Chapter 9
9A - The Not-So-Fun Toy Box
Inside Shy Guy's Toy Box, there were pink and yellow tiles that made up the floor as well as cartoonish drawings of flowers and smiley faces that covered the multi-colored walls. There was also a clock near the ceiling that showed what time it was. Finally, there was a mini train station set up in the center of the first room, but the railroad was broken in two and there was no train on deck.
Upon entering the toy box, Mario and Luigi managed to stick the landing without falling over.
"Wow. Look at this place," Mario remarked while he and Luigi gazed all around the room they appeared in. "This looks fun."
"Are you sure about that?" Luigi asked. "I know there'll be more than meets the eye."
"Guys, what happened to the railroad?" Bow questioned before Mario and Luigi turned to the railroad and examined the broken area.
"Maybe the Shy Guys broke it to forbid the train from going around the toy box," Mario replied.
"But there's no train. Where is it?"
"I don't know. Let's ask the conductor." Mario led Luigi and Bow to the conductor at the station.
Luigi eyeballed a sign that showed four train stations located in a circle; it turned out that the group ended up at the blue station at the bottom of the circle.
"What happened to the train?" Mario asked the conductor.
"I don't know. I asked the other three conductors and they didn't see it on the railroad," the conductor answered. "Those Shy Guys may have stolen the train and hid it either inside this toy box or in the outside world. Will you do me a favor and help find the train?"
"Don't worry, sir. We got this."
"Where do we go first?" Luigi asked after Mario rejoined him and Bow.
"Well, there's always been good luck for us when we start with the right end," Mario answered. "Maybe there's one of the stolen goods down there."
Just as Mario and friends began down the right end of the south section, Kammy flew in front of a treasure chest containing one of the stolen goods and spawned a green Clubba in front of it.
"You think you can take out those Mario Bros.?" Kammy asked the Clubba.
"Yes, ma'am! They'll never stand a chance against me!" the Clubba declared before Kammy flew off to another toy box section.
The right pathway was a mixture of fun and seriousness because there were several Shy Guys and Sky Guys roaming around, but to get over the block walls that stood in the way, Mario and Luigi jumped on big jack-in-the-boxes that sprung them up onto the walls.
At one point, there was a wide spike pit between two walls, meaning that it was too long to jump across normally.
"Watch this, Bow," Mario said while Luigi stood near the edge of the pit. Luigi then raised his hands up for Mario to jump onto them before Spin Jumping over the pit. Bow had no trouble floating across.
"That was one of the two jump techniques me and Luigi use to get over or across certain obstacles: the Spin Jump," Mario explained.
"Basically, I stand still and Mario jumps onto my hands before I make like a helicopter and float across a gap like that one behind us," Luigi added in.
After battling more Shy Guys, the group reached the Clubba guarding the treasure chest.
"Mario! If you and your green brother come any closer, I'll strike you both down!" the Clubba threatened.
"Oh, please! We've dealt with your friends before!" Mario chuckled before lunging for the Clubba's mace. "Gimme that club!"
"What are you gonna do now?" Luigi taunted the Clubba.
"I'm running!" The Clubba immediately ran away, not wanting to be beaten by his own weapon. Mario dropped the mace before opening the chest; inside was the storehouse key that the nearby corner store owner was missing.
The group then backtracked through the station and started down the left pathway, which was guarded by several Groove Guys dancing up and down. But they had no interest in dancing with the Groove Guys; they didn't even bother attacking them.
Finally, the group ended up in a dome-shaped room with five Shy Guys playing in a children's playground, complete with a swing set, monkey bars, and a couple slides.
"I never knew Shy Guys were young children," Mario said.
"Yeah. No wonder they were screaming like girls," Luigi chimed in. "Let's see if my diary is somewhere in the playground."
Bow stayed behind while Mario and Luigi examined the playground for any of the lost goods, specifically Luigi's diary. While they were searching, the Shy Guys noticed the Mario Bros. and tried to ambush them to no avail; they ran for their lives after Mario whacked them with his hammer.
Eventually, Luigi found a treasure chest under the middle of the jungle gym; inside was Merlon's crystal ball.
"Let's give the key and crystal ball back before we explore more of the toy box," Mario stated before leading Luigi and Bow to a yellow trampoline that catapulted them out of the toy box back into the outside world. The first thing the group did was deliver the crystal ball back to Merlon.
"Oh, thank you so much, my friends!" Merlon exclaimed after being given the crystal ball. "You are brilliant! Those Shy Guys are just so rambunctious!"
"They sure are. Take care," Mario said before leaving Merlon's house. Mario and friends then went to the corner store near the abandoned building and gave the key to the store owner.
"Thank you, Mario! I owe you a big one!" the store owner thanked Mario. "How about this: to return the favor, I'll unlock the storehouse and you can take whatever you'd like."
"Deal!" Mario declared as the store owner unlocked the storehouse in the back. Inside the storeroom was a miniature train locomotive and three Yellow Question Mark Blocks.
"There's the train the conductor needs," Luigi pointed out before taking the toy train. Inside the three Yellow Question Mark Blocks were an Invincibility Star, a Cape Feather, and a Red Timebomb.
"I've never seen a powerup like this before..." Mario wondered while examining the Red Timebomb. On the bottom on the bomb was a yellow button that would begin a 3-second countdown before it explodes. The bomb would flash white as the timer ticks down to zero.
"This can be useful against a swarm of Shy Guys," Bow said to Mario. "Your hammer's probably not enough to get them all in one hit."
After stowing all three powerups in his overalls pocket, Mario beckoned Luigi and Bow back to the toy box before Luigi dropped the toy train inside; he assumed the train would grow bigger upon entry.
After going back into the toy box, the group saw the conductor jumping up and down with joy and the train sitting on the tracks.
"You did it, guys! We're officially back in business!" the conductor cried. "This locomotive just dropped out of the sky and onto the tracks! Public transit's up and running!"
"Where does this train go to?" Luigi asked.
"It can go to four stations including this one," the conductor said. "Unfortunately, the tracks behind the train are broken, so when we make the full circle, we're gonna try to repair it. Other than that, I can take you to either the Pink, Green, or Red Stations."
"Which station's the closest?" Mario asked.
"The Pink Station is just around the corner. You want to go there?"
"Yeah. Me and my friends want to explore the whole toy box," Mario replied.
"Well, climb aboard! I'm more than glad give you the grand tour."
The conductor entered the train before Mario and friends went inside; the train then started up and began its way east to the Pink Station.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes. For the first time, I made up an original powerup. The Red Timebomb is based off the Bomb item from "Super Mario Bros. 2". However, the main exception is that the Red Timebomb is manually activated, making it safer than the automatic type in "Super Mario Bros. 2".
