"In any case, we should get going. If we stay here we might get sick." Said Professor Frankly. Both Mario and Goombella nodded to that, and they explored the whole area. As they explored the whole room, they found nothing rather than odd thing.
"Is that….a key?" said Goombella as she squinted her eyes and saw a key all alone on a high ground.
"Well it is! But why is it there?" said Professor Frankly.
"Well I'm not sure, but I don't think I can reach it from down here." Said Mario.
"No worries! If I use the stairs then maybe I could grab it from there." Said Goombella as she pointed towards the staircase and saw that she could land just below on the key.
"All right! Do your best Goombella!" said Mario. Goombella nodded as she went upstairs. Both Mario and Professor Frankly saw Goombella landing just on the side of the black key.
"Guys! I got it!" said Goombella as she grabbed the black key.
"Nice job Goombella! Now get down." Said Mario. Goombella nodded and saw it was quite tall the fall. "Don't-a worry! I'll catch you." Added Mario as he extended his arms for the intention of catching Goombella.
"All right, here I go Mario!" said Goombella as she jumped down and Mario managed to catch her fall.
"Ooof! That was good." Said Mario. Goombella couldn't help, but to blush as she was aware she was being carry in a bridal-style.
"Yeah! Yeah! Whatever…let's just continue." Said Goombella quickly getting off Mario as she tried to hid her blush.
"O…kay?" said a confused Mario.
"We should continue, but there is nothing we can do. That entrance is out of our limits, and we didn't find anything to aid us." Said Professor Frankly.
"Hmmm, I'm not quite sure about that. When I went upstairs, I didn't feel this cold wind in here. Somehow…that room is at normal temperature." Said Goombella as she pointed upwards.
"Really? How could that be possible?" said Mario a little bit amazed.
"I don't know, but seems fishy to me." Said Goombella.
"Well if that room has normal temperature I suggest we go. Besides…if we stay here any longer I'll catch the flu!" said Professor Frankly as he went upstairs with Mario and Goombella following along. As Mario and company got upstairs they entered the room, and not only had they felt the temperature returning back to normal, but also they saw a black chest that had a lock and was almost destroyed.
"Hmmm. Quite suspicious. There is not a single source around here that is provoking this room to be at normal temperatures." Said Professor Frankly.
"Yeah what gives?" added Goombella. Mario didn't know why, but somehow he felt a strange presence around the black treasure chest. He got closer, and the second he did, the chest suddenly move.
"Whoa!"
"AAAAAAAHHH!" yelped Mario with terror as he landed on the ground still all shaken up.
"Mario! Whats wrong?!" asked Goombella with worry.
"T-T-The chest just talked!" said Mario still surprised. This earned his partners a confused look.
"W-What?! Talk?!" said Goombella not believing what she heard.
"H-H-Hey! You can hear me!" said the black chest.
"WHOA! IT TOTALLY DID!" said Goombella now her turn on being scared as she jumped towards Mario who barely catch her.
"Y-Y-YOU CAN?! That must mean you're the hero of legend!" said the black chest.
"What…" said Professor Frankly not believing what he was seeing and hearing.
"Hero of Legend?" said Mario.
"Yeah! Only the legendary hero written on the tales of the ancient has the capability to hear me. Yeah! Everyone else…nothing." Explained the chest.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…that's crazy!" said Goombella who got off from Mario.
"And how can you even talk in the first place?" said Mario still confused on the whole charade.
"You see…a long time ago, some evil spirit casted a curse on me which locked me in this box. It was a bummer. Ever since then, I was waiting for the hero to come by and release me!" said the Chest as Mario could barely tell that his tone was sad.
"A cursed spirit…" said Professor Frankly between words.
"So…yeah. Anyways, what brings the legendary hero to a place like this?" asked the chest.
"Well you see…" began Mario, but was interrupted by the old professor.
"Errr Mario? A word with you." Said Professor Frankly as he made some signs. Mario nodded and stopped.
"What is it?" said Mario.
"I'm not exactly confident that we can trust this…well….box. I don't think we should mention the Crystal Stars or the legendary…map…of….treasure." said Professor Frankly clearly not toning down his volume as he completely said everything out loud. "Well drat. I JUST SAID OUT LOUD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!" shouted Professor Frankly with frustration.
"The Crystal Stars and the map, you say? So that confirms you are the hero. That means you MUST need my help if you want to find those stones!" said the chest.
"Hold on…what do you mean by that? Do you even know where they are?" said Goombella skeptically.
"Well…uhmmm…" said the black chest clearly loss at words.
"Soo?" said Goombella all impatient.
"Well, no, but you need my help! Trust me on this! You must get me out of here…please." Said the black chest.
