Like the few who actually seem to care about this story, the characters are getting really restless.

Misstar groaned. "No KIDDING! Twila and I have been looking for our second clue for YEARS, and we haven't found it yet, thanks to you!"

Well… Can I use the fact several characters had to leave for a while to star in Super Paper Mario, Super Mario Galaxy and Dairantou Smash Bros. X / Super Smash Bros. Brawl and other games as an excuse?

(That also means that this story is quite out-of-date, since the Wii wasn't even out when I started it...)

"That's a crummy excuse," Daisy muttered. "I can't believe they chose Peach over me! I'm WAY cooler than she is!"

Hey, Mario Party 8 has come out in the mean time, too, hasn't it? You were in that, Daisy...

Of course, the two princesses refused to listen. "Oh, shut up! One of my color choices in Brawl looks like you!" Peach retorted.

"Yeah, but it isn't me. I'm just a crummy trophy!" Daisy stuck out her bottom lip in an overly dramatic pout.

…Uh, anyway, before they get too deep into conversations about various games, or before the two princesses start whaling on each other Brawl style, let's get back to the treasure hunt. Since Misstar was complaining, and was a bit more patient than either princess, she and Twila will be featured first!

Also, I haven't played Super Mario 64 or any of its incarnations in a while, and don't remember the layouts of the levels, which is why I'm not detailing anything in the stages. I'm too lazy to go and play it again right now. P

DAZZLING DAMES

"Well, we've had plenty of time to study each and every window in this castle," Twila said, absent-mindedly waving her wand a little as she stared at a certain window. She looked really bored. "And, voila, I found our clue."

"Which window is it in?" Misstar asked.

"The big window of Peach in the foyer," Twila said. "I spotted it about, oh… four months ago, I think. Maybe longer. Would you mind getting it, Misstar?"

"Certainly!"

Misstar flew up to the window and grabbed the piece of paper. "Could you imagine how hard it would be for someone who can't fly to get a clue up here?" Misstar asked on her return.

Twila laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if that old geezer Toadsworth did that on accident. I hope they have good ladders around here."

"So… let's see what this is," Misstar said as she unfolded the paper. "' A sandy beach… too bad it's cold and hazy.'"

"Cold and hazy? That doesn't sound very nice," Twila said.

"This must be one of the worlds in the painting. I guess we should look for one with, um… a beach."

"Yeah. Let's go!"

FANTASTIC FOOD FANATICS

They'd finally found their second clue, tucked in the frame of a portrait of Mario, which hung inside of a tiny room next to the princess's rec room. "Look! Look!" Birdo held up a piece of paper. "I found something!"

"Finally!" Yoshi ran to join her. "It figure, we find clue at very last portrait in castle, right?"

"…Actually, I swear this portrait wasn't here the first time or two we went in this room." Birdo shrugged. "Maybe it's just me. Anyway…" She unrolled it and read it aloud. "'Stand Tall! Be Huge!'"

"Awawawah!" Yoshi cried in disbelief. "Yoshi not have any magic mushrooms! What this mean?"

Birdo shrugged again. "I have no idea."

"Maybe look for painting with mushrooms," Yoshi suggested. "Mmm...mushrooms...Yoshi hungry."

Birdo sighed and rolled her eyes and she and Yoshi made a beeline for the kitchen. It was amazing that the kitchen still had food in it after all this time. Perhaps the food magically replenished itself. Or maybe Yoshi was eating kitchen fixtures--and perhaps kitchen servants--and mistaking them for food. You could never tell with him.

CUTE COUPLE

"You really want me to jump in there?" Daisy asked, eying the shiny pool of oily liquid just inches away from her feet.

"Yes. This must be where our next clue is," Luigi told her, surprised that she would be so reluctant to take such a daring action. Usually Daisy was the first one to offer to risk her neck for some crazy, dirty task.

Not when she's wearing an expensive dress, I guess...

"Really?"

"Yes."

"...Really?"

"...Yes."

"Honestly?"

"For the last time, yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!!"

Daisy didn't get say more because a violent, unseen force (with an evil laugh) pushed her from behind and made her land in the "pool" with a great SPLASH! She vanished under the oily surface.

"Daisy!" Luigi yelped as he dashed in after her.

At least that problem was solved...

"Ha ha! Great one, Wario!" Waluigi was doubled over and clutching his sides. "She'll be whining about that for a WEEK!"

Wario grinned and flexed his biceps. "Gwa ha ha! These babies are great for anything!"

"Now, to find that submarine. You don't think it's in there, do you?" Waluigi asked, pointing to the oily water.

