GL (GalaxyLight): Sorry for not being around, stories these days take long to write before getting back to here. Every fanfiction writers feel that way, y'know. Anyway, sorry to keep you waiting. Time to begin this chapter!
SMASH!
A loud crashing sound came from Mario's hammer and he destroyed a huge pile of rocks that was blocking the heroes path.
"That's one strong hammer!" Ruby smiled.
"Kinda reminds me of Nora's hammer, except longer and more deadlier than this one." Yang said.
"Who?" Ciro asked in confusion.
"It's a long story." Blake said to him as they continued to move on. They found a cave to go in. Inside, they found four old mine carts leading somewhere far. They were also met with an old man on a wooden rocking chair and a dog sleeping next to the old man. From the looks of his face, he seems to be sleeping.
"Hello." Ruby woke him up.
"Whoa there, pards!" The old man cried out, surprising few of the heroes. "It's been a Goomba's age since we had any strangers in these parts!"
"This place is quite old." Rabendā commented. "You won't mind if we use your carts? We need them to get to BeanBean Castle."
"Well, if you want to ride in them rusty old carts, I won't go a-stoppin' you." The old man agreed. "But I advise watchin' out fer trouble. No one knows where them rail leads..."
"Wait, you mean you don't know where they lead to? You're saying that you've never used them?" Weiss asked.
"I have once but it was ages ago and now me is old and cannot remember anymore. Still, I'll tell you somethin': you might just be able to find jewels above you and grab them if ya like. But watch out! If you spot danger, just shine your light at it!"
"Oooh treasure. Sounds like fun!" Yang smiled.
"...Oh, mercy There I go again! I'm always borin' folks to tears with stuff like this."
"Oh no, we don't mind at all." Blake pleaded shaking her hands. "So you want us to use your carts?"
"Your choice, I ain't stoppin' ya all. Good luck!" The old man stated before going back to sleep.
"Since there are four carts and there are eight of us, that means two of us has to hop on each cart." Rabendā stated.
"Well, thanks Captain Obvious." Weiss rolled her eyes, making Rabendā twitched in anger from being called that.
"Enough, you two. Just shut up and hop onto them!" Ciro sighed in a frustrated tone. Most of the heroes did not like how he's acting towards his allies. Did something angered him or is he just impatient? Regardless, Mario and Luigi were paired up in one cart, Ruby and Yang were paired, Ciro and Rabendā were paired and Weiss and Blake were paired. After the choice has been made, they moved the cart and turned their flashlights on. While the four carts were far away, they can still talk to each other from a distance.
"It's dark in here." Blake commented as she looked around the place with her flashlight.
"That should be obvious, we're in a cave with no lights after all." Rabendā said. They could hear Mario and Luigi crying out with joy as they found some red and green jewels stuck on some walls as they picked them off.
"Wow! They're very pretty." Ruby commented.
"Let's hope we can find some in our side." Yang smiled.
"Just be careful on some damaged rails in front of you...like there's one coming right now." Ciro warned the sisters. The pair spotted the left rail torn apart, much to their shock.
"Wha-?! What do we do?!" Ruby panicked.
"Just lift the left side of the cart and you'll be able get past it with only the right rail safe. It's not that hard, y'know!" Ciro called out.
"Easy for you to say!" Yang shouted back. They were getting close to the broken rail. Having no choice but to obey Ciro's advice, Ruby and Yang lifted the left side of the cart balancing the right rails of the track. Getting past the broken rail and finding them again, they stopped balancing and returned to their spots safe and sound.
"That was close." Ruby gave a sigh of relief, until they were met with some blue and yellow jewels on the walls beside them.
"Awesome!" Yang cheered as she grabbed them along with her sister.
"I wonder what we'll use these jewels for?" Blake wondered.
"Hopefully exchange them for money. We're short on them thanks to a stupid bloat turtle." Weiss grunted. She remembered that she couldn't get the coins back after Tolstar 'got away' with them. Although, the treasure had a lot of money, half of them were given to the villagers for repairs, much to her and Ciro's dismay. Luckily, she spotted some white sparkly objects beside her who she assume they were white jewels. But when she turned her flashlight to them, it turns out it was wall of Swoopers with their eyes opened. Weiss and Blake shivered in fear while the others gulped knowing what's gonna happen when bats see a lot of light.
"YEOW! The heroes screeched as they covered their faces from the horde of Swoopers passing through them as well as accidentally scratching them in the process.
"Great Beanbean scotts! What happen to y'all?!" The old man who they met in the cave, cried out in shock as he saw the heroes covered in bruises and scratches.
"Trust me, you don't even wanna know." Yang replied. "Unless you wanna ask for a 'BAT'-TER up!" The heroes from Yang's horrible pun.
"Speaking of which, how did you get here?!" Weiss asked him. I mean you were at the start and now you're at the end. How did you do it?!"
"What you mean? I've been here the whole time." The old man said, much to the heroes confusion.
"What but- huh?!" Ruby's brain hurts from so much confusion.
"You know what? I'm not gonna question anymore!" Weiss declared. Although some of the heroes were still confused and curious to how he got here from the other, they decided to forget about, since it's none of their concern.
"Anyways fellers, this spot marks the last stop on the long, strange railroad of my life...But I reckon your adventure has just begun. Get to it, y'all!"
