Super Paper Mario X
Chapter 34: The Menace of King Croacus
"CRAGLEY HO! We plodded on, traipsing over all manners of beasts that gnashed fangs at us! But then…NOO! A sight too horrible to believe appeared before our eyes!"
"He stealing my monologue thunder," grumbled Link.
"No he's not- his are way more dramatic and more verbally inclined than yours!" Kirby added helpfully. Link gave him a look as Hornfels surveyed the surroundings.
"Boss…nothing happen yet, brah…"
"I know that, you cretin! The "sight too horrible to believe" is still up ahead! We're going to look for it now! Come on, MOVE!"
Flint marched off, his two crew members exchanging worried glances.
"Whuh? Wait up, brah!"
"Boss, no! Monzo no want to get left behind, brah!"
They scurried off too, leaving the heroes to navigate through the caverns for themselves.
"Okay, the Pure Heart is definitely around here, I can feel it," Tippi shared. "All we have to do is get to the center of it all, grab it, and get out."
"Ah Tippi, you make it sound so easy," Sonic laughed. "Let's get serious people. This is the final area, this place is swarming with plants, and you know were bound to have to do something complicated. We need a game plan, people!"
"What happened to just throwing yourself into it?"
"This time, plants are involved."
Mario sighed and marched onward- these caverns were just like the previous ones, only slightly more complicated…and a lot darker. Putrid Piranhas poked their tropical heads out of pipes (and were killed by Kirby), red and yellow Floro Sapiens marched up and down at their posts (and were killed by Bowser), red and purple Floro Sapiens guarded a long and important hall (and were killed by Amy), and a door sat at the end of this long and important hall (and was discovered by Mario).
"Hey…what's this place…?" Link asked slowly as they all peeked in from the ajar door.
"Is it the Processing Center? !" Sonic gasped. "OH NO-"
"Shhhhh, does it look like anything's being processed in here?" Samus snapped silently back.
"What's that Cragnon doing?" Amy asked, watching a spouted Cragnon head toward a large semi-transparent blue screen in the middle of the room. He walked under it, it scanned him, and a light turned green. He continued walked through and entered a fancy teal door at the other side of the room.
"I'd bet that that's where King Croacus is," Zelda said confidently. "We have to get in there!"
"How? I don't think that scanner will let us by…" Peach trailed.
"Obviously you have be a plant or part plant to get by," Kirby stated.
"Anyone here part plant?" Sonic asked, getting no positive response.
"Well, we've got someone who's part egg," Ganondorf suggested.
"An egg isn't a plant, you dolt!"
"Unless it's an eggplant!" cackled Bowser, slapping Ganondorf a high five.
"Please get serious!" pleaded Amy.
"It's like an exclusive club that's only for plants! What snobs!" scoffed Link.
"I just said get serious!"
"I say we go hunt down the Processing Center," Sonic said seriously.
"But I don't want to get brainwashed just to gain access to an exclusive club!" Kirby exclaimed.
"We've got to find some way in there…let's go…" Zelda said, ushering everyone out the door. "I'm pretty sure there's more in these caverns to check out…"
Mario agreed and exited the room as well. The only other way to go in this area was down, so down they went. In the lower part of the area was: a) a pipe, b) a tiny pipe, c) a Shroom, and d) a Zombie Shroom (which was killed by Link).
"I wonder where this tiny pipe leads to…" Kirby trailed, observing it closely.
"I wonder how anyone's even supposed to get down into it," stated Zelda curiously.
"I say we focus on the one we can get through," Samus said, going down the bigger pipe.
. . .
"THERE'S THE PROCESSING CENTER-"
"Calm down, a Cragnon just walked through a door-"
"Out of the Processing Center!"
The group jumped down, with Sonic being first, and landed in front of a white and blue door. When they entered, Sonic found a sign that said "Processing Center", while everyone else noticed a locked door that required a Card Key.
"Just like on the moon…ah, memories!"
"Must…get…into…Processing Room!" Sonic exclaimed, kicking at the door vigorously.
