Chapter 6: Into Froodtail Castle
"Ah, what a glorious day out here! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and even the music is beautiful! …Wait, music?" Nebule was interrupted with his moment when he saw two Koopas jamming to some music on a radio. "Oh… So those guys are just listening to something on the radio. That's nice… I guess."
Although he didn't wish to interrupt the two Koopas that were having their "moment" with the radio, he was thinking maybe they might have something important to say, so he hid behind a large rock and began to listen in to what they were going to say.
"Aw, man! This music is the bomb!" one of the Koopas said while bobbing his head like some kind of idiot. "C'mon, man! Bob to this with me, will ya?"
"Errrrr… All right!" the other Koopa began to bob his head to the music, but he heard a loud, stomping sound from behind. "Gulp… I hope it isn't who I think it is… It better not be…him."
"That's right! It's me!" the two Koopas turned around to see a large, Bob-omb creature with yellow horns and angry-looking eyes that kind of resembled a bull. Its feet were also a green color.
"Aw, man! Don't tell me it's Big Bully! The nastiest bully that walks this land!" the other Koopa gulped as he turned around. He was knocked over and forced to hide in his shell while Big Bully laughed at it.
"Poor, poor Koopa! …Not! Anyway… How about we play a little game of 'Kick the Koopas into the Rock'? That sounds like quite an entertaining game to play! …For me, that is! Heh heh heh heh!"
"Whoa… That guy's huge!" Nebule gaped as he felt the rock he was hiding behind starting to crack. "Aw, man! This isn't good! If this rock breaks, then I might be next on this guy's list!"
Nebule carefully made his way away from the rock, but alas, it didn't work. Big Bully spotted him…but instead of charging at him, he went something like this…
"Hey you! Yeah, I'm talking to you, Guy-with-blonde-hair! You think you can barge in to my territory like that?!" Big Bully asked, trying to talk tough to Nebule, although he didn't look that scared.
"This is your territory?" Nebule gawked. "Wow… I've only brought this area to light just a couple of minutes ago and you come here telling me that this is your territory. …Not really a nice introduction here."
"Oh, so you're tryin' to diss me on how I run this place, are ya? I'm bettin' that ya wanna have a little scuffle! Oh, I'll give ya a little scuffle all right!"
"Listen I don't have time for…"
"You! Me! At the flagpole! Three o'clock! Be there, punk!" the Big Bully growled as he glared at Nebule with his bull-like eyes. Even though this guy was pretty big, Nebule had the Sword of Light, some bombs, and his Magic Bow. There was no way this guy could beat him! …Right?
"Look, I don't WANT to fight you… I need to go to that castle that's still corrupted in darkness and get the Grass Tablet. You'd rather have this land be free of all darkness, would you?"
"Grass Tablet? Darkness? I don't know what you're talkin' about! You're in MY territory! And I know for a fact that there is no darkness around here!" Big Bully laughed until Nebule took his leather off and slapped him across the face, making him enraged. "NOW you're asking for a fight, are ya?!"
Big Bully began to charge by moving its right foot across the floor. However, Nebule pulled a bomb out and threw it right at him, knocking him back from the explosion.
"What was THAT?!"
"Oh… That? It was a bomb I threw at you." Nebule smirked while tossing an unlit bomb up and town. "Now would you please let me move on? I don't have time to speak to someone such as yourself…"
"NEVER! One bomb isn't going to do much to me!" Big Bully charged yet again. This time Nebule used his sword and fired a light beam of energy at him, knocking him back and crushing the rock that Nebule hid behind. The two Koopas popped their heads and gaped at the unconscious Big Bully.
"Holy schizzle… That was…incredible!" a Koopa gaped.
The other Koopa went over to Nebule with a pen and paper. "Hey, kid… You're a hero! Can I… Can I have your autograph?"