"Thank you for your carts, goodbye." Blake replied as the heroes left the cave and into a new place. As for the jewels, they gave them to the old man in exchange for coins which he has stored in his 'treasure chest'.
BGM - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga OST - World Theme
After a few long walks, they managed to get out of Hoohoo territory and are now at Beanbean Valley judging by the grass, trees and scenery of nature that are in front of them.
"Ah, fresh green. I thought I'd never see it again." Rabendā breathed deep within the air.
"This means we're getting closer to Beanbean Castle." Blake stated. "Let's hurry soon before Cackletta has another plan that will be ago." The heroes, except Ciro, nodded in response and kept going.
They ran into some creatures with spikes on their backs, they were called Sharpea. Their spikes on their backs makes Mario and Luigi's jump attack useless as it'll only sting their feet, so they had to find a different approach, by using their hammers. Good thing, the metal was pure iron so they can smash the Sharpeas like nobody's business getting applause from Team RWBY and Rabendā, Ciro just rolled his eyes.
Continuing to walk, they found a road made of cobblestones meaning they were getting very close to Beanbean Castle. Eventually, they found a bridge which lead to Beanbean village, Ruby and Yang were excited to go in, but that excitement as ended when they arrived at the village.
BGM END
Much to their shock, the entire place was destroyed and crumbled. The civilians were lied down dead or unconscious, the buildings were wrecked and there were mini-earthquakes happening right now. One of the civilians tried to gets his legs to stay up, but collapsed in the end. Ruby was panicked by this and tried to check if he's still alive.
"Are you alright?! Please don't be dead!" Ruby gently shook him to wake him up, while he couldn't open his eyes because he was too weak, he can still speak, only a bit though.
"Th-The town was attacked... The horror..." Was all he could say before he passed out. Meanwhile, Blake went to an old man who was still breathing.
"They attacked while the Beanbean troops were in Hoohoo Village searching for Prince Peasely..." The old man said.
"Who attacked you?" Blake asked.
"Monster beans...Flying child...Cackletta..." The were the words he could say before losing consciousness.
"So it was Cackletta after all." Rabendā gritted his teeth. He and the others knew that the witch was up to something but invading Beanbean castle as it was defenceless and had no reinforcements? She's overstepped herself.
"We have to warn the royals of Beanbean kingdom." The others agreed as they made their way to the castle, only to be stopped by two entrance guards.
"Halt! You there! Halt!" One the guards called out.
"You know, just one halt is enough." Ciro shrugged as everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Well, you can't waltz on in here!" The other guard said.
"Waltz...really?" Rabendā sweatdropped along with everyone else.
"Well, uh... I... Look, the town has been attacked!" The guard changed the subject. "Which means the castle could be attacked at any moment."
"If you think so, why not go inside and see if it's attack now or not?" Ciro questioned.
"That's where we can't. Lady Lima instructed us not to allow anyone to enter the castle! Anyone whatsoever! And if we leave our post, Lady Lima will punish us greatly!"
"Of course she would..." Ciro muttered.
"Having said that, if you still wish to enter, you must explain your names and your motives!" The guard stated. Mario told the two about his identity. "WHAT?! YOU are the world-famous Mario?!" Then Luigi gave them his identity. "WHAT?! And YOU are the legendary Luigi?!"
"Uh, Luigi who?" The left guard asked.
"Shh! I have no idea..." The right guard blurted out, causing Luigi to face-fault and the girls and Rabendā to sweatdrop.
"Younger siblings don't really get popular, do they?" Yang chuckled as she received a angry stare from her red-haired sister with her cheeks puffed. "SOME younger siblings!" She rephrased herself.
"If you really are the superstar Mario from the Mushroom Kingdom, then prove it!" The left guard said to Mario who nodded in response and demonstrated his super jump, surprising the two guards.
"Th-That jump..." The right guard stuttered knowing that familiar ability. "NO MISTAKING IT!"
"Maybe that has convinced them." Blake whispered to everyone with hope.
"Th-This guy is really Mario?" The left guard asked his fellow partner.
"Shh! I can't be certain." The right guard blurted out again as Mario face-faulted and the others groan in disappointment.
"What WILL convince them?!" Weiss shouted loudly.
"What about the rest of you? You don't seem to be from around here." The right guard said to Team RWBY, Rabendā and Ciro. The girls gulped, if they say they're from another world, there'll be lots of questions and consequences throughout the kingdom. Rabendā himself had slight troubles about that too and tries to come up with something to make them buy their words. Luckily, Ciro took care of that.
"We're just travellers who are wondering what happened here, and we tagged along with these brothers to find whatever is happening to this kingdom." He explained folding his arms. Team RWBY and Rabendā gave a sigh of relief, good thing there was someone who's good at making good answers without hesitation. "Oh, and Snow Girl over there is a princess." Ciro continued pointing at Weiss.
"SNOW GIRL?!" Weiss cried out in shock.
"Huh? Haven't thought of that name before since I always call her Ice Queen." Yang said.
"Shut up, you!" Weiss shouted angry at the blonde.
"S-Seriously?! YOU are a princess?!" The right guard cried out in shock, much to others surprises, the other guard seems to be shocked too. Did they buy it? If so, this might be a good chance.
