Chapter 3: Of Glitz and Glory
Part 12: The Perpetrator Unmasked
"Mr. Eduardo, junior and senior. Miss Nazz, Mr. Rolf, and Mr. Jimmy. On behalf of all of us at the Glitz Pit, congratulations on your hard-earned victory!"
Jolene had brought Edd and his team back into the major-league locker room after the match. The Eduardos were still basking in the euphoria of finally winning the championship, especially after discovering that their opponent, the now-former champion Rawk Hawk, was a dirty cheater, much like Eddy back at the cul-de-sac. Mario and his Gonzales squad had returned to the locker room to congratulate their new friends from Earth and the little Yoshi that hatched in the minor-league room, and it seemed some of their past opponents couldn't help but also put aside old grudges to congratulate the kids on making it to the top. Of course, Madame Flurrie couldn't resist planting some wet kisses on Edd and Rolf; and it didn't help that the Eduardos were mobbed by fans and reporters after the big victory as they were being led back to the room, although Jimmy seemed more than eager to take a few pictures with the fans. As usual, Eddy had returned to his souvenir stand.
"Okay, everyone, that's enough! Let our new champions breathe, now," Jolene admonished.
With this, everyone else in the room returned to whatever they were previously doing.
"Well, thank you for that, Miss Jolene," Edd said. "I must say, though, that Rawk Hawk doesn't exactly play fair, now, does he?"
"Leave him to me," Jolene replied. "Here's your pay."
Jolene paid Edd a whopping three hundred coins, which Edd, Nazz, Rolf, Jimmy, and Eduardo Junior divided amongst themselves at sixty coins apiece.
"Thanks, Miss Jolene!" Jimmy piped up.
"Quite welcome," the pragmatic manager replied. "Now, if you'll come with me to get settled into the champion's quarters."
Jolene led the way for Edd and his team to follow her down the hallway, past Grubba's office and the storeroom, all the way to the champion's quarters. They had seen this room during their initial tour of the Glitz Pit with Grubba, so they remembered what it looked like. When the pragmatic manager opened the door, they were once more greeted with the extravagant appearance and atmosphere, right down to the golden-like wallpaper and the shag carpeting. The gift boxes from before were now opened, apparently by Rawk Hawk before the match; and the life-size Rawk Hawk portrait was replaced with one depicting themselves. Eduardo Junior, however, was taking in the luxurious sight for the first time, as he hadn't yet been rescued, let alone hatched, during the initial tour.
"Congratulations again, champions," Jolene said. "From now on, this will be your room, so make yourself at home. It shouldn't be hard with the furnishings in here."
"Aw, sweet!" Eduardo Junior piped up.
"Of course, you'll use this terminal on the wall here to reserve matches, like always," Jolene continued, directing their gaze to a golden-colored computer terminal not unlike the ones they've used in the locker rooms to reserve matches.
"Will there be anything else?" the manager asked.
"No, thank you, Miss Jolene," Edd replied.
"In that case, have a nice day, champions," said Jolene, adjusting her glasses before leaving the room.
Now left to get accommodated, the Eduardos breathed in the air of the room, which was much fresher than it was in the locker rooms, for obvious reasons. (After all, as dirty as he fought, even Rawk Hawk had to maintain his hygiene, right?)
"Guys, this room is, like, so awesome!" Nazz exclaimed.
"It even has its own private bathroom!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"The feel of this room is not unlike the freshness of Nana's pantaloons after the merciless beating of a stick," Rolf quipped.
"…Thank you for sharing that, Rolf," Edd mused.
"Ah, and check out the bed!" Eduardo Junior exclaimed, dashing toward the bed and plopping down. "Man, this bed's the tops! Anyone could sleep like a baby in this thing!"
"Is it bouncy?" Jimmy asked about the bed.
"Let's find out!" laughed the little Yoshi. "C'mon, Uncle Jimmy!"
Laughing, Jimmy climbed onto the bed. He and Eduardo Junior began jumping on it, and surprisingly, it was quite bouncy. The two youngest members of the team seemed to be having a blast, as they continued bouncing and laughing.
"Boingy boingy boingy!" Eduardo chuckled.
"Whee!" Jimmy exclaimed.
"Fellows, please! Cease! Refrain! Abstain! Desist!" Edd scolded.
"This is so awesome!" Eduardo laughed.
"Pardon? Far from it!" Edd fired back. "May I remind you all that since our arrival in Glitzville and our enlistment in the Glitz Pit, at least six fighters were checked into the hospital? On top of it all, over the course of a few days, we still haven't found the genuine Gold Crystal Star! Confound it all, I don't understand why this is taking us so long! We should have found it before now!"
Edd then looked away and pinched the bridge of his nose to regain his composure as Jimmy and the little Yoshi stopped bouncing and climbed down from the bed, now a bit worried.
"Calm down, Double-D, we'll find it," Nazz said, trying to calm down the neurotic sockhead.