"Ummmmm… OK!" Nebule took the pen and paper and began to sign his own name. However, he decided to add another thing. He wrote, 'Nebule, the guy who has the strange blonde hair and yellow eyes.'
"Oh, man! It's so cool to get your autograph!" the Koopa smiled, but his expression changed at the name. "…Your name is Nebule? What kind of name is 'Nebule' anyway?"
"Well, I'm not from here, so that's a simple explanation for you, if you actually wanted one…" Nebule trailed with an irritated look on his face. "Anyway… Do you know how I can reach the castle up ahead?"
"Castle?" the other Koopa squinted and saw a large castle covered in red skies. "You mean Froodtail Castle? Whoa… You actually plan on going there? Aren't you a bit…too young to be going around there? It's not a safe place."
"Uhhh… I was the one to restore light around here, so if I could do that, then I can explore the castle. I've even got a sword that can repel darkness, so I think I should be just fine."
"Errrmmm… OK, I guess we can't do much to stop you then. We'll let you through, I suppose." the two Koopas stepped out of the way and allowed Nebule to pass. He noticed a couple of bushes that some Goombas were hiding behind and even some Koopa Troopas with red shells and sunglasses were there as well.
"Well, time to test out my weapons on these guys," Nebule pulled a bomb out and threw it into the bush, causing the Goombas to be sent flying out of the bush. A Koopa got in its shell and tried to attack Nebule, but with a light beam from his sword, he managed to disintegrate it into smoke.
"Man! I don't know why, but this sword is pretty dang powerful! I can even shoot a beam from this thing! That makes it even better!"
Over by a tall pipe, a Piranha Plant popped out and began to spit fireballs straight at Nebule. He countered the fireball by using an ice arrow to freeze the Piranha Plant. The arrow looked like it was some sort of laser, from what he could see.
"Still, these Magic Arrows are REALLY nice. I can pretty much hit anything close to me or far from me. Though, while that's cool, I gotta keep going." Nebule jumped over the pipe and began to slash at enemies coming his way with his sword. It was until he got to a bush he got pretty tired.
"Sheesh! That was a lot of enemies to take care of!" he panted as he noticed up a hill was more darkness and red skies. But he instantly paused when he heard a loud, roaring sound. It sounded like it was near.
He gulped, but he was lucky enough to jump into the bush before Froodtail landed on the grass. The dragon was a gray color, and his teeth was flat compared to what you would really think of from a dragon. Along with that, his eyes were red, which did seem to make it look a bit…threatening.
"I suppose I should make my rest here," Froodtail spoke as he scanned the area. "Huh… It's a shame that there aren't any snacks for me to chow down on. Although, I suppose I can just go up to that bush over there and do something real quick. My stomach's starting to bother me a bit…"
"Oh, no! Don't tell me it's going to come over here and, well, you know!" Nebule gulped as he saw Froodtail get closer. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst. But when he heard the sound of munching, he opened his eyes and realized he was unharmed. "Huh? I'm OK? Then what did he eat?"
"Ah, that's much better," Froodtail sighed in relief. "Sometimes I need to eat some bushes to make my stomach feel a little better. Anyway, I better get going."
Froodtail spread its wings out and flew into the air toward the castle. Nebule got out of hiding and gawked at the huge dragon.
"Holy guacamole! That thing was huge!" he gasped. Heck, he even noticed that some enemies that were patrolling the ground were scared of the large beast as well. All he could do was watch the dragon fly into the castle ahead, up at the top in a large room.
"Well, then that must be where I need to go…" Nebule said to himself as he made his way toward the castle. "…I seriously need to stop talking to myself. It's not good for me…"
Taking a deep breath, he decided to follow the path ahead. Along the way, he saw a flying target with a Star Piece as a bulls-eye. Shooting it with an electric arrow caused a Star Piece to pop out and allow him to take. Afterward, he continued onward and to the darkness.
