8C - Shy Guy Riot

It's now 7:45 AM. Back up in Peach's castle's master bedroom, she was sitting on her bed, not knowing what to do next.

"I would usually be afraid and scream for Mario and Luigi if I was kidnapped by Bowser, but this time, it's so boring that I'm not even scared right now," Peach said with a sigh.

"Probably because you're still in your castle, and you can't do anything but be stuck in this room," Twink added in. After a few more seconds, Peach came up with a thought.

"You said I can't be a helpless princess, right?"

"Yes. What are you trying to say?"

"Well, let's say there's only one Star Spirit left to be saved, and Bowser feels the need to barge into my room again," Peach explained. "He'll probably go deep into having this so-called affection toward me. What I'm saying is if that happens, I could try to defend myself."

"How exactly?" Twink asked.

"Um... I... Look, I don't care for Bowser because he's evil and all, but if I threaten him, I'm putting myself in a 50:50 situation," Peach went on. "I would never try to physically hurt anyone, but I might have to if I'm cornered for too long."

"I don't know, Princess Peach. You might be making the worst mistake of your life."

"Just forget about it, Twink," Peach said. "I'll bring it up later."

Another half minute of silence went by before Twink spoke up. "Do you think Mario and Luigi found a way to beat that Tubba Blubba?"

"They should've. They usually end up victorious in the end, so maybe they found his weak point and hit him where it hurts so bad."

"Good for them. I bet Bowser and his followers are REALLY angry right now," Twink stated.

"Can we go outside again and find out more about the other Star Spirits?" Peach requested.

"If you want to, then we'll go eavesdrop." Peach proceeded to reveal her secret exit and walked to the rotating stand that will take her and Twink into the office study. But the study was not empty.

"It can't be! No! No! No! Explain that again slowly!" Bowser demanded. Kammy had just told him that Tubba Blubba was officially defeated despite his so-called invincibility.

"Your Wretchedness, I keep trying to tell you. Tubba Blubba...was... He...was defeated by the Mario Bros.!" Kammy hesitated.

"Well, that sucks because YOU CONVINCED ME HE WAS INVINCIBLE! How can someone do that?!" Bowser roared.

Just as Kammy was acknowledging Bowser's rant, the stand began to slowly turn, revealing Peach and Twink; but Bowser and Kammy didn't see them.

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Urgh... I can't flipping believe them... I guess they did find the secret that made Tubba Blubba not quite so invincible... And then they beat him..." Bowser said angrily. "I hate them so much! Always have to ruin EVERY tactic I lay out!"

"Well, Your Filthiness, we have to come up with another tactic, and fast. Mario and Luigi will probably go to Shy Guy's Toy Box next."

"Yes... So, we should prepare something there for their arrival. I won't be satisfied just having them beaten up anymore! What we need to do is find their weak point and completely humiliate them!"

"You getting that, Twink?" Peach whispered softly.

"Yeah. I'll tell them after this," Twink answered.

"Kammy, you've gotta find out what Mario and Luigi hate, and-" Before Bowser could instruct Kammy on how to enact his next plan, he saw Peach out the corner of his eye.

"WHAT?! For the love of God, why do you always come out of your room easily?!" Bowser asked with disbelief.

"Because your guards didn't spot-check my room," Peach replied while stepping in front of Bowser. "You should've thought of that before you took over my castle."

"Wow. You got a tough attitude," Bowser remarked. "I'm pretty impressed... Psych! Bwahaha!"

"Your Nastiness, tell her about your plan," Kammy told Bowser.

"You know what? This is actually good timing because we were just discussing the weak points of our mutual friends, Mario and Luigi," Bowser said.

"They're not mutual, Bowser," Peach commented.

"Enough of that, Princess Peach. Now, what do you know about their weaknesses, huh? You better be honest with me!"

"Mario and Luigi do not have any weaknesses," Peach replied.

"Don't lie to me. Everybody has to have at least one weakness," Bowser explained. "How about I ask you a series of questions with two options and you tell me which one Mario and Luigi hate with a passion?"

"What if there's a third option?"

"Don't even go there! I don't believe in third options!" Bowser retorted. "Anyway, here we go. Which of these two: a Goomba or a Clubba?"

Peach didn't want to answer the question because the last thing she'd want to do is accidentally betray Mario and Luigi, but she had no choice.

"The Clubba...!" Peach blurted out after a couple seconds.

