Another twist compared to the original game will happen in here too!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 11: Finally out!

Bowser flew all the way back to Cavi Cape and fell inside a large hole in the ground.

*THUD!*

"Ow…my achin…" he groaned as he slowly got up. "Where…is this?"

Turns out that he landed in the Cavi Cape's Underground Tunnel. He decides to explore this place to find a way out.

Meanwhile, inside Bowser…

While Bowser was wandering around in the Underground Tunnel, Mario and Co. exited the Flab Zone and decided to head to the Challenge Node, located probably in Bowser's spleen. The walls were green, the ceiling was made of bones and the floor could be the spleen's tissue. The walls were also decorated with balloon-like objects. The heroes chose to head here so that they could talk in person with Melissa, still disguised as Princess Peach.

"Okay, now tell us more about the seven Star Children." Mario started. "First, do you know who they are?"

"Well, I do know who they are, but I can't tell you, unfortunately." *Melissa shook her head.

"What?! Why?" Starlow asked.

"Because there's a law in the Star Realm which says that none of the star people can reveal the identity of all of the Star Children at once."

"Hmm… So I guess we have no choice but to discover the other six by ourselves. But for now on, let's return to Fawful. Why is he after the Dark Star so badly?"

"He already knew about the Dark Star's tale, but not too much of the Star Children's tale. Because of that, he only knows five of the seven Star Children, but he doesn't know the remaining two." *Melissa explained.

"He knows five of them already?!" Luigi's eyes widened.

"Yes. And being a close relevant to the star people, the Dark Star is the only one besides all of the star people who knows who the Star Children are."

"So because of that, Fawful wants to revive the Dark Star as soon as possible so that it could lead him to the other two he doesn't know, right?" Mario guessed.

"That's absolutely correct."

"I knew it was too good to be true… His plan makes so much sense now!" Mario clenches his fist in anger.

"At least this plan is delayed, so that could give us enough time to try to chase after him." Yoshi stated.

"Hellooo? Dino Brain, we're still trapped inside Bowser, did you forget?" Wario sassed.

"Oh…right."

"In the meantime, why don't we focus on the Blorbs? All of the Toads who were affected aren't still cured, remember?" *Melissa suggested. "We could try to ask Dr. Toadley about this cause. He shouldn't be too busy at this moment."

"Good point. But until we get out of Bowser's body, we'll just have to wait." Luigi said.

Just then, they heard a faint noise.

"What's that noise?" Luigi asked.

"It sounds like a drill… At least that's what I think." Donkey Kong guessed.

Back outside…

"C'mon, bro! We've made ZERO progress in forever! Beef up that drill power again, will ya?" a Monty Mole spoke once Bowser arrived in a room where one of the Monty Moles was trying to dig out of the Tunnel with a drill machine. However, it was not moving at all.

"I'm maxing it out right now, broski!" the Monty Mole piloting the drill replied.

"Keep at it, broham! Gotta get it done!" another Monty Mole encouraged.

"We're a force of nature handpicked by Bowser!" another one said. "Bros do NOT get defeated by some stupid dirt wall!"

"Hey! What's going on?!" Bowser asked.

"Buh-Bowser?!" the Monty Mole next to the entrance was surprised. "Buh-bros! Take five!"

Soon, all of the Monty Moles gathered in front of Bowser and explained everything to him.

"Yeah, so our secret tunnel mission is going super smooth!" the far left Monty Mole said.

"Secret tunnel?! First I heard of it!" Bowser replied.

"Remember, bro—I mean, Bowser? You wanted an escape tunnel for kidnapping Peach?" the far right Monty Mole asked.

"The big tunnel project… You named it Project K!" the middle-right Monty Mole exclaimed. "And you handed it off to us, the Monty Bros, because we rule dirt!"

"Hmm, I guess I remember something like that." Bowser pondered. "But you guys don't rule squat! I was just watching you chumps, and you're getting nowhere! You're total slackers!" he spoke sternly at them.

"I-I-I… Look, sorry, brogurt!" the far left Monty Mole apologized nervously. "We're all lined up to connect to Toad Town if we go straight through here, but…"

"Broyo, this dirt is crazy hard! It's a dead end, I kid you not!" the middle-left Monty Mole added.

"Wait, we can connect to Toad Town through here?!" Bowser asked.

"Yeah, broham! Straight through there!" the middle-right Monty Mole answered.

"Nice! Then get on it! Make with the digging!"

"But, bro, the dirt's so hard…" the middle-left Monty Mole excused.

"Oh, WAAH! Some minion you are! Fine, I'll do it myself!"

With that, the Monty Mole controlling the drill went to the wall while Bowser was pushing the machine's back with all his strength.

"You, uh… You sure about this, bro?" the middle-left Monty Mole sweatdropped.