After some ways through the grasslands, Nebule finally made his way to the front entrance of Froodtail Castle, where the sky returned to its dark red color. The only problem was that the drawbridge was up and the black water below didn't look like it led anywhere. However, he did spot something sparkling in one of the bushes. Searching through it, he found some more Magic Powder. After he put it away, he brought his attention back to the castle entrance.
"There's gotta be a way through here…" he pondered as he looked at his surroundings. He knew for a fact that the sky was red and the castle itself was pretty dark, but he needed to find a way across, and fast.
He looked up at the drawbridge and noticed two chains holding it together. "Maybe if I shoot those with arrows, I'll be able to bring the drawbridge down. That's not such a bad idea!"
Readying his bow, he aimed for the chains on the drawbridge. With a fire arrow, he melted the chains and managed to make the drawbridge come down. Two Dark Dark Koopatrols with shields and swords happened to notice the drawbridge come down, to their surprise.
"What the heck?! How did the drawbridge come down when we didn't bring it down?!" one Dark Dark Koopatrol gawked as he looked at the drawbridge. He happened to notice that the chains were broken and that they were a bit hot.
"Whoa… I think I see it!" the other Dark Koopatrol said as he looked down at the chains. "Looks like someone broke them off! …But who in the world would do something like this?"
"Why don't you ask that kid with the blonde hair…" a Magikoopa suggested as he pointed at Nebule. "See that kid there? I think he's the one that's responsible for bringing this drawbridge down! Why don't we reward him for that?"
"Wha…? Oh! Good idea!" both Dark Koopatrols drew their swords and charged at Nebule, who pulled a bomb out and threw it toward the Dark Koopatrols. "…RETREAT!"
The Dark Koopatrols turned and fled from the bomb, but it was too late for them. Once the bomb exploded, they were sent flying off the bridge and into the dark waters down below, killing them.
"I find it strange that these Dark Koopatrols die from dark waters when they're corrupted by the darkness…" Nebule trailed.
Nevertheless, he began to cross the bridge, but the Magikoopa used his magic to summon two Dark Goombas to charge at him. However, when Nebule swung his sword, he made a beam of light energy strike the two Dark Goombas, killing them off. The Magikoopa was also disintegrated as well, which made Nebule a bit confused.
"It's so strange that these people disintegrate when they're struck with light… How strange…" he entered the castle and happened to notice a couple of Dull Bones lying on the ground. There were some stairs leading up to a door ahead, but there were also a couple of other doors around as well.
Pondering to himself, he decided to check the other rooms. The first door he checked apparently had nothing else but a table with a Dark Koopatrol helmet sitting there and some armor over by one of the walls. Apparently someone must've left it there, not that it was a huge ordeal to him. Luckily, there was a Star Piece behind the armor.
The next room he checked had a bunch of spike traps. It didn't look safe for him. Those leather boots of his would never get past those spikes, so he knew it was best to ignore the room and check the door across from where he was at.
This one apparently had a table, but with some leftover food. There were some buffalo wings that were chewed up and even some hamburgers that were bitten in half. A large ham was there as well, and it looked like someone took a large chunk of it. It certainly was from someone with such an appetite…
"Man… I don't know if I'm going to find anything important in these rooms." Nebule sighed as he opened the last door. He found it to be empty, with the corner having a pile of Dull Bones sitting there. Though he was not surprised, he jumped a little when the Dull Bones rose from the ground.
To make matters worse, the Dull Bones had attempted to grab his leg.
"Oh no you don't!" he slashed at it with his sword, changing to fire and destroying the Dull Bones easily. However, he got hit in the head by another Dull Bones that whacked him with its arm, but he spun his sword and killed off the other, making a treasure chest appear in the center of the room. "Wow... Is it just me, or does it feel like this story is ripping off something?"
Nevertheless, he kicked the chest open, and inside was a white key.
Item: Castle Key
Used to unlock doors sealed off with a lock. After unlocking a door, it can't be used again!