"Play along, Weiss. We might be able to get inside if you are labelled as princess." Blake whispered to Weiss. "Besides, you're a royal heiress so you're good at arrogant talks."
"Don't make it sound like my speeches are cruel to you all." Weiss sweatdropped before turning to the guards. Having no choice, the heiress begun her act.
"That's right, you two! I can't believe the two of you would dare to ask me for identification." She said flicking her hair with her hand. "You dumb knights should know that I am from a royal and strong family so you should respect my authority. Just be grateful that I won't punish your behaviour, so be good gentlemen and let us inside so we can speak to the Queen of Beanbean Kingdom." As she was finished, she could hear Ruby and Yang snorting as they were trying to not laugh, much to her annoyance. She didn't think it would turn out this way.
"P-Please accept our sincere apologies and behaviour! We didn't know you were royal!" The left guard stammered.
"...By the way, is this girl really a princess?" The right guard whispered to the left guard.
"How should I know? I haven't seen a girl like her before." The left guard blurted out again, making Weiss face-fault and the others just let their heads fall down in disappointment. Weiss has felt this humiliation before but way too many times if you ask her.
"So much to royal persuasion." Ciro sighed.
"Anyway... What business would the famous Mario, Lui-uh...some other guy and the rest of you have in this castle?" The right guard asked as if they forgot about everything that was said. Mario and Luigi began explaining about the disaster of Princess Peach's voice, Cackletta and what the world will become if they don't save the world.
"Hmm! Ah! Ho ho!" The left guard seems to understand it, much to Mario and Luigi's delight. "HUH! I SEE! GOTCHA!"
'Why do I feel like something dumb is going to happen again?' Team RWBY, Rabendā and Ciro thought at the same time.
"What do they want?" The right guard asked.
"No clue..." The left guard replied forcing everyone else to face-fault in their stupidity.
'Yep! I knew it!' The heroes thought as they get themselves up. 'Are they really that stupid?!'
"...Enough! Regardless of all that nonsense, you may not enter!" The right guard stated. "Now begone!" They did not do what they were told however, instead Ciro turned to Luigi.
"Show it to them, Greenie, the rose." Ciro said to the green plumber. He was a bit confused to what he's talking about until he realised what he was not. He took out a yellow and white rose from out of his pocket and showed it to the guards, surprisingly them deeply.
"PRINCE PEASELY'S ROSE!" The left guard cried out in shock.
"Argh! I completely forgot about that!" Weiss shouted.
"Are you friends with the prince?" The guard asked.
"We are, and we're here to help your Queen on his behalf as he is busy with his own work, you see." Rabendā explained. Everyone else nodded in agreement as the guards began to make up their minds.
"Umm, listen, I think maybe we ought to let these guys inside!" The left guard told his mate.
"Umm...OK. Taking into account that rose and your wacky story, we can allow you to enter!" The right guarded agreed.
"That was one wacky story! Woo!"
"Suuuuure!" Yang sweatdropped, not buying their honesty. Nevertheless, they said nothing as well as not arguing with entered the castle of Beanbean Kingdom.
BGM - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga OST - Beanbean Castle
"Wow, for a castle, the place is pretty quiet." Yang commented looking around the deserted castle.
"Where is everybody?" Ruby asked.
"You got me, but does that really matter?" Ciro asked.
"Of course it does!" Weiss exclaimed. "When there's a castle, there should be servants, chefs, knights and many more. They should be protecting the Queen of this kingdom. Why would they be gone when this castle's town is being invaded?!"
"Hey, I don't know about royalties, alright? So go ask someone else who has that kind of knowledge." Ciro just went to another room.
"Gods! I just cannot understand this guy!" Weiss cried out in frustration.
"I don't think any of us can..." Blake sighed. They continued to move around inside the castle. However, no matter how many rooms they went into, there wasn't a single person around, much to the heroes confusion. This is a royal castle for crying out loud! There are supposed to be people protecting and serve the royalties of this place, so where are they? Something odd is going on around here.
The heroes stopped at one room however to see a small servant lying down on the floor unconscious. This shocks most of the heroes as they examined him to see if he's alright in until they were interrupted by somebody else.
"Well! Master Mario! And Master Luigi!" They turned around to see and meet the ambassador of Beanbean Kingdom.
"You must be the ambassador." Rabendā said.
"I am and you must be friends of Master Mario and Master Luigi." The ambassador said.
"Allies to be precise." Ciro said, earning confused looks from everyone else before turning back to the ambassador.
"I am Lady Lima, highest of the ladies at court..." Lima introduced herself.
'You hardly look apart to be the highest...' The heroes thought with a sweatdrop.
"The gatekeepers told me of you. Are you two indeed the Mario and Luigi of fame? The superstars?" Lima asked the Mario Bros. The brothers jumped rapidly as the ambassador of the Mushroom Kingdom examined the bros to see if the legends are true, sure enough she believed that it is them. "...Yes. I can't deny that such jumping is the hallmark of the Mario and Luigi of legend..."
'But what makes their jumps so special though?" Team RWBY, Rabendā and Crio thought in confusion. What jumping their special talent or something? Guess they'll have to see more of them if that's the case. The Mario Bros. then explains the situation, but Lima seems to be having trouble understanding them.
