We're back at Pi'illo Castle; Time to create a new strategy!
Chapter 19: Renew our plan! Legend of the bed and the bird
In front of the team was the proprietor of Pi'illo Island, Dr. Snoozemore. The man just thanked some tourists for their visit.
As soon as he turned around, Snoozemore smiles. "Oh, the Mario Bros. and the teens. Welcome to Pi'illo island!"
The doctor then fell asleep, much to the annoyance of Mondo. "Wake up! We have shit going down and we could use your help!" the biker groans.
Snoozemore woke up "My apologies… As you may know, I research sleep; But sleep also researches me"
As on cue, Dreambert entered the room with Hifumi. The prince wanted to bring the artist in order to have all the help they can get.
"Professor! Chaos reigns over this land! We really need your assistance!" Dreambert firmly says.
Dr. Snoozemore upon seeing him, went into full panic.
The group decides to tell him everything
1 large explanation later
"I see… Much transpired in my absence… And you, young ones, endured an unspeakable trauma from the killing game" the doctor says. "Yes. Antasma and Junko have united their energies…
Soon after, a wicked replica of Hope's Peak Academy appeared in the sky…" Dreambert explains.
"Princess Peach got kidnapped and Chihiro was imprisoned somewhere in the Dream World..." Starlow adds
"Yes. So you plan to infiltrate the academy?" Dr. Snoozemore asks, "Once in, we could cast down Antasma again and capture Junko" Makoto says.
"But as things are now and with Junko being also the Ultimate Analyst and Ultimate Despair, we don't stand a chance now" Kyoko says.
The doctor sighs and turns walks towards the statue at the end of the area. "The Zeekeeper" he whispers.
"The Zeekeeper? You mean the giant bird that people say lived here long ago?" Starlow asks.
"Yes… The Zeekeeper…
The bird of legend that lived in harmony with the Pi'illos… Many times he protected the Pi'illo Kingdom from the disaster…
Until the time Antasma attacked… As you know, just before his defeat, Antasma destroyed the Dark Stone that resulted in the Pi'illos getting petrified and sliced in half…
If you can find that guardian…" Dr. Snoozemore explained.
"Wait. Find him?" Luigi asks. "Yes. The Zeekeeper must be within the Dream World. If you can find him and convince him of your need…" the doctor emphasises.
"Of course! The Zeekeeper could be a great ally… He wields a beam that could shatter the barrier!" Dreambert says.
"Prince Dreambert… You told me you have explored the Dream World several times, yes?
Have you seen something related to the Zeekeeper?" Snoozemore asks. "Hmm, I recall something in Dreamy Pi'illo Castle…"
"Then it's settled! We part to Dreamy Pi'illo castle and investigate! Taka energetically chirps.
"All right! Let's-a go!" Mario agrees as the team rushed to the bed in the middle of the area. Luigi and Mondo fall asleep under the prince and the rest enters the portal.
At the Dream World
Once the gang arrives, Dreambert begins to investigate a gate near the entrance. "If my minds is true… There was a Zeekeeper statue beyond this door" Dreambert muses as he makes the gate open.
"All right, let's proceed" Hifumi says as the gang crosses the door. This led them to find an entrance to Dream's Deep, which they immediately jumped into.
Once there, the heroes see a statue of the Zeekeeper, to which Dreambert finally remembered everything.
"It is all coming together! Long ago, I entered Dream's Deep and learnt how to summon the Zeekeeper!
And thought I met him in the Real World before, I do not recall how to summon him.
Perhaps the statue hold hints, but it would be wise if we investigate the area first" the prince looks at the horizon. "My thoughts exactly" Kyoko chimes in and the gang begins to take off.
30 minutes later
After taking down enemies, winning 500 coins from them, learning three new moves called the Luiginary and Mondonary Ball, Ball Hammer and Hookshot, activating three switches with their hammers and escaping the labyrinthic area, the gang returns to the Zeekeeper's statue.
As if the object detected them, the statue projects a blue hologram with strange symbols.
"Those are Pi'illo characters" Dreambert notes before translating them.
"All those… who seek… the Zeekeeper's power… Ultibed… You must make the Ultibed…
The Ultibed… It is constructed of five parts:
The Pajamaja Rock Frame… It rests on Mount Pajamaja.
The Dozing Mattress… Sleeps on Dozing Sands.
The Mushrise Tree Board… Rises in the Mushrise Fields.
Driftwood Jellyfish Sheets… Drift on Driftwood Shore.
The Zeekeeper's Feathers… An heirloom of Pi'illo Castle.
All five parts must be assembled by a Bedsmith. The Bedsmiths will gather at Wake Isle. Find the five parts and give them to a Bedsmith.
Only then can the Ultibed be completed…"
"Mushrise Fields is Mushrise Park, while Wake Isle is the old name of what we know now as Wakerport" Kyoko chimes in with her sharp deductions.
