6C - Star Spirit on the Loose

The time is now 5:35 PM, more than three hours after Mario, Luigi, Dr. Kolorado, and Goombario rescued Mamar, the second of seven Star Spirits.

Up in Peach's castle, Peach had changed into a crimson-red dress as she had been wearing her typical pink dress for hours ever since the party was crashed by Bowser and his gang.

"It's really boring, just waiting around for new information about Mario and Luigi's progress," Peach told Twink.

"I know, Princess Peach. But just keep being patient," Twink replied. "Who knows? Maybe we can wait until Bowser's asleep and-"

Suddenly, Peach's bedroom door slammed open, causing Twink to fly quickly behind the bed. Bowser then marched into the bedroom and greeted Peach, "Bwahaha! Well, hello there, Princess Peach. I got to say your new outfit looks so lovely."

"Didn't I make myself clear this morning?" Peach asked. "I told you not to barge into my room!"

"Oh, don't be so angry, Princess Peach!" Bowser said. "How about putting a smile on your face for me?"

Peach turned her back and held her hand in front of Bowser's face. "Talk to the hand, Bowser! You aren't getting anything from me! You know why? Because you imprisoned all my party guests, and now you're coming off looking like the biggest dang disaster to ever befall the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"How about making everything the way it was before you showed up?" Peach requested.

"Gwahaha! Come on, Princess Peach! You know I can't do that!" Bowser answered. "By the way, those jerky Mario Bros. just beat the Koopa Bros. and Tutankoopa! Yes, they did fail me, but they're still loyal to me no matter what happens!"

"So what? I think it's a good thing!" Peach retorted before facing Bowser again. "You know Mario and Luigi will come for me soon!"

"Oh, no they won't!" Bowser argued. "I've got a bigger plan up my skin: to use the Invincible Tubba Blubba on them. He's basically the strongest and most powerful living thing I've known. Even though I'm still above him. You might as well give up hope and-"

"Your Nastiness! We have a problem!" Kammy ran inside Peach's bedroom to tell Bowser some bad news.

"Kammy, what's got you so riled up? You look upset," Bowser asked with concern before Kammy whispered into his ear.

"Wha- The Star Spirit flew away from Tubba Blubba's castle?! How could he?!" Bowser exclaimed with disbelief.

"Shut up, King Bowser!" Kammy said. "Princess Peach will hear you!"

"All right. Tell me the details over there." Bowser and Kammy finally exited Peach's bedroom and shut the door. Twink then came out of his hiding spot and approached Peach.

"Did you hear that, Twink?" Peach asked.

"Yes! I sure did! That Star Spirit must've escaped..." Twink took a couple seconds to think it over. "Did you hear him call that Tubba Blubba thing 'invincible'? That doesn't sound good! Do you think Mario and Luigi can win?"

"We'd better try to find out about Tubba Blubba," Peach said. "I know he has to have some sort of weak point, and that could save Mario and Luigi!"

"Great idea!"

"Okay... We won't get anything done if we stay in this room, so we have to get out of here again," Peach said before activating the secret exit out of Peach's bedroom and leading Twink into the office study before slowly cracking open the door. There were several Koopatrols walking around the second floor with flashlights to ensure there are no intruders out and about.

"Now what, Princess Peach?" Twink whispered.

"If any of those guards spot us, we're dead," Peach replied softly. "Let's walk along the wall." Peach exited the study and placed her back against the wall before slowly moving right to the closest door she can open. That door led into the library full of long bookshelves. Again, there were some Koopatrols walking down and up the library to find anything out of the ordinary.

It took a couple minutes for Peach and Twink to successfully avoid the Koopatrols and reach the very end of the library. In front of another bookshelf were a Hammer Bro. and a Koopatrol having a private conversation.

"Hey. Have you heard about Master Tubba Blubba? Rumor has it that he loves eating ghosts," the Hammer Bro. said.

"Oh. Ghosts, huh?" the Koopatrol replied. "I do know that Master Tubba Blubba lives somewhere in Forever Forest and he's probably guarding one of the Star Spirits right now."

"Yeah. But the problem is, where does he find the ghosts? That's something I'll never find out myself," the Hammer Bro. wondered. "But everyone knows Master Tubba Blubba is invincible. He can't be hurt, and nobody can even scratch him! What if he's stronger than King Bowser?"

"Don't say that, man!" the Koopatrol responded. "Even Master Tubba Blubba has to have some weak points. It's just common sense!"

"You know what? You might be right."

Having overheard the private talk, Peach turned to Twink and said quietly, "Twink, it sounds like Tubba Blubba has a weak point, after all.

"If only we could find out..." Twink added in.

Suddenly, the Hammer Bro. and Koopatrol managed to pick up Peach's whispering but didn't know who it was.

"Huh? Did you hear someone talking?" the Hammer Bro. asked.

"Oh no... Someone knows we were goofing off in here..." the Koopatrol murmured before both began to leave the library. Just as they turned the corner, they saw Princess Peach in front of them.

"Whoa! Princess Peach! How did you get in here?" the Hammer Bro. questioned.

"Um... I don't..." Peach hesitated.