"Speaking of which, that Rawk Hawk really sounded clueless about that Crystal Star," Eduardo piped up.
The Urban Rangers anthem sounded once more from Edd's laptop, startling everyone.
"Ah, that must be X," he said, opening it to read the message. "Hopefully this will be the last clue. It's beyond time to solve this mystery and put it to rest, once and for all."
"What does it say, Dad?" Eduardo asked.
Edd read the message from X and raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
"Oh, my, this is a most unusual request," he elaborated. "It seems he or she wants us to… 'fInD tHe GhOsT iN tHe ChAmP's RoOm?'"
"G-g-g-g-g-g-ghost?!" Jimmy quavered in fright.
"Wait, there's a ghost in here?" Eduardo added nervously. "Okay, that is not cool! Ghosts are scary, man!"
"Maybe this X doesn't mean a 'ghost' literally," Nazz said.
Suddenly, Edd stopped and froze as a barely-audible whispering noise reached his ears.
"Shh! Everyone, quiet down for a moment," he stated.
"What? Did you hear something?" asked Jimmy. "'Cuz I don't hear-"
"Shhhh!"
Everyone immediately fell silent. Edd was right – someone, or something, was whispering. Rolf approached the wall near the dresser in the northeast corner of the room and pressed his ear against it.
"Hmm… the ghostly speech penetrates this wall, right here," he noted. "Hear for yourself, Ed-boy."
Edd pressed his ear against the wall that Rolf had indicated, but the distance between him and the source of the noise was a ways too far to make the sound coherent. Looking around the room, he spotted a ventilation grate on the same wall, above the dresser.
"…There," he said, pointing.
"Through the vent?" Eduardo asked.
"Correct," Edd replied.
"Seriously? Are you saying we go through that vent to find out where that whispering's coming from?" Nazz complained, not thrilled at the idea of crawling through a dusty vent.
"Regrettably yes, Nazz. There appears to be no other way around it without drawing suspicion," Edd noted. "Hmm… It seems there's enough space between the top of the dresser and the ceiling for someone small to stand on top of the dresser and break down the grate to open the vent."
With that statement, the older kids looked at Jimmy and Eduardo Junior, and it immediately became clear to the younger teammates what was about to be asked.
"Jimmy, you have that Super Hammer that you received at the juice bar the other day," Edd stated.
"Yeah…?" Jimmy inquired.
"As much as I detest outright vandalism of any property, public or private, we need you to use your hammer to break down the grate so we can crawl into the vent to discern the source of the supposed 'ghost of the champion's room.'"
"Okay, Double-D," Jimmy replied, uncharacteristically determined. Like the rest of them, Jimmy wanted to put this mystery to rest and find the Crystal Star as soon as possible.
Rolf hoisted Jimmy atop the dresser and motioned for everyone to stand back. Jimmy whipped out his hammer and, with a twist of his small body and a mighty swing, toppled the vent grate without even stumbling – a commendable act for the otherwise accident-prone boy.
"All clear, guys!" he proclaimed with a thumbs-up.
Taking the cue, Rolf lifted Nazz up next. As she reluctantly crawled into the vent, Rolf then lifted Edd and Eduardo Junior onto the dresser so they could crawl in next before he climbed up himself, taking up the rear with Jimmy, who stored away his hammer. While there wasn't too much height in the vent, it was wide enough that two people could crawl side-by-side, as Edd and Nazz did in the lead. There was just enough height for Jimmy and Eduardo Junior to just walk through the vent while the older kids crawled, though Jimmy still had to hunch over just a bit to avoid banging his head on the metal vent canopy.
"Like, this is such a bad idea," Nazz complained softly as she crawled. "This place is dustier than that old abandoned house in Peach Creek, and I'm allergic to- ACHOO!"
Nazz sneezed as some dust mites floated up her nose.
"Gesundheit, Nazz," Edd said politely.
"Bless you, Nazz," Jimmy added.
"Ugh… thanks, guys, I guess," Nazz replied, recovering from her sneeze.
Fortunately for her, they managed to reach the other end of the vent before very long, where they could now make out the voice much more clearly. As Edd listened, the voice sounded very familiar, almost like Billy Ray Cyrus.
"Wait… is that who I think it is?" Edd whispered.
"Hyuk hyuk hyuk!" came the very familiar Southern drawl on the other side of the grate. "Well, that's in perfect condition, as usual! Yes, sirree, Bob, long as I got that there baby workin' fer me, dis ol' bod ain't never gon' git weak!"
"That voice… that's Grubba!" Nazz whispered.
Indeed, as it turned out, the vent connected the champion's quarters to Grubba's office, passing through the first floor of the storeroom on the way.