"HRRRRNNGH!" Bowser struggled to push the drill machine.

Eventually, another area of Bowser's body begin to react.

"Going the brute force route again, I see…" Starlow spoke.

"Guys! I require some of your help here! I need more strength in my legs!" Bowser requested.

"Alright, we'll do it. Hang in there!" Mario assured.

Inside Bowser…

"Strength in his legs… I suppose we'll have to head inside the base of both of his legs to stimulate their muscles." *Melissa said.

The group nodded and went to the new area, the Leg Outpost. As Melissa said, it is located at the base of both Bowser's legs, as both of his legs' muscles are present, doing contractions. We can also see the hip joint and the very last bones of the vertebral column right at the entrance.

"Let's stimulate Bowser's muscles to fire him up!" Starlow said.

"Yeah!" Mario nodded.

He then grabbed Luigi's hands and held him upside down above his head as they jumped on the right muscle, but it was not enough to stimulate it.

"Hmm, just jumping is not enough to get these muscles going…" *Melissa pondered. "I guess the one on the bottom must stomp on the muscle really hard."

Mario then crouches his legs as hard as he could once he landed on the muscle. With that, the muscle shrunk down while liberating sparks of energy, and it sprung the bros in the air, making them switch places while heading to the left muscle. Because of that, it was Luigi's turn to stomp the left muscle, and the same thing happened again.

After some more alternating stomps, the brothers let go of each other and landed on each muscle, stomping both of them at the same time. This caused Bowser to dash forward with the drill machine, creating a tunnel, leaving the Monty Moles with their jaws dropped.

The Mario Bros continued this minigame until Bowser finally bursts out of the tunnel and arrived at the Toad Town Caves, sending the drill machine flying to the other side of the wall.

"Bwahahahahahahaha! Got a little carried away!" Bowser laughed. He then looks around. "So is this Toad Town?!"

He walks inside the corridor, leading him to a circular chamber with a blue lightning bolt printed on the ground and some suspicious bright orange orbs. As soon as he reached the middle of the room, an alarm activated. Turns out that this was the security system to prevent intruders for reaching the Dark Star, so it was probably built by Fawful.

"NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!" the alarm's voice yelled.

"Hey! Pipe down!" Bowser growled.

"NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!"

All of a sudden, the orbs released electricity at Bowser, electrocuting him.

"GIGGAGIGGAGOW!" he yelled in pain before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

"…What just happened? What was that noise?" Starlow asked. "Hey! You OK?"

They waited for a little bit, but Bowser didn't respond.

"He's not responding…" Yoshi pondered. "I wonder what happened…"

"We'd better walk around a bit and see what's what." *Melissa suggested.

Back inside Bowser…

The gang looked around Bowser's body for very long, until they came upon an area that they've never been to: the Pipe Yard. This area is probably located in Bowser's ear. It has many different colored pipes, each of them connecting to different locations all over the Mushroom Kingdom. As soon as the group walked in, they spotted a fallen red pipe, making them able to explore this area.

"Golly, what's with all these different pipes?" Luigi wondered.

"All the pipes Bowser inhaled piled up in this room!" Toadbert's voice came.

"Huh? Toadbert?" Mario saw Toadbert up ahead.

"Mario! By boogity!" Toadbert exclaimed. "That last shock opened up deeper byways in Bowser's body!"

"So Bowser got electrocuted somehow? That explains the loud noise." Starlow pointed out.

"According to my calculations, these pipes should take us to different places of the Mushroom Kingdom. If we use these, we can get out, by boogity!"

"REALLY?!" everyone except Toadbert's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yep! Hurry! Get in this pipe!" Toadbert directs to a purple pipe right behind him.

"Alright! See ya!" Mario waved as he and his friends dashed towards the pipe as fast as Sonic and jumped in.

"Wow… They really can't wait to get out of Bowser's smelly body…" Toadbert snickered.

Outside, at the caves…

Mario and Co. came out of the same purple pipe that led them inside Toad Town Tunnel and looked around.

"YES! FINALLY! Freedom at last!" Luigi exclaimed as he lifts his hands in the air.

"Gosh, finally we're out of that smelly body!" Wario exclaimed.

"Yeah! I thought we'd never see the light of the day again!" Yoshi chirped.

"Even though we're not seeing it right now…" Donkey Kong stated.

"Hmm… I wonder where we are? Somewhere underground…" Starlow inspected the area.

"I believe we're at the Toad Town Caves, where the Dark Star was sealed…" *Melissa said.

"Oh! That's it! Your story!"

"I have chortles!" just then, they heard Fawful's faint laugh.

"You guys hear that?" Starlow asked.

"We did! Fawful's nearby!" Mario spoke while glaring at the wall where the voice came from.