"Pardon me? What are you trying to tell me? Oh, DO speak up!"
"Okay, I've had enough of your mockery!" Ciro shouted angrily, much to the others' surprise. "Either you tell what you are even doing or I'll be forced to fill your skull with lead, just what exactly are you trying to st-" He was cut off by Lima when she let out an enchanting shout.
"OH! SUCH RUCKUS!" She yelled out. "Speak in softer voices!"
"Eh? But you told us to-" This time Ruby was cut off by the ambassador now.
"Now, hear me! As you saw, the town is in Ruins, and the castle is under strict guard! At a time like this I cannot allow a suspicious group such as you lot to meet the queen!"
"Isn't that your fault that this as happened though?!" Ciro shouted but was completely ignored by her.
"As the queen's longest-serving lady at court, I must act in the interest of her royal safety!" She took out something from her tunic which revealed to be some kind of remote. The moment she pressed a button, Ciro and Rabendā notices something moving under them. Realising it was about to open, they jumped out of the way while grabbing an ally with them. Unfortunately, they only had enough time to take one with them. Ciro took Blake while Rabendā took Weiss, leaving Ruby, Yang and The Mario Bros. to fall on the trap door made by Lady Lima herself.
"What?! What did you do to them?!" Blake asked in shock.
"Goodness! I didn't think you'd be able to find out the trap I used on you." Lima said in surprise. "Normally, they wouldn't notice this, but you are the first to avoid this trap."
"Answer her question, you pitiful bean!" Ciro growled.
"Ah, how could I forget? Please forgive my actions as I only wanted to test you all, and apparently, you've seem to have past the first one by overcoming the trap door."
"Test?" Weiss asked confused.
"Of course, if you all want to meet Queen Bean, you must prove yourself worthy and powerful to meet her. The next test is the door behind me. Proceed and you'll face the next challenge."
"What about the others down under us?" Rabendā asked.
"I will go down there and discuss their test. Go on, Queen Bean won't wait forever." The four looked at each other and sighed as opened the door, they took one last look at the smiling ambassador before passing the door as it automatically closes behind them.
"Is it just me, or is Lima acting a little odd for an ambassador?" Weiss asked.
"I think so too, once we finish this test, we'll ask the queen about her." Rabendā agreed.
"By the way, why did you save me out of all of the group. You could have taken Ruby, Yang or maybe Luigi. You dislike me and I dislike you, so what gives?" Rabendā gagged when he heard that.
"I-I don't know!" He stuttered. "My body sometimes have a mind of its own! It's like I wanted to save you just because you couldn't do a thing!"
"Excuse me? How was I to know that the trapdoor was gonna happen?!" While they were arguing, Ciro and Blake ignored them.
"I hope Ruby, Yang, Mario and Luigi are doing okay..." Blake muttered while Ciro said nothing of sorts, he was grumbling about something, but what was it?
BGM END
BGM - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga OST - Underground Tunnel
CRASH!
The four other heroes crashed down to the ground; Luigi came first, Mario came on top of Luigi, Yang came on top of Mario and Ruby came on top of Yang. Luigi was screaming in pain as he was being weighted by the other three. They noticed this and immediately got off of Luigi before apologizing to him.
"Geez, what the heck did that yellow lady do to get us down here?" Yang groaned while stretching her back.
"Speaking of down here, where are we?" Ruby said as she looked around. The place had lots of water, valves and pipes; almost simplifying that they're in the water supply room...or maybe the sewers. "Wait! Where's Weiss, Blake, Rabendā and Ciro?! They're not here." Mario heard this and explains the girls what happened to them.
"You're saying that they're up there and avoided the trap? Huh, I wonder how they did that; and why didn't they warn us?!" Yang exclaimed, before being interrupted by a loud voice.
"HEAR MY WORDS!" The four heroes look up to see Lima coming down while holding onto a rope.
"What did you do that for?!" Yang shouted. "Couldn't you have give us a warning when you do that, by the way?!"
"Apologies for that!" Lima exclaimed before turning to the Mario Bros. "If you two are indeed the true Mario Bros., you must prove it by repairing the castle's plumbing! If you are able to completely fix it, then you may meet Queen Bean."
"Wait! What about our friends up on the castle?!" Ruby asked.
"Don't worry, I already gave a task for them!" Lima replied. "Now then, show me the work ethic of the Superstar Mario Bros.!" She then ascends back up to the ground floor leaving the four deadpanned.
"Looks like we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Yang sighed. "Oh well, what done will be done. BTW, you two are actually plumbers, right?" The Mario Bros nodded in response making Yang delighted. "Okay! Let's get plumbing then!" She slapped her knuckles together with excitement as Ruby smiled at her sister's energy, wishing she could be like that too.
BGM - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga OST - Beanbean Castle
Ciro, Blake, Weiss and Rabendā were now at the backyard of Beanbean castle, confused to what they're doing here. They found out when all the grass rose up from the ground and the place was very messy now.
"Your test here is cut every single grass and weeds in this garden as they all need to be equally straight and just so, this garden must be spic and span at all costs." The ambassador of Beanbean Kingdom informed them from a balcony. "Queen Bean wouldn't like tall grasses when they cover her feet, which royalties will detest."