"Come on, Princess Peach. Don't get so worked up. I'm just talking nice to you."

"I don't want to do this, Bowser! You're gonna turn me against Mario and Luigi!" Peach complained.

"No, I'm not. Let's just move on. Which of these two: a Fuzzy or a Hammer Bro?"

"The Hammer Bro," Peach answered, knowing that the Hammer Bro is stronger than the Fuzzy. She started to sweat from being forced to answer Bowser's questions.

"Okay. That seems reasonable. The Fuzzy doesn't have a weapon, so having a Hammer Bro face them makes good sense. Last question: is it the Pokey or the Koopatrol?"

"The Koopatrol," Peach replied; she knew that Mario and Luigi could take out Pokeys easily.

"Gwahahaha! Excellent answers, Princess Peach! Perfect!" Bowser exclaimed with excitement before turning to Kammy. "Make sure those Mario Bros. won't avoid these things that they hate! We'll beat him for sure!"

"Of course, Your Gnarliness! Mario and Luigi are in for it now! Brilliant tactics!" Kammy agreed.

"Thank you. Now, Kammy, have Princess Peach taken back to her room immediately! Finally, we will witness the end of Mario and Luigi at last! Gwahahaha!"

Peach started to feel guilty for answering Bowser's requests even though she was forced to.

"Guards! Attention! Take Princess Peach back to her room at once!" Kammy called out after opening the study door.

"Yes, ma'am!" two Koopatrols responded as they ran inside and picked up Peach once again.

"I'm sorry, Mario and Luigi!" Peach cried as she was rushed back to her room. Just as Bowser and Kammy left the study, Twink came out from his hiding spot and left the castle in a hurry.

Back in Toad Town; Mario, Luigi, and Bow reappeared through another light beam and ended up next to the sign pointing to Forever Forest. Skolar was hovering in front to give his words of wisdom.

"Hello again, Mario and Luigi," Skolar greeted the Mario Bros. "I knew you could do it. I don't know how to thank you. I knew it was the right decision to ask you to help us. You are excellent heroes. And now that I'm free, I can help you with my power."

Skolar raised his arms up, causing Mario and Luigi to sparkle for a few seconds; they were given more magic from the Star Spirits. Furthermore, Mario's Star Power Band's Star Energy was increased by another unit and reached as far as the third white button from the center of the band.

"What I entrusted you two is 'Star Storm', an attack that involves a barrage of shooting stars that can harm all enemies confronting you whether they have defenses or not. The power costs two units of Star Energy, so please try to conserve it," Skolar said.

"Thank you," Mario thanked Skolar.

"Before I go, I have one bit of bad news. Unfortunately, Bowser's life force seems to be getting stronger all the time. It is most likely the Star Rod that's giving him more power. We're not even sure if he's noticing it or not, but there's no question that it's making him stronger than before," Skolar explained. "We will have to be much more careful in the coming trials."

"I'm sorry to leave, but I must go back to the Star Road. The other Star Spirits are waiting for me there," Skolar continued. "And if you would, please keep it a secret that I got lost in Forever Forest."

"We'll promise not to tell anyone," Mario said.

"Thank you so much. Goodbye for now." With that, Skolar rose up toward the Star Road, leaving Mario and friends to continue with their adventure.

"Mario, I don't think I need the Repel Gel right now. I'd like to drop it off at the pad," Luigi said.

"Sure thing. I need to stow the Magical Seed I've been carrying too," Mario replied before he led Luigi and Bow to the Warp Pipe leading to Mario's Pad. But before they could turn left at the intersection in front of Peach's castle's blue gate, high-pitched screams echoed throughout the town.

"What the heck is that screaming?" Mario wondered. Suddenly, a Shy Guy holding a cash register ran past him to the south. "Is that...Daniel's register...?"

"What's happening?" Bow asked.

"I don't know. It looks like there might be some Shy Guys running amok." Another Shy Guy ran out of the post office with a mailbag in his hands and headed south, screaming like a little girl.

"Hey! Get out of my garden!" Mario and Luigi turned to their right to see another Shy Guy running around a flower garden owned by Mindy T. Mario immediately ran up to the Shy Guy and hammered it to make it run away.

"Thank you, Mario!" Mindy sighed with relief. "The flowers give you their thanks as well!"

"No problem," Mario replied before walking back to Luigi and Bow. "Let's see if there are any more Shy Guys running around.