"Talk about a dilemma! Fawful has Peach… And he's looking for the Dark Star!" Starlow replied.

"Well, we should be glad that he doesn't have Melissa. Otherwise, we'll be in trouble." Yoshi pointed out.

"Yeah, but even that, we have to find Fawful and maybe take Peach back!" Mario told them.

Everyone nodded and went forward to explore. They ended up battling strange enemies that resemble Mario and Luigi's noses and mustaches called Noozes throughout the way. They eventually reached the same room where Bowser was electrocuted.

"Is that Bowser…?" Luigi breathed as they approached him.

"Wow, and we were just inside his body… Weird." Wario remarked.

"I wonder what happened that made him faint…" Starlow wondered.

Suddenly, the same alarm activated and its voice yelled again:

"NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! NO TRESPASSING! NO TRESPASSING! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!"

"Uh oh! RUN!" Luigi shouted in panic as they ran out of the room and watched Bowser being electrocuted again:

"GIGGAGIGGAGOW!"

"…That explains it." Wario sweatdropped.

"A security system, huh…" Starlow pondered. "If we try to go through there, we'll get toasted like Bowser."

"So we'd better go see if we can find a different route." *Melissa said.

A while later…

They walked in the sewers part a lot and fighting Fawful-like ants called Fawflants. They also came to learn how to use blue shells to activate levers that move bridges in order to move on. Once they finally open up a door by using Shell Mario, they were greeted by two Toads blocking the way ahead.

"Mario! Princess Peach! Listen, sorry, but even you aren't allowed in here." One of the Toads spoke. "Because something really, really, really important is stored here."

"Yeah, the Dark Star, right?! Listen! Did Fawful pass by?" Starlow asked.

"Fawful? Who's that?" the other Toad asked.

"Something's off… Isn't it odd for you guys to be down here?" Mario questioned in a suspicious tone.

"Odd? Really? Odd like…"

All of a sudden, the two Toads morphed into two Fawflants, catching the group by surprise!

"THIS?!" the same Fawflant from earlier finished before ambushing the group into a battle.

The Fawflants snuck behind Mario and Luigi to poke their backs, but they managed to stomp them. Donkey Kong takes the advantage to do a Giant Punch at one of the Fawflants while Yoshi did a Yoshi Bomb at the other.

These attacks left the Fawflants dizzy, giving a chance for Wario to do a shoulder-tackle at one of them while *Melissa attacked the other with Peach's golf club, and the two Fawflants were defeated.

Then, the room started to shake as Fawful's laugh came:

"I HAVE CHORTLES!"

"That's Fawful!" Mario growled.

"I think it's best for you to go ahead." *Melissa whispered to them. "I'll head back in Bowser's body to hide. I believe it won't take long for Fawful to discover that he didn't capture me…"

"All right!" Mario whispered back.

"I'll wait for your return!" *Melissa replied quietly as the heroes went to the next room.

There, they saw Fawful and Viverna standing next to the seal of the Dark Star while placing *Peach on the floor.

"FAWFUL!" the heroes hissed.

"YOU FOOLS ARE TOO LATE!" Fawful laughed. "The beauty hurts my teeth! Such power of darkness! My spine will have the tingle!"

"Ooh! I'm DYING to see the beauty of the Dark Star!" Viverna smirked. "Do it now, Lord Fawful!"

"Of course!"

Fawful then drags *Peach towards the seal and waits for her 'power' to be released…

"I HAVE…" Fawful started. However, nothing happened. "…HUH?!" he didn't believe that.

"Wait a minute… What's that?!" Viverna noticed something in *Peach's pocket. It was the rose petal hidden in her dress. Viverna used her poison powers to create a small cloud of green poison at the rose petal and watched it dry out until it dies, causing *Peach's Melissa disguise to be removed.

"WHAT?!" Fawful and Viverna's eyes widened.

"Uh oh…" Starlow murmured.

"I HAVE FURY!" Fawful yelled. "YOU!" he turned to the heroes. "HOW COULD YOU?!"

Fawful's anger caused him to shoot blasts at the heroes, but they ran away.

"Time for the crying! Too badness for you!" Fawful growled.

"So the real Melissa is still out there…" Viverna muttered.

"Exactly! Viverna! Search for her immediately! Fawful commands you!" Fawful demanded.

"Yes, Lord Fawful!" Viverna replied as she flew out of the caves.

"And for you, fools…" Fawful turned to the heroes. "Do not think you have victory! Because Fawful WILL be back for you! You can keep Peach with you for now. But soon enough, once Princess Melissa is in the hands of Fawful… YOU WILL CRY!" he then leaves.

"Golly… Melissa was right about Fawful discovering that he took the fake Melissa very soon." Luigi spoke astonished.