"You're kidding me..." Ciro muttered before bursting in rage. "WE'RE WARRIORS, NOT GARDENERS! WHY SHOULD WE DO YOUR DIRTY WORK!"
"This is part of this test, I said." Lima smiled.
"Why do I feel like she made this task on purpose just because of making us her servants?" Rabendā said, causing Ciro and Weiss in flinch in anger.
"Servant?! I'm a heiress here, and a heiress is NOT supposed to be a servant to anyone!" Weiss stated.
"If you four can complete this task, then I may allow you to meet Queen Bean. You may begin!" The ambassador said before leaving them to their 'work'.
"Guess, we have no choice but to do this." Rabendā stated.
"I don't have time for this bull! Let's just get this over with!" Ciro growled.
Blake found a wheelbarrow and saw two gardening sheers and two brooms as well as some long rulers for measurements of the grass. They must be for gardening and cleanings things out of it. Without thinking, Ciro took one of the scissors while Rabendā took the other. As for Blake and Weiss, they took the brooms to brush off the leaves that have fallen off the trees.
Rabendā carefully measured the grass and cut the ones to equal the height together, he also some to rotten weeds which he snipped off since it is not needed in a garden, especially a royal one.
Blake and Weiss brushes all the leaves from the trees and moves them together to form a huge pile of leaves in one place. Good thing Ruby and Yang aren't here, if they were they would immediately cannonball into that pile, running the whole work that was put effort to it. Luckily, it won't happen today, much to Blake and Weiss's relief.
Ciro was very frustrated as the process was just too slow for him. No matter how many weeds and tall grass he cut, there always seems to be more around him. Not wanting to consume more time, he took out something from his bag surprising the other three; it was a huge sickle with a golden metal edge equipped.
"Where did you get that?!" Weiss asked, shocked.
"Does that even matter?!" Ciro shouted back as she began swinging his sickle back and forth to the grass and weeds, clearing them away from the garden. The others were worried at first, thinking that Ciro is ruining the measurements of the grass, but taking a closer look, the grass are equally straight and no harm done, much to their surprise. How does he do that?
After minutes of gardening, the backyard was totally spot on and fresh, and no errors are around the place. It was a completely perfect garden for a royal castle.
"Lady Lima, we have finished gardening! We would like to meet the Queen of the Beanbean Kingdom now!" Blake called out to the ambassador but a moment of silence was heard as she didn't show up from the balcony much to their confusion.
"Where is she?" Weiss asked.
"I don't know, maybe she's using the bathroom or something." Rabendā guessed. Ciro twitched in anger as he has finally had enough with the ambassador. He proceeded through the locked door and kicked it so hard, not only breaking the lock but also sending it flying away from the entrance.
"I'm NOT waiting any longer!" He shouted in anger. "Ambassador or not, we're seeing that queen! I don't care what punishment she'll give out, I won't be mocked anymore!" He proceed to go in, leaving the other three dumbfounded.
"Wow! This guy's got some anger issues." Rabendā sweatdropped. "I wonder why he's so impatient with things?"
"You got me, we only met him a few hours ago." Weiss said to him.
'Something is definitely bothering him.' Blake thought as she said nothing. 'Something in his past might be the reason why he's acting like that. If so, I want to know but I know that it'll take a while to make him talk, due to his arrogant personality. But someday, he'll speak out the truth.' The three then followed Ciro to the door with nothing to say about him.
BGM - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back OST - Sewer or Later
Looking around the place, there were a lot of pipes that seemed okay...except for the one that had a hole geyser with a cork-shaped metal being floated out of the water, it is the reason why the water supply is running thin as a small amount of water goes down to the main river.
"Looks like we have to smash that thing down to the hole to get the water running properly." Yang said. Mario took note of this and slammed his hammer at the metal cork, bringing all the water down to the river; where it should be. After that, the gate opens and the four heroes proceed through the next room.
This time they were attacked by Super Flies which is just an improved Fly with a change of colour. They seem to be a lot faster than the normal ones, but they weren't something the heroes couldn't handle. As for the other enemies called Spinies, they're basically spiked shells so Mario and Luigi uses their hammers while Ruby and Yang just shoots them with no problems at all.
In the next room, the metal corks seemed to be in place, however no water was coming out of the pipe, much to their confusion. When they saw a huge valve handle on a pipe next to the wall, it must be stopping the water from going into the pipes.
"That explains it, help me out here, guys." Yang said as the four of them grabbed the valve handle and slowly turned it with lots of their strength. After completely turning it, the metal corks popped out of the pipes with the water leaking out, but it does mean that water will come out to the river so at least they know how to get water out now.
The four pushed the metal corks back down to the pipe where they belong, one of them causes enemies to fall down next to them from the ceiling, much to their surprise.
"That's just weird... and unfair." Ruby pouted as they began to get them out of the way. After taking care of the rest of the metal corks, the water pipe takes all the water down to the river and the gate opens as they proceed to the next room.
"Show yourself, coward! Another one of your tricks?!" Ciro called out for the ambassador of Beanbean Castle in the next room, but there was nothing but a pile of leaves in the middle of the room along with another locked door on the left side.
"I wonder if we'll ever find her." Blake sighed.
"She can't be far." Rabendā said. "I'm sure she'll turn up eventually."
