Viney Valley
2:00 am
When Mario arrived back at the village with everyone else, he was completely amazed at what he found.
It couldn't have been more than half an hour since they'd destroyed the factory, and yet Viney Valley was already visibly recovered. The flowers were all becoming bright and healthy, the grass was full and green, and even the people who had been sick before were all looking better. The villagers were all gazing around in complete awe at the unexplained transformation that was coming over their home; finally, the village was back to the breathtaking and beautiful place it was supposed to be.
Mario decided there must really have been something magical to this place after all.
"Oh my goodness…" Maizee breathed, looking around in reverence. "I'm back… I'm really back… it's been such a long time…"
Unfortunately, the mood was quickly ruined.
"Hey! Is that – "
"It is! It's Maizee!"
"Oh no," Mario groaned. A bunch of angry-looking villagers had suddenly caught sight of them, momentarily forgetting about the miracle happening around them and glaring at Maizee.
"What do you think you're doing here?" a Toad snapped as they all began marching purposefully over to her. "You dare show yourself here again? Haven't you caused us enough pain?"
Mario was about to come to her defense, but Stubba beat him to it.
"Hey! You leave her alone!" he snapped, stepping defensively in front of her and causing all the villagers to stop in surprise. "She's not a bad guy!"
"Yeah! Your jerk of a mayor was the one behind all this, not her!" Hanner agreed angrily.
The villagers all stared at them. "What? What are you talking about?" the Toad demanded.
"Guys, you might not believe this, but Maizee was framed for everything," Mario spoke up. "Bulbin was the one poisoning the river, and he's gone."
The villagers all glanced at each other, wondering what to make of this.
"Maizee, are they telling the truth?" the Toad finally snapped. "Defend yourself!"
But Maizee wasn't even listening to him. She wasn't paying attention to any of them. Her worried gaze was traveling across the village as she desperately searched for something… the most important thing in the world…
And then she saw him.
"Oh no… oh, Daymien!"
And she shoved the Toad out of the way and ran over to him. Completely dumbfounded, Mario and the other partners quickly followed after her. He was lying in a completely different place than he'd been in Dayside… no wonder they hadn't seen him there…
Maizee raced over to where her son was lying unconscious against a moss-covered log. Unlike the others who had been sick before, he didn't look any better. In fact, Mario couldn't even tell if he was breathing…
Were they too late?
"Oh, Daymien…" Maizee sobbed, crouching down next to him. "Daymien… Daymien… please… I'm so sorry…"
Mario and the others stood back and watched, all looking horrified and silently pleading for it to not be true. With all of a mother's tenderness, Maizee reached out and brushed Daymien's wilting petals out of his face as the frightened tears fell from her eyes. There were no words she could say in the face of something like this. All she could do was whisper his name over and over, as though she were begging…
It wasn't the first miracle Mario had ever seen. But it was the one he would always remember.
Daymien suddenly groaned and screwed up his face… and with some effort, he opened his eyes.
Maizee's hands flew to her mouth as he stared up at her, looking very confused.
"Oh, Daymien! Daymien!" she cried, and then she completely broke down. She threw her arms around him and pulled him in close to her, absolutely bawling, and there was no force in the world that could have made her let go.
"M-Mom?" Daymien stammered. He quickly returned the hug, but he was looking very bewildered. "I… I was… you were gone for a long time, weren't you?" He looked up at her. "I… I think I was really sick… I don't remember very much."
Maizee finally drew back from him a little so she could gaze into his eyes. "Oh, Daymien… don't worry about it. You're all right now… we both are."
She sat there holding him for a long time, and while she didn't say anything, the one time she glanced up at Mario her eyes very clearly said to him, Thank you.
––
Naturally the group ended up staying in Viney Valley for a while after that. Mario wanted to make sure the village was really back on its feet before they left, and he still felt he had to convince the rest of the villagers that Maizee had been innocent, as if her reunion with Daymien hadn't been proof enough. And of course, he didn't want to pull the two of them apart just yet.