"All right, we have a plan! We first find the Zeekeeper's Feathers here and then we head to Mount Pajamaja, Mushrise Park, Dozing Sands and Driftwood Shore in that order!
Everyone agrees?" Taka asks to the gang, to which they nod.
"All right, let's return to the Real World and find those items!" Mario chirps and the team leaves for the portal.
At the Real World
After Hifumi landed on the ground, Dr. Snoozemore greeted them and asked "How did it go? Learn anything new?"
"Hell yeah! We gotta walk around the island and find five things that will make the Ultibed!" Mondo grins.
"By using it, the Zeekeeper can be found" the doctor deduced. "We have ourselves a plan! So let's search for those feathers and then hit the road!" Luigi adds.
It didn't take them long before reaching a ring-like area, to which the prince recalls ipso facto.
"The Battle Ring!" he shouts. "What?" Starlow asks. "An area of the Dream World where anyone can enjoy a good challenge that's both for training, enhancing skills and winning prizes!
Here, you will dream of fighting a fearsome and strong opponent, but they will be formidable!
Also, I remember hiding the Zeekeeper's Feather's during our battle with Antasma since it was an antique heirloom from the royal family.
However, the foe will always depend on the dreamer's or dreamers' experiences, so let us be prepared for anything" Dreambert explained.
"Are you ready to take on a challenge to get the feathers?" he asks to the team, and that is responded with high-five from them.
"Then the challenge of your dreams awaits!" the prince grins before turning himself into pillows for Luigi and Mondo.
The team enters the portal.
At the Dream World
The heroes land upon a wooden platform and rendezvous with Dreamy Luigi and Dreamy Mondo. Mario, upon looking around, gasps as he deduces what it is.
"Guys! This is the theater where I used to battle with the nations!" he says. "EXCUSE ME?! PERSONIFIED NATIONS?! THAT SOUNDS FROM A PARODY OR SATIRICAL MANGA!" Hifumi yelled.
The rest of the teens widen their eyes but a voice makes everyone get on guard.
"Welcome to the Battle Ring!" the voice said, making Mario angry as he recognized it.
"Grubba!" he frowned, "Wasn't that the guy who used one of the Crystal Stars to drain energy from the fighters and the audience at Glitz Pit?" Dreamy Luigi asks. "Exactly" his brother replied.
"The Dream Team is finally here to show once again what are they made of! But can this team prove mighty just like Fated Heroes and Team Light?!
For the prize of the Zeekeeper's Feathers… Here's your challenger!" Grubba's voice said before the opponent appeared.
The team is left speechless. The opponent is… Chihiro. The Ultimate Programmer had red eyes and an evil grin.
"The heck?!" Mario shouts, "I refuse to fight any of my friends!" Taka cried. "Junko knows how to torture us and that's scary!" Dreamy Luigi glares, "FUCK NO! I REFUSE TO HURT CHIHIRO AGAIN!" Dreamy Mondo roars. "Junko, this is a new low for you!" Makoto grits his teeth, "Her evil knows no bounds" Kyoko frowns. "I now see why Junko must pay for her crimes, including this!" Hifumi withdraws Ivysaur's Pokeball.
"Get ready to… BRAWL!" Grubba's voice said as an audience appeared and the battle started.
Chihiro cackled "Lasers!" as blue ones came out of the ceilings towards Dreamy Mondo, who fused into Taka to avoid the attack. The moral compass went suddenly limp from the sudden move.
The controlled programmer seizes this chance to fire this time several sawblades. "Taka, look out!" Makoto bellows and uses his Clawshot to get the red-eyed teen out of the way in time.
"Let me lend you my strength, Kyoko!" Dreamy Luigi says and infused into the detective. Kyoko nods, sneaks up on Chihiro and grabs them. "A controller. Just as I thought" she says before the programmer broke free.
"Hey, Kyoko! Deduce this!" the programmer smirks before several electric beams hit the girl, to which she and Dreamy Luigi groaned in pain and got sent towards the heroes' side of the escenario.
"Kyoko!" Mario yelled but Taka, who finally recovered from the fusion, stepped in but he had a different look.
"Attacking your friends is not welcome in any environment!" Taka said before lifting his head, showing a red aura coming from his eyes and his hair turned white.
"Kiyondo Ishida! Makoto and Hifumi scream in unison. "Um, what?" Mario asks. "You can't tell what to do!" Chihiro giggles but this is cut short.
"Ivysaur, use Vine Whip to get that controller!" Hifumi summons his Pokemon, who performs the move and nets him the device.
"Leave it to me!" Mario cracks his knuckles and stomps on the controller, destroying it. "I must discipline our friends when their behavior is unacceptable!" Kiyondo glared at Chihiro before the smash aura engulfed him.
"This is for your own good Chihiro!" Kiyondo roars and unleashes his Final Smash: Kiyondo Rush.
