Chapter 6
6A - The Dry Dry Ruins
At the same time Mario, Luigi, Bombette, and Dr. Kolorado fell over due to the intense rumbling; the sky darkened quickly as if the sun had already set. The rumbling even made the Dry Dry Outpost residents panic and run all over the place.
After a couple seconds, Mario and Luigi slowly got up, but remained seated and watched in awe as a giant bright-yellow stoned temple rose from the sand, eventually making its full appearance in just 27 seconds. Shortly thereafter, a giant staircase unfolded and locked into place in front of a lit-up passage leading into the temple.
"That...was the most unreal thing I've seen in a while..." Luigi uttered as the group stood back up.
"I know. Even more unreal than the time Exor stabbed through Bowser's castle and destroyed the bridge," Mario responded.
"Why did it turn to night all of a sudden?" Dr. Kolorado asked.
"I know someone who knows the answer," Mario said as he stood next to Bombette and pressed the #2 button on his red Companion Keeper Band. He then spawned Goombario using the #1 button.
"Nice to see you again, Mario!" Goombario exclaimed. "How long have I been in there?"
"For several hours now," Mario answered. "What was it like in that wristband?"
"Very spacious. I was, like, in a hotel room complete with a bed and office desk." Luigi saw Goombario's reappearance and approached him.
"Goombario! Where have you been?" Luigi asked.
"I'll tell you later," Goombario replied. "Was there something you need, Mario?"
"Two things: I want to know a bit more about Dry Dry Ruins in front of us, and it would be cool if you went inside the ruins with us and checked it out yourself," Mario requested.
"Well, you asked the right guy," Goombario began. "Really long ago, a group of nomads came across this barren spot in the desert, holding a bunch of gold and valuable statues. They took the time to dig deep underground, collect a bunch of bricks and stones, and build that huge temple, which took at least 20 years to complete."
"And it all paid off in the end," Goombario went on. "Despite some of the nomads dying of thirst and hunger, mainly because they had trouble finding an oasis, they successfully completed the ruins without any structural mishaps whatsoever. They then buried the ruins and carried away this gem called the Pulse Stone, which was powerful enough to reveal the ruins. Not one nomad wanted anyone to steal their treasures, hence why the ruins was hidden underground."
"What's with the dark skies, Goombario?" Luigi asked.
"It's a temporary thing, Luigi," Goombario replied. "The sky darkened because maybe the power of the Pulse Stone created a giant upside-down shadow that the ruins casted toward the sky while it rose from the sand."
"An upside-down shadow?!" Mario exclaimed in disbelief.
"I know you're just as confused as I am, but I do have a feeling that there's a Star Spirit in that temple," Goombario said.
"And some precious treasure too!" Dr. Kolorado added in, attracting Goombario's attention.
"Who might you be?"
"Dr. Jesse Kolorado. I've had an ambition to find some treasure in Dry Dry Ruins," Dr. Kolorado introduced himself. "Let's go in there now!"
"All right-y!" Mario declared. "Lead the way, Dr. Kolorado!" Without hesitation, the group speed-walked up the staircase into the ruins. By the time they entered the ruins, the sky went back to normal and the entry passage darkened a small bit.
It wasn't long before an echoey deep voice boomed from the ceiling, "Bleeag, blooooaaaagh! I'm the huge, scary Tutankoopa: remorseless king of the desert!"
The voice made all but Luigi flinch; Luigi shrieked and ran backwards until he hit his head on the wall behind him.
"Who dares set foot in my temple of the sands? Speak and be known!" Tutankoopa roared.
"That's none of your business!" Mario answered. "We're going in whether you like it or not!"
"Well, begone from this place now, or disaster will befall you!"
As soon as Tutankoopa finished his threat, Mario hurried up to Luigi, who was holding his head in pain.
"Did you hurt yourself?" Mario asked.
"Don't be dumb, bro!" Luigi retorted. "You know I get scared easily from loud noises!"
"It was just a voice, Luigi," Mario explained. "No one's physically following us in."
"Can we move on now?" Dr. Kolorado asked with impatience.
"We're going, Dr. Kolorado," Mario replied. The group resumed their trek through the ruins, passing by two sarcophagi with a Pokey face on their fronts. While Mario, Goombario, and Dr. Kolorado paid no mind to the sarcophagi, Luigi was paranoid about something popping out of them. Luckily, the sarcophagi stayed closed. There were two doors at the end of the hall; the top one had a keylock on it.
"I know there's a key down there," Dr. Kolorado pointed out as he walked inside the bottom room. There was a doorway that was too high for him to climb through, but he managed to find the key hidden inside a brick below the doorway. Although he expected it to be a trap, nothing happened, relieving Dr. Kolorado as he rejoined the group.