So he and his other partners ending up telling the village everything that had happened to them in the factory, clearing the matter up once and for all. Fidela and Pollena backed them up, and Daymien came to his mother's defense, insisting that there was no way she would ever do what they were accusing her of. It took a while, but finally everyone was convinced of their story, and of course, they all apologized to Maizee very profusely. She was surprisingly good-natured about it, but Mario supposed that was just who she was.
"Hey, Mario!" Dulia called him over a few hours later while everyone in the group had been off relaxing on their own. "Don't you think while we're waiting, we should set those Lumas free? The Star Pedestal's right over here!"
"Nice thinking, Dulia. I completely forgot about that," Mario agreed, walking over to the pedestal. "Gosh, we've sure got a lot, don't we?"
He summoned the rest of his team over and then brought Maizee forward. She looked very confused and astonished when he explained what was about to happen, and she watched in amazement as he placed one of the Lumas on the pedestal and it began to twirl around, engulfing her in a stream of brilliant sparkles.
Maizee was upgraded to Super Rank! She can now use Pollen Storm to make all enemies dizzy!
"Oh, my… that was something," she laughed after the Luma had vanished. "Mario, you really are full of surprises, aren't you?"
"Yeah, and that's not the end of it, either," Mario said with a grin, pulling out the shiny red Ultra Stone from his pocket. "With this thing, we can upgrade each of you guys another time – and we've still got two more Lumas!"
He turned to his first two partners. "Goomblaine, Hanner, you guys up for it?"
Hanner cheered like a little kid and dashed forward while Goomblaine trudged up much more slowly. Mario pulled out the last two Lumas from his pocket and placed them on the pedestal one after the other. In return, Goomblaine and Hanner each got upgraded a second time, this time feeling even more powerful!
Goomblaine was upgraded to Ultra Rank! He can now use Intimidate to prevent enemies from fleeing!
Hanner was upgraded to Ultra Rank! She can now use Volt Hammer to attack all enemies with an electric blast!
"Awesome, awesome, awesome!" Hanner cheered and spun around, while Goomblaine looked like he didn't care one bit. "Oh man, I can't wait to bust some heads now! Thanks, Mario!"
"Well, everybody on this team has been working so hard, it's the least I can do for you guys," Mario chuckled.
"Man, now I wanna get upgraded too," Stubba pouted.
The partners spent a while longer exploring the village while Mario made the final arrangements with the more important villagers, making sure they could handle things without the mayor. Finally, there was nothing keeping them from heading back to Soluna Town, and once again, Mario found one of his partners forced to sadly say goodbye to someone they loved.
"Wait… Mom, I don't get it," Daymien protested as they were preparing to go. "Why do you have to leave again? Is there something going on?"
"No, Daymien, everything's fine," Maizee promised him. "It's just… Mario needs me to come along with him for a while. He's taking care of some very important things… but don't worry. I'm not leaving you like that again. Not ever."
Hanner and Dulia both "awwwww"ed at that while Daymien frowned. "C'mon, Mom, you're embarrassing me."
"Oh, honey, it's my job to embarrass you," said Maizee, kissing him on the forehead.
And so finally, as Mario's team set off down the river and headed back the way they had come, Maizee found herself bidding farewell to Viney Valley for a second time… but this time, with hopes much higher than they had been the last.
They hadn't been walking along the river for more than a few minutes when she saw it. Something caught Maizee's attention from out of the very corner of her eye, and she turned around.
No one else noticed them, but she did. There were three very familiar Piranhas – but normal, not Putrid, and regular sized – frolicking on the opposite side of the river, looking happy and carefree as ever.
"You gonna be all right, Maizee?" Mario asked as she saw her staring off at something with wide eyes. She quickly turned and smiled at him.
"I think I am, Mario," she said. "For once, I really think I am."
