Had a rough day yesterday; a blackout happened and I was unable to finish this chapter back then.
But now that's finished, enjoy! ;)
Chapter 21: Shadow Thief no more
Soon, the whole group gathered back at the front of Pi'illo Castle.
"So, did you all found the zee parts?" Jewel asked. Everyone then showed each part. "Great! We now have them all!"
"And we also found the last Emerald!" Silver added.
"Hey! That's the Emerald I dropped!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Where did you found it?"
"It was inside an underground cave at Dozing Sands where the Dozing Mattress was. It was encased in nightmare like with the other Emeralds but we freed it."
"At least all the Emeralds are freed." Sonic said. Silver then hands Sonic the Emerald and he puts it in his quills. "I just hope this never happens to knucklehead again…" he thought while secretly rolling his eyes.
"Alright, now we just need to find the master bed crafter in Wakeport." Starlow spoke. "He's the only one who can assemble the five parts!"
"The master bed crafter… Yes, I remember now! If memory serves, his name is Bedsmith." Dreambert told.
"I believe due to what happened to the Pi'illo folk, he may also be trapped in a nightmare chunk." Mario suspected.
"Or he may be in the last place we expect him to be. We'll need to search high and low to find him."
"Well, according to the pamphlet, the Bedsmiths tend to gather at Wake Isle aka Wakeport, right?" Jewel stated. "So we should start our search there. Who's coming along?"
"I'll go with you too!" Amy offered.
"Oh, boy…" Sonic thought, hesitant about having Amy with them.
"You know, I think I'll tag along as well." Rouge said.
"Great! Let's head to Wakeport!" Jewel exclaimed.
"We'll be hanging around in Mushrise Park. Good luck!" Blaze waved.
With that, Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Sonic, Kirby, Jewel, Ribbon Girl, Amy, Rouge, Starlow and Dreambert set off back to Wakeport.
Once there, they wandered around, where Starlow began to wonder:
"Where do you think this Bedsmith could be?"
"How should we even know?" Sonic questioned.
"Excuse me, have you heard of someone named Bedsmith?" Kirby asked a resident nearby.
"Who's Bedsmith?" the resident raised an eyebrow.
"…Oh. Never mind." Kirby came back to the group a little saddened.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure no one here ever heard of Bedsmith." Ribbon Girl said with a reassuring smile.
They kept wandering, until they saw Popple in the distance.
"Hey! Is that who I think it is?!" Sonic blurted.
"Yeah, that's Popple." Luigi replied unamused.
"Cripes! Took me a while, but I found it!" Popple exclaimed. "The secret of that Pi'illoper creep's house! Why hide the second floor entrance like that? It was right in front of my nose the whole time, see? JACKPOT! Heh heh! Those drips'll know I'm makin' for that second floor… But their snoopin' ain't gonna stop me, see? I swiped this here map from the info center… So findin' the way in will be a cinch! PERFECT! Heh heh! Soon as I snatch that loot, I'm bookin' it outta here!" he scurries off.
"I never understand a word he's saying…" Starlow sweatdropped.
"But catching all of what he said… It sounds like a Pi'illo collector lives there." Dreambert pointed out. "Maybe that's where Bedsmith is!"
"How in the world did that annoying loser made his way to this island?!" Sonic questioned, rather annoyed. "That's it, I'm going after him!" he unexpectedly dashes off.
"What the-?! Where is Sonic going?!" Mario said surprised.
"Hurry! We better catch up to him!" Jewel demanded.
The group rushed around to try to find Sonic. Soon, they've stumbled upon some ruins on another part of the place.
"Oh…" Starlow breathed. "Doesn't look like anyone comes back here!"
"Yeah. It's so different from the bustle of Wakeport." Rouge pointed out.
"The peace and quiet is a nice change of pace!" Baby Mario chirped.
They looked around from the platform they were on, until Baby Luigi spotted something at the left side:
"Hey! I can see two people over there!" he pointed.
They looked at the direction he was pointing, and they saw Popple approaching a flowery field while Sonic was sneaking behind a palm tree right behind Popple.
"So, I finally found the way to the hidden treasure." Popple said. "But what's that thing wanderin' around?!"
"La-la la laaaaa~!" a singing voice was heard on the flowery field.
That singing voice came from a large Wiggler wandering around the field, and Popple quickly hid behind a pillar, completely unaware of Sonic hiding behind the tree nearby.
"Traveling is kinda neat!" Wiggler sung. "But… All those people around really wear Wiggler out. Wiggler's missing the smell of Wiggler's garden!" he took a look of all the flowers. "There are a bunch of flowers around here! And there aren't a ton of people around!" then he got an idea: "WIGGLER'S GOT IT! Wiggler will make a large field of flowers right here! That should help Wiggler relax! OK, let's get to it!"