"Hmm…I don't know. What do you think we have to do, Mario?" said Goombella. If anything in the end it all comes to Mario after all. He is the one who had the map in the first place.
"Look…its nothing hard okay? Just find a black key that is laying around somewhere. It shouldn't be that far." Said the black chest. This caught Mario's attention.
"Black key? You mean like this one?" said Mario getting out the black key from his pocket.
"YES! YES! YES! That one! I just KNEW I could count on you O Legendary hero!" said the black chest of what appeared to be an excited tone.
"Mario…I'm still not sure." Said Professor Frankly.
"Well we have nothing to lose if we try. I mean…we should trust him." Said Mario as he entered the key on the chest and unlocked it.
"YEESSSSSSSSSSSS! Thanks! Thank….HA! THANK NOTHING!" shouted the black chest as it was being open. As the chest opened a purple smoke began to surround the area prompting Mario, Goombella, and Professor Frankly to cover their eyes and cough a lot.
"What the?!" said Goombella as she coughed.
"FOOOOOOOOOOOOLS!" was the last thing Mario heard as he felt numb on his body. Mario slowly regained consciousness and saw that he was in a purple void where only a voice could be heard.
"Legendary traveler who gather the key of Stars. Your foolishness is quite amusing, but the reason of my awakening. As I held this curse, I should continue the same ways I was punished by transferring this suffering upon your filthy ways."
"W-W-What?! What does that mean…" said Mario, but was interrupted by flashing lights as some lighting struck Mario, but he wasn't being damaged at all. He was terrified, but saw no injury on himself.
"As the curse was cast on you, your body will flash on the panels. Just then…you'll know what to do and transport your ways into the light. Continue forward and let light shine upon the dark past that is still on pain."
Mario began to feel faint as he saw a reflection of a man standing in front of him. Before losing consciousness again, Mario saw this man was wearing a scarf alongside a sword as he felt some kind of legendary vibe…and looking more closely…this man resembled a Toad.
"….."
"…..ri….o"
"…..M…..A….R…I…..O!"
"MARIO!"
Mario jumped upon hearing the scream, and was holding his chest like he was about to have a heart attack.
"Oh THANKS GRAMBI you're awake." Said Goombella who was relieved upon seeing the hero back on feet.
"You okay there Mario? You had a nasty fall upon opening that thing." Said Professor Frankly as he offered a hand towards the fallen plumber.
"Yeah…I-I'm fine…" said Mario as he accepted the professor help. With the main hero being back in action it seems that the journey was about to continue.
"Yeesh! Talk about drama! What even happened to you?" said Goombella with a worried tone.
"I'm….I'm…" said Mario loss at words. To be honest he wasn't exactly sure what happen either…so far he checked all his body and nothing was out of the ordinary. He didn't feel sick, or about to faint, but he felt somewhat different. He didn't know in what aspect or how, but he just knew. "I'm not sure. I just black out and saw a weird man." Said Mario with honesty.
"A weird man? Don't tell me that you saw Grambi himself." Said Goombella with a raised eyebrow.
"What?! No! At least….I don't think so. This was different." Said Mario. "I saw lighting striking me, but so far I don't feel any kind of pain or see at least one dirt on my cloth." Said Mario as he checked for any significant change.
"Hmmm. Interesting." Said Professor Frankly as he put some fingers on his chin.
"You got something professor?" said Goombella.
"(Could it be…? No…It would be impossible.)" Thought the Professor as he was glancing in all directions in behind his glasses.
"Uhhhh…professor?" said Mario as he waved a hand in front of him.
"Hmm! Oh! Sorry…I was thinking on something else, but I suppose not. I don't have anything…(yet)." Said the Professor going back to Earth.
"Oh well…if there is nothing wrong then I suggest we keep going." Said Mario as he adjusted his bag and hammer.
"Are you sure? You were on the floor for so much time." Said Goombella.
"Yeah. We lost so many valuable time already." Said Mario with a smile. And with that, the trio regained their journey and exited the room. Upon getting out of the room, the weird panel that was before them began to glow.
"Whoa! Look at that." Said Goombella pointing at how the glow was getting stronger as they got closer. Mario didn't know why, but he had an urge to get closer, and now he was two feet on the panel. "Whoa! Careful there Mario…we don't want another KO right now." Warned Goombella.
"I….I…" said Mario as he began to feel his body numb once again. Without warning, an aura began to surround Mario and made him levitate which to say the least surprised both partners.
"WHAT THE?!" shouted both Professor Frankly and Goombella.
Mario's blue eyes began to change color of a gold and bright eyes, and the aura around him began to shape shift into an airplane made of paper. Goombella and Professor Frankly were surprised at the view, but what got both of them even more surprised was the fact that Mario suddenly grabbed both student and teacher from their hands and the three of them fly towards the entrance that was off limits due to the high level. As they arrived closer to the entrance, Mario's aura began to fade and his eyes returned back to normal.