––
––
Soluna Town
12:00 Noon
As the team emerged from the town sewers and found themselves back in Soluna Town proper, Mario let out a deep sigh of relief. The town was finally back to normal; everyone's water was running properly and the panic that had been engulfing the citizens was gone. In fact, everyone seemed to be celebrating the fact that the town was safe and sound again.
"Well, that's one crisis averted," the plumber decided. "Now we just need to worry about the megalomaniacal lord of Nighttime and everything will be great."
Just like Dulia had been, Maizee was beyond delighted to return to the Daytime world after so long; Mario supposed it had been even worse for her, being a flower who basically needed the sun to be healthy. She was in such a state of euphoria as she skirted around town that it finally took the combined efforts of Mario and Hanner to pull her over to Rodolfo's house.
"Oh, Mario! You're safe!" Peach cried the instant they walked through the door, racing over and squeezing the life out of him. "Luigi and Toadsworth and I have all been so worried! Don't ever scare us like that again!"
"Uh… right, sure thing," Mario managed to choke out through Peach crushing his ribs.
"And from the recent looks of things, all the water in Soluna Town is back to normal," said Rodolfo, striding up to them with a big smile on his face. "I can only assume this means your excursion was a success?"
"It sure was. Man, do we have a story for you guys…"
So after telling Rodolfo and the others all about their journey to the Poisoned Factory and what they had learned while they were there, Mario finally settled down to hear from Peach about where the final Sun Soul was being hidden.
"It better not be as big a pain as the last one," Goomblaine grunted.
"Oh, I don't think it will be," Peach said with a smile. "Mario, you'll never guess where the Dusk Soul is being hidden – the Seashell Hotel! Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
Mario looked at her blankly. "The where?"
Peach frowned. "Honestly, Mario. How can we chat about all these fun places if you haven't heard of any of them?"
"Ah, the Seashell Hotel, you say?" Rodolfo mused. "Quite an interesting choice. It certainly is the destination of all those who vacation at Palmy Balmy Beach."
Dulia beamed. "That place sounds like fun!"
"Well, it is a resort after all. I should hope it is!" the Doogan agreed, unfurling the map over the table and pointing out the one region of the country that Mario had yet to visit. Its main feature was miles and miles of sandy coastline bordered by the ocean.
"Yes, I do believe Palmy Balmy Beach is right over here. I suppose it was only a matter of time before you all went there. It's a five-star resort, the number one vacation spot for tourists!"
Mario started frowning. A beach resort? Why did he feel like he'd heard someone talk about that place before… oh well, it probably didn't matter.
"So… hang on, let me get this straight," he cut in. "The second-to-last Sun Soul was hidden inside an incredibly toxic and destructive factory that nearly killed all of us… and the last Sun Soul is hidden in a hotel on a beach?"
His team all exchanged looks.
"I guess the Darkstriders were running out of ideas," Hanner said with a lame shrug.
"Well, it's nothing to be complaining about," Rodolfo said decisively, rolling the map back up. "After all, there certainly isn't much danger that could arise from relaxing on a fancy beach! I daresay you've all earned a good vacation from all the hard work you've been doing."
"I guess it will be an awful nice break, huh?" Snatchel chuckled. "No fightin' baddies this time or nothin'!"
"Oh, I wish it were that simple," Mario sighed. "But if my adventures have taught me anything, it's that things that should be simple never are. Not even riding on a train."
"And let's not forget what happened the last time we tried to vacation on a beach," added Toadsworth, .looking amused at some memory. "Master Mario, do try not to get arrested this time, won't you?"
"Okay, can we all shut up now?" Goomblaine cut in, looking exasperated. "Geez, you guys gotta run your mouths off every time we come here? Let's just get out of here already!"
Mario frowned at him. "Well, Goomblaine, before we do anything we're going to have to figure out how we're getting to this beach… not to mention how we're ever getting inside that hotel. It sounds expensive."