"'Course, I'mma hafta watch my tootsies here fer a li'l bit," Grubba was heard saying on the other side of the vent grate. "I mean, first I let dat King K ijit walk in on me when I was with, well, that… Bandy Andy, too… security found 'em both in the attic 'fore six A.M. just this mornin'. I thought I'd locked 'em away more secure-like… 'n now, fer whate'er reason, I can't seem to shake the feelin' dat Jolene 'n Eduardo 'n all o' them 're onto me…"
As the kids listened in on this shocking revelation, Rolf and Edd both balled their hands into fists, rage building inside them, while Nazz, Jimmy, and Eduardo Junior listened in a mixture of shock and disgust. Edd and Nazz, being in front, watched Grubba through the vent grate.
"Meh, well, I'll just burn that there bridge when the time comes," Grubba continued, speaking to no one. "Yeppers, I'll just disappear 'em! Them 'n dat Gonzales lot, too! Just like I did to them others… like I did to the first champ, Prince Mush!"
"So all this time… the perp behind the missing fighters was..." began Nazz quietly.
"The promoter himself," Edd finished angrily. "Grubba."
"Hoo-wee, if King K 'n Andy wake up from them comas, they could blow the lid off this thing," Grubba kept saying to himself. "Eh, I don't think they will. I'll just disappear 'em again, like Prince Mush. I'll just be hidin' the paper all 'bout that in this here desk drawer…"
"Prince Mush?" Jimmy whispered frightfully.
"After the match, Eddy told me that Master Crash told him that Prince Mush was the first champion of the Glitz Pit, before Rawk Hawk," Edd explained softly. "But he mysteriously vanished without a trace… and now we know why."
The kids and the little Yoshi heard the sound of a drawer opening and closing, as Edd and Nazz watched Grubba hide a mysterious document inside his desk drawer.
"There we go now," Grubba soliloquized. "Y'know what, though? Since I'm thinkin' aloud here… Good fighters ain't nuttin' to be messin' wit'. Even Rawk Hawk lost to Eduardo 'n his squad, 'n they're just a bunch o' kids! Man, I can't believe how fast they'd climbed up to the top. Them new champs might have to disappear pretty soon… for my sake. Much as I hate to be disappointin' all them fans o' theirs, I gotta do what I gotta to keep my secret… well, secret. Well, gotta git while the gittin's good. I'll just be lockin' dis room up tighter 'n a peanut butter jar at a squirrel convention."
Edd and Nazz watched as Grubba opened the door and exited the office, locking the door in the process.
"Is he gone?" Eduardo Junior asked.
"Yeah," Nazz replied.
"Everyone crawl back a bit," Edd said.
"Why?" Rolf asked.
"This space is too tight for Jimmy to climb over us and hammer the grate," Edd explained.
"So how we gonna open it, Dad?" Eduardo asked.
"Like this," the sock-headed boy replied rather smugly. He turned to face the grate, held out his hand, and spoke loudly:
"Pathi-Flare!"
In a small explosion, the grate flew off of the wall and smacked into the opposite wall, just barely missing the computer on Grubba's desk. One by one, Edd and Nazz climbed out first and entered Grubba's office. Edd then allowed the little Yoshi to climb onto his head as Nazz helped Jimmy down to the floor, while Rolf climbed out last.
"He stashed the dubious document in his desk drawer," Edd noted. "As much as I hate to sully the property of others, this is a matter of life and death we're facing here."
Edd approached the drawer on the opposite side of Grubba's desk and opened it. Immediately he spotted and extracted the document that Grubba had stashed away. As he examined the paper, he was shocked at the familiarity of the document.
"Oh, dear, oh, my!" he exclaimed.
"What is it, Double-D?" Nazz asked as she and the others gathered around him.
"Why, we've… we've seen this paper before!" Edd explained.
"We have?" Jimmy asked.
"Yes, indeed, Jimmy!" Edd replied. "Don't you remember? We found this in the minor-league locker room on a previous tip from X before Jolene confiscated it from us!"
"What does it read, sharp-witted Ed-boy?" Rolf asked.
"It appears these are the blueprints for… for a machine housed directly beneath the fighting arena, powered by the Crystal Star we've been seeking here!" Edd exclaimed, alarmed as he allowed his equally-shocked companions to view the document. "This means that Grubba had the ancient gem in his possession all along! Gah, how did we not see this?!"
"Well, like, what does it do, exactly, Double-D?" Nazz inquired.
"Well, if the schematics and formulas written on this paper are correct, then… oh, my! This machine siphons the life force of one source and transfers it to another," Edd explained, growing increasingly alarmed. "From what we've overheard, it seemed that King K and Bandy Andy caught Grubba in the act, and in response, Grubba drained their life force and transferred it to himself! This is why they looked like zombies fresh out of Ed's copious horror films, and why they're currently comatose in the hospital! Even as I say this out loud, I realize how ludicrous this must sound, but there appears to be no other rational explanation!"
Suddenly, the doorknob began rattling, signaling that someone was entering the office.
"Eep!" Jimmy squeaked in fright. "I think that's Grubba! We gotta hide before he finds us!"
"No, Jimmy! We're not hiding," Edd fired back. "We're putting an end to this."