"Good work, Doc," Goombario complimented Dr. Kolorado.
"There's a doorway that I can't reach down there. How do we get through it?"
"I'll figure it out myself," Mario said while unlocking the door and entering the top room. The floor was made of packed sand and a small pink brick stuck out from a podium to his left. He stepped on the brick, causing the sand to sink through a funnel and fill in half of the bottom room, allowing access through the doorway.
"I guess that's one way to elevate or lower the floor," Mario remarked. "No machines needed."
While the group walked across the packed sand in the bottom room, Goombario asked Luigi, "How are you holding up?"
"I'm kinda okay, but I feel a bit uneven," Luigi replied. "Who knows if this temple is haunted?"
Before Mario could acknowledge Luigi's comment, Tutankoopa's voiced boomed out of nowhere, "Fools! You have ignored my warning, haven't you?!" Out of startlement, Luigi slammed his hands on his ears and fell over. "Keep it up, and you will fall to my legions and become mummies of the sands!"
"It wasn't on purpose, guys!" Luigi protested while standing back up. "You know me well enough!"
"I understand, bro. Just don't let it get to you," Mario reassured Luigi.
"Now where do we go?" Dr. Kolorado asked as he gazed around the tall room. There was an open doorway in front and two doors on either wall of the bottom floor; the left one was locked.
"I'll go see what's in that room in front," Goombario said before taking off through the open doorway. Again, there was a floor made of packed sand and a key in plain sight.
"Why is this so-" Goombario started to ask himself after taking the key. Suddenly, three Buzzy Beetles dropped from the ceiling and began to ambush Goombario, who called for help.
Mario immediately rushed in and stomped on all the Buzzy Beetles before tossing them out of three windows in the tall room.
"I swear I could've headbonked those Buzzy Beetles, but they were moving too fast," Goombario admitted.
"Not a problem. At least you got another key," Mario responded before unstrapping his Star Power Band and giving it to Luigi.
"Here. You're in charge of releasing Eldstar if needed. I'll control which partners we need."
"That's so nice of you," Luigi thanked Mario after strapping the band to his right wrist. "I promise I'll help heal whoever's hurt."
With that being said, the group went downstairs and approached the two locked doors. Mario beckoned Luigi, Goombario, and Dr. Kolorado to go through the left-side door. Inside this room, there were three Pokey-faced sarcophagi and two aerial platforms attached to the wall with a pink staircase and a pink button that rotates the staircase to either platform.
"Oh God..." Luigi muttered upon seeing the sarcophagi. "Not these again..." Meanwhile, Mario spotted a Yellow Question Mark Block at the left end of the room with a locked door.
"It's either a powerup or another key..." Mario wondered. He didn't hesitate in hitting the block from underneath, but what happened next turned out to be a trap.
As soon as the block was hit, nothing came out of it and the block fell on the floor. At the same time, the sarcophagi opened, releasing three Pokey Mummies.
"AAHH! NO!" Luigi screamed. He tried running to the right, but two of the Pokey Mummies stopped him from going anywhere. Goombario and Dr. Kolorado quickly came up with a plan to help Luigi: Dr. Kolorado hid in his shell before Goombario launched him toward the Pokey Mummies' heads, killing them instantly.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Mario, the third Pokey Mummy hurried in from behind and tossed one of its spiked bodies into Mario's back, poisoning him in the process and turning his skin light purple.
"LUIGI...! I'M... I FEEL...SICK...!" Mario loudly groaned as he fell on the floor. Relieved that the Pokey Mummies that cornered him were gone, Luigi threw the Star Power Band towards Mario, who caught it and immediately put it on his left wrist before activating the "Refresh" power. He was immediately cured, restoring his skin to normal, and giving him his energy back, but he still felt sick to his stomach. Simultaneously, Dr. Kolorado and Goombario defeated the last Pokey Mummy.
Luigi and Goombario rushed up to Mario while Dr. Kolorado found another key in the center sarcophagus.
"Thanks...bro..." Mario moaned. "I don't...feel good..."
"Are you gonna puke?" Goombario asked.
"I don't...know... Maybe not..." Mario replied while standing back up. He held his stomach for a couple seconds before Dr. Kolorado came back with the key.
"Let's keep going, guys!" Dr. Kolorado said before he unlocked the door and led the group further into the ruins. The next room had two doorways; one in front and one below on the bottom floor's right wall. There was also a crack on the bottom floor's left wall; Mario quickly released Bombette and had her blow up the crack before going with her into a tall shaft.