"That's a very good point," Rodolfo sighed, looking pensive. "The Seashell Hotel caters to an extremely exclusive clientele. Frankly, I doubt you have the money or the status to be accepted in there. If only there were some way to – "
CRASH!
Rodolfo frowned deeply. "Must I constantly be interrupted mid-exposition?"
Mario was so startled he nearly jumped out of his chair. "What was that?"
He and his partners immediately raced outside, where the crash had come from. They weren't exactly prepared for what was waiting for them out there.
"…Why is there a beach van parked in the middle of the street?"
Sure enough, standing in the street right outside the door was a bright blue beach van decked out with all sorts of weird decals and with a surfboard strapped to the roof. It was earning a bunch of weird looks from everyone passing by, but Mario's attention was caught more by the apparent drivers of the van.
"Hang on… guys! Look who it is!"
Much to his surprise, crowded around the van and wearing expressions of concern were none other than the self-proclaimed famous Bumpty Boarders… or four of them, at least.
They immediately looked up and saw Mario. "Woah! Dude! It's the Mario dude!" cheered Brody, waddling up to the plumber excitedly along with the others. "What a most unexpected coincidence! Long time no see, dude!"
"Oh, great. Just great," Goomblaine moaned to himself, looking mortified.
"Good to see you guys again," Mario said with a grin. "But hey, aren't you missing somebody? Where's Ferdinand?"
"Oh, Ferdie's totally off taking one for the team, man," said Sheila. "Somebody had to stay behind and make sure we didn't miss out on the event of the century!"
"Being…"
"Dudes! It's only the grand re-opening of the most bodacious joint on the whole beach – the Seashell Hotel!" Nico exulted, waving his arms around for the dramatic effect. "We just gotta be there, man!"
Mario blinked. "Woah. Hang on. You guys are going to the Seashell Hotel? On Palmy Balmy Beach?"
"Now that's just contrived," Hanner griped.
"Aw, dudes, of course we're going to the Seashell Hotel!" Kane chuckled. "We hang there all the time! It's the only establishment righteous enough for us righteous Bumpty Boarders!"
"If you dudes and dudettes are headed there too, we'd totally be down with giving you a lift. Only… if we can't fix up Keilani here soon – " Brody patted the van. "We'll be beached here and miss the whole thing. Totally aggro."
Dulia was crouched down in front of the van, assessing it with a concerned look. "Gosh, what happened to this thing? It looks really banged up."
Brody shook his head sadly. "We had a most un-tubular accident, man. We hit a Spiny in the road a ways back, and now it looks like Keilani's down uno tire."
Mario got a good look at the van as well. "Hmm… you're right, you guys have got a flat. Looks pretty bad, too."
Goomblaine rolled his eyes. "Big deal. Why don't we just get Circus Freak here to turn into a spare?" he snorted, shoving Dulia in the side.
The Duplighost turned away from the van and glared at him. "Hey! That's not funny!"
"Goomblaine, we don't endanger each other's lives on this team," Mario said impatiently. "Well, anyway, it can't be too hard to find a spare tire around here, right Rodolfo?"
Rodolfo and the others had joined Mario's team outside while this had been going on, but the Doogan looked a little disheartened at Mario's question.
"Well Mario, I'm afraid Soluna Town doesn't deal extensively in automobiles," he admitted. "There is one place in town that may be able to help, but… it's very shady, from what I can tell you. And there is one other small problem."
"What?"
"Finding it."
Mario deflated. "Oh."
––
So they all went off by themselves and thoroughly explored the town in search of the mysterious establishment Rodolfo had mentioned. Mario wasn't able to cover much ground on his own, though, since most of the more well-hidden areas in town required the abilities of one of his partners to reach. He looked up and down the alleys and all over the main market square, but he had no luck.
"Mario! Mario, look!" came Stubba's voice a few minutes later. Mario turned to find the little Clubba racing over to him, looking very excited about something.