"What's up with you and the Processing Room anyway?" Tippi asked.
"How would you like having no control over your mind and actions, all being manipulated by a plant no less? This is more than just a kidnapping- this is getting people back in control over themselves!"
"Well we can't do that until we locate the Card Key that can probably found in a random location," sighed Samus. "Just like always…"
"And this crack seems suspicious as well!" Kirby announced, sitting on the floor trying to see what was on the other side. "It's like a very thin opening in the wall!"
"Do you see anything?"
"I think…can't quite tell what it is though."
"Maybe that's the Card Key," Zelda shrugged.
"If it is, I should hit you for being right all the time," Bowser grunted.
"And if you hit her, I punch you in the face," Link butted in.
"And if you punch me in the face, I'll barbeque you!"
"And if you barbeque Link, I'll be sure to make a salad to go on the side-"
"KIRBY!"
"What? If you're going to be barbequed, the least you could have is a side dish!"
Outside the Door-
"All right then, since we came from up there," Peach began, pointing to where they fell down from. "Then we should go down there."
Mario looked over the ledge of where they currently were- the caverns kept getting deeper and deeper! At this rate they'd be at the center of the world! Nevertheless, Mario led the group down, and came in contact with a Floro Sapient. Zelda blew his head off with Farore's Wind, then burned his body with Din's Fire.
"That's not violent…"
"No, it was unnecessary. Samus represents a level of violence."
"I heard that!"
"Aw man you guys!" Link wailed. "This door's locked, and there's this tiny red one next to it! We can't get in either one, and there's no where else to look!"
"Or IS there? !" Amy asked dramatically while Kirby flipped into 3D. Mario, Link, Sonic, and Samus were flipped as well, and they all fell down a hole that certainly wasn't there before.
"…I need to stop declaring it's the end…" groaned Link.
"And while you do that, I'll go push that big red button over there," Kirby said, crawling over and sitting on the large red button in the middle of the floor. "Aw, I'm too light!"
Mario got up and walked to the button too, but when he stepped on it, it still didn't go down.
"Why don't you go over there, Sam? I'm sure you'd be heavy enough!" Sonic suggested lightheartedly, but Samus knew he was trying his hardest not to snicker. She held her head up high, marched over to the button, and stood on it as well.
"What the heck? ! Not even Samus standing on it made it go down all the way!" Link exclaimed as the other six appeared on the scene.
"What're you guys doing…?" Peach asked.
"Trying to push a button," Sonic replied as he and Link joined in. Zelda tilted her head.
"Even with all that weight you can't get it to go down?"
"Maybe you should stand on it Eggman," Ganondorf suggested. "It'll go down for sure!"
"Ha ha," Eggman said dryly, yet he headed over anyway. "Make some room!"
"There is no room!"
When Eggman managed to squeeze onto the button as well, it STILL didn't go down. Ganondorf was completely surprised.
"Time for plan B- Bowser, you get up there."
"Then there'll be even less room!" Link cried.
"Obviously we need a different tactic!" Samus yelped.
So it went like this: Bowser got on, nothing happened, Ganondorf got on, nothing happened, Team ZAP got on, and nothing happened. All eleven of them were now struggling to stay balanced on the single button while trying to figure out what to do. Out of the corner of his eye, Mario spotted a Cragnon walking around, and he suddenly had a very risky idea.
He tossed Thoreau at him.
"MARIO WHAT'RE YOU-"
Now that the Cragnon added to the weight as well, the button finally sank into the ground. The small movement was enough to knock over the tower of heroes and leave them in a huge heap. While they were picking themselves up, a pipe emerged out of the floor.
"Well that was easy!" Sonic exclaimed, and by the tone of his voice, it was impossible to tell whether or not he was being sarcastic.
Down the Pipe-
"Who would have thought we'd get so much embarrassment out of pushing a button?"
"It's all behind us now…"
"All we need to think about now is do we go down the other pipe or through the door?" Kirby sighed, meekly pointing at the forked path.
"I dunno, I don't like the looks of this door," Link said suspiciously, looking the door up and down.