The door opened, and as the Eduardos watched, Grubba re-entered the office.
"Freeze, mister!" Edd demanded angrily.
The promoter jumped in surprise at the sight of the new champions in his office.
"GREAT GALLOPIN' GULPITS!" he shouted. "How in tarnation did y'all git in here?"
"Oh, please, drop the high-falutin' hootenannies, Grubba," Nazz fired back, disgusted and mimicking Grubba's Tennessee accent as Edd held up the dubious blueprints.
"Well, slap me 'n call me Sassafras! Y'all 're starin' at my secret paper, too!" Grubba continued angrily.
"We know all about your 'secret paper,' and how you're responsible for fighters going 'missing without a trace,'" Edd retorted. "It's over."
"Yeah, you make me sick, you monster!" Eduardo Junior added. "So, out with it! Why'd you drain King K and Bandy Andy, huh? And did you do that to this Prince Mush guy, too?"
"Whoa, Nellie, this ain't good!" Grubba yelled. "Y'all ain't gittin' me that simple!"
As soon as he finished that last sentence, Grubba hightailed it out of the office.
"After him!" Rolf shouted.
Edd and his team ran out of the office after Grubba, pursuing him through the hallways until they spotted him running into the arena.
"This can't be good, guys," Nazz said nervously.
"We should gather our new friends, too, to help us bring this amoral, monstrous, unconscionable criminal to justice," Edd explained, facing his teammates.
"What's the plan, Dad?" Eduardo asked.
"Eduardo, Rolf, you stick with me," Edd stated. "Nazz, go pick up Eddy at his souvenir stand. Jimmy, round up Mario and his team in the major-league locker room. Have them meet us in the arena, posthaste."
"Got it!" Nazz and Jimmy proclaimed simultaneously with thumbs-ups. Nazz darted off in the direction of the Pit entrance to fetch Eddy, while Jimmy returned to the major-league locker room to fetch Mario, Goombella, Koops, and Madame Flurrie. While they fulfilled their respective tasks, Edd, Rolf, and Eduardo Junior approached the arena from the challenger's side, where Edd cast Pathi-Flare to break down the door for the second time in one day.
The arena was now empty, with every single seat now unoccupied. The jumbotron screens and the overhead stage lights had been turned off, leaving only the lights from the ceiling operational. Grubba stood in the center of the ring, with a very menacing sneer on his face. Edd, Rolf, and Eduardo Junior climbed into the ring to face him down directly.
"Y'know, I gotta say, y'all're some slack-jawed ijits, sniffin' round my business," the promoter growled.
"And rightfully so, you sociopathic barbarian," Edd growled back. "We cannot allow this criminality to continue unchecked. Either come quietly, or we will have to use force."
"I think not," Grubba shot back. "See, now y'all know my secret, y'all're gonna hafta take a li'l ol' dirt nap."
Grubba pulled out his microphone and pressed a button concealed on the bottom of the device. Suddenly, the whole room began to rumble and shake, nearly throwing Edd, Rolf, and Eduardo off balance. The three jumped back just in time as a three-by-three zone in the center of the ring seemed to lower themselves into a hidden chamber along with the promoter. The rumbling continued, as seconds later, a large machine rose into the room. The large device itself sat on top of something that resembled a large birdcage, with a monitor and electronic keyboard near the opening. Inside the cage stood Grubba, the sneer on his face widening even more menacingly.
"And this is your life-force-siphoning contraption, no doubt," Edd said.
"My, my, ain't we all smart, all E. Gadd like?" Grubba retorted.
Eduardo Junior looked up and saw something on top of the device, acting as its power source.
"DAD! LOOK!" he called, pointing. "Up there!"
Following the little Yoshi's gaze, Edd and Rolf looked up and saw exactly what they were looking for:
"Bohemian! There it is! The Crystal Star!" Edd exclaimed. There, plain as day, was the real Gold Crystal Star they had sought for days, serving as the power source for the menacing contraption.
Grubba laughed evilly and boisterously.
"Well, how y'all like my machine? Purty dang nice, huh?" he guffawed. "Yes, sirree, Bob, I been usin' this baby to suck up power from my fighters!" He followed this up with a loud slurping noise from his lips. "All o' dat jargon 'bout me carin' bout my fighters is all a load o' crock!"
"Why would you commit such abhorrent crimes?" Edd demanded.
"Y'all wanna know why?" Grubba laughed. "'Cuz it keeps my bod forever young! Yuppers, this baby's my own personal, what-cha-ma-call, 'Fountain o' Youth' type o' thangs! My ex-wife's gon' regret ever leavin' me fer her trainer once she gits a load o' me! I can 'n I will git back my ol' glory days this way!"
"You horrid harstimer!" Rolf growled. "He-who-speaks-loud shall rile Rolf's radish NO MORE!"
"You're gonna pay for using a Crystal Star like that!" Eduardo Junior added.
"I'll use MY Crystal Star however I diggety-dang please!" Grubba fired back.
