Mario and Luigi: A Superstar Story

Chapter 7: Hoohooros, Guardian of the Mountain

Mario and Luigi were ambushed by a pair of Beanies and a Dry Bones after they went to the east.

"Luigi! Let's try our new Advanced Commands here!" Mario requested.

"Sure, why not?" Luigi agreed.

"Splash Bros…" Mario started off with a normal Splash Bros on the Dry Bones, but while Mario was spinning in the air, he suddenly stopped while shouting "ADVANCE!" and then dropped on to Luigi, who pushed him back into the air, and he continued spinning in the air until he was directly over the Dry Bones. Then he propelled himself downwards like a drill, and destroyed that Dry Bone, taking off 12HP, which was more than enough to defeat it.

"Wow…" Luigi said, overwhelmed by the power of the Advanced Command as he dodged a Beanie. "I'd call that Drill Bros or something like that."

"Drill Bros…I like that." Mario asked as he counterattacked a Beanie. "Now, let's see yours!"

"Erm…Bounce Bros…" Luigi said nervously as he flapped in the air and Mario latched on to him. "ADVANCE!" The Bros, connected so that Mario was grabbed Luigi's legs, and they turned upside down, sprung off the floor and separated, flying at a Beanie each, not quite defeating them, but taking off 3HP off each of them.

"I like it!" Luigi cheered. "Disperse Bros! That's what I'm calling it!"

"Good job, Luigi!" Mario supported while finishing off one of the Beanies.

"Thanks, bro!" Luigi thanked as he counterattacked…and finished the other Beanie.

"Now, where should we go…" Mario thought as he picked up a dropped Mushroom and Woo Bean. "Let's go into that hole-like area!"

They jumped off the ledge, landing on a Beanie, and then jumping on the first one again, defeating it (getting a "Lucky!" as well) and counterattacking the other Beanie who tripped. Luigi finished that one off.

Mario headed east, saw a Beanie, and decided to pummel it.

One painful (at least for the 2 Beanies and their friend Dry Bones) pummelling later, Mario and Luigi jumped up from the hole-like area, and climbed the ledges near where they entered from, where Luigi read a sign.

"Whirlwind Warning. If you have faith in your spin, step into the wind." Luigi read. "Hey, that's kind of catchy!"

Mario and Luigi decided to Spin Jump into the whirlwind, and they went zooming into a low ledge on a large ledge.

"Ouch! A warning next time when there's going to be something in our way while we're spinning!" Luigi cried.

The Bros went east again, turned 90o anti-clockwise, and saw a Hoohooligan on fire.

"Look, bro! That dude's on fire!"

"We have to douse those flames!" Mario shouted as they jumped back west on higher ground.

"Another guy on fire! Doesn't anyone know not to play with fire?"

Mario went past the guy, and drank from the watering hole…and got bloated from all the water.

"Bro! Don't go chubby on me!" Luigi cried, pushing his water-filled brother towards a sign.

"Beware of over-hydration! If over-drinking symptoms appear, stomp on the victim's head. Spitting excess water on objects in this area is strictly prohibited." Luigi read aloud. He then shoved Mario in front of the burning Hoohooligan, and jumped on him. Spit came pouring out of Mario, dousing the flames, and revealing the burning creature to be a statue.

"Wow. It was a statue. So maybe the other one was too?" Mario deduced when all the water came out.

The statue caused a whirlwind to emerge near a face on the wall, which the Bros decided was their way up, and jumped to level ground with the whirlwind (though Mario noticed a item block, and snagged a Syrup happily from it as they did so), spun and hit the whirlwind. They flew further, and hit hit a couple of blocks while getting to the other side. After getting 19 coins off of a Bros Block on the other side, they High Jumped up a few ledges, and went north.

"Beanie!" Mario said as he attempted to maul the poor creature, but was boned by a Dry Bones on the field and ended up fighting its friend and a Beanie. "At least I still get to destroy one…"

Mario smashed on to the Beanie, doing a 1HKO. Then the Dry Bones both sent their heads at Mario, making him lose 6HP altogether. They both jumped on the first Dry Bones, then counterattacked it, and did the same with the second. Luigi did Disperse Bros, but didn't split up and finished the second Dry Bones. Mario then jumped on the first one and finished it.

"Finally! Level 6 at last!" Mario sighed, getting +3 Attack. "Time to get that Beanie!"