"What just…" said Mario feeling all dizzy.
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" squealed Goombella with glee.
"Outstanding! I didn't know you had a Feather with you Mario." Said Professor Frankly.
"Wh-What? What are you talking about?" asked a confused Mario.
"Seriously?! You just fly like a comic book superhero! You remind me of the Toad Force V!" said Goombella still excited.
"I what?! That's…impossible. Unless I had a Feather, Super Leaf or a Tanooki Suit then I couldn't fly." Said Mario still confused and perplexed upon hearing their response, but upon closer inspection he saw that they were serious on their answer. "Okay…how exactly did I fly here? And how both of you guys got here anyway?" asked Mario once again.
"Well, that weird panel began to glow, then you got closer and all of sudden a weird light surrounded you and made you fly." Explained Goombella.
"What is odder is that the mysterious light morphed into an paper airplane. After that you grab us and we made it here." Added Professor Frankly.
"Mamma-Mia…that is hard to believe…" said Mario still not believing what he heard.
"You think it had something to do with that treasure chest?" suggested Professor Frankly.
"To be honest…that could be the closest thing I could believe. But what is more important is that we made it here." Said Mario noticing until now that they reach their destiny.
"Well I'll be darned! We actually did!" said Professor Frankly with excitement.
"Well what are we waiting for?! Let's go!" said Goombella as she made onwards the road. Mario and Professor Frankly followed as well and what they encountered…were something they didn't expect at all.
Upon entering, they noticed that instead of another room it looked more like a chamber. A chamber with such cold, eerie, and out of this world atmosphere that was sending a lot of chills down their spine to the heroes. They felt…wrong. A feeling that they SHOULDN'T even get close to the room, and the fact that the atmosphere was still cold didn't help at all…they were completely shaking. The first thing that the trio noticed was that the whole chamber was completely in ruins…most pillars were destroyed while others were still hanging on the wall and roof fearing that one day they will collapse and possibly destroy what was left of this unusual ruins. Not only that, but a lot of spikes surrounding some walls while on the far left there was a blocked entrance with some skulls hanging on the spikes…Mario could only cringe to think what was behind that side. However…despite all of that, what really caught their attention was the inmense door that was lying in the center of the chamber. Mario somehow felt at awe at looking at such door, but…was it really that amazing? He felt like entering…yet…it didn't felt right at all.
"Mario! Goombella! Look!" shouted Professor Frankly at awe. Mario didn't have to be blind to know what the professor was talking about. The huge door definitely was the whole center of attention of this room…possibly even the Sewers!
"It must be! It has to be!" said Goombella as she got closer. Mario and the Professor followed as well. As they got closer, the door had some mysterious writing carved into its design. Not only that but it had a red color alongside some symbols, and letters of foreign language…and the letter… it looked like it was written many centuries ago.
"It's the Thousand Year Door spoken in the legends! I can't believe its real! Everything in the legends were true!" shouted Professor Frankly as his voice echoed in the room.
"Something about this room…it just feels like the air ripples with power. This must be the famed door that every rogue in Rogueport must be whispering about." Said Goombella as she took more notes.
"Y-Yeah…it must be the door." Said Mario still a little bit shaken.
"But what's the big deal with that weird pedestal?" said Goombella. Both Mario and Professor Frankly turned their heads on what the student was talking about and saw that there was a pedestal in the center of the room.
Mario took further attention to the chamber and saw that the pedestal had the same symbols on the door, and on the center there was a huge star symbol on it. He got closer to the point where he stood on the middle of the pedestal.
"Uhh…Mario? What-" said Goombella but was rather interrupted as a little earthquake suddenly appeared that shaken off the trio in fright.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoa!" said Mario as he tried his best to not fall.
Just then a sudden light surrounded the chamber for a few seconds. Mario's bag began to resonate and the legendary map was levitating as a grey-colored aura began to surround it. Mario, Goombella, and Professor Frankly were at awe at all the things that was happening in those moments. Suddenly the center of the pedestal began to glow a blue colored light that surrounded the trio as seven circles appeared, and the symbols of the pedestal glowed as well. Next, the legendary stopped levitating and just float there as some lights began to struck the old map without warning. Mario had to cover his eyes due to how strong the lighting was, and of course because he was close to the map.
"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!" shouted Goombella as she protected her eyes as well.
"This…This must be…" said Professor Frankly as a strong wind began to attack the room they were in.
More and more lights shine upon the legendary map, as a huge wave of aura was unleashed from the same map itself. Suddenly on the map, a little location began to appear. The new location was a huge castle that was located on a place filled by grass, and flowers. Suddenly a star-shaped rock made of diamonds appeared on the Castle location as well. As soon as the map finished, it unleashed another huge wave of aura that knocked Goombella and Professor Frankly a few inches away, while the light suddenly struck Mario but with no harm. The legendary map suddenly came down as Mario felt an inmense power surging inside him.