"Well let's burn it to the ground then!" Bowser cheered.
Mario: *goes down the pipe*
"Way to ruin my fun, you mustached menace!"
Mario: *shrugs*
As Bowser fumed on the sidelines, Amy flashed Cudge and brought him down on two Spanias that were in the room. When she was finished, she happened to glance up and find a picture of a skull chalked up on the wall.
"I hope that isn't a sign of something…" she moaned.
"I feel like it's hiding something…" Tippi trailed, sensing something more to the doodle. "This might seem odd, but Eggman, use Fleep on the skull…"
Eggman shrugged and summoned his Pixl's power. Fleep happily sang out as he maneuvered over to the skull, quickly spinning afterward. A key emerged out of the wall, and Peach jumped over and caught it.
"…I found the key!"
"You can't take credit for my hard work!"
"Ahem, I believe it was MY hard work, amore amore!"
"It doesn't matter!" Ganondorf huffed. "Just get that stinkin' key back up to the locked door!"
"I though it'd be a lot harder to obtain that this…"
Back at the Locked Door-
"Hooray for bypassing going through several doors on our way back up!" Link cheered as Peach unlocked the door. When they entered, they found a slightly cramped room with blocks stacks just about everywhere. Mario, being the adventurer he was, climbed up the blocks and jumped over a wall in the middle of the room.
Unfortunately he had no way back over.
Before he could warn his friends about it, they all threw themselves over the wall as well…THEN realized they couldn't get back over. Mario just shook his head- they couldn't even let him tell them what he scouted before taking the risk?
"Thanks for telling us, Mario!" Eggman yelled. "Now we're stuck!"
Mario: Anytime.
"EEEEEK! F-F-found us!" a voice suddenly yelled. The group's oncoming argument was defused as they turned to a shaking Cragnon with a Pixl floating next to him. "Gabbro thought this was good hiding spot, since key was lost, brah!"
"Yes, this is unexpected…" the Pixl agreed, eyeing the heroes gawking back at her. "But so is a storm of rain. Such is the way of things. There are no absolutes…"
"Wh-wh-whut do we do, brah?" Gabbro panicked.
"Come, come, be at peace. Calm your raging inner sea. Let us meditate on this…"
"You probably right brah…got it!" Gabbro turned to the group and practically gave himself up. "E-Evil brahs! You take Gabbro. Gabbro give up…but her…do not hurt Pixl!"
The Pixl's eyes widened. "But you…"
"No. Let Gabbro speak, brah…you kept Gabbro company…You helped Gabbro hide…Gabbro owe you big, brah. Big debt for Pixl! Gabbro's time ending, but Gabbro really want you to live free…"
"Come, now, ease your mind. Let me muffle the wails of your frightened soul…Do not be hasty in fear! Look closer…that is not one of the Floro Sapiens!"
Gabbro jumped in surprise. "What? Who are you brahs?"
"We look nothing like those decapitated flowers!" Amy declared.
"Could you…you come to save Gabbro?"
"In a sense-"
"Wasn't on the schedule, pal! But I guess we just did," Bowser said. "So you're not one of those Floro zombie things, either? Neither was Flint Cragley!"
"What! ? Flint here, too! ? Gabbro HUGE Cragley fan! Cragley do something, brah! Cragley save us all!"
"More like we'll save you all," muttered Sonic.
"I bet they've edited Flint's show into an anime- that would be the only way it could get popular!"
"Only if it had decent dubbing."
Meanwhile, the Pixl was smiling softly at Gabbro. "Well, isn't that welcome news! Why don't you go find Flint? For I must bid you farewell."
Gabbro's happiness went south for the winter and then some. "WHAT! ? WHY! ? You not come with Gabbro? !"
"Humans and Pixls…or Cragnons and Pixls, for that matter…shouldn't linger long together. Only heroes who know how to utilize the Pixls properly can travel with them…Please, heed my words now…It's best for you this way."
Poor Gabbro just started shaking even harder. "Oh, crag…"
"Come now, let me assist you in your departure from here. Let your aura shrink…When it diminishes, you can return to the village where the one you seek awaits."