"What do we do?" Luigi asked Dr. Kolorado. "Should we wait?"
"Let's go in the room ahead of us," Dr. Kolorado replied. "Maybe the treasure is in there."
At the same time Luigi and Dr. Kolorado went forward, Mario and Bombette dropped down to the very bottom, found another crack on the wall in front and destroyed that wall before going into the next room. There was a treasure chest on a flat podium that Mario quickly opened. Inside of it was a fuchsia diamond-shaped stone.
"What is this thing?" Mario asked himself. Suddenly, a Stone Chomp popped out of the wall to the right of Mario and homed in on him. Mario shrieked with terror and ran all around the room, attempting to avoid the Stone Chomp. Bombette quickly blew her herself up as soon as the Stone Chomp passed directly over her, destroying it entirely.
"Whew! Thanks a bunch, Bombette," Mario thanked Bombette after sighing with relief.
"You're welcome. Let's go back to Luigi and Dr. Kolorado," Bombette replied. Both returned to the tall room and climbed a ladder on the right wall before reentering the room with the two doorways, but Luigi and Dr. Kolorado were nowhere in sight.
"Where are they?" Mario asked as both looked around for Luigi and Dr. Kolorado.
Rewinding a few minutes earlier, Dr. Kolorado and Luigi found themselves in a long hall with teal and pink staircases with their respective buttons.
"Now this is a challenge," Luigi said after inspecting the staircases. "Where will they lead us?"
"Let's find out after solving this puzzle," Dr. Kolorado replied. Both took several minutes to move the staircases around the aerial platforms attached to the wall and eventually found themselves next to a big treasure chest.
"This could be it!" Dr. Kolorado exclaimed after approaching the treasure chest. "I can't wait!" He opened the chest and discovered a golden statue and an iron hammer with a bronze handle. "Aha! I knew it!"
"What did you find?" Luigi asked.
"I found a hammer and the Ancient Artifact! Victory is ours!" Dr. Kolorado picked up the hammer and the Ancient Artifact before giving the hammer to Luigi. "I don't think this hammer counts as a treasure, but I'm sure it can serve you well."
"Actually, I should give this to Mario," Luigi responded before spotting a Stone Block behind him and destroying it with the iron hammer. "That wooden one is too weak for him."
"But don't you need a weapon?"
"I prefer powerups instead, but thanks for asking." Luigi went down the long hall and rejoined Mario and Bombette.
Mario gasped upon seeing the iron hammer. "No way! Can I have it?!" Mario asked with excitement.
"It's all yours, bro." Luigi handed Mario the iron hammer before Mario tossed the wooden hammer through the long hall in front.
"Screw that wooden hammer!" Mario declared. "I like this one better!" He then proceeded to go back through the hall to his right with the intention of discovering the second doorway in the room with the three windows.
"It's cool how we discover different areas by splitting up," Dr. Kolorado remarked. "I guess that makes things easier."
Meanwhile, Mario hurried through the windowed room and through the right-side doorway into another room similar to the one with the diamond stone, except there was a seafoam green triangle-shaped stone inside a treasure chest. Again, a Stone Chomp popped out from Mario's left, but Mario acted quick and destroyed the Stone Chomp with his hammer. He then ran back to the group and beckoned them to go through the doorway on the bottom floor.
In the next hall were five Stone Chomp statues; each of them had five indents in their middles.
"Do we put this diamond and triangle in those statues?" Mario asked after taking out both stones.
"I think so. Let me figure this out." Luigi took the stones and took a minute to figure out where to put them but couldn't make a decision. "We need a clue for this puzzle."
On the wall in front were two doorways; Luigi went through the top one while Mario went through the bottom one.
"Man, both of them are making progress fast," Bombette told Dr. Kolorado.
In the top room, as soon as Luigi went inside, Tutankoopa's voice called out again, "Turn back, thieves! Your time is running out! If you do not retreat, you'll be in grave trouble! I do not lie! You will regret it!" Luigi covered his ears again but didn't fall over this time. He was kind of used to being startled by Tutankoopa's voice.
To Luigi's left were miniature versions of the Stone Chomp statues, but they had three white shapes in the far left, center, and far right indents. From left to right were a diamond, a triangle, and a crescent.
"I hope Mario finds the crescent soon," Luigi said to himself before rejoining Dr. Kolorado and Bombette.
Meanwhile, after entering the bottom room, he saw a treasure chest that contained a dark blue crescent-shaped stone. Knowing that another Stone Chomp was gonna jump out at him, he destroyed it with his hammer after collecting the stone. It was done; all three stones were collected, ready to be placed in the Stone Chomp statues and allow the group to go further down the ruins.