"A Castle filled with wars. A place where the keys lies to unlock the secret of the fallen soldiers. A Dragon lies away in the Castle awaiting for more destruction as the rock in her will be the source of destruction to innocent lives."
All of sudden, the energy stopped, and the chamber was no longer shining. Mario was completely dead in his tracks, and could only gaze on the map that was back to normal. He turned around his head, and saw that Goombella and Professor Frankly were fine as they stood up.
"Professor…are you okay?" asked a worry Goombella.
"Yes. I'm all right…just this…urk! Old back pain that's all." Said Professor Frankly.
"I'm relieved, but what was with all those crazy lights?!" said Goombella.
"I'm not entirely sure…" said Professor Frankly as he turned his head back to Mario.
"Guys…I…I feel…" said Mario as he struggled trying to understand what just happened as well.
"Hrmmm…I suggest we discuss this back at my library. I fear that this place isn't safe…for now." Said Professor Frankly a little bit on the edge after the earthquake. Knowing the conditions of this chamber, he feared that another one of those will make the whole roof fall on them.
LOCATION: Professor Frankly's Library, Rogueport East Side
HOUR: 6:40 PM
Mario, Goombella and Professor Frankly safely returned back to the library with no problem. Upon entering the first thing they did was to check the map, and of course to eat later on. Mario and Goombella were waiting on the results of the Professor's analysis on the legendary map. It has been at the moment a crazy situation for the trio and especially Mario as he was struck with the lighting too many times, but it wouldn't even be the first or last time he'll receive that.
"Hrmm…A-HA! I GOT IT AT LAST!" shouted Professor Frankly at the other room. Mario and Goombella stood up and saw the professor having a huge smile as he got some dirt on his lab coat.
"What is it professor?" asked Mario.
"Do you understand what just happen?" added Goombella to the question.
"Of course I do! Firstly, that mysterious light that shine upon Mario and the map." Said Professor Frankly as he showed up the map. "As you may see, the map here is all normal right?" said Professor Frankly.
"Yeah…? What about it?" said Goombella.
"You'll see… Mario! Please grab the map." Said Professor Frankly as he offered the map.
"O…Okay?" said Mario a little bit confused, but as soon as he touched the map, all of sudden it began to glow. "Whoa!" said Mario as he backed out.
"It…It shines for a little bit." Said a surprised Goombella. Mario determined, grabbed the map and he alongside the map were surrounded by an aura. All of sudden Mario's eye began to glow in a yellow light as his pupils turned into stars.
"Holy Goomba in a Kubiro shoe!" said Goombella as she saw a lighting strike once again Mario, but this lighting didn't cause any harm or danger. A few seconds later, the shine faded away and Mario was back to normal.
"Woooow….that was incredible." Said Mario as he checked his body. What surprise him the most was that the injury he received on the fight against the Goomba gang disappeared all of sudden (Mario's HP: 15/15).
"Outstanding! My theory was right!" said Professor Frankly as he adjusted his glasses.
"Huh? Theory? Do you know what happen professor?" asked Goombella.
"Of course I do! I believe that Mario has received an enormous power and can now perform what I like to call…a special move." Explained Professor Frankly.
"Special move?" asked Mario.
"Right! My theory suggests that the map gave Mario a mythical power, and that power will only grow stronger as the time passes. However…upon using said power I guess that it will take a while to use it once again. And final thing is that I don't know exactly what kind of power Mario will receive, but so far it isn't that bad as Mario manage to heal a little bit." Explained Professor Frankly as he took out a chalkboard with many images of stars and Mario.
"Sooo I guess that the map will glow around me whenever I try to use said move?" suggested Mario.
"Precisely! But let's not call it special move. For now on…I shall name it….uhmmm. SWEET TREAT! Yeah! Right! That is a great name if I do say so myself." Said Professor Frankly as he smirked with some sparkles.
"Riiiiiight." Said Goombella with a sweat drop. "Anyways…anything else at the map? Those lights weren't exactly normal." Said Goombella.
"At the moment I could only decipher the strange aura of Mario, but as of now I still need to figure out what happen to the legendary map." Said Professor Frankly as Mario hand it once again towards the professor. "While this is all important, I believe we should take a rest and eat something." Suggested the professor.
"Hmmm…that would be good, but I can wait." Said Mario as he tasted his tongue when he heard the mention of food.
"Yeah, the legendary map is something that we should focus on at the moment." Added Goombella.