"Oh no! Not my crystal ball!" Merlon's voice cried out; a Shy Guy ran out of Merlon's house with his crystal ball.

"Oh, poor Merlon..." Mario muttered. "We need to help him get his crystal ball back."

"But where are they going?" Luigi asked.

"We'll check it out later. Let's-a go back home first."

But another high-pitched scream wailed out again, causing the group to stay put again. Another Shy Guy hurried out of the corner store with a box full of water bottles.

"Wha- Are you kidding me?! Out of all things to steal from the store? A case of water?!" Luigi chuckled. "This is ridiculous!"

"Okay. We've seen enough. Come on," Mario said.

Luckily, on their way to the Warp Pipe, the group didn't hear any Shy Guys screaming and running. Back at Mario's Pad, Mario went up the steps to the front door and unlocked it before beckoning Luigi and Bow to come inside.

"Give me the gel, please," Mario requested; Luigi gave him the Repel Gel before looking around to make sure no Shy Guys snuck inside.

"They better not have..." Luigi started to say.

"'They better not have' what?"

"One second." Luigi quickly went down to the basement while Mario stored the Repel Gel and the Magical Seed in one of the closet drawers.

"Did they take anything else from here?" Bow asked.

"Well, at least they didn't take the TV or the computer," Mario replied. "I mean, why would they even-"

"NO! THEY DID IT!" Luigi screamed from the basement.

"What happened?!"

"THEY TOOK MY DIARY!" Mario ran down to the basement too. The diary was nowhere to be found.

"What the crap?! How could they do that?!"

"I don't know!" Luigi answered. "I thought the front door was locked! They shouldn't have gotten in!"

"Well, I guess they opened one of the windows, took the diary, and left everything the way it was like nothing happened," Mario said.

"I swear I'm gonna kill that Shy Guy who stole my diary...!"

"Well, we can't waste any time! To the Shy Guys' hideout!" Mario, Luigi, and Bow immediately ran out of the pad went back to Toad Town before heading east.

"They went that way!" Mario pointed to his right before running south. As they passed another corner store, another high-pitched scream belted out before a Shy Guy ran to the right with a gray key.

"That was my storehouse key!" the owner shouted after running out of the store. "Mario! You have to get that key back, and fast!"

"We're on it!" Mario and friends were fast enough to see the Shy Guy run into an abandoned building one block ahead.

Before they could enter the building, a familiar voice called from behind, "Mario! Luigi!" Mario and Luigi turned to see Twink fly in front of them.

"Hi, Twink. Can we talk later? We need to follow those-" Mario started to ask.

"But don't you want to hear another update?"

"All right-y. Let's hear it," Mario answered.

"First off, we found out that you beat Tubba Blubba! I knew you could do it! I just knew it! When we heard the news, Princess Peach was very relieved," Twink said.

"That's brilliant. You want to know what his weak point was?" Mario asked.

"What was it?"

"It was his very own heart," Luigi stated.

"Wow! I had an inkling that his heart could be the secret," Twink said. "Now, about the information regarding the honorable Star Spirits who are still imprisoned... Have you ever heard of Shy Guy's Toy Box?"

"No. What's the toy box like?" Mario asked.

"Well, it seems that one of the honorable Star Spirits is being held there. But the question is: where is the toy box? We don't know that answer for sure," Twink answered.

"Thank you, Twink," Luigi thanked Twink.

"You're welcome. I have to go back to the princess now. Good luck, Mario and Luigi! Princess Peach and I are always cheering you on." As soon as Twink began to fly back to Peach's castle, the group entered the abandoned building and searched the walls for a hidden door. It took about five minutes before Mario felt a loose piece of drywall on the far end of the interior.

"What is this...?" Mario asked himself as he ripped the drywall off, revealing a wooden door. "Hey! I found a hidden door!"

Luigi and Bow rushed up to Mario, who opened the door to a secret room. Inside was a large yellow plaid box with pink and blue polka dots. The lid was loose enough to open the box.

As soon as Mario lifted the lid off, he saw a pool of green, pink, and blue liquids swirling around inside.

"This might be the Shy Guys' toy box," Mario said. "Ready, Luigi?"

"Let's do this," Luigi replied before Mario jumped into the box with Luigi and Bow following behind. What will await Mario and friends inside the toy box whether it's fun or not?