Kiyondo dashes with a punch towards Chihiro, who is stunned by the attack. Kiyondo proceeds to throw a barrage of rapid punches at Chihiro before finishing them off with an uppercut.
Chihiro is sent to the left side of the scenario and crashes against a wall, defeating them and awarding the team with 600 coins.
"Crud. Well, everyone give it all for the Dream Team! The winners of this battle!" Grubba's voice said as the audience went wild for the heroes.
"And now as part of the deal, here are the Zeekeeper's Feathers!" the announcer says before leaving for good.
The feathers descend from the ceiling and the dream heroes separate from Kyoko and Kiyotaka; Makoto receives the prize.
Mario picks up a knocked out Chihiro and the team leaves the Battle Ring.
At the Real World
After the portal closed, the luckster shows Dreambert the feathers to Starlow and Dreambert, who congratulates the team. Mario then places Chihiro in the middle of the ring.
"Bro, do we have 1-Up Mushrooms?" Mario asks Luigi after he and Mondo woke up. "I think Peach brought them but she left them in her room.
"Don't worry, the stores here sell the item!" Starlow chirps. She then quickly runs to the store and return with the item, which costed 30 coins
Chihiro is fed with the Mushroom and wakes up.
"Ugh, my head" they groan. "Chihiro!" the team yell in relief. The Ultimate Programmer glanced at their friends and gasped as they remembered everything.
"I'm sorry!" they began to tear up. Mario gave him a warm smile, "Don't worry, we know you weren't in control"
"Chihiro, can you please tell us how Peach was kidnapped and you were locked up in the Dream World?" Kyoko asks directly.
After recovering from the guilt, the programmer began to tell them everything.
"The moment you left, everything but us froze in time. Then, Junko and Antasma appeared before us and showed us the Dream Stone.
We knew things were turned in their favor. By just whispering to the stone, Peach was tied in chains and I was levitated into the air.
Before they sent me to the Dream World, I saw those two villains summoning an evil hologram of me.
And just like that, I ended up in the Battle Ring, where the announcer put me under hypnosis and then told me something:
Grubba, I think that's his name, still wants revenge for his defeat at the hands of the Fated Heroes. The voice told me also that aside from Mario, one of them is researching the island but didn't tell me who was exactly.
Guys, I'm so sorry for the trouble I caused" Chihiro explained and teared up again.
"This is all Junko and Antasmas' doing, we'll make them answer for their crimes. I promise" Makoto tells them.
"Thanks for being honest with me guys . I think this must be returned. This is something I told Peach about and in return she told me about the Personified Nations and the battle with Count Bleck along those Total Drama teens.
Mario, Luigi, Starlow, Dreambert: I'm a boy.
I'm sorry for deceiving you" Chihiro said in tears.
The plumbers as always showed their comprehension and patted the programmer's shoulders.
"What matters my friend is that you're ok. And you're our friend, we'll never judge you" Mario assures him. Chihiro gave him a sincere smile and got up.
Mondo ran to the programmer and hugged him, "I swear we'll make Junko pay for this! This is an oath between men!"
"All right! Then let's get going and get the other pieces of the Ultibed!" Dreambert said before looking at Hifumi.
"Hifumi, I humbly request you to stay and defend the castle from any possible attacks. Can I count on you?" the prince asks to the artist.
"You can count on me and my Pokemon, your majesty! By the way, I just remembered: Sakura, Sayaka, Leon and Hiro returned to the areas they chose to explore" Hifumi adjust his glasses. "Hey, Chihiro, what do you want to do?" Mario asked the programmer.
"I want to make amends for attacking you, so I'm tagging along with you!" he pounded his fists.
"Very well, then let's get going!" Starlow grins and thus, Chihiro has joined the battle.
The team and Hifumi bid each other farewell before the artist heads to the lobby. Meanwhile, the gang took the castle's pipe and headed to Mount Pajamaja.
With one of the Ultibed's components found, the race for the rest has begun…
Chapter 19: END
Current Party: Mario, Kiyotaka, Luigi, Mondo, Makoto, Kyoko, Starlow, Dreambert, Chihiro
Let's reply the recent reviews.
Glover64: The Ultimate Soldier stays neutral due the conflicting emotions for her and the others being alive again. That's all I can say without spoiling the story.
When that time comes, Mukuro will do what she must do.
I don't think so, Makoto is there and he didn't want her to die in the killing game so I guess he'll be pretty involved in that aspect.
He? I'm sorry, but I have no idea of who are you talking about, may I have a clue please?
Pikminfan: Given how Mario and Luigi dealt with the Nations and the Total Drama Cast, I'd say they wouldn't be so surprised. The teens on the other hand, I suppose they may go nuts just like when they found out about the Countries.
The search for the Ultibed has begun and Chihiro joined the battle too! The team will visit old places next week.