"No matter. We still have you outnumbered!" Edd proclaimed.
"Is that so, now? See, what y'all got in numbers, I got in strength," Grubba countered. "See, what y'all ijits don't git is, I don't keep everyone's life force in this bod; heck, some of it's excess, so I jus' dump it! Now git a load o' THIS! MUUUUUUSCLE-UP!"
Grubba clenched his teeth and his fists and began to shake as the machine amplified the power of the Gold Crystal Star resting on top.
"Everyone back!" Rolf shouted, pulling Edd and Eduardo Junior back as the machine continued to rumble, as though it were going to explode. As they watched, Grubba underwent a very disturbing transformation: his scaly skin went from blue to bright orange, his hat flew off and was replaced by fiery-like spiked hair, his suit jacked became a large spiked shell, and he nearly tripled in size – Grubba was now almost as tall as his machine as he towered over his current opponents. In fact, he now almost resembled the visual description of Mario's long-time nemesis, Bowser. He gave his battle cry, in a now deeper voice to reflect his size:
"MAAAAAAACHO-GRUBBAAAAAAA!"
"Dang! Grubba beefed up!" Eduardo Junior yelled.
"Hoo-wee! I'mma smoosh y'all into guacamole 'n snack on YER life force, too!" Grubba boomed. "'Cuz I'm a powerhouse now, y'all pesterin' li'l pieces o' prairie piffle! Long's I got dis here machine, my bod'll be rough, tough, 'n ultrabuff!"
"You are one sick sociopath!" Edd shouted. All right, Eddward, focus your energy…
"Fireball!"
Edd launched a ball of fire at "Macho" Grubba, who simply raised his hand to dispel the move with ease.
"What the-?" Edd exclaimed, surprised.
"Pa-thetic!" Grubba shouted. "Y'all ijits can't do a diggety-dang thang to me! I'm IN-VINCIBLE!"
"No matter," Edd said. "Rolf! Go!"
Rolf darted toward the mammoth-sized monster and swung his bag. While it struck Grubba, however, even that force didn't amount to anything against him.
"Ya really think you're all that 'n a bag of mushrooms?" Eduardo Junior shouted. "Here! Try this!"
The little Yoshi darted up to him, but suddenly stopped as he realized he had no shot. Junior, you nimrod! He's too big to gulp AND too big to ground pound!
While Eduardo was distracted, Grubba just laughed and smacked him aside with his hammer-like hand, causing him to yelp and fly backwards against the floor. The large behemoth raised his foot, intending to flatten the little Yoshi to death, but Edd sprang into action and scooped his "son" out of the way just in time.
Finally, Nazz and Jimmy arrived with Eddy and the Gonzales squad in tow.
"Hey, Sockhead!" Eddy called. "We're here, so- WHAT THE HECK?!"
"Jeepers!" Jimmy yelped.
"Mamma-mia!" Mario shouted. "He looks-a like-a Bowser!"
"Zut alors!" Madame Flurrie exclaimed.
"Is-is- IS THAT GRUBBA?!" Eddy screamed.
"Yes!" Edd called, as he, Rolf, and Eduardo continued to dodge Grubba's attacks. "Help us! Grubba's deceived us from the start! He's the one responsible for fighters disappearing!"
"Yeah, Eddy, he's been using the Crystal Star on top of his machine to do it!" Nazz explained. "We saw the blueprints in his desk!"
As the others took in the monstrous sight that was Macho Grubba, Eddy was shocked to see what his current employer had become. "No way…"
Seconds later, Eddy pulled himself together and reverted back to his usual self.
"Well, heh heh, looks like it's time for the great Eddy-Dini to save the day once again," he chuckled.
"HURRY UP AND SAVE IT, THEN!" Eduardo Junior called.
Growling, Eddy hopped into the arena, followed by Nazz, Jimmy, and the Gonzales squad. Almost immediately, about half of the group was then swatted away by Grubba's Hulk-sized arms.
"How in the heck did he turn into THIS?!" Goombella asked.
"He's had the real Crystal Star all along!" Edd replied, panicked. "He used its power to transform into this monstrosity!"
Suddenly a pained yelp from Madame Flurrie garnered the group's attention as they saw her crash into several of the stands.
"C'mon, guys, let's take Grubb-zilla down!" Nazz shouted.
Shouting angrily, Grubba threw a huge punch and got Rolf in the face, sending him flying across the room; but the son of a shepherd got back up and charged at him again.
"I got this!" Koops yelled.
The teenaged Koopa ducked inside his shell and performed a shell-toss, striking Grubba hard in his foot and sending him off balance.
"Hee-hee! You got him!" Mario said, congratulating Koops.
"Well, now, actually," Grubba said darkly. "…I got y'all."
It became apparent immediately what he was referring to: Grubba began teetering, intent on flattening everyone as he fell.
"Guys," Edd said, terrified. "Run!"