"Did you find the tire, Stubba?"
"Uh-uh. But look what I did find!" With an eager grin on his face, he pulled out another Luma. "Can I get upgraded too, Mario? Please?"
Mario looked a little dumbfounded before chuckling. "Well, when you ask so nicely, how can I say no?"
As they walked over to the Star Pedestal in the center of town, Mario couldn't help but notice one of the benches surrounding it was completely broken. He briefly wondered about it, but quickly shrugged it off as he placed the Luma on the pedestal and upgraded Stubba a second time.
Stubba was upgraded to Ultra Rank! He can now use Shock Wave to confuse all enemies and flip shelled enemies!
After the delighted Stubba scampered off, Mario kept on looking for the tire but was no more successful than he'd been before. He started to lose his patience, but as he was walking down a narrow alley on the edge of town that quickly changed.
"INCOMING!"
Mario started. "What the – YEOW!" he cried as someone suddenly crashed into him, sending him flipping into the air and landing back on the ground with a painful thud.
"You come back here, you filthy miscreants! Give me back my property!" came an unpleasant-sounding voice. Mario groaned and lifted his head up in time to see a very shady, dark-skinned man with a long crooked nose and brown robes come racing past the alley, missing his pursuees entirely.
"Okay, what is going on here?" Mario demanded, turning to find that the ones who'd crashed into him were none other than Snatchel and Maizee. Much to Mario's surprise, the sheriff was gripping a tire in his hands, exactly the kind they were looking for.
"Sorry about that, Mario," he sighed. "We were kinda in a hurry to get away from that creepy feller with the big nose."
"Yes, we ended up finding that shop. I'm fairly certain it's not legal," Maizee said frankly. "Anyway, he somehow got his hands on that tire, and he wasn't about to part with it for any sum of money, so…"
"You stole it?" Mario finished with a grin.
Maizee just shrugged. "Well, our sheriff here is much better at stealing than he lets on."
"Well heck, he probably stole it first! Besides, which one of us disabled that dang alarm system? I reckon yer in as deep as I am!" Snatchel retorted, giving her a mischievous look.
"Yes, you two are a couple of real criminal masterminds," said Mario, giving them a wink. "Now let's get this thing back to the van."
The group quickly regrouped back in front of the van, which was still sitting in the middle of the street and causing a bit of an inconvenience. The Bumpty Boarders were absolutely thrilled when Mario brought the tire over to them and wasted no time putting it in place.
"Dudes! Keilani, she lives again, man!" Brody cried joyfully once they were finished. "We're totally making record timeage back to Palmy Balmy Beach now! Nobody wipes out the Bumpty Boarders!"
"BUMPTY BOARDERS FOREVER!" they all cheered, hip-bumping and high-fiving all around.
"…Mario," said Peach, who was standing next to the plumber, "it seems to me that most of the people you meet on these adventures are… well, a little odd."
"That's putting it lightly," Mario grumbled.
"Hey, fellow dudes and dudettes! Climb aboard!" called Sheila, and Mario turned to see that the Bumpties were already piling into the van. "This party van is on a schedule for surfage and sandage, man!"
"Okay, okay. I'll see you later, Peach," said the plumber, giving her hand a quick squeeze before heading over to the van with his partners. Somehow they all managed to squeeze into the backseat area, although it wasn't exactly comfortable.
"Have fun, Mario!" Peach cried, waving to him as the Bumpty Boarders all cheered and started the van up. Mario quickly waved back as they pulled out of their parked position and finally headed down the street to the southeastern exit of Soluna Town.
Mario sighed and leaned back in his seat. He was certainly hoping to have fun on the beach… but he knew better than to get his hopes up too high. His life was never, ever that simple…
––––
A/N: I love Maizee… ^_^ And our penguin buddies too! Hope you guys didn't forget them!
Also, what are your thoughts on the new Paper Mario 3DS trailer? I'm… a little worried about the lack of partners…