"OK, I guess I'll use this for a door…" Nebule left the room and went up to the main door up the stairs. It wasn't locked, but when he entered it, he saw a small hallway leading up to a locked door. "Oh… So that's why I needed the key…"
He opened the door with the key and walked into a room filled with a couple of chains to the wall. In the center of the room were two Dark Knights that were practicing sword combat. They didn't seem to notice Nebule walk into the room, however.
"OK… If I can just be completely quiet, I might be able to sneak past these guys…" Nebule thought to himself as he watched them fight. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to find anything around that could help him sneak…except for a barrel.
"So, you think you can escape my ultimate stab move?" the first Dark Knight smirked under his helmet as their swords clashed.
"What stab?" the second Dark Knight's armor got pierced by the first one's sword. It didn't go into his body, but he ended up slapping his friend in the face in a "gentlemen's" way.
"Wh-What the heck was that for?!"
"You STABBED my armor with that thing! Is that more to ask?!" While the two Dark Knight's began to argue, Nebule tried sneaking past the two knights by getting in the barrel and moving his feet. There happened to be a little hole for him to see through in case they ever look.
"Wait, was that barrel there earlier?" the first Dark Knight asked, pointing at the barrel.
"Yeah, it was there. Stop worrying about things."
"Well, it's just that… Wait, where'd it go now?!" the Dark Knight stopped when it saw that the barrel already went through the door. "Someone stole my barrel! We better go after them quick!"
"Wow, I can't believe I got past those two enemies!" Nebule smiled as he jumped out of the barrel and brushed himself. He took his sword out and noticed some stairs to his left and another door to his right. "Hmmmmmm… Which way to go? …Meh, I'll take the stairs."
When he made his way up the stairs, the two Dark Knights got to the barrel. "Whew! Thank goodness my barrel didn't move! I mean, I SLEEP in that thing! And…sniff…it's the only thing close to me."
"Yeah, you SURE love your barrel when you can sleep in a bed…" the other Dark Knight smacked its forehead as the first began to roll the barrel back, not even noticing that it was rolling over the second.
"WILL YOU SEE WHERE YOU'RE GOING ALREADY?!"
"Wow… Looks like someone got hurt." Nebule chuckled as he stopped at the locked door. "Aw, come on! Do they ALWAYS have to throw locked doors everywhere?! No fair!"
He sighed and took the other door instead. Nebule happened to notice nothing around the room except for some bones on the ground. Well, they were more like Dull Bones. Two Dark Koopatrols happened to notice Nebule's arrival.
"Halt! Who are you and why are you here?!" both Dark Koopatrols drew their swords and shields and aimed them at Nebule. "You are unauthorized to be in this place! Leave or be slain!"
"Ummmmm… No way!" Nebule retorted as he aimed his sword at the two Dark Koopatrols. "I came here for the Grass Tablet! There's NO way I'm going to let some scoundrels such as you guys stop me!"
"Oh, really? So you're one of the good guys? The Shadow Queen wanted us to keep the Grass Tablet safe from harm, so there's no point in just leaving you to get there! En guarde!"
Nebule swung his sword and fired a beam of light straight at the Dark Koopatrols, knocking them back toward the wall and even breaking through it. A bunch of barrels and pots happened to be in that room.
"No! He's discovered our secret room! …Right! CHARGE!" the two Dark Koopatrols charged with their swords, but Nebule rushed toward them and incinerated them with a couple of swings from the Sword of Light.
"Yeesh… This sword incinerates things?! That's…bad. Oh well." Nebule picked up the Castle Key one of them dropped and decided to take a look at the secret room. One thing for sure was that there were a bunch of barrels and pots.
He decided to spin his sword in order to break them all, but when he got to the last one, he happened to see it move a bit. So, instead of smashing it with his sword, he hit the top of the barrel with the handle of the sword, making it break. A red-shelled Koopa was revealed to be inside all huddled up.