Gabbro felt a wave of calmness come over him as Dottie used her shrinking power, enabling him to escape out of the small red door.
"Thank you, great Pixl brah…Gabbro not forget you!"
Outside of the door, the group could hear Gabbro burst into tears. Either that, or he was abducted by a Floro Sapient. Not even Mario could decipher that "WAAHHH!" from another.
"Farewell, weeping Cragnon! Go frolic beneath the sun, where you are meant to live," Dottie said. "Rain still falls in my heart. The taken souls cry out…why do they cry such tears? You must stop this torrent. Fate brought us together. Great heroes of 1500 years…"
"You have to wonder how we were heroes for that long if we weren't even around then."
"Now you must take me there…to the deep, dark, underbelly of the earth…"
Dottie twirled around Ganondorf, and the king of Evil suddenly found himself saddled with a new Pixl.
"Oh come on! I don't want her! She's so…calm!"
"Yeah, we know, it goes against your beliefs to not be a hothead," Eggman scoffed, turning the tables for once. Ganondorf just folded his arms.
"Well I already know no one is going to trade me, so I'll keep her, but I won't like her…"
"Things change, with the simplicity of time…" Dottie trailed tranquilly. "Surely you will warm up to me, as you will grow on me. You're not as soft spirited as that Cragnon, but it could change…"
"See? She speaks in complex riddles!"
"I'm just glad I'm not the only girl Pixl anymore!" Carrie cheered. Ganondorf just shook his head.
"Argh, whatever. Let's just get out of here-"
"So we can get the Card Key, enter the Processing Center, get Processed, then enter the exclusive plant club!" Kirby exclaimed.
"First, we are not getting Processed, and two, I doubt that fancy door leads to a Plant's Only club," Sonic huffed. "Honestly, how'd that even start?"
Link raised his hand. "That was me, I was caught up in the moment…"
"Let us go! Before the rain of tears becomes a flood…before disaster breaks…" Dottie urged.
"But I enjoy floods and disaster…" Ganondorf grunted under his breath as he used Dottie's powers to shrink them all and escape like Gabbro did.
Back at the Processing Center-
"You hear that?" Sonic shouted as he pounded on the secured door once again. "You won't be Processing anyone else, you hear me, you Center! It's on now!"
"I think you're taking this a bit too far…" Zelda sighed.
"Really? Because I was just about to bust the door down," said Samus.
"That's the kind of recklessness that villains see as suspicious, and then they find heroes, and lock them in a jail until they escape because the villains went to grab a snack or something."
"I'll have you know that I have never "grabbed a snack" while I was on the job!" Ganondorf yelled.
"I have the occasionally meat or Hot Wings," Bowser admitted.
"I had a jumbo sub once," Eggman admitted.
"Well that's expected from you, Eggy."
Just as Eggman went to attempt a punch, Ganondorf shrunk with Dottie and avoided the attack. He let out a small chuckle- then laughed harder when Eggman tripped over himself.
"Well, I guess you've got a little more use than I gave you credit for," he admitted.
"Just give people a chance, and they will be proven to you…" Dottie trailed. "Don't be so quick to judge, my friend."
Ganondorf let Dottie's words soak in as he walked through the small path under the wall, reaching the object the Kirby had spotted earlier. It turned out that it was the Card Key after all. When he returned back to the group, he handed the Card Key to Mario who slid it in the slot. The light turned green, indicating that it was accepted.
Sonic and Samus burst into the Processing Room, ready to tear things up.
"…well darn."
The area was clear of any suspicious activity, with the acceptation of two pipes in the room. Sonic's eye caught on the pipe that was actually accessible and jumped down it just as the rest of the group piled into the room. He jumped off the edge of the entrance to the next room and landed in the lower area. He scowled.
"I can't believe this…"
"What's up, Sonic?" Amy asked, jumping down next to him. "What's the big-ooh, never mind."
Brainwashed Cragnons were all locked up in huge metallic cages, forced to pace up and down in unforgiving captivity. It was one thing to be mind controlled, but mind controlled and locked up? Talk about crossing the line.