"I'm afraid that no. While this IS important, we should have our limits. I prepared a little bit of food early to eat it here. Just heat it down the microwave and there you go. It's from Zess T. place." Said Professor Frankly as he adjusted his glasses.
"You're not eating with us?" said Mario.
"At the moment, nope. I have my food ready in that room, and I will eat it in due time. I want to focus on this map at the moment. Now if you excuse me, I'll be in the next room if you need anything." Said Professor Frankly as he entered once again the room and closed it.
"Well that's that. We should go then, Mario." Suggested Goombella as she exited the waiting room. Mario nodded and followed as well.
The dinner went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. It took a while for Mario and Goombella to finish the dinner since in the end Goombella bombed the plumber with a lot of questions and tales of his past adventures. It was past dinner time, and Mario alongside Goombella were sitting on the couch enjoying a some hot chocolate.
"I still find that hard to believe." Said Goombella.
"It's not! I tell you…it was the worst at the time, but eventually they found the truth." Said Mario as he laughed.
"Still! You should've sued them or something! What was so hard to difference between a criminal that literally used a shadow to disguise as you? Not only that, but they should notice the red eyes at the very least." Said Goombella.
"I know, I know, but it's okay. They didn't keep me in jail so that's good." Said Mario as he drinks some of his hot chocolate.
"Yeah. At least there won't be another you made of shadow. Not until four chapters from now and all the backtracking…" said Goombella.
"Huh? What was that?" said Mario not quite understanding what Goombella said.
"Oh! Never mind that! Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh….heeeeh…." said Goombella with a nervous laugh.
"Riiiiiiight. Anyway, it is getting late. I should probably head back to the Inn that Toadsworth is staying at." Said Mario as he got up and stretched.
"Yeah…b-but the professor isn't finished. Shouldn't we at least check if he is done some progress?" suggested Goombella.
"I suppose so. It wouldn't hurt to do that." Said Mario as he went upstairs as Goombella tagged along. They entered once again the study room and saw that the Professor wasn't there, but heard a lot of noises coming from the other side so that could only meant that the professor was still working on the legendary map.
"Uhhh professor? Are you almost done there?" asked Mario as he knocked the door twice.
"Whuzzah?! Oh! Pardon me but I'm afraid that this will take longer than I thought it would be." Said Professor Frankly from the other side of the room.
"Really?" said a little disappointed Mario.
"Professor, it is getting late so Mario is about to leave for the night. We came here to tell you that." Said Goombella.
"Ugh! These darn old nozzle device!" shouted the professor.
"Uhmmm….professor? Did you hear what I…" said Goombella but was cut off by yet another explosion.
"Oh! Yeah! I heard you alright! But there is no need for that! On the first floor there should be a sleeping bag! It should be on my room so go ahead and take it." Said Professor Frankly as yet another loud chemical bubbles was heard. "Not only that, but you're free to use my bed as well." Added the Professor Frankly.
"A-Are you sure professor? I don't want to be a bother." Said Mario.
"Oh don't be like that! You've done a lot for me already so its only fair I let both of you guys to stay here for the night. Besides…I got my hands full here to sleep this much early." Said Professor Frankly.
"Goombella I'm not sure. What if the professor needs some rest?" whispered Mario.
"Well he sounds serious about us staying here. Besides…I don't think a girl like me could sleep well on such horrid town." Said Goombella.
"Pfft! Oh, so you're now the delicate lady?" said Mario with a little smile.
"Hmph! Even a girl like me needs to hold down and relax." Said Goombella with a little blush.
"Sure tough girl." Teased Mario.
"I could headbonk your butt, you know that right?" threaten not-so-threatengly Goombella.
"All right, all right I'll give you that." Said Mario.
"Whatever. Let's just go and prepare the spare sleeping bag." Said Goombella with an eye-roll. Mario gave her thumbs up and followed downstairs as well. Upon arriving on Frank's room they saw it was a mess as some papers and books were lying around the floor and desk.
"Wow…sure reminds me a lot of my part of the room." Said Mario.
"Well knowing the professor it is only natural for his to be this messy." Said Goombella. Mario could only nod as both of them began to clean the room in hopes of getting more comfortable. Mario and Goombella didn't take too much to get everything ready, and they found the sleeping bag hiding on the papers.
"Welp! That's the bag over there." Said Mario as he shake off the dirt on his hands.
"I think it's the best considering how aful and vandalized the inns are." Said Goombella as she went over the bag and grab it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa….don't you think you're sleeping there, are you?" said Mario as she stopped Goombella on opening the sleeping.
"Well of course! You went through a lot this day so I think you deserve the bed." Said Goombella.
"Thank you, but no thank you. You were here before me and know this place far better than me. Besides…I'm more comfortable sleeping on the floor if you ask me." Said Mario with a chuckle.
"Mario, you can't be serious. I'm fine…really." Said Goombella.