Mario jumped on the Beanie, then sighed and finished off the Dry Bones. Luigi noticed this and knew Mario wanted to end this quickly. Mario dodged a Beanie, and got hit by the other. Luigi did Disperse Bros, and finished off both Beanies.

"I deserved that. Yes, a well-deserved level up!" Luigi cheered as he got +3 Defence.

Mario saw a watering hole, drank some water, and waddled in front of the Blazing Hoohooligan Statue. Then Luigi jumped on him, and he blasted the statue, cooling it down and starting another whirlwind. The Bros went back to the left, climbed the ledges and Spin Jumped into the whirlwind, landing on a very high ledge, and walked right…until they suddenly fell off and into the face of a Beanie.

Mario jumped on the Dry Bones, and the Beanies were counterattacked. Luigi defeated a Beanie with a jump, and Mario counterattacked a Dry Bones, and defeated it. Then Mario gladly finished off the last Beanie, and picked up a Woo Bean.

Mario then rushed at the Dry Bones on the field, and he called a friend and a Beanie.

Mario did Drill Bros on the first Dry Bones, and Luigi was hit by a Beanie. Luigi did Splash Bros, and finished off the other Dry Bones. Then Mario happily crushed the Beanie, and picked up another Woo Bean and a Mushroom. Then they headed back to the watering hole, and Mario waddled towards the area to the right again.

He stopped in front of another Blazing Hoohooligan Statue, and let loose his water on it. It cooled down, and another whirlwind was formed. Then they ran back to the ledge near the first whirlwind, then Spin Jumped into it, and then on to a ledge to the right. They ran a bit, and Spin Jumped into the second whirlwind.

Luigi bashed the "!" Block, which started another watering hole somewhere else.

Mario and Luigi missed an item block, and after they defeated the Dry Bones and his cohorts, Mario told Luigi to wait by that watering hole that wasn't going earlier.

. . .

"I got it." Mario confirmed. "But I forgot what I got."

"Figures."

Mario got bloated from the water again, and dropped over to the Blazing Hoohooligan Statue. Luigi jumped on him, and cooled down the statue, starting another whirlwind.

They Spin Jumped into it, and Mario suddenly had the urge to drop out of the whirlwind and defeat the Dry Bones below on the bridge, which Luigi told him not to, but he couldn't help it, and dropped.

"It'll be quick! I promise!"

. . .

Mario quickly defeated the Dry Bones on the field, getting a Mushroom in the process, and then they spun across the whirlwinds again, and they High Jumped up a few ledges, hitting two blocks and getting a 1-UP Mushroom and a few coins. Then they headed east.

"Look at that thing!" Luigi cried, pointing at a thing nearby.

"Ah. Travellers. I am Hoohooros. The ancient weapon of the Hoohoo civilization." Hoohooros said. "Beyond this point, the path grows even crueller. You must prove yourselves up to the challenge… Dare you try this challenge?"

"As long as it doesn't have a second part to it, like oh, a battle or something, I'm in." Mario answered.

. . .

"You must start now. And you must catch 10 Hoohoo Spirits within 30 seconds! Do not fall of the ledges, or you will immediately fail."

"Hear that, Luigi? Don't fall down." Mario said, heavily directed a Luigi.

. . .

"LUIGI! You fell down…"

"Sorry, it's not my fault I'm the better jumper, with less control." Luigi explained.

"OK, let's do it again."

. . .

"00:00:31 remaining! You have cleared the challenge!"

. . .

"…Now, for your next challenge." Hoohooros began. "YOU MUST DEFEAT ME!"

Hoohooros changed from orange to gray, and attacked the Bros.

"Let us begin!" Hoohooros shouted, hiding under one of two pillars near him.

Mario hastily jumped on the pillar on the right, which revealed Hoohooros. He went underground, and hid under the pillar on the left, and during this, the pillar on the right appeared again, shooting a laser at Luigi. He dodged it, and another laser came at Mario, who also dodged it.

"We have to predict his movements if we want to put the hurt on him!" Luigi explained. "I'm going to break the pillar he isn't in. You break the other."

"Got it!"

Luigi smashed the pillar on the right, and Mario did the same for the left, revealing Hoohooros again. Hoohooros moved to where the right one used to be, realizing he had been duped, and the pillar he used to be under reappeared and shot a laser at Mario, who dodged it. Luigi broke the new pillar, and Hoohooros shot a laser, which missed Luigi, but hit Mario, making him lose 6HP. Mario was annoyed, and did Splash Bros on him, draining 18HP out of Hoohooros. Luigi then did Bounce Bros, and only took 5HP out of him.