Everyone scattered in random directions, trying to avoid the blast… well, almost everyone. Edd and Koops looked back and saw that Jimmy had "rooted" himself to where he was standing.
"JIMMY! HURRY!" Edd called.
"I-I-I c-c-can't move!" he replied, quavering. Apparently Jimmy's frightened state kicked in at the worst time, and he was in real danger of being flattened.
Quickly, Edd and Koops rushed over to Jimmy and barely managed to extract the pale boy just as Grubba prat-fell on the ground. Unfortunately, Grubba recovered a bit too quickly and managed to knock out Koops with one punch, sending him skidding across the ring and right into a wall.
"Koops!" Goombella called.
This distraction was all that Grubba needed to knock out Goombella as well with another punch. Suddenly, a tribal shout could be heard from overhead. Edd and Rolf recognized that shout – Eddy had climbed on top of the cage near the machine and had revived his old Mucky-Boys chant. He then propelled himself downward, striking Grubba on the head.
"GAAAAH!" was the pained reply from Grubba, as Eddy had apparently finally found the psychotic promoter's weak point. Eddy immediately jumped off of him and landed back on top of the cage.
"Eddy! His head! That must be his weak point!" Edd congratulated.
"No duh, Sockhead," Eddy retorted.
"Y'all still goin' at me like y'all think ya got a chance? Heh, that's actually funny," Grubba laughed.
"You are positively psychotic!" Edd shouted, pointing at Grubba. "Eat fire!"
Once again, a shot of flame flew from Edd's hand and struck Grubba, who remained unfazed. Edd panicked and canceled out the fire move. He won't burn! Oh, what am I to do now?
"HELP! HEEEEELP!"
Jimmy's panicked shouting snapped Edd out of his thoughts. Everyone looked up at the horrifying sight of Grubba dangling poor Jimmy over the ground.
"You put him down this instant!" Edd shouted.
"Anyone moves, 'n this kiddie here gits a poundin'!" Grubba threatened, ignoring Edd's demand.
"You wouldn't dare!" Eduardo Junior gasped.
"Oh, wouldn't I?" Grubba challenged. "Y'all want 'im to live, I suggest y'all surrender right now."
It was bad enough that Jimmy was prone to accidents back in Peach Creek, but now it seemed Grubba would follow through on his threat. Not wanting him to die, everyone who had a weapon lay them down on the ground.
"Now I know y'all got Crystal Stars o' yer own, 'n that's how y'all been doin' them special moves," the murderous promoter continued. "Hand 'em over to me, 'n maybe when I make y'all disappear, it'll be painless."
Reluctantly, Mario produced the Diamond Star, and Rolf produced the Emerald Star, both of which were handed to Edd. The sock-headed boy maintained a straight face as he approached Grubba with both Crystal Stars in hand; internally however, Grubba's demand for the other two Crystal Stars provided Edd with a plan to catch the promoter off guard.
"Excellent," he boomed."Now give 'em to me."
Edd slowly approached Grubba with the Diamond Star in his hands, focusing his positive energy into the gem.
"Yes…" the promoter sneered.
"Yes, indeed," Edd replied smugly. "Catch!"
Edd tossed the Diamond Star into the air, and as it ascended, it nearly tripled in size. Before Grubba could catch it in time, it bounced on the floor repeatedly with enough force to summon an Earth Tremor. It worked – Grubba struggled to maintain his balance, and dropped Jimmy in the process, while Nazz rushed forward to catch him in mid-fall.
"Grrrrr-aaaagh! THIS AIN'T OVER YET!" Grubba bellowed.
He retaliated with an "Earth Tremor" of his own, jumping off the ground and landing with such force enough to knock everyone to the floor, with Nazz passing out and Jimmy too scared to move.
"THIS ENDS NOW, HE-WHO-STEALS-LIFE!" Rolf shouted from the ceiling. In the distractions that ensued, no one had noticed him climb up to the ceiling where Eddy had been just moments ago. With a shout in his native tongue, the son of a shepherd jumped down toward Grubba.
"NOT THIS TIME, CHUMP!" he bellowed as he caught Rolf in mid-descent and slammed him down onto the ground, knocking him out cold.
This left only Edd, Eddy, Eduardo Junior, and Mario still standing.
"What do we do, fellows?" Edd shouted in a panic as he realized this.
"We have enough-a Star Power, let's-a use-a the Diamond Star again!" Mario suggested, brandishing the Diamond Star.
"NOPE, NOT TODAY, GONZALES!" Grubba boomed, intercepting the move and grabbing Mario in his oversized Hulk-like hand.
"NO!" came the collective shout of Edd, Eddy, and Eduardo.
Edd whipped out his rod, and yelled: "FLARE!"
He charged forward, his rod now transformed again into the flaming sword he used during the title match, and swung with all of his might, delivering a flaming slash to Grubba's feet.
"YEEARRGH! DANG IT ALL, THAT SMARTS!" growled the sociopathic lizard-man. This proved enough for Grubba to release Mario; however, he landed hard in the stands and passed out upon impact.