"That weird bug thing is patrollin' the area…" Popple peaked out. "Smells like the fuzz." Then, it dawned on him: "That collector musta hired… A SECURITY GUARD! Popple ain't gonna mess this one up, see? Gotta be real cautious-like." He spoke, seemed to not hear that Wiggler was just there to harmlessly plant flowers.
"Did he seriously not hear what that pacific Wiggler just said?!" Sonic thought from his hiding spot. "He was already annoying back at the Beanbean Kingdom, but now I'm seriously gonna kick his butt!"
With that, he stepped out of his hiding spot and Popple noticed him.
"Scram! I'm busy! Can't you see?" he scoffed. "It's either nab that loot or go home empty handed. The Shadow Thief's reputation is on the line! Got that? I said scram!"
"…What?! How come he doesn't recognize me?" Sonic thought while raising an eyebrow. "Whatever. Now that he's occupied, I should go check what's up ahead." He began to silently walk forward without catching Popple's attention, until…
"SONIC!" Amy's yell suddenly came. Sonic turned around and saw her approaching him along with the rest of the group. "How could you leave us like that?!" she growled.
"Hey, hold up! This way you'll-…"
"NYAH!" unfortunately, Amy's yell had caught Popple's attention to them and he quickly pushed everyone back. "Don't go near that thing, ya palookas!"
"Uh…what?" Luigi tilted his head.
"Oh, boy… These drips again. What's with you mugs, anyway?! You keep crashin' my parties… AH-HAAA! Heh! You guys…are thieves too, ain't ya?"
"What?! Of course not, loser!" Sonic retorted while the rest of the group shook their heads.
"The Shadow Thief knows a thief when he sees one! Yeah, yeah. It all makes sense now. I always run into your bearded mugs… Every time I'm about to lift somethin'! No wonder…you all showed up right now!"
"What in the world are you talking about?!" Ribbon Girl questioned.
Then, Popple had an idea:
"I can use these drips to KO the security guard! Then I'll steal the loot from under their noses! That's the ball game, see? The Shadow Thief wins!" he then walked back to the group. "HEAR ME OUT! We're all after the same thing, yeah? Let's team up!"
"Huh?!" the group flinched, looking at each other.
"Before we can get to the loot inside that house… We gotta knock off fuzzy-wuzzy there. You know… The fuzz? Criminy! Buncha amateurs." He directs to the Wiggler. "That buggy mug there is a security guard! He was hired by that freak Pi'illo collector!"
"Hmm…" Wiggler walked to an empty space in the field. "If Wiggler plants some red flowers around here… Wiggler could plant veggies over there!"
"And he STILL didn't hear anything from that Wiggler!" Sonic thought annoyed as Popple continues:
"Yeah, he's got the joint locked down real tight. You can't tell from his face, but he's a real bruiser! OK, ya drips. Let's do this!"
"I…think he's just planting flowers. He's not trying to harm us…" Baby Luigi spoke politely.
"HA! That's what he WANTS ya drips to believe, see?" Popple did not believe what Baby Luigi said. "As soon as we step into his radar, he'll clobber all of us! We're gonna ice this fuzzball right now, see?"
"Sorry, but we won't do it." Mario settled, with everyone shaking their heads.
"No way we'll work together with a loser like you!" Sonic refused.
Popple paused for a moment, until he replied: "Relax, will ya? We're just gonna talk! OK! Let's try that again!"
The group had no other choice, so they shrugged to each other before following Popple towards the Wiggler.
"HEY!" Popple called loudly.
"AAAAH!" Wiggler jumped in startle. "You can't just walk in here like that! Wiggler's building a garden here!"
"Shutcha trap and beat it, punk!" Popple growled.
"WHAT?!" Wiggler retorted. "How dare you insult Wiggler in Wiggler's flower sanctuary! Wiggler found this place first. Fair and square!"
"Nyah ha ha!"
All of a sudden, Popple shoved the group right towards Wiggler, completely catching them off guard!
"Whoa! What are you doing?!" Mario wasn't expecting that.
"Bring it on, ya wannabe moth!" Popple took on a fighting stance. "THESE GUYS and I WILL CREAM YA!"
"Did you just say… Moth?!" Wiggler's eye twitched. "Wiggly Wiggler… Is full of… RAAAAAAGE!" he suddenly turns red, flinching everyone.
"HA! So it's time for the fists, eh? Then this drip's gotta go!" Popple smirked. "I'll take the first shot, see? You mugs watch a master!"
Popple then climbs on top of Wiggler's head and starts pulling on his flower, causing him to get extremely mad and bonks his head on the ground, creating shockwaves.
"Look out!" Jewel warned, and the group jumped over the shockwaves to avoid them.
