Published on November 27th, 2010.
Replaced (ver.1) on June 4th, 2015.


Chapter 8/60
The Hidden Koopas
Storming Koopa Bros. Fortress Arc (1/6)


Mario slowly opened up his blue eyes. After feeling his energy returning, he yawned loudly and stretched on his cozy red bed before glancing at the clock next to him. The clock struck 5:45 AM. "It's early..." Nevertheless, he climbed down the ladder and went to the dining room. He saw Luigi sipping tea while reading the newspaper on his chair. The incident of Princess Peach's Castle was on the front. Then, Mario saw Goombario eating Goomnuts.

"Hey, Bro," Luigi said. He laid down his tea on the wooden table. "You're the last person up today."

Mario raised his eyebrows. "Last person up? This early?"

Luigi nodded. "Uh-huh. The Eds left around 5:30 AM."

"Why did they leave so early?"

Goombario turned around and faced Mario. "I heard Eddy saying something about a scam," he answered.

"Scam?" Mario stared up, furrowing his brow. "Maybe we should go as well."

Goombario nodded. "Okay." Mario and Goombario took all the things they needed. They said their goodbyes to Luigi (which he muttered that he wanted to go with Mario) and exited out the house. Once they were out, Mario and Goombario jumped inside the green Warp Pipe.


The town itself felt like a ghost town to the Eds. Not a single person was on the streets for them. They were building up a stand in front of the Post Office.

Double D looked at Eddy with a frown. "Tell me again why we're building this right now at 6:00 AM in the morning?" he asked. His voice was quiet, and the look on his face meant he wanted to meet face-to-face with a soft comfortable pillow.

"Why?" Eddy asked. "Because we need to set up our Ed's Nutty Snacks Day before the pigeons-uh... I mean, customers show up."

"You do realize that we're in a middle of an adventure, right? We have to return home as soon as possible."

Eddy scoffed. "Whatever. Besides, we can earn money this way." The Eds worked on the last touch on the stands. It was a simple wooden stand like a lemonade stand. The only things missing were the items to sell. "Ed, give me my backpack." Ed did what he was told. Eddy took out a bunch of Goomnuts in different sizes and set them up on the stand.

Double D stared at him. "Where did you acquire these Goomnuts? The only place these Goomnuts grow are in Goombario's village."

Eddy looked away, scratching the back of his head. "Um... Well... You see..."


At the dawn of Goomba Village, Ed and Eddy stood in front of a huge Goomnut tree.

Eddy had a huge grin on his face. "You remembered the plan, Ed?"

"Sure. I am Ed, king of vikings!"

Eddy slapped Ed's head in the back. "Not so loud, stupid. You're going to wake everyone up." Eddy smashed the tree while Ed threw his hammer toward the Goomnuts. Six Goomnuts fell down to the ground. Ed and Eddy quickly picked up the Goomnuts and shoved it inside the bag. And for the rest of the morning, they waited for the others to wake up.


"You took those Goomnuts without Goombario's permission?!" Double D asked, gaping widely. "Have you no shame?!"

"Big deal," Eddy said, then scoffed. "He can grow more Goomnuts back home." He set up the Goomnuts as neat as possible. Lastly, Eddy attached a sign on top of the stand that said 25 cents.

Double D sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. "Eddy, the currency here is different from our world. These people do not have any idea what are cents."

Eddy started his announcement. "Step right up, folks! Come get some Goomnuts at Ed's Nutty Snack Day! Only 25 cents!" The only response they heard was a quiet, but soothing, wind. "Any day now..."


"Did you hear something?" Goombario asked Mario as they walked down on the streets. "I think I heard Eddy's voice at the center of town."

Mario nodded. "Let's check it out." They passed down the Toad Town Dojo and saw the Eds at the front of the Post Office.

But before they could say anything, a mysterious man came out from behind the tree and stopped in front of them. He looked like a wizard with blue robes and brown shoes. His beard was long that separated itself by his star jewel. Mario and Goombario could not see his face, but only his piercing yellow eyes. "I have waited for you Mario," he said.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Merlon, and I must speak to you inside my house." He pointed to the house with the roof spinning. "Come, there's no time to waste." Before Mario could do anything, Merlon grabbed Mario's arm and led him inside the house. Goombario glanced at Mario and the Eds repeatedly, but he ran after Mario into Merlon's house.


Thanks to the powers of Kammy Koopa's magic, the Koopa Bros. successfully infiltrated the east side to Toad Town yesterday. They were transformed into four Toads in a strange color. However, guarding the east side in a long period of time was not an easy task.

"All right," Red Koopa said, sighing. "We'll stop Mario and his friends by blocking this path. No matter what, we can't move from this spot." The other three nodded to him. They waited for a couple of seconds until they heard their stomachs growling.

"I'm hungry," Green Koopa said, placing his hands on his stomach. "I can't take this anymore."