"That's what they all say." Weiss mocked the huntsman as Rabendā grumbled with the heiress's attitude. "Still, it has gotten quiet again, I mean we haven't seen anybody else yet, but the ambassador. Where are they?!"
"That's what we wanna know!" Rabendā replied back angrily as the two began arguing, much to Blake's dismay. The Faunus then notices Ciro looking up as if there was someone up there.
"I KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE, COWARD! COME DOWN HERE AND FACE US, CACKLETTA!" He roared out. Hearing that name made the others flinched as they all look up to see if that was actually the witch above them. There was slight silence until they heard a laughter from up there.
BGM - Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga OST - Cackletta Theme
"Eeyah ha ha ha!" They recognized that laughter before and only one is capable of making a laughter like that. The antagonists finally reveal themselves; Cackletta and Fawful. "The Beanstar and Princess Peach's voice are already mine!" Cackletta stated.
"Beanstar?" The four asked in confusion.
"...It would seem that you have not heard of the legendary star of the Beanbean Kingdom. No matter, it's not important to the four of you anyway." Cackletta spoke.
"Once we awaken the Beanstar with Princess Peach's voice, this world will be Cackletta's snack cake!" Fawful declared.
"Snack cake? Are you making food jokes?" Ciro sweatdropped in confusion while the others feel the same way, where did food tie into this? "You know you were pretty cunning, disguising yourself as the ambassador."
"What?!" The other three heroes of Remnant gasped in shock, hearing the revelation.
"So you saw through me, interesting, boy." Cackletta chuckled. "Say, you haven't bothered to pay a visit to your host, Queen Bean..."
"Queen Bean! Where is she; and What did you do to her?!" Rabendā demanded and answer.
"I thought you had better manners! Wouldn't you agree, Queen Bean?" Suddenly, a huge bulky green woman with a crown appeared above the room and slammed her way down with a quake, almost causing the four heroes to lose their balance from the sudden.
"Grrroo-hoo-hoo!" The woman growled.
"What the hell?! That's Queen Bean?!" Ciro cried out in surprised as well as everyone else.
"She's huge!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Perhaps the five of you can sit down over tea to discuss the finer points of foreign policy!" Cackletta laughed as she went off with Fawful.
"Come back here, cowards!" Ciro shouted and he jumped to catch Cackletta until he was met with a big fist on his face sending him flying to a wall with a loud crash.
"CIRO! Blake cried out coming to him. There was rubble now, but it was moved away by the blue-haired warrior.
"That son of a... asking for a fight, is she?" Ciro growled. "Fine, I'll go after that witch as soon as we're finished with her!"
"Huhn-gahhhhhhhh!" Queen Bean roared as she pumping her chest over and over like a gorilla.
"Watch out! Here she comes!" Rabendā warned everyone as they took out their weapons and proceeded to battle the Queen of the Beanbean Kingdom.
BGM -Sonic Unleashed OST - Boss Battle (Night)
Queen Bean roared like a bear and attacks the heroes of Remnant by slamming her arms onto the ground to create a powerful shockwave, forcing them to jump over it. They notice the Queen advances closer to them.
"It looks like Queen Bean will attack us with her fists if she gets closer to us or if we attack her first." Rabendā stated.
"In that case..." Ciro then quickly lunges to the Queen Bean and delivers a strong punch. Despite that the Queen Bean managed to block it, she was sent far away by the force and impact of Ciro's punch, she stopped when she was hit on the wall. "Let's she how long it'll take for her to get over here." Ciro smirked.
"You pushed her way too far!" Weiss retorted as they made their way closer to the Queen just to get a close combat, but since they have a lot of space behind them, stepping back won't be a problem since they're far away from the wall, meaning it'll take hours for them to get cornered against the wall.
The Queen makes another shockwave but the heroes simply jump over it again.
"You know, those strong arms seems to be pretty open to attack." Rabendā said.
"Then care to make a demonstration for us?" Ciro teased.
"Don't make me do all the work, help too!" Rabendā used his Phantom Orichi weapon as a musket to fire Electric Dust bullets to one of Queen Bean's arms severely paralysing the arm. The Queen roared agony before Rabendā slashed the arm giving it cuts so she can not longer use it. Much to the heroes' surprise, the arm Rabendā damaged immediately grew skinny and puny.
"How does that work?!" Weiss exclaimed before noticing Queen Bean who made another shockwave with one arm. Despite that it looked less powerful, he moved faster, which caught the girls off guard as they were slightly damaged by it, Ciro and Rabendā managed to dodge it just in time.
"Now that was just uncalled for!" Weiss shouted angrily as she was the next to attack. Using the same method Rabendā used, Weiss used Electric Dust magic and shot out an energy ball of lightning at Queen Bean's other arm paralysing it before she gave it quick cuts. With that, the other arm turned into a puny skinny arm, just like the one Rabendā took care of.
"Nice one, copycat." Rabendā teased.
"Oh, do you want me to make different approach, is that what you want?" Weiss retorted.
Now that both of Queen Bean's arms are degenerated, her crown will be lost, thus making her head vulnerable to attack, but that doesn't mean she's defenceless, she has more tricks up her sleeve (well, she doesn't have any sleeves but you know what I mean). In this state, the queen simply attacks by spitting bouncing beans at the heroes, much to their disgust when it came out of her mouth. Nevertheless those can be dodged by sidestepping or jumping over it. However, when Weiss and Rabendā swiped them away - rather than dodging them - the beans became Beanies and joined the battle alongside Queen Bean, much to the heroes' shock.