Wiggler lifts his head roughly, and Popple was launched into the air by the momentum, about to land on Mario, but he knocked him back at the Wiggler with his hammer.
"Hey! Your turn, palookas! Give it the old one-two!" Popple exclaimed once he landed on the ground, seemed to not care about being hit by Mario.
"Do we really have to do this?" Baby Luigi asked, hesitant about fighting Wiggler who was just a pacific creature.
"We have no other choice." Mario replied while shrugging before he and Luigi stomps Wiggler's head.
Wiggler next charges after the heroes, but they dodged. However, Wiggler came right back from the other side, charging again for them, but they managed to dodge again. But during this event, Popple had clung onto Amy.
"H-Hey! Get off of me!" Amy growled. She summons her Piko Piko Hammer and whacks Popple on the head before sending him towards a palm tree, where a few coconuts landed on his head.
"Ooogh… That girl's got guts…" Popple groaned.
"INCOMING!" Sonic suddenly yelled when Wiggler suddenly became red again and started chasing after the group, who immediately ran away.
After that, Ribbon Girl stuns Wiggler with her Sparky in both arms, giving a chance for Jewel to cast a pink blast with her Blast Pink Tourmaline, dealing heavy damage to Wiggler.
"Hm, that gave me an idea. Luigi, let's use this slingshot that the Massif Bros gave to us to finish off that Wiggler!" Mario called out, pulling out the Slingsniper.
"Okey-Dokey!" Luigi replied.
Once Mario sets the Slingsniper a few feet away from Wiggler, Luigi climbs inside it and Mario begins to pull the rope backwards while aiming for Wiggler. After stretching the rope to maximum, Mario lets go of it and Luigi was sent flying towards Wiggler. The hit was critical, and Wiggler tumbled on the ground.
But when it seemed that it was over, Popple had recovered from the heavy hit that Amy dealt to him and turned against the heroes.
"Say, what gives? Downed! KO'd! Just gotta deal with you mugs, and THE TREASURE'S MINE!" Popple smirked.
"That's what you think!" Sonic hissed and does a Homing Attack at Popple before he could react.
"Ow! Hey! That's cheating!"
"Ha! They don't call me 'fastest thing alive' for another reason!"
"Call yourself The Shadow Thief as much as you want, because I'm the most expert jewelry thief right here!" Rouge growled as she does a Screw Kick at Popple. "Not to mention that WE need that treasure more than you!"
"And I've built this item to finish you off!" Jewel finished before pulling out a blue disc with a yellow propeller on top of it. "Young Mario Bros! Take this! The Dropchopper!"
Jewel tosses the Dropchopper in the air and its propeller spins by itself. Baby Luigi grabbed hold of the Dropchopper first, then Baby Mario, who clung onto Baby Luigi's legs as the Dropchopper was approaching Popple from midair. Once they were right above Popple, the babies drilled down with the Dropchopper into the Shadow Thief with tremendous force.
With that, Popple also faced defeat to the heroes.
"Yeeowch…" he groaned dizzily.
"That really hurt! Why are you so mean?" Wiggler lamented once he stood up. "All Wiggler wanted was to make a flower garden. The flowers are Wiggler's good friends…"
That's where it dawned on Popple:
"You're tellin' me… We fought… Over a stupid…" his eye begins to twitch. "F-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-f-fffffffffffffff… FLOWER GARDEN?!"
"Don't insult Wiggler's flower friends!" Wiggler retorted. His skin turns red again. "You jerk! WIGGLER MAKES YOU PAY!"
"YEEEEEEEOW!" Popple yelled as he ran for dear life when Wiggler began chasing him. "That's it! I'm done with this stupid island!"
"Finally he's gone!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Yeah, he got what he deserved." Rouge crossed her arms.
"Sigh… Why'd we get involved in this mess?" Starlow sighed while questioning.
"Well, at least Popple is finally gone now." Mario said. "And the island is better off for it!"
"Speaking of better off… The house that he was trying to break into… That's that Pi'illo-collector guy's house, right?" Luigi remarked.
"I guess so. Maybe we can find a clue about Bedsmith."
"Alright, let's get out of here." Jewel finished.
The group left the area and walked along the path above to reach that house from the upper floor. There, they saw a Beanish person with a Pi'illo-shaped mask speaking to himself:
"That smell… I'd know it anywhere!" the group then approaches him. "Even though it's allergy season… I can smell that you guys have… Pi'illo stuff!" he suddenly dashes close to them, which made them almost jump.
"You almost startled us!" Ribbon Girl spoke surprised.
"Ahem… Sorry, guys. Got a little excited! So let me just introduce myself. I am the foremost living expert on Pi'illo culture. You may call me Pi'illoper! Pi'illo-ed to meet you!"
"Um, nice to meet you as well, Pi'illoper." Jewel replied a little embarrassed.
