Hello all! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, wait no longer, TGYR is back and continuing this story. I'm new and (hopefully) improved, so let's begin!

Arrival in Rogueport

It's dark in here… Are you sure we should go in?

Of course! All those stories are just, well, stories! There's nothing to worry about.

Well… If you say so…

"Laddy! Wake up laddy! We've almost made it t' the town!"

Goombrawl jerked awake, startled both by his dream and the captain's shouting. He looked around the cabin. The last time he looked around it, it had been nearly pitch black, and he was tired from being beaten so badly. But now, the sun was shining through the doorway and he was well rested. He could see now that the room was very sparsely decorated. There was a picture of the ocean on one wall, and a porthole on the opposite one. There was a nightstand between the two beds, with a small lamp resting on top. The captain, a Bob-omb with an eye patch and a ship's wheel instead of a clockwork key, was still standing in the doorway, strangely not put off by the Goomba's odd skin. Goombrawl kicked back the blankets, shrugging off his strange dream.

"Err…" Goombrawl began, hopping out of the bed. "Thanks for waking me… Do you know where my friend is?"

"Ya mean th' Toad who carried ya on board?" The captain replied. He gestured behind him with his fuse. "He's up on th' deck. He seems happy to be goin' t' the town. Odd, seein' as not a soul I've met has ever wanted to go to this town..." Before Goombrawl could even think of a question to ask in response, the captain turned and walked out of the cabin.

Goombrawl followed him, scanning the sea. Ahead, he could see the outline of Rogueport quickly growing as the town approached. He walked around the edge of the boat, never taking his eyes off the town. But before he could even get halfway, he heard a familiar voice that made him remember why he was on the ship in the first place.

"Goombrawl!" Mush shouted, running up to him. "I'm glad you're up! We're so close to Rogueport, and we still have three hours before the prelims start! I am SO PUMPED UP!" He pumped his fist into the air a few times. The Goomba struggled to hold in his laughter.

"Yeah Mush, I know." He replied. "But we need to be on our toes. With a million coins as the prize for this competition, there's gonna be some pretty tough fighters out there."

Mush looked at his companion thoughtfully. He hadn't really thought about the other competitors. He just assumed that they would make it through the preliminaries and on to the actual tournament. His thoughts were interrupted when the shadow of the town of Rogueport suddenly blocked the sun.

"LAND HO!" called the captain, stopping the ship and dropping the anchor. "All ashore who's goin' ashore!" He hopped down from the ship, followed quickly by Mush, Goombrawl, and several other passengers who had not left their cabins during the trip. Mush and Goombrawl looked around at the beat up dock.

"Geeze…" Mush said, looking at the many Toad and Bob-omb sailors who were walking around, talking, and arguing all around the dock. "This place looks really bad… Like, worse than my place even…" He and Goombrawl walked down the path and up the stairs into the town square.