"Yeah, and that Viverna has the eyes of an eagle… She's quite dangerous." Mario threw in.

"At least he left Princess Peach with us." Starlow stated. She then flew to her. "Hey! Peach! Are you okay?"

"Oooooh… Everyone… I'm so sorry…" Peach moaned. "I never knew that our plan would collapse so quickly…"

"It's okay, Peach. At least you're safe with us." Starlow said in a soft tone.

"I know…" Peach slowly stood up. "But if Fawful finds the real Melissa, the Mushroom Kingdom is done for!"

"So we better keep her hidden from Fawful!" Yoshi said. "Thank goodness we have a safe place for her, which is in Bowser's body…"

"Speaking of which, where is she right now?" Peach asked.

"She is hiding in Bowser's body, waiting for us to return." Starlow answered.

"Well, as long as she is safe there, this shouldn't be too much of a problem." Then, something came in Peach's mind: "Oh no… Everyone, I just remembered something!"

"What?" Mario asked.

"I also heard from Fawful that…he plans to take control of Melissa's Castle!"

"Melissa's Castle?! You mean, the Star Shrine located at the top of Star Hill?!"

"Yes."

"Oh no…"

"What is it, bro?" Luigi asked.

"If Fawful takes control of the Star Realm, the most sacred place in the Mushroom World, who knows what he'll do there?"

"Oh god… Probably something not good!"

"We have to try and prevent that for happening! But how do we get out of here?"

"That door up there leads straight to Toad Town." Peach pointed. "If you really want to get out of here, then we have to hurry…"

The group wasted no time in exiting the caves, emerging back at the surface via a yellow pipe. Toad, who was walking near a fountain of Princess Peach, saw them and spoke:

"Mario! Princess! Oh, man, and Luigi, Yoshi, DK and Wario too! Where have you all BEEN?! You all have disappeared for a long time since Bowser crashed that meeting about the Blorbs! It was like, all of a sudden, Peach's Castle was just empty!"

"Sorry that we worried you, Toad. Is there anything happening in my castle?" Peach asked.

"I… Dunno." Toad shrugged.

"Guess we'll have to see it by ourselves." Mario stated. "Okay, thanks for your information, Toad."

"You're welcome." Toad waved as the group left.

Once they reached the bridge leading to the castle, all of a sudden, some strange green walls with Fawful's face printed in white popped out of the ground, blocking the access to the castle.

"No!" Peach gasped.

Meanwhile, inside Peach's Castle…

"I still have fury over those fools tricking me with a fake Melissa…" Fawful muttered while pacing back and forth. "They really are a slick bunch, like my old master used to say..."

"Lord Fawful… Viverna is searching for her the best she can… We need Melissa as soon as possible!" Midbus said.

"I HAVE ANGST!" Fawful yelled. "Do not tell Fawful that. That gives Fawful stress!"

Suddenly, an alarm activates.

"Bad noise!" Fawful exclaimed.

"Someone attempts to breach the castle." Midbus informed.

"I have many chortles at such stupidity!" Fawful smirked. "We are snug as bugs snuggling in a comfy rug. My blockade laughs at intruders!"

Back with the heroes…

"Fawful… He's trying to prevent us for accessing the Star Realm!" Peach growled under her breath.

"What do you mean?" Starlow asked.

"Somewhere inside my castle is a pedestal that opens the way to Star Hill. If we can't get inside we'll never be able to get there!"

"So we really have to get past this blockade…"

"How about we head back to the Town and think of a new strategy?" Mario suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea."

"I HAVE CHORTLES!" Fawful's voice came in. The heroes looked up to see a Fawfulcopter arriving and Fawful's voice came from it: "Again the tears are flowing! But not on the face of Fawful anymore! Now Fawful is on the cozy couch, sipping tea that laughs at you! And he's out there craving for the real Princess Melissa… When she does appear, the path to the Star Children will open and all the kingdom will be dark as darkness! But until then…maybe Fawful will have some shopping." The Fawfulcopter leaves.

"Well, so much for that…" Wario muttered.

"We were so close…" Starlow growled.

"Hold on, remember that Melissa suggested that we should focus on the Blorbs? After all, there's naught we can do right now." Mario said.

"You're right. Maybe Dr. Toadley will know what to do." Yoshi nodded.

Everyone then went back to Toad Town and straight to Dr. Toadley's office.

To be continued…

That's right! While Princess Melissa will be the main target of my story, I decided to make Peach join with the heroes! I did that so that not only it makes up for the Star Children in my story's name, but to also give Peach a much more major role. We've already seen her being kidnapped a lot, right? Not to mention that Peach is actually my third favorite Mario character!

What could be the cure for the Blorbs? The next chapter will reveal that! Please review.