"Sorry but that's my final answer. The floor and me are already connected so it would be bad if I left it alone for a second." Said Mario jokingly, but a little bit of him was serious. Goombella tried her best to refuse the hero to sleep on the floor since she didn't mind sleeping just one day on the floor. As long as it has roof it was more than anything for her.
"F-Fine! If that's what you really want." Said a flustered Goombella trying her best to hide her face full of red color. Goombella reached over the bed and quickly laid down.
"Was it something I said?" said a confused Mario. Goombella did amazing job on faking sleep as Mario quickly drifted off to sleep not even changing pajamas. As both of them lay down on the silent floor, the heroes finally laid rest as nothing matter besides their wanted sleep.
NEXT DAY….
LOCATION: Professor Frankly's Place, Rogueport East Side
HOUR: 09:30 AM
Both Mario and Goombella were still in a blissful sleep as they didn't know that all night, the professor hasn't left the room. As the time progressed, it's the moment where the heroes should rejoin their journey.
"A-HA! I FINALLY FOUND IT! I FOUND OUT WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" shouted Professor Frankly as he barged through the door making both Mario and Goombella jump in surprise.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" shouted both Mario as he jumped towards the roof and got flattened by the impact, while Goombella was holding her tattlebook in a defensive way.
"For Grambi's sake, professor! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" said Goombella as she put away her tattlebook.
"Ugghhh…." Said Mario as he recovered himself after slowly failing on the ground after hitting the roof.
"I apologize for that, but the discovery I made is simply Astounding!" said Professor Frankly as he was holding the map.
"What is it?" said Goombella getting up from the bed.
"This map has radar-like functions! It now shows the location of a Crystal Star!" said Professor Frankly as he shows the map.
"What?! Really!" said Goombella now fully-awake as she hopped off and took a look. Mario decided to do that as well.
"It's true! This wasn't on the map when I receive it from the princess." Said Mario.
"Whoa! Now I understand why it's called the Magical Map." Said Goombella.
"Precisely! And it looks like the first Crystal Star is to be found in a place called Petal Meadows!" said Professor Frankly.
"Petal Meadows? I think I heard of that place before." Said Goombella trying her best to look for an answer.
"Yes. The area is a vast meadow that lies far in this Kingdom. In fact, the only method to get to this place is via Warp Pipe." Said Professor Frankly.
"Warp Pipe? Well that could complicate some things. There are like billions of Warp Pipes in this world that we could search for." Said Mario.
"Not to worry. In my research I found about a hidden Warp Pipe here in the Sewers of Rogueport that leads to Petal Meadows. To tell you the truth….I always thought that place was suspicious." Said Professor Frankly.
"And why is that?" asked Goombella.
"The name Petal Meadows came up in past researches from time to time. There even is some information in some of my books that really makes the place all to eerie for my tastes." Said Professor Frankly.
"I wouldn't be surprised. If one Crystal Star is there then I guess its no mere coincidence." Said Goombella as she took a look of the map.
"Yes…say by the way, Mario…I'm curious. Where did you even get this map, anyway? This map is said to be lost through the eras that one even may dare to think that this is no mere, but a fake. However, noting that after all those bizarre events happen at the door were product of this map, then I guess that possibility is out of the window." Said Professor Frankly as he focus his view on the plumber.
"I didn't precisely found this map. Peach send it to me originally." Responded Mario. This took Professor Frankly out of focus.
"From…Princess Peach?! Really?! Her highness sent this to you, Mario?" asked a disbelief Franky.
"Yup! She discovered this map on a market or something, and wanted me to come along and help her find the treasure." Explained Mario.
"So it IS HER!" shouted Professor Frankly as he pointed up as he made a discovery. "Your princess came to see me the other day…" said Professor Frankly.
"What?! When was the last time you saw her?! Was she okay?!" asked Mario as he suddenly got worried. In all this time he was listening and discovering new things of the Legendary Map, he noticed that he hasn't found any clue on the missing Princess.
"Last time I saw her, she wanted to learn more about the treasure. Of course I didn't know much, but we decided to have a glance on some books and found how suspicious the place Petal Meadows is." Explained Professor Frankly.
"So…you think…" said Mario.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem likely, but perhaps she could be on Petal Meadows trying to find the treasure on her own." Said Professor Frankly and Mario was a little bit relieved upon hearing that.
"Y'know, professor, there was another suspicious group asking about the same thing. Those freaks nearly got me good!" said an annoyed Goombella upon remembering the little fight from yesterday.
"Yeah…they sounded desparate for information of the Crystal Stars as well." Added Mario.