"That's just disgusting!" Weiss shouted angrily. "What has that queen been eating?!"
"I don't think I even want to know..." Blake shrugged as she got rid of the Beanies by herself. When it was Ciro's turn to attack Queen Bean, he made a couple of slashes against her before finishing the combo and a strong punch slam on the head, sending her head down to the ground. But that didn't bring her down as she managed to slowly get back up, much to Ciro's annoyance.
"Tough woman for a queen." Ciro muttered. But the heroes notices the queen has been weakened which was a good sign for them, until they saw the arms were shaking rapidly and then the arms have been fully regenerated and the crown returns on her head, much to the heroes' shock.
"OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Weiss shouted angrily once more.
BGM END
Back underground in the sewers, the room Ruby, Yang and the Mario Bros. are in now had two gates, one of them was big which drove curiosity towards the four.
"What do you suppose is inside that big gate?" Yang asked. "Treasure maybe?"
"I dunno, but sometimes whenever I see these gates, I always think of them as prison cells for some reason." Ruby shrugged.
"You worry too much, little sister. Now let's smash that cork!" The blonde huntress slammed the cork onto the pipe and now the water was freely pouring down to the river. Both of the gates opened, and when the big gate was opened, royal servants of Beanbean Castle came out free, including the Ambassador Lima, much to their surprise.
"Ohhh, thank the stars! You've saved me! You heroic souls!" Lima praised the four. While the Mario Bros. made a victory pose for their efforts
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Yang asked confused.
"Weren't at top floor with the rest of our friends?" Ruby asked also confused.
"I apologize, but I'm afraid I do not know any of you or what you asking me." Lima said, before looking at the Mario Bros. "Wait, could it be the Mario Bros. from the Mushroom Kingdom? What are the Mario Bros. doing in place like this?"
"Huh? Did you bump your head or something?" Yang said. "You were the one who dropped half of us down here, you told our friends above us to do some test while you told us to fix the plumbing which we happily did. You're welcome, by the way."
"...Most perplexing..." Lima slowly says.
"Are you implying that you didn't do it?" Ruby asked.
"More like I don't remember doing something like that." Lima replied. "We were attacked by Cackletta and her fiends and have been stuck here ever since!" After hearing that, this gave lots of odd problems of truth and lies for the for heroes. Mario was trying to think while Luigi wasn't convinced. As for Ruby and Yang, they needed to make sure one thing before reaching the conclusion.
"Are you sure you're telling the truth?" Yang asked Lima.
"Absolutely, I swear by my queen." Lima answered.
"If that was the case, then that means the Lima we encountered on the ground floor was..." Ruby was about to finish until yang cut her off.
"A fake!" Yang cried out.
Flashback
"Eeyah ha ha ha!" The 'fake' Lima laughed in the treasure room with a bean-like star that was shielded by a red field but was deactivated by her. "Foolish Mario Bros. and their incompetent brats! You have completely and pathetically fallen into my trap! Repairing the plumbing as well as gardening the backyard are the keys to disabling the Beanstar security system!" Just then Fawful came to her.
"Cackletta! It is hurrying time!" He stated. "We must take the Beanstar and fastly run away from this place!" That's when the 'fake' Lima revealed her true form; Cackletta.
"Eeyah ha ha ha!" The witch laughed. "At last... At long, long last... I have in my possession both the Beanstar and Peach's voice!"
Flashback End
"Beanstar?" Ruby and Yang asked in confusion, wanting to know what it is about, Mario and Luigi were thinking the same thing.
"Yes, the thing of power that can grant all desires." Lima explained. "We have always remained at this castle, acting as guardians..." Lima continued. "Protecting the Beanstar and keeping it out of evil hands..."
"So it's like a wishing lamp..." Ruby muttered.
"There's no doubt about it!" One of the guardians said. "Cackletta must be after the Beanstar! Oh no!" The freaked Lima out as there was no time to waste.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh! Heroic Mario Bros. and their sidekicks! Quickly, now! You must go to the Beanstar! Go!" Lima cried out. "You must not let the Beanstar fall into the hands of evil!"
"Sidekicks...?" Yang snarled at where she was called, she wanted to pound the ambassador so badly, if Ruby didn't hold her.
"We're on our way!" Ruby squeaked while she along with the Mario Bros. were holding Yang from trying to do anything stupid and crazy.
"Quickly! Quickly! Do not dawdle!" Lima stated as everyone went to the other gate which revealed to be staircases (shaped like pipes) up to the ground floor of Beanbean Castle. What's annoying though was that there were so many stairs, they were getting pretty tired from going up and up and up.
"How high is this place?!" Yang complained.
"These sewers were made deeply for the sake of searching for water supplies." Lima explained. "It was the only way we could do this."
"Couldn't you make an elevator for something like this?" Ruby asked.
"Elevator? What may I ask is this 'elevator' you speak of?"