"I know fellow Pi'illo enthusiasts when I see them. Let's be… Pi'illo pals! I bet I know why you guys came by… It's my collection of Pi'illo artifacts, right?" everyone nodded. "Ahya! Hya hya! I'll give you a look. But first I gotta peek at YOURS!"
"Ours…?" the group thought the same thing while pondering.
"This guy is… Wow." Starlow said. "Let's show him what we've got."
"What we've got? Oh! That's it! The Zee Parts!" Mario thought and whispered to his friends about what he thought.
"I doubt you have any Pi'illo stuff that will impress me…" Pi'illoper doubted. That's when Mario first showed him the Pajamaja Rock Frame, which made him squeal like a fangirl: "SQUEEEEP! Th-that's… I've seen this before in my favorite magazine! Pi'illo Power, issue #43, page 29! Oh golly molly! A Zee Part! That's the Pajamaja Rock Frame!"
"Oh, and this doesn't stop here!" Mario grinned and directed to his friends to show the next Zee Part. Luigi then steps in and shows the Dozing Mattress.
"GWAHAY! C-c-could that be the… Dozing Mattress?!" next, Kirby shows the Mushrise Tree Board. "FACE…NUMB! That wood grain! The Mushrise Tree Board!" then, Sonic shows the Driftwood Jellyfish Sheets. "GYAAACK! Th-the Driftwood Jellyfish Sheeeets!" finally, Jewel shows the Zeekeeper's Feathers. "I LOVE YOU! And… GOLLY MOLLY! Zeekeeper's Feathers!" Pi'illoper begins to pant after all that excitement: "Huff… Huff… Huff…"
"You okay?" Amy asked.
"I… I haven't been… Hooooooo… This excited… Huff… Since that time… Phew… I found that old pillow."
Just by hearing the word 'old pillow' made the group's eyes perk up.
"Did you say 'old pillow'?" Starlow asked.
"Yes… It's right in my collection room. I am not worthy! Let me show you my collection!" Pi'illoper replied. "Follow me! Come visit my Pi'illo wonderland!"
The group followed Pi'illoper down to a pipe, taking them to the basement, where all of the Pi'illo-related things Pi'illoper collected were displayed.
"Wow, he sure does have a taste for the Pi'illos…" Jewel thought while looking around.
"Welcome to my collection room, my Pi'illo pals! Please make yourselves at home! Bask in Pi'illoper's secret collection!" Pi'illoper exclaimed.
The group thanked him and spread around to do some sightseeing.
"Showing my collection to fellow Pi'illo enthusiasts… This is what I live for! Squeeeeeeeeep!" Pi'illoper silently squeals.
"Umm… We've seen dozens of these in Pi'illo Castle. I guess you don't have what we're looking for." Starlow spoke. Everyone agreed with her, causing Pi'illoper to flinch:
"Impossible! NOT IMPRESSED?! NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Uh… I think we just upset him…" Kirby pointed out.
"This is the worst day of my entire liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife!" then, something came into his mind: "NO! Wait! You haven't even seen my most prized item!"
"Most prized item?" Starlow raised an eyebrow.
"You're gonna flip when you see this! SUPER-RARE PILLOW!" he takes out nothing than a… Petrified Pi'illo! Everyone's eyes perked up by that. "HA! Impressed yet? Yeah, thought so. The pattern on this pillow is one of a kind."
"THAT'S IT!" all of a sudden, Dreambert out of nowhere jumps towards the pillow, knocking Pi'illoper down:
"GAH!"
"This pattern… I am certain!" Dreambert exclaimed, examining the pillow. "This is the bed master, Bedsmith!" the group jumped in joy by the news.
"Then that means… If we fix this pillow… We can get him to make the Ultibed?!" Starlow guessed.
"AAAAAAH!" of course Pi'illoper would flip out upon seeing Dreambert. "P-P-PI'ILLO?! Oh golly molly! He's alive? He's MOVING?! How is this even possible?!"
"Greetings. You appear to be going into shock…" Dreambert said. "But would it be okay if we kept this pillow?"
"Y-yes, noble Pi'illo! You may keep it! You can even keep ME if you want!"
"That…won't be necessary." Dreambert shook his head a bit embarrassed. "Everyone!" he turned to the gang. "Shall we save Bedsmith?"
"Yeah!" the group exclaimed.
Luigi then rests his head on the pillow while Jewel rests on her Magical Pillow next to him. All Pi'illoper could do was watch astonished the Dream Portal open above Luigi's head and Mario and his friends jump in.
"WHOOOOOOA!" he exclaimed excitedly. "They just went inside of that! Is this really happening?!"
"You're gonna be fine, kid. Just take a deep breath!" Starlow assured.
To be continued…
Next chapter showing my personal favorite Giant Boss Battle in the game! Please review.