"Hrmm…But I can't imagine Princess Peach getting involved with people like that." Said Professor Frankly a little bit suspicious. Mario and Goombella were now lost on what to do. "But it is settled then! Off to Petal Meadows you two go! If by any chance, Princess Peach is in Petal Meadows then I believe your priority would be to catch up with her." Said Professor Frankly as he took one book from his bookcase.
"Wait…you're not coming with us, professor?" asked Goombella.
"I'm afraid not. I'll stay in town, and research more of this Crystal Stars and of course the Thousand Year Door. Besides…an old goomba like me doesn't have any chance compared to youth like both of you." Said Professor Frankly as he handed the magical map back to Mario.
"You got it professor." Said Mario with a thumbs up.
"Well Mario, we're off! Let's do our best." Said Goombella. Mario could only nod as both of them went downstairs got ready with their own things like the hammer, backpack, the tattlebook of Goombella and both of them finally exited the library as they left only with the professor looking for more Books. It looks like his REAL research was about to start after all.
Both Mario and Goombella hopped into the Warp Pipe for the second time and they were in the Rogueport's Sewers once again. They know that the route they took the last time they didn't saw any Warp Pipe besides the one who was trapped with spikey bars. They knew that they couldn't get there so they hoped that there was another hidden on the Sewers.
"Hey Mario…remember the trashing we gave to those freaks early on?" asked Goombella.
"Those suspicious guys or the Goombas?" asked Mario to be sure.
"The Goombas." Responded Goombella.
"Yeah. What about it?" said Mario.
"I think I saw one of those weird panels that made surrounded you and turned into an airplane." Said Goombella as she pointed forwards.
"Really?" asked Mario.
"Yeah! Not only that, but I'm pretty sure there was another entrance as well." Said Goombella.
"Well then, lets-a go!" shouted Mario as he walked onwards.
"Wait for me!" said Goombella as she followed Mario. As they went upstairs and walked forth, Goombella suspicions were right as they saw another airplane panel that was just above another entrance with no way to access through normal methods like walking or jumping.
"Okay…so I just step here, right?" said Mario as he walked to the panel and it began to shine once again in yellow.
"Yeah I guess. You only stood there and turned into that thing last time." Said Goombella still not sure on the whole Mario being an airplane thing.
"O-Okay…I'm not sure myself, but let's give it a shot." Said Mario. He tried his best to turn into the airplane, but he couldn't. He took another deep inhale and began to focus his mind. "C'mon…airplane….airplane." thought Mario as he slowly began to drift away and suddenly another light struck him. Goombella was surprised yet again, and saw how the light began to surround Mario as it formed another airplane just like last time, Mario grabbed Goombella and both of them began to fly and made it towards the end of the entrance.
"Whoa! That was awesome!" said Mario as the light faded and he turned back to normal.
"I still can't believe that just happen. I mean, I know about power ups that let you turn into a raccoon, but an airplane? That's just a little too much." Said Goombella.
"Heh. You can't complain since its useful like the power ups." Said Mario with a smile.
"Yeah I guess. At least we made it. Lets check out to see whats behind this entrance." Said Goombella. Mario nodded and both of them enter just to find out a huge gap between a lonely Warp Pipe and them.
"Whoa! The sewers appeared to be kind of flooded." Said Goombella.
"Well they are the sewers so its naturally that we would eventually find a lot of water bodies here." Said Mario.
"Ugh! You don't think that…" said Goombella.
"Nope. Trust me, I'm a plumber and I know like the back of my hand the smell of dirty waters and this ain't it." Said Mario.
"That's….a weird and gross analogy but at least its not that KIND of water." Said Goombella.
"Still…where did this water even come from? Why is coming from the Sewers and how come the town that is above hasn't notice anything weird yet." Said a curious Mario.
"It probably is the water from the ocean. Not sure how it got here exactly though." Said Goombella as she looked in front of her and notice something coming out of the water. "Huh? Mario look at that." Said Goombella pointing out at the weird object that upon closer inspection it looks like a tentacle.
"That thing is kind of soggy." Said Mario checking the little tentacle.
"Hmmm…it's almost like its inviting us to do something. Maybe a jump? But that could ruin your shoes." Said Goombella.
"Soooooo, hammer it?" suggested Mario as he took out his hammer.
"I guess." Added Goombella. And so, Mario grabbed steady his hammer and he use it earning a good whack towards the tentacle.
"BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" and the tentacle reacted in a painful way as it descended back to the water. Mario and Goombella were confused, but suddenly they felt an earthquake and all of sudden a huge Blooper came out of the ocean.
"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa!" said Mario as he was surprised to see the blooper ascend.
"Blooobloobloooblob! (Who just up and whacks someone tootsies like that?!)" the Blooper appeared to be furious and he focused his view on Mario and Goombella. The blooper then sticks some of his tentacles on the roof while other tentacles were roaming on the ground. "Blooblooooop! BLOOP! (Somebody with some serious issue, that's who!)"