"Actually, nevermind." Ruby shook her head. 'So elevators don't exist in this world. Dang it!' Ruby fell her head in depression before going up more stairs, Yang felt miserable too when she heard that elevators doesn't exist in Mario's world. Elevators would have saved a lot of time and trouble. While they were going up, they heard loud groaning noises above them.
"What's that noise coming from up there?" Ruby asked curious.
"That sounded like...Queen Bean! Oh heavens! She's in trouble!" Lima cried out. "I'm coming for you!" She then went up so fast for an old lady, much to the heroes surprise.
"Hey, wait up!" Yang shouted as she and everyone else followed. Upon finally arriving at the ground floor, Ruby, Yang and the Mario Bros. were shocked to see Blake and Weiss sitting down exhausted while Rabendā was slowly panting while holding onto his knees and Ciro was just stretching his arms. What surprised them though was the big hulking woman who is lying down with scratches and bruises all over her. She seems to be alive, due to her still breathing.
"What took you all so long?" Ciro said to the four when he saw them.
"What the heck happened here?" Ruby asked looking around the damaged room.
"This big hulking queen happened, that's what!" Weiss answered annoyed while still panting a bit.
"I'm glad you guys made it back up here safe and sound." Blake smiled.
"And we're glad you're all alright too." Ruby smiled back as Rabendā spots Lima coming from the room too.
"I can take it you're the real Lady Lima." He said.
"Yes, I am. I apologize if the imposter has caused you trouble." She then takes a look at the Queen Bean and frowns as her predictions are correct and she wipes some tears off her eye.
"...Oh no! Cackletta forced Queen Bean to eat a Belly Blech worm! That's what turned her into THIS!" Lima sobbed. "Our faired kingdom is doomed! Doomed! How will we ever return Queen Bean to normal?"
"Wait, so this isn't her real form?" Blake asked as Lima nodded.
"Eep! Now, I'm afraid to know what her true form is." Weiss shuddered.
"Hear hear." Rabendā agreed.
"Don't worry, Lady Lima. We'll do something about it, right, Mario and Luigi?" Ruby turned to the Mario Bros. as they nodded in response as they made a pose to signify their guts and agreement.
"Is the posing necessary?" Ciro sweatdropped.
"But what can you possibly mean? You speak of the impossible!" Lima pleaded causing the Mario Bros. to face-faulted and everyone else to be dumbfounded in confusion. "Why, there is no known way to spit out an ingested Belly Blech!... Well, except... There is that one way... That last resort... It sure isn't pretty, though..."
"Just spit it out or we'll be here all day!" Ciro shouted.
"No need to be impatient, Ciro. Lady Lima needs some time." Blake clamed him down.
"She may be able to spit it up if she drank the legendary Chuckola Reserve from Chucklehuck Woods."
'Chucklechuck Woods?' The fighters of Remnant thought with a sweatdrop from the name.
"Sounds like another adventure!" Yang smiled.
"Lady Lima, let us go to Chucklechuck Woods." Rabendā stated to Lima. "We'll find the Chuckola Reserve and cure Queen Bean so she can return to normal. You have our word." The Mario Bros. and everyone else, save for Ciro, nodded in agreement as they too will go to search for the Chuckola Reserve.
"Hopefully, the queen won't attack us this time..." Weiss muttered. Ciro just sighed, while he did not like doing something that has nothing to do with him, he hasn't gone to Chucklehuck Woods yet. Hopefully he'll find what he's looking for there.
"Well... If you're going to make such bold proclamations, I suppose I have no choice but to rely on you..." Lima said as she approached to Mario and gave him some kind of brooch. "Take this Beanbean Brooch and head southwest from the castle toward Chateau de Chucklehuck. If you find the Chuckola reserve hidden deep in Chucklehuck Woods, our queen may yet recover."
"May?" Ciro muttered as if maybe or maybe not became a problem when it comes to chances.
"Alright team! Let's go and get the Chuckle-cola Reserve!" Ruby stated.
"Chukola Reserve!" Weiss corrected her.
Bonus Scene
As the team head their way to the south of the Castle Area, which leads to Chucklehuck Woods, they saw a green warp pipe.
"What's that?" Blake asked.
"Oh, that pipe we saw in the Stardust Fields!" Ruby stated.
"What's it doing here?" Yang asked.
"Why don't you go in a find out?" Ciro taunted.
"That I will do!" Yang goes in as everyone else follows. Before everyone knew it, they were back in the Stardust Fields. "Wow! I didn't think we'd come back here so fast!" When they went back to the green warp pipe, they were back at the Castle Area (South).
"Warp transportations... These pipes may become useful when we need head into places we need to go." Rabendā said. "Let's make sure we mark these green pipes on our maps so we can remember where we found them. We can use them to fast-travel our way in this kingdom."
"That'll surely help." Blake smiled as Mario took out the map and marked the warp pipe area.
"Hopefully, these pipes will help us get to our destinations without any mistakes..." Weiss shrugged.
"What? Afraid you'll get lost?" Rabendā teased.
"As if!"
GL: Holy cow! That took longer than I expected! When there was never an ending to a chapter, would be an endless run of no updates for the story. Anyway, looks like the heroes are going to make their way to Chucklehuck Woods and get the Chuckola Reserve, where they'll be meeting another OC which I decided that was the place I'd to put in. Take a guess if you like, I'm not spilling the beans. See you in the next chapter!