Hoohooros moved to where the pillar on the left used to be, expecting it to come back up, but the pillar that used to be where he was reappeared instead, and he shot a laser at the Bros in rage. It hit Luigi, making him lose 4HP and have only 18/22HP, and Mario got hit again, leaving him with a third of his 18HP.

Mario did Drill Bros this time, taking 16HP out of Hoohooros. The pillar then zapped 1HP out of Luigi, and Luigi fought back by doing Disperse Bros on both the pillar and Hoohooros. The pillar broke, and Hoohooros loss 3HP.

Hoohooros did exactly what he did before, making the same mistake and being wide open for attacks. Mario dodged his laser attack, but Luigi lost 4HP from it. Mario then performed Splash Bros on Hoohooros again, him losing another 18HP, defeating him.

"Lucky Seven! Woo!" Mario cheered while picking up a 1-UP Mushroom and choosing Defence, getting a +3 stat boost in that. "I need to be able to take some more hits."

"You have passed this test, too! Now you must face the test of reaching the summit!" Hoohooros boomed, causing a ledge to pop out and symbols near it to light up, allowing the Bros to continue going up. They High Jumped to that ledge, then up to the one to the right, and they Spin Jumped to a very high ledge that they couldn't reach otherwise, and Mario raided the block for its Syrup.

"I love Syrup." Mario state happily.

Then they repeated the same steps except on the left side to nab a Mushroom.

"I love Mushrooms too." Mario added to his earlier statement as they High Jumped back to the left side. Then they High Jumped on to gap in the mountain wall, and proceeded on.

Mario struck the nearby Beanie with his foot, leaving it on the brink of being defeated. Mario jumped on the Beanie and defeated it. Only then did he notice the Rex behind it. Luigi slowly and nervously approached it, and jumped on it. The Rex growled, and ran into Luigi, making him lose 2HP. Another round of jumps from the Bros finished it off, and Luigi collected a Woo Bean from the remains.

"Phew, level up!" Luigi cheered as he levelled up. "+3 POW? I don't need to be THAT offensive.

"Take what you get, Luigi, take what you get." Mario quoted as he lunged at a Dry Bones.

Mario weakened the Dry Bones, then Luigi mauled it into the ground. Mario and Luigi exchanged a high-five, until they were feeling glares from two Rexes.

"You hurt our friend. We hurt you." A Rex boomed loudly.

Mario and Luigi were trampled. This got Mario annoyed, and he called Luigi for Drill Bros, and knocked out the first Rex. Luigi then let his foot do the work as he hit the second Rex. That Rex didn't get defeated and rammed Luigi, but Mario wasn't happy with him for hurting Luigi, and put the hurt on him with Drill Bros too.

"Ah! Sorry! We give you sacred drink. We give you Syrup as sorry." The Rexes said.

"You guys are awesome!" Mario chirped as he chugged a Syrup and stored the other.

They Spin Jumped past the Blazing Hoohooligan, and landed on some stairs, which they Spin Jumped off of again, and landed on a ledge, where they High Jumped up to the right, and saw a not activated watering hole. Luigi looked down from the high ledge and saw a block.

"Please tell me you have something to hit that block with, Mario." Luigi said.

Mario rummaged through his overalls, until he found something.

"It's a Dusty Hammer. I found it in the basement, and decided to take it with me because I thought we may need it...and it was cluttering up the basement anyway." Mario explained as he chucked it at the block to the right. It hit the block, bounced in the air and hit the wall, then it hit the Syrup that came out of the block into Mario's hands and it fell to the block below. It struck it perfectly, and the watering hole was activated.

"Good job, bro! You saved us from backtracking!" Luigi cheered as Mario drank the water (after storing his Syrup). He waddled around the mountain, landing in a kind of hole, and climbing some stairs till they saw their fiery friend. Mario spat at him, and a whirlwind formed. They whirled on to a high ledge, and High Jumped to a higher ledge north of them. They climbed some steps and Mario jumped, smashed a block and claimed a Syrup which he stashed away.

Then they continued their long trek up the mountain, unaware of what would happen once they reached the top…


Boss chapter next time! Can't say it's much of a memorable boss to me, but it's still something to look forward to. :D