"I agree with him," Black Koopa said, yawning. "We can't be cool without energy."

Red Koopa noticed the Eds and their stand. His mouth turned into a smirk.


Business had not been improving since the grand opening. In fact, the Eds did not see a single customer. Ed kept on glancing at the house with the roof spinning.

"Can we return back to Mario's place?" Double D asked, almost closing his eyes before yawning. "This scam of yours is not working."

"No way!" Eddy replied. "This is the only time where we can earn some cash. By the time we leave, our pockets will be full of money."

Red Koopa slowly walked up to them while clutching his stomach in hunger. He looked tired and depressed at the same time. "Excuse me," he said, "but may I have some ration?" He coughed. "I need help."

Double D gasped. "Oh my goodness!" he said. "Eddy, let's give some Goomnuts to this poor fellow."

"After he pays me 25 cents," Eddy said, extending his hand to Red Koopa.

"What's a cent?" Red Koopa asked, staring back.

"How can you be so selfish Eddy?!" Double D said, leaning his face to up Eddy's face. "Are you going to let him suffer?"

Red Koopa widened his eyes, pointing. "Oh my gosh! An alien went inside that spinning roof house!"

"What?" Eddy and Double D asked with confused expressions.

Ed suddenly grabbed Double D. "I told you, Double D!" he said. "That house is an alien space ship from the evil king, Bowser! We must stop them before they conquer the world!" He charged straight to the house with Double D in his arms. Double D screamed, trying to break free.

That worked better than I expected, Red Koopa thought.

"What are you two doing?!" Eddy asked his friends. "Get back here right this instance!" He turned back to see the Koopa Bros. "Who the heck are you guys?!"

"Get him!"


"And that is all that matters... Huh?" Merlon said until he saw Mario and Goombario snoring while standing. "Hey! Were you listening to me?!" Mario and Goombario snapped out of their nap. They quickly nodded in agreement, though the two ignored Merlon's irrelevant story. "Overall, your main goal is to rescue Princess Peach and the Star Rod from the Bowser. You also have to open up the path for the Eds to go back to their home. You can ask me where you need to go if you get lost in your adventure, but for a small fee. However, this prediction will be free. You will head to the fortress in the east side of the Mushroom Kingdom where the Koopa Bros. lived."

"Thanks a lot, Merlon," Mario said.

"Wait! I sense something according to my second sight." He looked through his mystic glass ball that had a star in it. "It seems a tall, powerful boy will crash inside here in three seconds because he suspects me as an alien."

"What?" Goombario asked. "What are you-" Ed suddenly crashed through the door.

"Let me go, Ed!" Double D said, then felt himself dropping down.

"I shall foil your plan, evil alien of the wizard hag!" Ed said to Merlon. He jumped toward Merlon, but Merlon sidestepped to the right. Ed crashed onto the floor.

"Ed, it's not what you think!" Goombario said. "This guy is Merlon, and he is our ally."

"What?" Ed stood up and faced Merlon, who was crossing his arms. "I am so sorry, mighty wizard!"

Merlon sighed. "It's okay," he said. "Though I suggest you all meet your greedy friend right now." The others had confused expressions, but they all exited out and gasped out loud. The stand was broken down to pieces, all the Goomnuts were gone, and Eddy was lying down on the ground.

"Eddy!" Double D and Ed said. They ran up to him and picked him up. There were marks on his body and clothes, but he was breathing normally.

"Who did this to you?!" Double D asked.

"It was that red Koopa and his three other friends!" Eddy answered, grunting. "He tricked me and stole all the Goomnuts I had!"

"It must have been the Koopa Bros.," Mario said, recalling Merlon's words earlier. "We should go back to my place and heal your wounds."

Eddy stood up. "No way! Those jerks are going to pay for this!" He ran to the east exit, recalling that was where the Koopa Bros. ran.

"Eddy! Come back!"

Before any of them ran, Merlon stood in front of them. "Before you all go," he said, "I have one last free prediction to you all. You will need a blue-shelled Koopa and a pink Bob-omb in order to rescue the first Star Spirit. Two out of the three Ed boys will form a bond to one of them. You should go to Koopa Village before you go to the Koopa Bros. Fortress. I wish you all luck." He started to pick up the mess while the other four headed to the east path.

"When did Eddy obtained all of my Goomnuts?" Goombario asked suddenly. Double D looked away and remained silent.


Level 2

Mario [10 HP | 10 FP | 6 BP]
Badge Points left [5]
Badges equipped [Power Jump (1)]

Ed [10 HP | 15 FP | 3 BP]
Badge Points left [0]
Badges equipped [Hammer Throw (2), Close Call (1)]

Double D [15 HP | 5 FP | 6 BP]
Badge Points left [4]
Badges equipped [Pretty Lucky (2)]

Eddy [10 HP | 5 FP | 9 BP]
Badge Points left [6]
Badge equipped [Feeling Fine (3)]