"Huh?" Nebule gawked.
When the Koopa stopped its shaking, it looked up at Nebule, only to yelp and run away. Unfortunately, it was unaware of the wall it bumped into. Surprisingly, the Koopa was quick to get up, but it was immediately attempting to climb out through the window.
"Whoa, settle down!" Nebule suggested, lowering his arms. "I'm not going to hurt you!"
"You'll never take me alive! I know your kind! You're here to either kill me or put me in prison! NEVER!"
"But I'm infiltrating the castle!"
"I'll... Huh?" the Koopa stopped itself as it let go of the ledge and face Nebule to get a better look at him. "Come to think of it... You don't look like anyone evil. Then again, sometimes something good on the outside can be bad on the inside..."
"Well, I'm not that. I'm trying to get something called a Land Tablet from Froodtail."
"Fr-Froodtail?!" the Koopa stammered, shaking in fear just from the name. "You're... You're really going to face him?!"
"I have no other choice..."
"Well... In that case... Maybe you should take one of my Mushrooms. You know, just in case if you're low on health." the Koopa took out a fresh Mushroom and tossed it over to the blonde, who caught it in his two hands. "Don't ask where I got it from! I just wanna get outta here!"
In a panicky manner, the Koopa leaped out of the window and made a run for it back to Sunny Town. All Nebule could do was look at the Mushroom with a bewildered look before putting it away.
"That was strange... But I guess it's good that I have another Mushroom on me." Nebule smiled. "Anyway, I think I should get going..."
With that, he walked back into the previous room, only to find two Dull Bones on their feet.
"Oh, crud… I completely forgot about these guys…"
Both Dull Bones shrugged and threw bones right in Nebule's face. A red mark was left on his face, but it didn't stop him from charging toward the Dull Bones and slashing them with fire energy.
"Heh heh heh! This is so awesome!" he grinned as he looked at the fire aura around his sword.
After going up the stairs, Nebule began to whistle as he unlocked the door to the next room. He saw another staircase that appeared to look a bit broken down. However, there was something that looked like it could fit between the gap on the stairs. Of course, there was nothing he could really do at the moment, so he walked over to the door that a Dark Knight was guarding. With a couple of swings, he managed to incinerate the enemy easily.
Upon walking into the next room, he saw a little pool in front of him. The water look a bit clean, but at least it wasn't dark water, or else he would be in some big trouble by now. Two Dark Koopatrols had fishing poles as well.
"So, did ya catch something yet?"
"Naw, I didn't catch a dang thing, and it's getting real annoying. I've spent a while trying to catch a fish and we're getting nothin'!"
"Do you think it's because there aren't any fish in here?"
"...I never thought of that."
The latter Dark Koopatrol smacked its forehead, but its attention was drawn to Nebule when he entered the room. "Whoa! There's an intruder!"
They grabbed their fishing poles and tried to fight Nebule, but he was able to strike them down with a couple of slashes from the Sword of Light. Afterward, he looked down at the pool. He noticed a little underwater tunnel.
"Ugh… Do I REALLY need to go in that? Well... At least my species can survive underwater…"
He took a little dip in the water and noticed it was a little deep. When he went underwater, he looked all around him. He noticed a couple of bones left on the ground, but they looked like old bones. Surely there wouldn't be any monsters in the water…right?
"All right, I just need to be careful in the water…" Nebule moved his feet and began to swim through the tunnel. He was quite lucky that he didn't run into anything scary. All it was was some kind of tunnel.
When he got out of the tunnel, he noticed there were two more tunnels to his left and right. When he swam to the left one, he noticed a dead end, so he took the right passage instead.
After swimming through that tunnel, he could see the surface up above, so he immediately swam up into a small room with a small little yellow block with an arrow pointing up. A chest was right beside it. He gave the small block a little kick and felt some shaking occurring in another room, then he opened the chest to find a Castle Key and walked back over to the water.