"It ain't there. I dunno how I know, but I know." Wario ran up the short staircase and pointed to the door. "Come on, loser! To the submarine!!"

"...If only you knew where it is," Waluigi grumbled.

WISE AND STUPID

It was nothing short of a miracle that these two found their first clue. Or, rather, that Eldstar was able to find the clue while trying to keep Belltop of trouble. While the clue itself wasn't hard to find, what happened afterward was a complete catastrophe. Belltop decided to jump into the portrait, so Eldstar had to chase him through Lethal Lava Land before they were able to continue.

The main problem was that Belltop repeatedly jumped into the flaming hot lava. Why he did that at all was a complete mystery. Why he did that multiple times was something Eldstar couldn't even fathom. To top it off, Belltop was completely incapable of swimming. Therefore, every time he jumped in, Eldstar had to fly over to him, grab him, and drag him out of the lava.

By the time Eldstar FINALLY managed to get them out of Lethal Lava Land, he was totally exhausted. Belltop, however, didn't have a single scratch or burn on him, despite the fact that he'd spent a lot of time in lava so hot that it should have melted his metal.

It wasn't until after the ordeal was over that Eldstar finally opened the envelope and read their clue. "'Go to the magic carpet in the land of rainbows!' That sounds nice, doesn't it, Belltop? ...Belltop?"

With horror Eldstar realized that Belltop was nowhere to be seen, and the portrait into Lethal Lava Land was rippling again.

"Whose bright idea was it to create a robot that stupid, anyway?" Eldstar muttered to himself as he dove into portrait to retrieve Belltop for a second time.

FORMER INSTRUCTORS

All their excitement at finding their first clue (which turned out to be located under the small portrait to Tiny Huge Island, which they found when Toad tripped over it) was quickly tampered when they actually read it. "'Watch for the Chain Chomp. He might awaken.'"

"Ch-chain Chomp?" Tumble asked nervously after Toad read the clue. "Those cannonballs on chains that think they're dogs?"

Toad gulped and nodded. "The princess keeps several as pets for some weird reason. They'll eat pretty much anything, even servants!"

Tumble groaned. "Great, I thought our greatest danger would be those piranha plants we were talking about!"

"Or having to duel..."

"Or having to trade coins with a team who has no coins!"

"Or the roof caving in!"

"We should add 'hungry Chain Chomps' to our list of bad things!" Tumble said.

"I know of a painting where the princess keeps one chain chomp that likes to sleep," Toad continued. "She usually makes Toadette feed it, but sometimes Toadette makes me do it. Come on! Let's go!"

DEAD AND LOVIN' IT

"Did you find it yet?"

"Nah, nothin' yet... Geez, do all clocks look like this inside?!" Dry Bones wondered as he clung to a platform near one of the pendulums. The narrow platform was the only thing keeping him from falling into oblivion. They'd searched nearly every square inch of Tick Tock Clock, but hadn't found anything.

"I don't think so... Oh no!! Dry Bones! LOOK OUT!!"

But, too late: Koopa Troopa covered his eyes in horror as Dry Bones lost his footing and fell off the platform. A giant number "2" appeared on the screen and then turned into a "1," an evil Bowser laugh sounded out of nowhere, and Dry Bones magically appeared back at the entrance of the clock, which was near where Koopa Troopa was standing.

"Looks like I've still got one life left," Dry Bones said. "Say, why don't you try? I don't wanna get another game over."

"Why are our lives counted like that, anyway? Isn't Mario the only one who can die like that?"

Dry Bones shrugged. "Beats me."

A further search of the clock (and several more lost "lives") ended up in failure.

"Did someone steal our clue?!" Koopa Troopa wailed.

Dry Bones thought for a moment. "Actually, there's another section of the clock they use for races. My cousin told me 'bout it. There's a pendulum there, ain't there?"

"Uhh... I dunno... Maybe?"

"Let's go check it out," Dry Bones suggested. "It's gotta be there!"

PERFECTLY PINK

"La-dee-da-dee-da-da-da, la-dee-da-dee-da-da-da, la-dee-da..."

"Do you mind?!" Toadette exclaimed, fed up with Peach's humming of the carousel of death music. They hadn't reached the carousel yet, but they could hear it. The creepy music scared the daylights out of Toadette, but Peach seemed to be greatly enjoying it for some reason.

"Why?" Peach asked innocently. "I like that tune! It sounds like carnival music!"

"We're in a haunted house, your highness, not a carnival."

"Oh, that's right," Peach said. She then began humming again, which earned her a death glare from Toadette.