"Oh my stars, that thing is huge!" said Mario. The blooper then dangerously closed in the tentacles near Mario and Goombella.
"Bloobloop! Bloooblooob! Bloopity bloop! BLOOOOO! (Well would you look at that! Some mustachioed saucy guy! He is in a world of hurt!)" The blooper made some reckless move as it produced some shake in the ground.
"That's a Blooper! And a really humongous one, too! EWWWW! I just can't stand nasty, gross, icky, and slimy things! GROSSS!" shouted Goombella as she cringed upon seeing the Blooper.
"Bloobloop BLOOP! (How dare you?! I'll make you regret that!)" The blooper launched an attack with a tentacle towards Goombella, but Mario managed to save her in time.
"Goombella, I know it's slimy and icky, but we have to get across this thing!" said Mario.
"Right. You're right Mario. We should focus on taking down the tentacles. I bet that once they damage enough, that thing will fall off and manage to attack it directly." Tattled Goombella.
"Sounds like a plan." Said Mario as he got ready.
Mario charged forwards and made a jump towards some tentacles that were above of the ground earning a good damage (L. Tentacle HP: 1/3), and Goombella followed as well as she jumped on the same tentacle which manage to do good damage that the Blooper had to retreat that tentacle for a moment. The Blooper got angry and decided to attack with some of his right tentacles, but Mario manage to block it and notice that the attack wasn't that strong (Mario's HP: 15/15), but he saw another tentacle going for Goombella. Mario tried to get towards her in time, but Goombella successfully counterattack it by jumping high and avoiding the attack and she seize the opportunity to headbonk it in return (R. Tentacle HP: 2/3). Mario could only smirk as he saw the same right tentacle going towards him in hopes to surprise attack him. Mario manage to counterattack with his hammer as he swirled his hammer and whack him in a strong way that made the Blooper cringe in pain.
"BLOOOOP!" the Blooper couldn't hold his grip, and fall towards the ground as he was still in pain.
Both Mario and Goombella nodded as Goombella jumped in and headbonk the Blooper two times (Blooper HP: 10/12) making the blooper cringe in pain once again. Seeing that the Blooper was still in the ground, Mario decided to jump high, and take out his hammer as he descended with a powerful blow towards the face of the Blooper earning a great damage (Blooper HP: 6/12). Goombella followed as well as she landed another headbonk towards the Blooper to add the extra damage (Blooper HP: 4/12). The Blooper had enough and used all his strength to get up, and stand against the heroes once again. Mario saw this as he grip strongly his hammer and began to charge as the Blooper finally stood up, the slimy monster didn't have enough to react as the Hero in Red was already close towards him as Mario landed a powerful shot towards the gut of the blooper,
"BLOO-URRK! Bloougghh…" the Blooper cringed as he was about to faint. He tried his best to remain on the ground standing, but to no avail he collapse into the water earning a huge shake in the water just like in the ground.
"Phew…I wasn't expecting a Blooper here in the Sewers." Said Mario as he whip out some sweat and put away his hammer.
"Hey Mario! Look!" said Goombella as she pointed towards in front of her. Mario turned around and saw that four platforms came from the water acting as a bridge towards the lonely pipe. "We can get across now!" said Goombella all excited.
"Yeah! Let's hope it's the Warp Pipe that leads towards Petal Meadows." Said Mario. Both Mario and Goombella jumped across the platforms and finally made it towards the Warp Pipe. They saw that this Warp Pipe was different from the other regular Warp Pipes. This one was colored grey and had some flowers symbols on it.
"Whoa…this Pipe really is something." Said Goombella while inspecting the unique Warp Pipe.
"I never seen a Warp Pipe colored like this." Said Mario. He wasn't so sure, but there weren't many options when it comes to travel through Pipes. "Well we can't be sure unless we try it." Said Mario.
"You're right. Besides…we went through so much to just be this unsure now." Said Goombella.
"You're ready for this?" said Mario.
"You know it. Now let's rock!" said Goombella with a smirk.
"All right! HERE WE GOOOOO!" said Mario as he jumped through the Warp Pipe while Goombella followed as well.
Both Mario and Goombella were gone through the Warp Pipe finally starting the hunt towards the Crystal Stars with Petal Meadows being the location of the first Crystal Star. It seems that our heroes will face a lot of dangers as they know so far that Princess Peach could possibly be missing, but also there is the danger of those mysterious people looking for the Crystal Stars. Could they be related for the missing princess? Are they another group who only wants the treasure? What even is the legendary treasure that dwells behind the mythical door? Our heroes will learn more of their journey as they progress on their search for Princess Peach and the Crystal Stars not knowing…that the Princess could be in a greater danger…
Beyond…Beyond….