I'm-a back! Sorry for the lateness. It's partly because I've been to China for 8 days and partly because I decided to ask for Beta-Reading this time. Thanks for your advice, AlwaysInADream! Anyway, Let's-a go!

The party ran across the grasslands. The familiar music played in the background, but none of the five heard it. Bowser proceeded to talk to the three Visitors in front of a warp pipe.

Bowser spoke up, "So what are these blobs?"

Ringo told him, "They're called Puyo."

Bowser struggled to form the word correctly, but after a dozen tries he could pronounce it perfectly.

"So, is 'Puyo' the singular or the plural?" Bowser asked.

Arle answered, "Both."

"They pop when four of the same color connect," Amitie added, "and we play games with them!"

Ringo cleared her throat. "Now that Amitie brought up the topic, I'll teach you the basics of Puyo."

"Wait a sec," Bowser interrupted. "Wasn't 'Puyo' the name for the blobs? Does it refer to the game too?"

Ringo answered, "Yep. Anyway, let's play Puyo!"

Ringo took out her iPod Touch and showed Mario and Bowser various diagrams and videos. She explained to them with words like, "This is the basic shape of chaining", "When you want to make a chain larger than 6", or "This formation is called 'Avalanche'."

Mario nodded to each sentence while Bowser turned his head sideways and crossed his arms at some parts he didn't understand, like how they pop when four connect.

"Well," Ringo said, "that's about it for now."

"Bowser," Mario suggested, "now that we know the ideas, why don't we try it in a real match?"

Bowser accepted the challenge. He roared out flames and shouted, "Show time!"

The two popped simple chains at each other. Mario used fireballs, ice balls, and ground-pound shock waves to enhance the attack. Bowser simply used his fire breath. Bowser's field was filled first. Mario jumped, twirled, and bowed while taking his hat off.

"Great game!" Arle clapped.

Amitie asked, "Mario, are you an elemental magic user? And Bowser, dragon magic?"

They both said, "What?"

Arle explained, "When we play Puyo, we use magic to enhance our attacks. For example, I'm an elemental, so I use 'Fire', 'Ice storm', etc. Some people I know use martial magic, sword magic, and others."

"I'm an Elemental too, so I use Flame, Blizzard, and Lightning Bolt," Amitie added.

Ringo also said, "I don't use magic, but I use trigonometry-related words like sine, cosine, tangent, integral, and permutation."

The two stared at each other and Bowser shrugged in his shell.

"Some friends," added Amitie, "use astronomical magic, sweets magic, and blue magic. My teacher uses musical magic." (For people who are wondering who she is talking about, she means Klug, Lemres, Sig, and Ms. Accord respectively.)

Ringo stated, "My friend, Maguro, uses names of kendama tricks, and my clubmate, Risukuma, says 'I love you' in various languages."

Mario and Bowser were puzzled. They looked at each other in confusion. Magic? Mario thought. That's a new idea introduced in this mushroomverse.

Mario, finally recovered, suggested, "Anyway, all I can say is, let's-a go through that pipe."

"A sewage pipe...?" Ringo remarked. "I sense a lack of hygiene here..."

The group of five dived in the green pipe, not knowing how much danger was awaiting at the other end...

Hmm... Tension! To find out what happens next, leave a review! Remember, 1 review, 1 new chapter. So, see you next time!