Chapter 2-1: Cacti and Cowboys

Dimentio's attack made everyone wonder. What did he hope to accomplish by killing Bleck's minions? Hopefully, they could continue to fend him off while our heroes were away. They had collected two Pure Hearts so far, and now they were on their way to find the third. What awaited them behind the orange door? "I'm feeling kind of hot..." complained Tippi as they stepped into the new dimension.

A line was drawn.

Joining this line were a few others, pairs of lines that formed the bases of cacti. Needles were drawn on the cacti, giving them an intimidating appearance. Crooked lines were drawn on the ground, making it cracked. The sky was barren except for a few small clouds that were not going to rain anytime soon. Dull tan filled the parched ground, the cacti became green, and the sky took on a light blue hue that indicated it was midday. Small weeds appeared in cracks in the ground. The orange door was drawn into existence, and the heroes stepped out into the desert.

"Looks like we're in the middle of a desert," observed Tippi.

Bowser was about to say You just figured that out? but he changed his mind at the last second.

"The Pure Heart should be somewhere around here..." mused Tippi.

"Which direction should we go?" asked Mario.

Before Tippi could respond, everyone heard the sound of hooves pounding. Dust appeared in the air, and a large brown horse stopped in front of them.

"Are y'all lost?" came a voice from above the horse. Our heroes looked, and on the horse was a full-blown cowboy, complete with hat and lasso.

Tippi spoke. "Well...we're looking for something called a Pure Heart. I can sense when it is near, so I guess we aren't really lost."

"Really, then. Well, I reckon y'all should come to town. We've got refreshments and everything you need to continue your journey." He pointed. "It's over in that direction. Well, see y'all later! Giddyap!" He sped away on the horse.

"Well, do you think we should try to reach the town?" asked Tippi. "Or should we focus on the Pure Heart?"

"I say we go for the town," suggested Bowser. "I'm burning over here!"

"Me too," agreed Luigi. "We'll be able to rest there before resuming our quest."

"The town it is, I guess. Let's go."

Our heroes began walking in the direction of the town. After a while, they began to feel very hot and dry. "I'm glad we decided to travel to the town," said Peach. "I don't know if I can survive the trek without water."

"I would've collapsed on the spot," said Luigi.

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When the town came into view, our heroes were even more glad they had decided to walk there. They walked past townspeople, bought some water at a store, and sat down outside to refresh themselves.

"This hits the spot!" exclaimed Bowser

Tippi noticed something. "Well..." she started, "I think coming here was a good thing in more ways than one. I sense that the Pure Heart is closer here. Maybe we should ask the townsfolk if they've seen it."

"Really?" asked Peach. "Sounds like a good idea."

When they were finished with their water, Tippi spoke again. "We should split up. Mario, you can search from the edge of town to the saloon. Luigi, you should take the saloon to the general store..." She continued assigning parts of the town to the heroes. "...and I'll take the rest."

"We should meet back here at a certain time," pointed out Luigi.

"Oh, yes. Let's come back here in...half an hour, is that good? Yes, that's plenty of time. Well, I'll see you all then."

Tippi and the heroes split up and went to their respective parts of the town to ask.

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"Excuse me," said Mario to a passing resident. "Have you seen or heard about a glowing heart-shaped object?"

In fact, I have," he replied. "Just recently it appeared here in town, out of thin air. But then...there's this group of troublemakers who live over there." He pointed. "They call themselves the Ruff Ruffians. They rode into town, took it, and carried it to their hideout."

"So these Ruff Ruffians took it? It is something I need, so...thank you."

Though they had been given half an hour, Tippi and our heroes felt the urge to return after only a few minutes.

"It's over there!" Mario blurted out, since no one else had said anything. He pointed. "I talked to a few people, and they said it was right here in town. These guys that call themselves the Ruff Ruffians took it. Their hideout is over there."

"That's exactly what I heard!" agreed Tippi.

"Me too!" excalimed Luigi. "So we should go look for these Ruff Ruffians?"

"Well, if their name is any indication, they could be dangerous," explained Peach. "We may have to fight them for the Pure Heart."

"Dangerous?" scoffed Bowser. "There's no such thing as dangerous when I'm around!"

"Why would they want the Pure Heart, anyway?" asked Mario. "Last time I checked, 'Ruff' guys would never associate themselves with heart-themed objects."

"I was thinking about that, too..." said Tippi. "Why would those guys want it in the first place? They thought they could sell it for good money? Or something?"

"If they were going to sell it, wouldn't they have already done it?" asked Peach. "If they brought it back with them, it doesn't seem like they wanted to sell it."

"That's a good point..." Tippi thought for a while. "Well, I can't think of any reason they would want it, other than if they just liked it and wanted to keep it...which doesn't seem likely."

"Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter," said Bowser. "We'll just find those guys, kick their butts, and get the Pure Heart."

"If we have to fight them, that is," said Peach. "If we can get it from them without getting into a fight, that would be good...but I know, it doesn't sound likely. So we go for their hideout?"

"Right," agreed Tippi. "Let's go."

By now, the sun had shifted into a mid-afternoon position. The heat was even worse than when our heroes had been walking to the town. "It's a long walk," announced Bowser. "Why don't we get some more water?"

"Sounds good," agreed Mario. They did just that.

"OK, are we ready?" asked Tippi once they had reached the edge of town.

"We're ready," assured Mario.

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Our heroes, once more, walked across a stretch of desert, barren except for cacti, tumbleweeds and other small prickly plants, and the occasional lizard. They drank from their water frequently to avoid dehydration. "Come on, where's the place?" complained Bowser. "We should pick up the pace."

"If we go any faster, we're going to die from heat stroke," cautioned Peach. "It's best to take it slow and steady in the desert."

They were quite relieved when the headquarters of the Ruff Ruffians came into view. It looked quite large.

-END OF CHAPTER-