"We have to get them out of here!" Sonic announced.
"Try using the giant blue switch you're standing on, genius," Samus snickered. Sonic glanced down, and sure enough, there was indeed a blue switch. Bowser practically tossed him off as he took his place, he and Thudley ready for action. When the Koopa King ground pounded into the switch, red lights started flashing and sirens began to blare.
"Oh no, someone called the cops!" wailed Kirby, ducking for cover.
"No, the cages are lifting!" "And the Cragnons are out for chlorophyll! Run! RUN!"
The newly freed Cragnons weren't completely free- they still had their minds captured! And right now, they were charging at the group in the middle of the room.
"Ugh! Why is the urge to beat these cave people so strong?" groaned Bowser, fighting the will to shove them all out of the way. Everyone else climbed onto the square blocks lined down the middle of the room, allowing them to hop over the Cragnons without harming them. Zelda went the opposite way, finding a chest with a Floro Cragnien card. She cringed- what if it made their attacks against the Cragnons even stronger?
"C'mon, Princess!" Link shouted over the blaring of the alarms. Zelda put the card away and glided after everyone else. They had exited through a pipe on the far side of the room, and for one thing, they still had no way to get past the scanning screen in the first room.
But at the moment, they had bigger things to deal with.
"Ah ha ha. So! At long last, you've come to play, like late-sleeping toddlers!"
"So you're back like…like…like a case of the common cold!" Amy shot back to Dimentio and O'Chunks, who were apparently waiting for them.
"Yeah, and fortunately, your disease has an effective cure- US," Link added, reading his blade. O'Chunks said nothing, but Dimentio was looking as confident as ever.
"Ahhhh…do you not tire of collecting those worn-out, tiresome Pure Hearts?" Dimentio asked. "I am not violent by nature, you know. I'd prefer to settle this peacefully, in fact. Say, for instance, you wished to go back to your world. I could do that for you…"
"R-Really…?" Zelda asked. Dimentio nodded.
"He's the Master of Dimensions, you know," Samus grunted, aiming her cannon at the jester clown. "I bet he's the reason why we can't teleport very far…he's blocking us from being able to do so, in a sense."
"And correct you are. Perhaps you did listen before I saved your life," Dimentio chuckled.
"You didn't save me- you nearly killed me!"
"But I didn't, now did I? Like I said, I'm not violent by nature."
"Oh, PLEASE! You know what you smell like weirdo? FEAR. Stop crying and fight!" Bowser barked.
"Ah ha ha. So it must be…Shall we begin?" He raised his hands once more and brought them all to Dimension D.
"Ugh, here again? You're only going to fail again, plus this green you choose for the walls makes me sick! What a putrid color!" Peach snapped.
"And just what is wrong with green, hm?" Link asked, tapping a foot. Peach realized what she said and grinned sheepishly at the Hero of Time.
"Ugh…haven't you learned?" Tippi asked, getting ready to repeat what Peach had basically said. "No matter how often we fight, it will end the same…"
"My, my. Aren't you plucky? Same fight, same outcome…you are precisely correct," hummed Dimentio. "And…that…is…why…"
He snapped his fingers, and a sprout just like the Floro Cragniens wore appeared on O'Chunks' head.
"BRO-CCOLI!"
"Lovely green hat, wouldn't you say?" Dimentio sang.
"Hrrrgh? ! Whoa woah WHOA! I don't fight veggies!" Bowser yelped.
"Dear O'Chunks! So strong, yet so very dim! A child could learn his attack patterns. As such, I requested a few sprouts from my acquaintance to liven him up a touch. I call the boy "O'Cabbage"! Don't be shy, O'Cabbage! Introduce yourself!"
O'Cabbage started banging on his chest like a wild gorilla. "CAB-BAGE!"
"Ah ha ha. Simply adorable. Now remember, kids: eat your vegetables to grow big! Except in this case, a veggie will eat YOU! Have fun, now! Ciao!"