They soon reached the carousel room, where a Mr. I was waiting for them in the center.

"Eek! It's one of those eyeball things!" Peach screamed and then ran out of the room.

Toadette rolled her eyes and began looking for their clue. She found the envelope sitting on the ground and then ran after Peach.

"Your highness! I found our second clue!" Toadette exclaimed, waving it in the air.

"That eyeball didn't follow you, did it?" Peach asked, her voice quiet and subdued.

"I don't think so, your highness."

"Good. I don't want to hear the word 'eye' again!"

Toadette grinned. "Aye, aye, your highness."

"Toadette!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was my use of the word aye frightening to you? I'm sorry, your highness!"

"TOADETTE!"

Toadette was now laughing so hard she couldn't respond with any more words that sounded like "eye."

"So, should I read the clue I got for us?" Toadette asked once she'd calmed down.

"No, I think that had better wait."

"Huh?"

"None of the other teams have read their last clue."

"Oh, darn...!"

777

Game Guy and Greedy Goomba soon came to the realization that their clue was not in a freezer, for they checked all the freezers in the castle (most of which were empty, having been raided by Yoshi or Wario) and did not find a single envelope. Therefore, it had be in one of the paintings. Probably...an ice painting.

Duh.

They soon found themselves in Cool, Cool Mountain ("cool" was a gross understatement), trying to find their envelope, which they assumed was frozen in a block of ice.

"It's s-so, c-c-cold," Greedy Goomba complained. He was worse off than Game Guy, since the latter had a nice, warm robe completely covering him from head to toe.

"So let's hurry, then," Game Guy suggested. "Otherwise the clue's gonna freeze...however that's possible..."

So they began their search. They were still near the hut, when, suddenly...

"Do y-you hear s-s-something?" Greedy Goomba suddenly asked.

"Hear what?"

"A r-r-rumbling..."

Game Guy listened carefully, and did indeed hear it: a very slight rumbling noise. "Yeah. What's that?"

"I d-d-don't kn-know..."

The noise grew louder.

"I've got a bad feeling..."

Greedy Goomba looked around, and his eyes suddenly grew as wide as dinner plates as he pointed to something nearby with his hat. "!!"

"What?"

"!...?...!"

"Look, you're gonna have to say something, 'cuz I don't even know how you're supposed to pronounce that," Game Guy told him.

Greedy Goomba let out a squeak and continued to point. Game Guy finally looked in the direction that the goomba was pointing...

"Holy crud! TAKE COVER!" The two of them dove into the snow as a massive, deadly snowball rolled towards them at blinding speed. It smashed into the nearby hut and tore it to splinters. Thankfully, neither member of 777 was hurt at all.

"Boy, was that weird or what?" Game Guy asked, emerging from the snow and dusting himself off. He was now cold and wet, but still not shivering. "I didn't think giant snowballs that are half the size of the level were a danger in any of the worlds here..."

"M-maybe it's s-s-some kind of g-g-g-glitch," Greedy Goomba suggested.

"Maybe. Hey! There's an envelope sitting on that pile of debris!"

Game Guy waddled through the snow (it was piled higher than he was tall) and managed to climb on top of the debris and grab the envelope, which he immediately opened. It was cold and wet, but still readable.

"''This long hallway is haunted,'" he read aloud. He paused. "Looks like we get to leave this frozen wasteland, but..."

"B-but what?" Greedy Goomba asked, finally joining him.

"I'm not too fond of ghosts..."

--

In case you're wondering, Toad and Tumble's List of Bad Things includes:

Land on a Bob-omb space, duel multiple times in one round and lose each duel, trading coins with a team who has no coins, landing on a Bowser Space, playing a Boswer mini-game, the ceiling caving in, a sudden rainstorm, a herd of giant man-woman-mushroom-dinosaur-ape-Goomba-star-ghost-turtle-Shy Guy-robot-eating Piranha Plants, and now being eaten by a Chain Chomp.

Ever the optimists, aren't they?

Again, I apologize for abandoning this story for such a long time... I never meant to do that, but... I got busy and I swear that time passes a heckuva lot faster than it used to. My inspiration's been running low, too. I'm not really pleased with this chapter, but... I'm never satisfied with ANYTHING I write, so it's not like that means anything. P

The treasure hunt will end in the next chapter. I'm not sure who's gonna win yet, so... We'll see. I'm not sure which team to root for! XD Hey, maybe I should do a blind poll. It would be a nice excuse to use that feature, which has popped up within the past couple of years. Hehe...