"Hopefully that block had a purpose…" Nebule mumbled. "And let's hope this key does too."
After groaning, he swam through the tunnels again and returned to the previous room. He noticed to his right a locked door. Nebule decided to explore the room there, only to find nothing except for some empty chests and a mysterious gray mouse wearing a black mask.
"Uhhhhh… Excuse me, but who the heck are you?" Nebule asked as he stepped foot in the room. The mouse was about to jump out the window with his sack, but he turned his head and noticed Nebule.
"Oh, crud… I've been caught red-handed! ...All right, you can capture me if you want, but I'll probably be off anyway."
"I'm not one of those guys though," Nebule assured with a shake of his head. "In fact, I'm actually raiding this place to find some kind of Land Tablet! You know about those things?"
"Land Tablets? Well… I think I've heard of them from an ancient book I stole once. There are eight in all, and it shall open the way to a dark cave and to a portal that can take you to where you must go."
"A portal? I never knew about that… In fact, I didn't know a mouse thief would be around here! I guess I'll introduce myself, I suppose… My name's Nebule, the 'Chosen One' by the ancient people. Some people call me 'Blondie' for my blonde hair."
"Nebule? Blondie…? Meh, Blondie sounds better to me. You can call me Cheezit."
"Well that sounds weird…" he trailed as he scratched the side of his head. "Well, is there any way I can reach the top of the castle?"
Cheezit jumped on the windowsill. "Well, I do suppose there is a way to get up. There's a secret block in a pool in the previous room that can help you find a larger block. Remember that room with that gap in between the stairs? Well, if you go look there, you're bound to find something."
And with that, he jumped out of the window, leaving Nebule to grumble to himself. "And I already did that…"
Luckily for him, there were a few chests that were still not opened. Nebule opened one of them to find a Star Piece, and the other two contained a Mushroom and some more Magic Powder. Afterward, he started to backtrack.
"Well, I guess he was right!" Nebule climbed the stairs to the wall and found another staircase to his left. He walked up those to find a door up ahead to his left. Of course, there were two Dark Knights guarding the door.
"Hey! Your kind are not welcome here!" one of the Dark Knights roared as they both took their swords out and charged. However, they were wiped out with a single Sword Beam once Nebule swung his sword.
"Easy, typically," Nebule commented.
After Nebule took a quick breather, he entered the door up ahead and walked into another hallway. This time, there were a couple of Dull Bones lying on the ground and two Dark Koopatrols patrolling the hallway. The door up ahead, unfortunately, happened to be locked.
"Great… Another locked door. Just what I needed…"
"What? Who just said that?" a Dark Koopatrol whirled around and noticed Nebule's arrival. "Oh, geez! There's a kid in here!"
"Hey, I'm no kid! I'm thirteen!" Nebule gripped his sword and rushed at the Dark Koopatrol. He simply froze the Dark Koopatrol with a simple slash of ice energy and then shattered the enemy with a bomb. The other Dark Koopatrol looked a bit shocked, but he held no mercy and charged.
"Now you're going to get it now!" he growled, successfully hitting Nebule with his sword and leaving him to hold his arm in pain. But it didn't stop the boy from kicking the Dark Koopatrol in the stomach. The Dark Koopatrol recoiled when he tried kicking him in the stomach again and tried slashing him once again.
"Oh, I don't think so!"
Nebule blocked the Dark Koopatrol's attack and hit his head with his own, leaving him stunned. He finished off the Dark Koopatrol by firing a flaming Sword Beam at him, burning him to a crisp. Because it extended to the end of the hallway, the Dull Bones were swallowed by the flaming Sword Beam as well.
"Wow… I took out all of the enemies here! I feel…kind of proud." he smiled as he walked over to the door to the right on the wall. There wasn't anything in the room except for a little rope hanging from the ceiling.