"Don't even explain, miss. We're going to have to take you back to your room now," the Koopatrol scolded Peach.

"No! Put me down!" Peach cried as the Hammer Bro. and Koopatrol picked her up and took her back to her room. Again, Twink had hidden successfully from the two enemies and flew out of the castle to find Mario and Luigi and tell them the info he and Peach received.

"FUDGE! I GOT NO-" Jim yelled as he glanced at his cell phone before gazing around the dungeon. His phone wasn't picking up any service because of the thick concrete walls and ceilings.

"GAADARGGHH!" Jim shouted as he threw the phone on the floor and stomped it to pieces.

"Master Jim? What's wrong?" Toadsworth asked from the cell's bench.

"I busted my cell phone on purpose because there's no service in here!" Jim said with anger while approaching Toadsworth. "I can't call or text anyone, and worst of all, I had 10% juice left on that thing, so there's no use for it anyway!"

Jim looked up at the ceiling and muttered with clenched teeth, "Flippin' concrete ceilings..."

"Easy now, Master Jim. There's-" Toadsworth started before Jim interrupted him.

"ENOUGH CALLING ME YOUR MASTER! I MEAN IT!"

"Okay... I'll stop calling you that..." Toadsworth gave in. "Just lower your voice, please."

"I'm trying, but it's just... It..." Jim hesitated. "Oh my God..." He laid his head in his hands for a few seconds. "Is it too early for me to lose my sanity? Because I'm feeling it right now."

"I hope not. I hope you don't lose your mind," Toadsworth said. "Things can get out of hand if Master Mario and Master Luigi free us and you jump down their throats."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Toadsworth. I'm just flustered because I need to get back home before my first day of school," Jim sighed. He proceeded to walk back to the bars and gripped them tight. His anger slowly built up again.

"I swear, if you don't free me soon, Mario, I'm gonna go ape-crazy and die of high blood pressure! Where even are you?!" Jim yelled.

Rewinding back to 2:25 PM, Mario and friends reappeared through another white light and found themselves outside of Dry Dry Ruins. Mamar was hovering in front to greet them.

"Thank you, Mario and Luigi," Mamar thanked the Mario Bros. "At last, I can head home to the Star Road. My name is Mamar. So nice to see you two in person."

"Nice to meet you too," Mario returned the greeting.

"You've still got a long way to go, but I just know you can save Princess Peach! I'll do my best to help you! Here's a present for you." Mamar raised her arms up, causing Mario and Luigi to sparkle for a few seconds; they were given more magic from the Star Spirits. In addition, Mario's Star Power Band was refilled to the max with Star Energy, and the gold bar that represents the Star Energy reached as far as the second white button from the center of the band.

"Hey! My Star Energy went up by one!" Mario remarked.

"It did indeed. What I entrusted you and Luigi is the Star Power known as 'Lullaby'." Mamar explained. "You can call on me during a battle and I'll sing your enemies to sleep for a brief time, giving you the chance to take them down. It costs one unit of Star Energy. Remember to use 'Focus' if you need to."

"You must save the other Star Spirits as soon as possible!" Mamar continued. "For now, I'm going back to recover at the Star Road. Who knows how my dear old Star Road is faring without the Star Rod? Farewell, Mario and Luigi!" Mamar immediately rose up into the sky toward the Star Road.

"Well, my work here is done, old boys," Dr. Kolorado declared. "Let's go back to my camp and I'll send you on your way back home." In 15 minutes, the group arrived back at Dr. Kolorado's campsite.

"Thank you so much for helping me get the Ancient Artifact," Dr. Kolorado thanked Mario and Luigi. "I literally couldn't have done it without you two."

"You're welcome, Dr. Kolorado," Mario replied.

"When will we see you again?" Luigi asked.

"It might be by coincidence," Dr. Kolorado said. "If you're off to somewhere far away, maybe you'll find me wanting to find more treasure. And I sure hope you can help me again."

"All right-y. Buh-bye," Mario bid Dr. Kolorado goodbye. And so, Mario and friends began the 40-minute walk across the west side of Dry Dry Desert and Mt. Rugged back to the train station to head back to Toad Town. There was no train in sight upon arriving at the station.

"Where's the train?" Luigi asked. Mario looked at the sheet with the departure and arrival times taped to one of the gazebo's pillars.

"It says the next train leaves at 3:50 PM," Mario said. "We might have come way too early." Mario was right; it was 3:20 PM at this point. So, they had to wait for half an hour before the Toad Express approached the station and turned around for the ride home.

The trip back to Toad Town took an hour and 20 minutes, about ten minutes later than planned because of other trains on the track. It was 4:10 PM when Mario, Luigi, and Goombario exited the Toad Express and made their way up north.

"I need to change my clothes again," Mario sighed. "I might have gotten so much sand in my overalls."

"Me too, bro," Luigi agreed. "I actually didn't like the yellow shirt anyway and I want to put on something more relevant."

The group walked leisurely back to the Warp Pipe leading to Mario's Pad since they weren't in a rush to get all the Star Spirits. At 4:30 PM, the Mario Bros. and Goombario arrived at the pad, wanting to take a break before moving on with their quest. What will await them after they're ready to go again?