"Oh yeah?" Zelda called as Dimentio disappeared. "We'll have fun turning your cabbage into a salad!"
"Ooh, good one!" applauded Link. Zelda gave a small curtsey.
"Thank you."
"AS-PARA-GUS!"
O'Cabbage suddenly whirled his arms around in a move that was new to everyone. He made contact with Zelda, who was standing the closest, and sent her flying.
"I see we're going to get smacked around aga-" Ganondorf started to say before O'Cabbage plowed into his side and crushed him against the wall. He then backed away from Ganondorf and ground pounded Kirby, who wasn't quite quick enough to act. O'Cabbage continued the assault by smacking Link into Peach and sending them into the floor. The fight has just began and Mario was pretty sick and tired of O'Cabbage tossing his friends around. Just as he went to strangle Amy, Mario threw Thoreau, latched onto the Scottish brute, and chucked him into the air.
Mario: Go go go!
Samus leapt into the air, charging up a beam while doing so. She launched it at O'Cabbage, causing him to start falling out of the air. Sonic responded with a epic punch to the head, followed by Zelda pulling herself together and blowing O'Cabbage into the wall with Farore's Wind. Bowser ground pounded him with Thudley for extra payback.
"SPIN-ACH!" O'Cabbage roared, grabbing Bowser's foot and bowling him into Eggman.
"AYYIIEE!"
O'Cabbage carried on his rampage, trying to grab Peach this time. She reflected the attack with her umbrella, but with how hard he was pounding on it, she wasn't sure if it was going to hold up.
"Leave her alone!" Link snapped, running towards the brute with Mario. Mario threw Thoreau and grabbed him, tossing him up for Link to attack. He rapidly slashed at the plant-controlled fiend, bashing him back down to the ground with his sword. As he tumbled back down, his back made sharp contact with the tip of Kirby's Final Cutter. Amy then ran up, Cudge's hammer in tow.
"Looks like I've got this right on the head of nail!" she shouted, pounding her hammer into his torso. O'Cabbage rolled onto the floor, howling in pain. He was mad now. He bolted forward, arm ready to plow over anyone that got in his way. Unfortunately, that happened to be Samus, Zelda, and Kirby. Right before any serious damage was dealt, O'Cabbage was suddenly forced to stop running by a hand placed on his forehead.
"Where do you think you're going, Cabbage Patch Chump?" Bowser asked with a smirk. O'Cabbage gulped. "I'll burn that piece of celery right out of your head and put it on a plate!"
"And serve it with peanut butter!" Kirby called.
"A light ranch would suffice nicely as well," added Zelda.
"Can we ever have a time when we don't think about food?" groaned Samus.
The Koopa King gave O'Cabbage a taste of his fire breath, scorching the brainwashed menace. He shook off the heat, then grabbed Bowser again and swung him into Sonic. Sonic ducked naturally, causing Bowser to hit the wall face first.
"C'mon, let's just wipe the floor with this guy," Samus suggested, firing a missile and knocking O'Cabbage over. Mario nodded and picked him up again, tossing him in the air and letting him be anyone's game. Sonic spin dashed into him, ricocheting off his armor and bouncing off the walls. Kirby caught him and hit him back with his hammer while Zelda went crazy with Din's Fire, flames rising all around O'Cabbage. Amy ran at Peach, the princess ducking into her umbrella and Amy jumping off of it, gaining some air to slam her hammer down onto O'Cabbage. To her horror, he landed back on the ground and grabbed her by the wrist.
"Oh, not again…"
He threw her like a wet towel, only for him to be face to face with Eggman in his battle mech. The doctor smirked before sending a plethora of missiles in his direction.
"Get a load of that!"
O'Cabbage disappeared in the explosion's smoke, coughing all the while. Peach jumped in and jumped on his head while Ganondorf finally got in an attack by kicking O'Cabbage in the leg. O'Cabbage literally fell over, giving Link the perfect chance to come down on him with his sword. O'Cabbage felt smoke blow out of his nostrils as he sprung back up, taking off into the air. He did a ground pound aimed at Link, but Zelda shoved him out of the way and called upon Nayru's Love.