"Hey Dad, lemme see that!" Eduardo called.
Edd handed him the flame-sword, and Eduardo charged forward and hurled the weapon upwards with surprisingly great force for a little Yoshi. The weapon penetrated the left side of Grubba's sunglasses and pierced his left eye, disabling half of his sight.
"Good toss, Eduardo!" Edd commended.
Grubba, at his wit's end, let out a frustrated growl. With a mighty swing, he back-handed the little Yoshi with enough force to send him bouncing off the wall and knocking him out.
"EDUARDO!" Edd yelled in horror, rushing to his "son's" side. "No, no, no, no, no, no…"
"Eh, he was a li'l brat anyway," Grubba chuckled.
Edd let out perhaps his most enraged scream yet as Grubba raised his foot one more time to stomp them. Quickly, the sock-headed boy secured the little Yoshi onto his back, and they both barely managed to evade the attack.
"So-called champs o' the Glitz Pit. I knew y'all'd be too easy," Grubba guffawed, leering over Edd. "Now, looks like I'mma hafta bring the pain when I disappear y'all."
"OH, SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU FAT JERK!" Eddy yelled angrily from his perch on top of the cage, near Grubba's machine.
"You! Eddy, was it?" Grubba bellowed, rounding on Eddy. "Man, I been wantin' to disappear you since the day ya woke up here, ya teeny loudmouth."
"Man, you're crazier than I thought!" Eddy fired back. "I actually looked up to you! I can't believe I actually thought you were better than my bro! Now drop the Godzilla act, already!"
"Hoo, man, that's some good comedy," laughed the behemoth. "Man, how I will miss that when I make ya disappear."
"Ha! You ain't gonna do nothin' to me!"
"Oh, really?"
"You've already lost."
Unbeknownst to Grubba, Eddy had discovered that the Earth Tremors had broken the support for the machine, and casually rolled it off of the top of the cage on top of Grubba, instantly knocking him out and dislodging the Gold Crystal Star in the process. As the remaining heroes recovered and regained consciousness, they witnessed as the star's power wore off, reverting Grubba back to his smaller, blue-skinned self, no longer resembling Bowser. The Star, meanwhile, had landed close to the edge of the arena, perched near the boundary directly in front of the cage. Eddy climbed down from the top of the cage and back onto the arena floor.
"No…" Grubba groaned in pain and defeat. "How'd a perfect… bod like mine… lose to… a bunch o' kids?"
"Overconfidence leads to irrational behavior," Edd scolded.
"Great… g-great fight there, Eduardo," Grubba groaned. "Urggghhh…"
"Well done, everyone," a voice congratulated from the challenger's side of the room. Everyone turned and saw Jolene standing there, relieved.
"Jolene!" came the collective reply of anyone who was still standing.
"Congratulations, Teams Eduardo and Gonzales… no… Eddward and Mario. Please allow me to offer my sincerest thanks for taking down that foul Grubba."
"Wh… what are you doing here?" Edd inquired.
"I'm here to finish what I started," Jolene replied. "I do owe you all my sincerest apologies… I'm terribly sorry that I had to get you involved in all this… But please, you must understand. By any means necessary, I needed to learn the truth about the Glitz Pit."
"So then… this X who's been contacting us…" Edd began, the realization of X's identity sinking in.
"Correct. It was I," Jolene explained.
"But why?" Jimmy asked.
"Let me tell you everything," the manager responded. "I had a younger brother who went by the name of Mushbert; Mush for short. He would have done anything for me. See, we Toadwallers were always poor, struggling financially to make ends meet. Our mother was barely able to put food on our table and clothes on our backs while paying the bills with what minimum wage she made at her job. So Mush decided to do something about it."
"He became a fighter at the Glitz Pit to support the family financially. For a while, it was great. As he rose up the ranks, the coins began to roll in. Then Mush became the first champion, and we were finally able to afford our dream home in Toad Town. But then… one day, he vanished without a trace, and the coins stopped coming. Not only was our family inconsolable, but we were in danger of losing our home and going right back to where we started."
"I began to suspect that Mush's disappearance was no accident, so I got myself hired as manager to conduct my own secret investigation. One day, as I was looking for clues about Mush, I accidentally walked in on Grubba as he transformed. Seeing what I was up against, I had all but abandoned hope… until you all came along. Particularly you, Mr. Eduardo, and your friends. Because you were all rising up the ranks so quickly, I felt a glimmer of hope rekindled, so I decided to guide you in secret, under the pseudonym of X. I knew you were the only ones who could challenge Grubba and expose him for the criminal he is."
Everyone stood silently, a mix of shock and sadness crossing their faces and hearts as Jolene finished sharing her tale of woe. She immediately crossed to where Grubba lay sprawled on the ground, her expression changing to one of anger.