"For some reason… This rope looks a little suspicious. But, I think it might be my only way in unlocking that door." Nebule grabbed a hold of the rope and pulled it. The problem? A trapdoor opened up below him and caused him to fall.
"Heh heh heh… Excellent!" the Shadow Hunter, Kagoushi, appeared and looked down at the trapdoor. "I've finally caught the hero right where I want him!"
"Hey! Is that who I think it is?!"
"That's right! It's me, Kagoushi!" the the Shadow Hunter cackled as he kicked a couple of Dull Bones down the trapdoor. "I thought I had a bit of time to do something before seeing the king and queen, so I thought I'd go check out the castle! Unfortunately, you won't be going anywhere now!"
"Well can you give me some food while I'm down here?"
"Heck no! You're on your own now!" Kagoushi walked away and left the room. Little did he know that the key in his back pocket ended up dropping into the trapdoor.
"Well this is just great… Now I'm stuck in this smelly prison." Nebule looked over by the rusty toilet, which looked rather…disgusting. "Augh! That smell smells like something my mom would sometimes make when I was younger! And I hate that smell!"
Before he could say anything else, a pile of Dull Bones landed on the ground, but they rose up and began to make their way toward Nebule. One took its arm off and threw it at his face.
"Oh, this is stupid…" Nebule slashed at the Dull Bones with some fire slashes and burnt them to a crisp. With them out of the way, he noticed a key drop. "Well… Looks like someone accidentally dropped their keys! Heh heh heh!"
Nebule looked up and frowned. "The only problem is… How on earth am I going to get out of this mess?"
He looked around in the prison cell for anything that could help. Some of the bone remains were still left, but there wasn't anything he could do about them. However, he DID see a switch outside of the prison.
"Hey! Maybe I can use one of the bones to get that switch pushed!" he threw a bone at the switch, which surprisingly made a ladder appear right by the trapdoor. "Well that's a coincidence. I never thought I'd see that here."
Nevertheless, Nebule climbed the ladder back up to the previous room he fell in and left that room as well. With the key in his hands, he walked over to the locked door at the end of the hallway and unlocked it.
"Now let's hope that the Grass Tablet isn't too far…"
He entered into the next room, which contained a small staircase leading up to upper ground. He saw another large arrowed block pointing up and also a small block that he remembered seeing back in that one room where he had to swim through those tunnels.
"Well, there doesn't seem to be anyone around here… So things should be fine. Although… This place seems very dirty." Nebule looked at all of the chains on the walls and even the skeletons that still remained. "Ugh… Well that's freaky."
He got onto the large block and fired a light arrow at the smaller block, making the large one move up to an upper floor and also to a little bridge. He took the door to the right into a room with a door up ahead on the ledge and even a couple of Dark Knights roaming around as well.
"Wow… A lot of enemies here…"
"Hey! There's someone here!" There happened to be a Dark Koopatrol in the room as well, who got himself ready by charging straight at Nebule while he was in a shell, knocking him back easily.
"Oof… That hurt…"
When he got up, he gripped his sword and unleashed a Light Sword Beam upon the Dark Knights, destroying them instantly by the light. When the Dark Koopatrol came toward him again, he got knocked over, but he managed to drop a bomb on his shell, blowing him up.
Now that the room was clear, he had to figure out how to get onto the ledge where the door was. There was no way he could get up there unless he was able to jump up. All he saw was a blue ! Switch over by the corner.
"Maybe that'll do something," Nebule fired a light arrow at it, which triggered four red ! Switchs to appear. What was strange was that there wasn't anything around that could help him…except for a crack in the wall below the ledge.
"Hey, what's that?" Looking at the cracked wall, Nebule threw a bomb in front of it and caused a part of the wall to explode. There happened to be a little sign hidden for some reason. Well, more like two, actually.
"Let's look at the first one," he checked to see what the first one read.
Those who wish to solve the puzzle of the four red blocks, hit them in the following order: 2, 4, 1, 3.