"Playtime's pretty much over," she stated, blowing O'Cabbage away again.
"Hmph, that was my line," Sonic huffed, delivering a kick to the foe. "But fine, let's just finish him off.
Ganondorf hit him with a wall of flames, Eggman fired lasers, and Samus even dealt a punch. But the finishing move was Peach and Amy giving Mario some air so he could do a flip and crash down on O'Cabbage's head with two fists.
"Buh… buh…BRO-CCOLI!"
It must have done the trick, because Dimension D crumbled from all around them and the Floro spout popped off O'Chunks' head. He suddenly snapped back to his senses.
"'Ey! What in gravy am I doin' in 'ere? ! Hunh? An' what are YOU Doin' in 'ere as well? ! Oh, I get the picture! You lot want teh challenge the new, improved O'Chunks!"
"Didn't he say he was new and improved before?" Peach asked, to which Link shrugged.
"Yeh got pepper in yer pants, I'll give yeh that! But this time, yeh WILL get ruined!" Suddenly, a loud gurgle emitted from O'Chunks stomach. "Whuh-oh…me belly's growlin' like a starvin' dog! Warrior rule number one: Never fight on an empty stomach! 'Tis madness! Sorry, but we've got teh call it a day! Can't go buckin' the warrior rules! Next time, though, yer DONE! Chunks away!"
"Like I said," Zelda began as O'Chunks blasted off. "We get to escape because he's going to get a snack."
"Look…" Tippi trailed, ignoring Zelda pointing out some irony. She hovered over the Floro Sprout. "The sprout from his head…It's the same as on the florified Cragnons."
"We said that already, so what?" Ganondorf asked.
"It's looks as though it's nearly dead, however…"
Mario curiously watched over and picked it up- it was weird, it even felt dead.
"Well, what do you think? Would you care to try it on? I believe you'll be safe…"
Mario: *plants it on Bowser's nose*
"HEY! NOW I'M GONNA TURN INTO A MINDLESS POTATO! CURSE YOU, MARIO!"
Tippi nodded carefully. "You…didn't turn into cabbage. That's nice, I guess…This could come in handy…"
"We can get by the scanner!" exclaimed Zelda.
"And Kirby thought we had to get Processed, psh," scoffed Sonic.
"Brrr…now that I think about, how DO they process them?" shivered Kirby. "Must…think…happy…thoughts…"
Once they disappeared through the pipe, Dimentio's calm demented laugh rang through the room.
"Ah ha ha. Mm…if they could beat that model of O'Chunks…then they are coming along quite nicely. Perhaps they really are the ones I've waited for all this time. Ah ha ha. I should prepare myself as well! So much to do, so precious little time…"
Back at the Fancy Scanning Room-
"All right Bowser, you can go first since you've got the sprout on your nose," Peach declared.
"GRAH! Fine. Only for you Peach."
Everyone rolled their eyes as Bowser marched proudly into the scanner. They held their breath as the laser light rushed over Bowser, seeing if he was worthy for entrance.
The group nearly threw a party as a green check mark appeared and allowed him through.
"Okay Bowser! Just chuck the spout over here so the rest of us came get by!"
And so, Bowser gave the sprout to Peach, who gave it to Amy, who gave it to Zelda, who gave it to Link, who gave it to Mario, who gave it to Kirby, who gave it to Samus, who hit Sonic in the face with it, who gave it to Eggman, who gave it to Ganondorf, who threw it at Eggman, who threw back to Ganondorf. Once that rigorous process was over, they were all crowded in front of the door that was probably the entrance to King Croacus.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ganondorf asked, still donning the sprout on his head.
Mario pushed his way to the front, considering no one else was going to want to be the first one in, grabbed the door, and opened it. One interesting ride awaited them within…
Good News: Boss Weekend next week! 8D
Bad News: It's King Croacus. D:
Better News: Chapter 6 will be starting, which means we're getting closer to Chapter 7! :D
Best News: We'll be seeing our favorite brainwashed team again next Saturday. ^^