"Now, sir… no, Grubba! Not 'sir!'" she demanded. "I want the truth, right now! What did you do with my precious little brother?"
"I… I d-dunno what… what yer talkin' 'bout," Grubba groaned.
"Don't you pull that with me!" Jolene snapped. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! My brother, the first champion, Prince Mush! Where is he?!"
"Urggh… P-Prince Mush, he… saw me usin' my power-suckin' machine," Grubba grumbled. "So… so I made him disappear… any which way ya look at it, toots… Mush ain't-ain't 'round here no more…"
"…No," Jolene cried. "I suspected as much… Oh, poor, sweet Mush…"
"Grubba, you foul, loathsome, self-absorbed monster," Edd seethed.
Jimmy shared Jolene's pain and began to cry himself, and pulled Koops and Nazz into an emotional group hug, while Eduardo Junior hugged Edd. Everyone silently mourned the loss of Prince Mush, the first champion of the Glitz Pit who – as it turned out – was Jolene's brother, with whom she was very close.
"For all of her pragmatism, she truly loved her brother," Edd noted.
As they mourned, they were suddenly startled by a sudden flash.
"Look, guys!"
Nazz called the group's attention to the Crystal Star, which began to shake and spin rapidly as it levitated off of the ground. As it did so, the shape and form of a young male Toad materialized in a golden light. The power of the Star gently lowered him onto the stage, and the light faded shortly afterwards. This Toad looked similar to Jolene; he sported the same wave style of blonde hair and an identical mushroom cap with magenta spots, but he lacked glasses and wore a navy blue fighter's gi with white shoes. As everyone watched, slack-jawed, the young Toad opened his eyes.
"Whoa… where… is this… am I really back at the Glitz Pit?" he remarked quizzically, his eye vision becoming more and more clear. "And… who are you people?"
Jolene knew immediately who this young man was, and she rushed over to him.
"MUSH!"
Mushbert "Mush" Toadwaller, aka "Prince Mush," is Jolene's 19-year-old younger brother and the first champion of the Glitz Pit, predating the reign of Rawk Hawk. One day, he vanished after discovering Grubba's secret, prompting Jolene to launch her own investigation. Generally, outside of the ring, he is a sweet person – he only joined the Glitz Pit to help his family stay afloat financially.
"Jo?! That you?" he piped up.
Immediately Mush was caught in Jolene's tearful embrace. Edd and the others, with the exception of Eddy, couldn't help but smile as they watched the spectacle unfold.
"Oh, Mush! You're alive!" Jolene cried. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been? Mom's been inconsolable for so long!"
"I… I'm sorry, Jo, I didn't mean to make anyone worry," Mush apologized. "But it's great to finally see you again! Say, what are you doing here, anyhow?"
"Don't worry about that, Mush. The nightmare's finally over," Jolene said. "Grubba was finally exposed for his crimes."
Jolene directed her brother's attention to the promoter, who lay dazed and wounded beneath the remains of his machine.
"I want you to meet some people, Mush," she continued, approaching Edd and his friends.
"Greetings, Mush, my name's Eddward," said Edd, extending his hand to the young Toad for a handshake.
"Oh, uh, hello, Eddward, it's nice to meet you," Mush replied.
After Edd introduced himself, the other heroes went around, one-by-one, and introduced themselves.
"Hi, I'm Nazz."
"My name's Jimmy."
"I am Rolf, son of a shepherd."
"Eduardo Junior. What's shakin'?"
"It's-a me! Mario!"
"Hey, I'm Koops."
"Call me Goombella!"
"Bonjour! Je m'appelle Madame Flurrie."
"Name's Eddy McGee, don'tcha forget it!"
"It's nice to meet all of you," Mush replied. "Say, were you the ones who solved it?"
"Yes, we are," Edd replied.
"This stupid lizard was drainin' people to stay young forever!" Eddy complained. "Who knows how long he's been doing it for?"
"Oh, dear, or how many fighters he may have drained in the past, even before Mush, and King K, and Andy," Edd gasped with worry.
"And I'd-a gotten away wit it, too, if'n ain't fer y'all meddlin' kids!" Grubba groaned.
"You stole that from an old cartoon!" Eddy fired back.
"In any case, to prevent this sort of power from ever falling into the wrong hands again, Eduardo, the Crystal Star is yours," Jolene said, picking up the Crystal Star and handing it to Edd.
At long last, after several long days involving getting into fights and solving a dastardly mystery, the Gold Crystal Star was finally in the possession of the heroes. Edd held the gem aloft, and it hovered out of his hands and flew in quick circles around the room, bathing the heroes – Eddy and Eduardo Junior included – in its warm, golden light, enabling the use of the Power Lift special move before returning to Edd's hands. Now with three Crystal Stars in the heroes' possession, Grubba defeated, and two new allies by their side, the heroes could finally leave Glitzville behind and continue their quest for the remaining four Stars. It wouldn't be long before they heard from Princess Peach and the Kanker Sisters again…
End of Chapter Three