"Oh, that sounds easy!" Nebule read the other sign.
Those who wish to solve the colored block puzzle, this is your chance! Hit the blocks in the following order: lime, pale gray, brown, gray, black, and white.
"Strange block colors… But, it's not going to change a difference." Nebule walked over to the four blocks and hit them in the order that he was told to do so by the sign. This triggered a ladder to appear over by the ledge.
"…That doesn't look safe," Nevertheless, he climbed the ladder and headed through the door into the next room. All he saw was a staircase over by his left, so he simply walked up the stairs with no problem.
But then he reached another pair of stairs that he saw to his right. He simply walked up those stairs until he reached the top, where there was a door that had a couple of locks on it to prevent anyone from getting in. There were two Dark Knights guarding the door as well.
"Hey, is it really necessary to have so many locks AND guards at a door?!" Nebule gaped.
"No words can express how stupid that was," the first Dark Knight commented. "You didn't stay quiet. I'm disappointed in you."
"Disappointed? Why?" the second Dark Knight asked in a confused manner. "Aren't we supposed to kill him?"
"Uhhhh… Obviously!"
The two Dark Knights charged, but they were wiped out instantly when Nebule fired two light arrows at the. When that was done, the blonde noticed a lime, white, brown, gray, and black block.
"Well, what do you know? Better hit them in the order that that sign told me to hit them in!"
With that, he hit the blocks in the order he remembered seeing on the sign. This made the locks on the door pop off.
"There we go! Now I can finally move on!" Nebule grabbed a hold of the doorknob, but he felt a roar coming from the door. From that point, he knew he was close.
And surprisingly, that door ended up leading him outside onto a long, narrow bridge.
"So… I'm finally outside of the castle, huh? Well this should be interesting." Nebule took a couple of steps on the narrow bridge. He could see a couple of Dark Knights walking around. What was worse was that they also HAPPENED to be carrying ranged weapons as well. Yeah, that was a great start. "Well, I still have my arrows!"
He pulled out his ice arrows and froze some of the Dark Knights with them. He used a Flaming Sword Beam on them afterward to kill them off easily.
While he continued his way across the bridge, he decided to take a look at the view from this point of the castle. So far, he was pretty much at the top of the castle. He could even see the town far ahead. It was so beautiful…
But this place just had a dark sky. Plus, it was ugly around here.
"Eeeugh… I don't like this sky. This is why I want to grab that Grass Tablet. It's ugly here!"
When he reached the end of the bridge, he saw a spiral staircase that he was force to walk around. There were even some Dark Knights in there that he had to defeat with his sword in order to reach the top!
"Finally! I'm at the top!" Nebule made it to the top of the spiral staircase, where he found a jar, so he smashed it, revealing a blue Mushroom with spots called a Super Shroom.
Item: Super Shroom
It's even tastier than a regular Mushroom! Replenishes a moderate amount of health.
Nebule decided to chow down on it to recover some of his strength. He also happened to notice the large castle door he was facing. There was no roof to it, which was why he could hear roaring from in there.
"Wow… Someone must be cranky…"
He gulped and slowly walked over to the door. His arm began to shake as he grabbed a hold of the handle.
"Man… I can't believe I'm actually doing this!" Nebule thought as he slowly pushed the door open. "I mean, am I out of my MIND?! I've gotta face a DRAGON! Something that's ten times my size! It has the Grass Tablet that I need! What kind of challenge is this for a second tablet?!"
When he opened the door, Nebule finally stepped into the room.
Yay for me uploading a chapter of this story!
Yeah, I said before I would be able to update more frequently... But, it turned out to be a lie. Hey, I said I wasn't making any promises, so you can't be mad!
OK, joking aside, the next chapter might be interesting to some of you. Why? Well, it's a boss fight! That's right! We're finally getting to the first boss in the story! That should be a treat! ...If I manage to get the next chapter written up faster, that is. :P